Knowledge towards breast cancer among Libyan women in Tripoli

Introduction: Breast cancer in women is the commonest type of cancer worldwide. However, in Libya, ordinary systematic screening for breast cancer is neglected.Aim: The present study was aimed to evaluate the women's knowledge towards breast cancer and its risk factors.Methods: A cross-sectional survey, using self-administered questionnaire and face-to-face interviews was conducted at different places in Tripoli city along a period of nine months, from April-December 2013.Results: The mean age (±SD) of the participated women was 48±5 years and out of 284 contributors 84.5% were married. One hundred and eighty women (63.4%) stated that long-term use of contraceptive pills (> 5 years) increases the incidence rate of breast cancer. Besides, more than half of participants (157 women) specified that breast cancer is treated by surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, although 50.7% of women reported that mammography and ultrasound are used for early detection, more than 60% of women believed that mammogram can cause cancer. In addition, our data demonstrate that increased knowledge was associated with women who know how to do self-examination and living in urban area.Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that Libyan women have acceptable level of knowledge regarding breast cancer. However, improvement of the health systems and awareness regarding breast cancer is needed

Genotoxic effect induced by hydrogen peroxide in human hepatoma cells using comet assay.

BACKGROUND: Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) is a common reactive oxygen intermediate generated by various forms of oxidative stress. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the DNA damage capacity of H(2)O(2) in HepG2 cells. METHODS: Cells were treated with H(2)O(2) at concentrations of 25 µM or 50 µM for 5 min, 30 min, 40 min, 1 h, or 24 h in parallel. The extent of DNA damage was assessed by the comet assay. RESULTS: Compared to the control, DNA damage by 25 and 50 µM H(2)O(2) increased significantly with increasing incubation time up to 1 h, but it was not increased at 24 h. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that H(2)O(2) is a typical DNA damage-inducing agent and thus is a good model system to study the effects of oxidative stress. DNA damage in HepG2 cells increased significantly with H(2)O(2) concentration and time of incubation but later decreased likely due to DNA repair mechanisms and antioxidant enzymes.