Cancer Types and Treatment Modalities in Patients Attending at Delta Medical College Hospital.

Background: Cancer is a major health burden worldwide. By 2030, over 9 million cancer patients are assumed to die in developing countries from different types of cancers. Incidence of different types of cancers is increasing due to unhealthy life style. At present, lung cancer is most prevalent in Bangladeshi male whereas it is cancer cervix in female. Objective: To determine the frequency, pattern and treatment modalities in different types of cancer in different age and sex group to get an idea about national cancer scenario. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1300 cancer patients attending at Delta Medical College Hospital within three months duration (from 15.07.10 to 15.10.10). Histologically proven malignant cases were included in the study. Results: There were 400 male and 900 female patients. Male: female ratio was 1:2.25. Among all patients, cervical cancer was the top most common malignancy (23.07%) followed by breast (22.46%). In male, lung cancer was found to be the most common cancer (15.75%), followed by non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (13.75%), colorectal (12%), stomach (6.75%), and oesophageal (5.75%) carcinomas. In female patients, carcinoma cervix was the top most cancer (33.33%), followed by breast (32.33%), ovary (6.11%), gall bladder (3.77%), and colorectal (3%) carcinomas. Majority of cancers occurred in middle and older age groups. Combination of surgery, chemotherapy and teletherapy was the most common form of treatment. Conclusion: The findings of the study may provide a helpful clue to important facts and figures of different types of cancers in Bangladesh.

Detection of Artifacts and Its Effects in the Clinical Evaluation of Diagnostic and Therapy CT Images.

Importance of imaging in all clinical or medical research, and especially, of Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT scan), has demonstrated a unique place in diagnostic or radiation therapy. Two-dimensional images of internal structures of the body are examined and reported. This process of imaging, any anatomical location, viz. head and neck, thorax, pelvis, etc. takes about 30 seconds to perform with a minimal dose of less than 1.6- 2.0 mGy. The images are constructed by the hardware with software algorithm, using the attenuation and absorption of X rays of tissues, of varying electron densities of the anatomical structures. Sometimes a contrast dye is injected to a patient intravenously, rectally or orally, to make hollow or fluid-filled structures such as blood vessels more visible. Radiologists and radiation oncologists are confronted with a task to delineate the information of the CT images to a meaningful diagnosis. The images are, therefore, valuable for diagnostic reports, some of these may relate to cancerous tumors and tissues. Cancer treatment, radiation therapy or else, from such observations may start. But an artifact and distortion on such images will contribute to erroneous and/or unusable interpretations in offering a clinical report to provide wrong clinical decisions. The implications of the presence of distortion in CT images is, for a patient, described here so as to instruct the experts, in medical and clinical fields, to rectify the situation in acquiring a sharp and flawless image or in reaching the correct clinical goal.