ABSTRACT:Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of death from cancer worldwide. This study provides an overview of changes in sociod-demographic parameters in patients with colorectal cancer (henceforth CRC) disease in a local cancer hospital in Sulaymaniyah province of Kurdistan region of Iraq. The study included 113 patients admitted to Hiwa Cancer Hospital, Sulaymaniyah from January 2014 to December 2015. The data collection lasted for 3 weeks (from 19/12/2015 to 11/01/2016) and was obtained from the management department of Hiwa Cancer Hospital. Several socio-demographic parameters including age, gender, and smoking, as well as biochemical parameters such as liver function, renal function and blood glucose level were studied and statistically analyzed. Results have shown that the majority of CRC patients were neither current smoker nor x-smoker (P-value < 0.05). Males suffered from CRC at an earlier age compared to females (P-value < 0.05). Regarding the biochemical tests, there was no significant correlation between CRC and impaired liver function during the diagnosis process and most of the study patients had a normal liver function test on presentation. In contrast, the correlation between CRC and impaired renal function on presentation was statistically siginificant (P-value < 0.05). No significant difference was noted in the means of hematological and biochemical parameters between males and females, except for white blood cells and serum Aspartate Aminotransferase. White blood cells and total serum bilirubin showed significant differences (P-value < 0.05) between smoker and nonsmoker sub-populations. It was concluded that CRC is one of the common cancers in Sulaymaniyah province. Males develop it at an earlier age compared to females, and the impaired renal function is a significant finding on presentation.

No abstract

No abstract

Background  Insulin-like growth factor -1 (IGF-1) has mitogenic and antiapoptotic effects on breast cancer cells. High-circulating IGF-1 was found to be associated with increased risk of breast cancer in several previous epidemiological studies, mostly conducted in the Caucasian populations. Little is known about the association between IGF-1 and breast cancer in Kurdish women whose dietary habits and genetic basis differ considerably from their Caucasian counterparts. IGF-1 levels can vary substantially among individuals and have been shown to be regulated in part by diet, age, lifestyle and anthropometric indices. Nutrition and energy balance have an important influence on IGF-1 levels which are decreased in energy-restricted diets and transiently increased with intense physical activity. Despite the number of factors that can influence IGF-1 levels, it has been estimated that up to 60% of the variability has a genetic basis, also age have been shown in some studies to be an important factor. Determinants of IGF-1 levels within racial and ethnic groups are unclear. Research Goal  To investigate the association between IGF-1 and breast cancer in Kurdish women.  Methods a population-based case-control study was conducted to assess the associations of IGF-1 with breast cancer risk in Kurdish women. The study included 131 incidents of premenopausal ER (+) and PR(+) breast cancer patients diagnosed between June 2016 and March 2017 at Hiwa Cancer Hospital, Slemani, Kurdistan of Iraq and 130 age-matched controls selected randomly from the general population at Marital Screening Center/ Slemani General Hospital. Results The results showed no statistically significant differences exist between the case and control in this study. Conclusion We have investigated a lack of correlation between circulating IGF-1 levels and breast cancer among Kurdish women patients.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of cancer-related mortality. The surgical resection of primary CRC tumors is a critical line of treatment. The present study investigated the clinical outcomes of the surgical resection of the primary tumor in metastatic CRC patients. Materials and Methods: In this prospective and retrospective study, 81 metastatic CRC patients were recruited at Hiwa Cancer Hospital in Sulaimani, Iraq from January 2016 to December 2019. Forty-one patients underwent surgical resection of their primary tumor while the remaining 40 patients did not undergo resection. Data regarding patients’ clinical outcomes were obtained from the clinical portal system of the hospital and were analyzed using SPSS (version 23.0). Results: The patients’ mean (± SD) age was 53.5 (± 17.02) years and the male-to-female ratio was 1.3:1. Patients undergoing the surgical resection of their primary tumors had a significantly better one-year survival compared to those who did not undergo resection (P = 0.04). Based on the results, patients in the surgical resection group continued to have a better overall survival although it was not statistically significant (P = 0.1). Significantly more patients with colon cancer underwent surgical resection compared to rectal cancer (P = 0.03), and smoking habit negatively affected the chance to undergo surgical resection (P = 0.009). Conclusion: In general, the surgical resection of the primary tumor has a significant favorable impact on one-year survival, but possibly not on overall survival. The primary site of the tumor and smoking habits significantly influence the chance to undergo surgical resection whereas the grade of the tumor or the type of systemic therapy has no significant impact in this regard.