• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6285-6288
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• 2012

Background: The aim of this study was to outline the trend in the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the city of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), for comparison with previously published national CRC data. Materials and Methods: A retrospective data analysis was performed on all cases of CRC diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2006 amongst Saudi patients in Jeddah using data retrieved from the Saudi Cancer Registry (SCR). Descriptive analysis was performed and results were compared to national CRC data from the SCR. Results: In Jeddah, 644 cases of CRC were diagnosed during the time period, accounting for 15% of all CRC cases in KSA. Males were more commonly affected than females (58% versus 42%). The male preponderance of CRC was similar to that observed at a national level. In Jeddah, the incidence was higher among those >45 years (77.0%), and the mean age at diagnosis was 57 years. At diagnosis, 10% of patients presented with localized disease; 25% presented with distant metastasis and the remaining patients had various stages of regional extension. Adenocarcinomas accounted for 72% of cases. Statistical analysis did not reveal any clinically significant differences between cases diagnosed in Jeddah and those diagnosed throughout KSA. Conclusions: The increased trend in the incidence of CRC in Jeddah between 2000 and 2006 mirrors the recent trend in KSA. This highlights the magnitude of this healthcare hazard, not only in Jeddah, but also across the country and supports the need for preventive measures and early detection of the disease.

• Water Engineering Research
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.269-278
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• 2002

A cross sectional analysis for residential water demand was conducted to help understand and explain the spatial and temporal variations in per capita water use in the rapidly growing city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The analysis was based on data previously collected from May 1983 to June 1984. 195 randomly selected households were distributed to three groups according to house condition, household income level, and social and cultural factors. The generated models using stepwise multiple regression indicated that plot size and number of males, females and children are the most significant independent variables. Although, coefficients of determination achieved for most of the developed models were low (0.2-0.5), the independent variables could still explain a part of the variations fur such a complex social and cultural structure.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4677-4681
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of lymph node pathology among Saudi patients and to highlight the age and gender variations of these lesions as base line data. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from lymph node biopsy specimens received at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: Of the 289 lymph node biopsy specimens received, 154 (53.3%) were from males and 135 (46.7%) from females giving a male: female ratio of 1.14:1. Age of the patients ranged from 2.5 to 96 years with a mean age 33.9 years. The commonest lymph node group affected was the cervical (30.4%) followed by axillary (9.7%) and inguinal (8.7%). Malignant lymphoma [71 Hodgkin's disease (HD), 57 non Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)] 128 (44.3%), reactive hyperplasia 68 (23.5%), and tuberculosis 41 (14.2%) were the common causes of lymph node enlargement. While HD, reactive hyperplasia and tuberculosis were commonest in young adult patients (10-29 years old) and rare above the age of 50 years; NHL was the predominant cause of lymph node enlargement above 50 years. Conclusions: Lymph node biopsy plays an important role in establishing the cause of lymphadenopathy. Among the biopsied nodes, lymphomas were the most common (44.3%) followed by non-specific reactive hyperplasia (23.5%) and tuberculous lymphadenitis (14.2%).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7673-7677
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• 2014

Background: Patients with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Colon cancer risk in IBD increases with longer duration and greater anatomic extent of colitis, the presence of primary sclerosing cholangitis, family history of CRC and degree of inflammation of the bowel. This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of benign colorectal diseases among Saudi patients and to highlight age and gender variations of lesions as base line data for future studies to investigate the link between benign/IBD and colorectal cancers in the local population. Materials and Methods: The materials consisted of 684 biopsies, reported as benign (excluding malignancies and polyps) at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Data collected and entered in MS-Excel and were analyzed using SPSS-20. Results: Of 684 colorectal tissues reviewed, 408 specimens (59.6%) were from male patients and 276 specimens (40.4%) were from females giving a male: female ratio of 1.5:1. Age of the patients ranged from 4 to 75 years with a mean of 39.6 years. The most frequent histologic diagnosis was a chronic non specific proctocolitis followed by ulcerative colitis, accounting respectively for 52.6% and 31.7% of all cases. These were followed by Crohn's disease 22 (3.2%), ischemic bowel disease 20 (2.9%), diverticular disease 14 (2%), eosinophilic colitis 12 (1.7%) and solitary rectal ulcer 12 (1.7%). A minority of 21 patients (3.1%) were cases of acute nonspecific proctocolitis, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, volvulus and pseudomembranous colitis. Conclusions: These data show that although chronic non specific proctocolitis and ulcerative colitis were the dominant diagnoses, Crohn's disease, ischemic bowel disease and diverticular disease also existed to a lesser extent and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of benign colorectal diseases. This study provides a base line data for future studies which would be taken up to investigate the link between benign/IBD and colorectal cancers in the local population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3133-3137
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• 2014

