BackgroundThe global burden from cancer is rising, especially as low-income countries like Bangladesh observe rapid aging. So far, there are no comprehensive descriptions reporting diagnosed cancer group that include hematological malignancies in Bangladesh.MethodsThis was a multi-center hospital-based retrospective descriptive study of over 5000 confirmed hematological cancer cases in between January 2008 to December 2012. Morphological typing was carried out using the “French American British” classification system.ResultsA total of 5013 patients aged between 2 to 90 years had been diagnosed with malignant hematological disorders. A 69.2% were males (n = 3468) and 30.8% females (n = 1545), with a male to female ratio of 2.2:1. The overall median age at diagnosis was 42 years. Acute myeloid leukemia was most frequent (28.3%) with a median age of 35 years, followed by chronic myeloid leukemia with 18.2% (median age 40 years), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (16.9%; median age 48 years), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (14.1%; median age 27 years), multiple myeloma (10.5%; median age 55 years), myelodysplastic syndromes (4.5%; median age 57 years) and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (3.9%; median age 36 years). The least common was chronic lymphocytic leukemia (3.7%; median age 60 years). Below the age of 20 years, acute lymphoblastic leukemia was predominant (37.3%), followed by acute myeloid leukemia (34%). Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma had mostly occurred among older patients, aged 50-over.ConclusionsFor the first time, our study presents the pattern and distribution of diagnosed hematological cancers in Bangladesh. It shows differences in population distributions as compared to other settings with possibly a lower presence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. There might be under-reporting of affected women. Further studies are necessary on the epidemiology, genetics and potential environmental risk factors within this rapidly aging country.
PurposeTreatment of malignant and nonmalignant hematologic diseases with
hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) was first described almost 60
years ago, and its use has expanded significantly over the last 20 years.
Whereas HSCT has become the standard of care for many patients in developed
countries, the significant economic investment, infrastructure, and health
care provider training that are required to provide such a service have
prohibited it from being widely adopted, particularly in developing
countries.MethodsOver the past two decades, however, efforts to bring HSCT to the developing
world have increased, and several institutions have described their efforts
to establish such a program. We aim to provide an overview of the current
challenges and applications of HSCT in developing countries as well as to
describe our experience in developing an HSCT program at Dhaka Medical
College and Hospital in Bangladesh via a partnership with health care
providers at Massachusetts General Hospital.Results and ConclusionWe discuss key steps of the program, including the formation of a
collaborative partnership, infrastructure development, human resource
capacity building, and financial considerations.
13519 Background: Preoperative downstaging chemoradiation has become standard treatment for locally advanced unresectable rectal cancer. Oral CAP is potentially more convenient as a radiation sensitiser than infusional fluoropyrimidine regimes. This study evaluated the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended dose (RD) of daily CAP plus weekly i.v. CPT-11 when used in combination with RT in locally advanced rectal cancer. Methods: Patients had an adenocarcinoma of the rectum (lower limit within 12 cm of the anal verge) which on MRI was T3 within 2 mm of the mesorectal outer edge, T4, or any T3 within 5 cm of the anal verge. There were no distant metastases on staging investigations. Patients received planned pelvic RT to 45 Gy in 25 daily fractions over five weeks, concurrent with oral CAP daily throughout RT (including weekends) and a 60 minute infusion of i.v. CPT-11 weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4. Doses of CAP and CPT-11 were gradually escalated in cohorts of three patients. Results: The most common DLT was diarrhoea. Initially dose level (D/L) 3 was chosen as the recommended dose for phase II. However, unacceptable toxicity was encountered in the first 12 patients treated at D/L 3 (see Table). Thus D/L 2 is now being expanded to 60 patients for phase II. 40 patients have thus far potentially been eligible for resection: 5 (13%) could not be resected (2 deteriorated, 2 developed metastases, 1 died during treatment), 32 (80%) had R0 and 3 (7%) R1 resection. 9 (25%) had a pathological complete response (pCR) and 7 (20%) ‘near’ pCR. 5 (9%) of 57 patients had a defunctioning stoma pre-RT. Conclusions: The RD for this regime is 60 mg/m2 i.v. CPT-11 weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 650 mg/m2 bd of oral CAP daily. This demonstrates promising signs of efficacy. The RD is currently being studied in an expanded phase II cohort of 60 patients. D=diarrhea; F=febrile neutropenia; A=anorexia; L=lethargy; N=nausea/vomiting. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.
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