Socio-demographic characteristics of cancer patients: hospital based cancer registry in a tertiary care hospital of India

Comparison of the effect of electronic learning and blended learning on the empowerment of the caregivers of cancer patients under chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE

Cancer is a chronic disease that affects individuals as well as their families. E-learning is a common method of education for patients and caregivers. The present study aimed to compare the impact of E-learning and blended learning on the empowerment of caregivers of cancer patients under chemotherapy.

METHODS

This clinical trial was performed in the main chemotherapy center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during October 2018-December 2020. A total of 123 caregivers of cancer patients who were under chemotherapy were selected through simple random sampling and were divided into two intervention groups and one control group. The empowerment of the caregivers was evaluated using the caregivers' empowerment questionnaire in all three groups at the beginning of the study, immediately after the intervention, and 1 month after the intervention. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and statistical tests using the SPSS software, version 22.

RESULTS

The results revealed no significant difference between the two groups regarding the knowledge score (p = 0.3). However, the first intervention group had a better attitude compared to the two other groups after the intervention (p = 0.003). Moreover, the mean score of performance increased significantly in both intervention groups (p = 0.000). No significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of the demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and performance (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that both electronic and blended learning affected the attitude and performance of the patients' caregivers. Therefore, blended learning can be applied for enhancing the empowerment of caregivers.

Retrospective sequential trend analysis of neoplasms reported in a tertiary care hospital of district Etawah, Uttar Pradesh

Introduction:

An estimated 2.25 million new cancer cases with 7 lakh cancer deaths were reported, according to GLOBOCAN 2018 in India. There is a steady rise in cancer cases, but trends and patterns vary within the state depending on the geographic region.

Objectives:

To study the proportion and site-wise distribution of neoplasm reported at a tertiary care hospital in district Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Material and Methods:

A record based retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in district Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. Total four years (from 2015 to 2018) hospital-based retrospective data were collected from the Medical Record Department. Identification and distribution of malignant neoplasm were done according to the WHO ICD-10 classification.

Results:

Total cases diagnosed with malignancy from January 2015 to December 2018 were 3614. Cancer cases reported over the years was 932 (25.8%) in 2015, 1031 (28.5%) cases in 2016, 897 (24.8%) in 2017 and 754 (20.9%) in 2018. It was found that breast carcinoma (24.0%) accounted for the maximum number of cases diagnosed, followed by lung carcinoma (10.9%), cervical cancer (8.7%), gall bladder carcinoma (8%), and oral cavity cancer (7.9%).

Conclusion:

The present study reveals that the malignancy of the breast is most common, followed by malignancies of lung, cervix, and gall bladder among the patients who were seeking care in a tertiary care hospital of the district Etawah Uttar Pradesh, India.

Socioclinical profile of patients seeking treatment for cancer in a Teaching hospital in east Delhi, India

Background

Prevalence of cancer in urban India is seeing a discernible increase due to lifestyle modifications and adverse environmental exposures. The pattern of cancer incidence varies from one region to another within a large country like India.

Aim and Objectives

This study was conducted to understand the socioclinical profile of the patients attending a tertiary care hospital in east Delhi for the treatment of cancer.

Methods

Patients above the age of 18 years, who had been diagnosed with cancer, were recruited for our study and their socioclinical details were elicited. After 3 months they were reassessed and their treatment and side-effect profile were studied.

Results

Majority of our patients were diagnosed with cancers of the oral cavity and were married men in age group of 40-60 years, residing in the National Capital Region. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer were more likely to receive chemotherapy and suffer from side effects of treatment like nausea, anorexia, and loss of weight.

Conclusion

Physicians need to be aware of these complications and should incorporate a proper counselling mechanism before treatment is started in such patients. Family physicians play a defining role in the palliative management since he remains a trusted face in his community and can provide professional and psychotherapeutic support.

Patients With Breast Cancer: Report From a National Hospital-Based Cancer Registry in Argentina, 2012 to 2016

Purpose

To describe sociodemographic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer and registered in the Institutional Tumor Registry of Argentina (RITA) as of April 2016.

Methods

This was an observational, descriptive case study in patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer between April 2012 and April 2016 and registered in RITA. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were done, including delay from symptoms to first consultation, delay from diagnosis to treatment (opportunities), as well as patients’ survival (Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests).

Results

There were 4,883 identified patients and 4,950 tumors. The mean age of patients was 57.6 years (median, 56 years); 60% of patients had completed elementary studies, 46.8% had some health coverage, and 85.4% of diagnoses were made by tumor histology (TNM stage: T2 19%, N0 20%, M0 29.1%; clinical stages II and III: 34.7%). In terms of morphology, 89.6% of primary tumors had malignant behavior (76% ductal, 8% lobular); and for immunohistochemistry, 34.3% were estrogen receptor positive/progesterone receptor positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative. The longest delays analyzed were from diagnosis date to the beginning of first treatment. Survival rates were 96% for up to 24 months and 84.7% for up to 36 months.

Conclusion

For the first time in Argentina, there is systematized information on the care of oncology patients at public health institutions, which is useful for improving patients’ care. We found that RITA collects important information for the identification of groups with similar sociodemographic and clinical characteristics that could show different vulnerabilities along the disease process.

Yoga as an Integrative Approach for Prevention and Treatment of Oral Cancer

Despite tremendous advancements in medicine, the number of oral cancer cases continues to increase, and the need for integrating alternate medicine or adopting an integrative approach has become a compelling cost-effective requirement for the management and treatment of diseases. Conventional treatment of oral cancer involves surgery followed by radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy which causes several complications including poor quality of life and high chances of recurrence of cancer. Oral cancer is often linked with obesity which is major risk factors in other cancers. Apart from obesity, oral cancer is thought to have an inverse relation with neurodegenerative disorders presumably because cell death decreases in the former case and increases in the latter. Ancient mind-body techniques such as yoga have not been adequately tested as a tool to synergize the cellular equilibrium pertaining to the treatment of oral cancer. Nerve growth factor (NGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are among the early experimental cellular biomarkers that may be used to probe the modulation of oral cancer, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. Yoga has been reported to influence these molecules in healthy individuals but whether their expression can be altered in patients of oral cancer by yoga intervention is the subject of this research being discussed in this review article. Therefore, the present article not only reviews the current status of research studies in oral cancer, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders but also how these are linked to each other and why the investigations of the putative NGF pathway, involving TNF-α and IL-6, could provide useful clues to understand the molecular effects brought about by yoga intervention in such patients.