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Background We report the first prostate brachytherapy in Nigeria, using low dose radioactive iodine 125 (I-125) permanent seeds implant. Case Presentation The low dose rate brachytherapy using I-125 implants was performed in a private clinic in the city of Benin, Edo state of Nigeria. This pilot study reports the case of the first two patients with prostate cancer. The patients were treated under spinal anesthesia using 2 ml of heavy bupibacaine which is equivalent to 10 mg of bupibacaine. Biopsy, total blood count, electrolytes, urea, creatinine, urinalysis, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, prostate-specific antigen and bone scan were checked prior to the procedure. The first two prostate cancer patients who were in low risk category successfully received the treatment in the first day of the clinic’s operations. This paper describes the settings in which these clinical operations occurred, detailing the type of technology used, the clinical procedure and the obtained dose distribution. Conclusions The paper ends with discussing the overall cost of the investment and the challenges encountered as well as the perspectives of extending the brachytherapy practice to treat other cancer diseases, such as breast and genealogical cancers.

Aim: Secondary malignancy estimation after radiotherapy of post mastectomy patients is becoming an important subject for comparative treatment planning. The data from modern treatment planning systems provide accurate three-dimensional dose distributions for each individual patients, thereby opening up new possibilities for more precise estimates of secondary cancer incidence rates in the irradiated organs. Methods: This study estimates the probability of secondary malignancy using radiobiological model for post mastectomy patients in a low-resource center, Nigeria. The secondary cancer complication probability (SCCP) was computed for linear, linear-exponent and linear-plateau models. Results: The result shows that comparing the three models the mean SCCP for the contralateral breast ranged between 0.41%-0.93%; for the lung (0.34%-5.93%); while for the chest wall is between 0.65%-31.95%. Also, the result showed that based on the differential dose volume histogram, the SCCP in the chest wall is highest compared to the lung and contralateral breast; while the linear model overestimate the risk of secondary malignancy, the linear-exponent and the linear plateaus gave values not outrageously high. Conclusion: The models in this study have shown that the risk of secondary malignancy in these post mastectomy patients is low.

Background: In developing countries most women deliver at home for some reasons and such deliveries are not attended by a skilled birth attendant. In Nigeria 63% of births occurred at home. Objective: To determine the reasons and experiences of home and hospital deliveries among women in Kano, Nigeria. Methods: The study was a comparative cross-sectional study. The study employed a mixed method study. A total of 614 women were selected by multistage sampling technique and enrolled for the study. Focus group discussions with a group of women and husbands as well as key informant interviews with health care workers were conducted in the communities. Quantitative data was analysed using Minitab V17 software. Thematic content analysis was performed for the qualitative data. Data was gathered and analysed using triangulation methods. Results: The questionnaires response rate was of 96.7%. The mean age of respondents was 32.6 ± 6.5 years for home delivery group, and 28.1 ± 5.6 years for the hospital delivery group. Reasons for home deliveries were custom (24.5%), unfriendly attitude of health workers (17.5%), financial barriers (15.5%), and safety was the main reason for hospital delivery (56.7%). Determinants of choice of place of delivery were lower age at first pregnancy AOR=4.06 95%CI (1.633-10.076) and higher education AOR=2.70 95%CI (1.927-3.792) respectively. Conclusion: Mothers have different reasons and experiences with regard to choice of delivery location. Hospital deliveries should be encouraged

Radio-therapy is an integral part of management in oncology and aims at the use of megavoltage dose of ionizing radiation to the target tissue or malignancy for therapeutic purposes, while minimizing the dose to surrounding normal critical tissues. 1,2 Approximately 66-95% of patients diagnosed with cancer will require radiotherapy. 1,2,3 Advances in radiation oncology over the years have significantly improved the prognosis of cancer treatment. 1,2 The ionizing radiation damages the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the cancer cells which impairs cell growth and ultimately leading to cell death. However, normal cells although also damaged by radiation, exhibit the capacity to cell repair. One of the visible and common manifestations of radiation toxicity is radiation-induced dermatitis which may be acute or chronic skin reactions. 4 The skin reactions may be painful and reduces the quality of life of the patient undergoing radiotherapy. 1,2,4 Despite technological advances in the planning and delivery achieved in the field of radiotherapy, most patients still experience side effect of the treatment. 2,3,4 Radiation induced dermatitis varies from slight erythema to ulcer and necrosis and the severity of skin reaction depends on radiation dose, field size and site of target tissue. 4