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After a three-year quarantine from the deadliest global pandemic of the last century, ASTES is organizing to gather all health professionals in Tirana, The 6th Albanian Congress of Trauma and Emergency Surgery(ACTES 2022) on 11-12 November 2022, with the topic Trauma & Emergency Surgery and not only...with the aim of providing high quality, the best standards, and the best results, for our patients ...ACTES 2022 is the largest event that ASTES (Albanian Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery) has organized so far with 230 presentations, and 67 foreign lecturers with enviable geography, making it the largest national and wider scientific event.The scientific program is as strong as ever, thanks to the inclusiveness, where all the participants with a mix of foreign and local lecturers, select the best of the moment in medical science, innovation, and observation.The scientific committee has selected all the presentations so that the participants of each medical discipline will have something to learn, discuss, debate, and agree with updated methods, techniques, and protocols.I hope you will join us on Friday morning, and continue the journey of our two-day event together.

Aim: The aim of our study was to assess the association of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) with socio-demographic factors and metastases site in women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in post-communist Albania. Methods: A case-series study was carried out during the period January 2010 – September 2017 including 110 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer with metastases at the Oncology Service of the University Hospital Centre “Mother Teresa” in Tirana, the Albanian capital. Of these, 57 (51.8%) patients had evidence of hepatic metastases, whereas the reaming 53 (48.2%) patients had metastases in the bones and/or in the lungs. CEA and CA15-3 were measured at the time of diagnosis for all study participants. In addition, information on socio-demographic factors was collected. General linear model was used to assess the relationship of CEA and CA15-3 with covariates.      Results: There was evidence of a significant correlation between CEA and CA15-3 levels (Spearman’s rho=0.59, P<0.001). Upon simultaneous adjustment for all covariates, mean values of CEA and CA15-3 were significantly higher in patients with metastases in the bones and/or in the lungs compared with their counterparts with metastases in the liver. Also, CA15-3 levels were significantly higher in younger patients compared with their older counterparts. Conclusion: This study provides valuable evidence on selected correlates of CEA and CA15-3 in Albanian female patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Oncologists and other health professionals in Albania, as well as decision-makers and policymakers should be aware of the burden and risk factors of breast cancer among women in this transitional society.           

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