Hemoglobin patterns and anemia in forward‐planned intensity‐modulated radiotherapy versus three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapy among patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND@#Radiotherapy (RT) to the chest or other large areas of the body may cause bone marrow suppression, resulting in anemia and other changes in blood cell counts.@*OBJECTIVE@#To compare the post­RT hemoglobin levels between patients who underwent forward­ planned intensitymodulated radiotherapy (FPIMRT) and those who underwent three­dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D­CRT).@*DESIGN@#Retrospective cohort study@*SETTING@#Department of Radiological and Imaging Sciences, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao City, from October 2018 to March 2019.@*PARTICIPANTS@#94 women with invasive ductal carcinoma, aged 29 to 75 years, who received at least 28 fractions (with or without boost dose) of either 3D­CRT or FPIMRT.@*MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES@#Mean hemoglobin counts and anemia within 4 weeks post­RT.@*MAIN RESULTS@#Of the 94 women, 62 (65.96%) underwent 3D­CRT, and 32 (34.04%) underwent FPIMRT. The proportion of patients with left­sided tumors was significantly higher in the FPIMRT group than in the 3D­CRT group. The baseline hemoglobin levels (12.60 ± 1.04 g/dL for 3D­CRT vs 12.49 ± 0.80 g/dL for FPIMRT; p=0.5994) and the mean changes in hemoglobin count from baseline (­0.11 ± 0.72 g/dL for 3D­CRT vs ­0.18 ± 0.67 g/dL for FPIMRT; p=0.6707) were both comparable between the two groups. The proportions of patients with anemia within four weeks post­RT were also comparable between the two groups (13/62, 20.97% for 3D­CRT vs 8/32, 25.00% for FPIMRT; p=0.6565). Left­sided tumors were significantly associated with post­RT anemia (unadjusted OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.00 to 8.22; p=0.0498), even after controlling for type of RT technique (adjusted OR 3.15; 95% CI 1.01 to 9.87; p=0.0484).@*CONCLUSION@#After RT, the mean hemoglobin levels of patients with breast cancer who underwent 3D­CRT were comparable with those of patients who underwent IMRT. The type of RT technique was not significantly associated with the occurrence of post­RT anemia in these patients.

Hematological Assessment of Benzene Exposure among Employees in Brega Oil Marketing Company (BOMC), Benghazi

Background: Benzene is a toxic chemical and is a human carcinogenic. It is found in both the natural and industrial atmosphere. Its exposure can cause hematological health problems as a result of metabolite formation in the liver and bone marrow. The aim of this study is to evaluate the hematological health effects of benzene exposure amongst workers in loading and uploading stations at the Ras-Elmengar depository of BOMC, Benghazi, Libya. Methods: This study was a cross sectional design with the study sample being 30 participants, 15 exposed workers and 15 non-exposed employees. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire about socio-demographic data and symptoms of benzene exposure. Blood samples were also taken from the participants by a laboratory technician to test the complete blood counts. The data from the blood test was analyzed using SPSS. Results: The findings demonstrated a significant difference in CBC between the exposed and non-exposed groups. There was a reduction in WBC, RBCs and HCT of workers who were exposed to benzene. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between the hematological effects of benzene exposure and the BMI, years of experience and smoking habits of the workers. Conclusion: The exposure to benzene has negative effects on the workers blood, and this effect is associated with work duration. Furthermore, it correlates with BMI and the smoking habits of the workers. Therefore, safety measures must be applied to protect the employees working at the company.