Background: To determine the histopathological pattern of colorectal cancer (CRC) among Saudi patients with a view to determine various epidemiological and histopathological features of the disease. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the demographic and histopathological data of all the patients with CRC diagnosed at King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia over a period of 8 years from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: Of 324 cases of CRC reviewed, 200 cases (61.7%) were males while 124 cases (38.3%) were females giving a male to female ratio of 1.6: 1. Age of the patients ranged from 20 to 100 years with a mean age 57.9 years. The rectosigmoid region was the most frequent anatomical site (13.6%) involved and adenocarcinoma (88.6%) was the most common histopathological type. The majority of adenocarcinomas (87.3%) were moderately differentiated. A total of 47.8% of patients were in stage B and 43.5% of patients were in stage C of the Aster-Coller classification. Most patients (75.7%) presented with large size tumors. Lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis were recorded in 67.9% and 43.6% of cases, respectively. Conclusions: Colorectal cancer is common in our environment and the majority of patients present late with an advanced stage. Screening programs regarding CRC should be enhanced to improve the outcome of the patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5565-5570
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of thyroid lesions among Saudi patients and to highlight the age and gender variations of these lesions as base line data. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from thyroid specimens received at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: The 292 thyroidectomy specimens received during the study period came from 230 (78.8%) females and 62 (21.2%) males giving a female: male ratio of 3.7:1. Age of the patients ranged from 14 to 95 years with a mean age 39.7 years. Two hundred and eleven (72.3%) cases were found to be non-neoplastic and 81 (27.7%) cases were neoplastic. The non-neoplastic group included: colloid goiter, including both diffuse and nodular goiter (170 cases; 58.2%), nodular hyperplasia (28 cases; 9.6%), Hashimoto/chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (12 cases; 4.1%), and Grave's disease (1 case; 0.3%). In neoplastic lesions, there were 7 benign tumors and 74 malignant tumors. Among the benign tumors, 5 were follicular adenomas and 2 were Hurthle cell adenomas. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumor accounting for 87.8% of all thyroid malignancies, followed by lymphoma, follicular carcinoma and medullary carcinoma. The size of papillary carcinoma was more than 2 cm in 40 cases (76.9%). Conclusions: Non-neoplastic thyroid lesions were more common than neoplastic ones. Colloid goiter was the most common lesion. Follicular adenoma was the commonest benign tumor and papillary carcinoma was the commonest malignant lesion. There appears to be a slightly increased trend of papillary carcinoma diagnosis, most being diagnosed at an advanced stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4335-4338
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• 2015

Background: Oral cancer is the third most common malignancy in Saudi Arabia, the highest incidence of which is reported from Jazan province. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of various locally used substances, especially shamma, with oral cancer in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was designed and patient records were scanned for histologically confirmed oral cancer cases. Forty eight patients who were recently diagnosed with oral cancer were selected as cases. Two healthy controls were selected for each observed case and they were matched with age (+/- 5 years) gender and location. Use of different forms of tobacco such as cigarettes, pipe-smoking and shamma (smokeless-tobacco) was assessed. Khat, a commonly used chewing substance in the community was also included. Descriptive analysis was first performed followed by multiple logistic regression (with and without interaction) to derive odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs). Results: Mean age of the study sample (56% males and 44% females) was 65.3 years. Multinomial regression analysis revealed that shamma use increased the odds of developing oral cancer by 29 times (OR=29.3; 10.3-83.1). Cigarette (OR=6.74; 2.18-20.8) was also seen to have an effect. With the interaction model the odds ratio increased significantly for shamma users (OR=37.2; 12.3-113.2) and cigarette smokers (OR=10.5; 2.88-3.11). Khat was observed to have negative effect on the disease occurrence when used along with shamma (OR=0.01; 0.00 - 0.65). Conclusions: We conclude that shamma, a moist form of smokeless tobacco is a major threat for oral cancer occurrence in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. This study gives a direction to conduct further longitudinal studies in the region with increased sample size representing the population in order to provide more substantial evidence.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3667-3673
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• 2014

Background: colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancers and the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, CRC accounts for 8.5% of all tumors; it ranks first among all cancers in males and third among females. The aim of this study was to link between different PARP-1 mutations and risk of CRC in Saudi population and to determine common variants of PARP-1 in Saudi CRC patients and normal individuals. Materials and Methods: DNA samples were isolated from fifty CRC patients and from a comparable number of control subjects then sequenced to detect different variations present in exons 3, 17, and 21 of the PARP-1 gene. Results and Conclusions: When comparing the genotype and allele frequencies of all detected SNPs in CRC patients with those in controls, we found none were significantly different for all variants even the most common SNP in PARP-1 gene (Val762Ala). However, two novel alterations in exon 21 were found to be associated with increased risk of CRC. The variants identified as (1) Lys933Asn [p-value 0.0318] and (2) Lys945Asn [p-value 0.0257]. Our results suggest that PARP-1 Lys933Asn and Lys945Asn alterations could be associated with increased risk of CRC in the Saudi population.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.233-242
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• 2019

Detailed description of malaria in low transmission areas is crucial for elimination. The current study aimed to provide a comprehensive description for malaria transmission in Jazan, a low transmission district, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Patients at a tertiary care hospital were recruited in our study between August 2016 and September 2018. Malaria diagnosis was performed through a species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR), microscopy and Paramax-$3^{TM}$ rapid detection test (RDT). Malaria was detected in 30 patients by the PCR, with point prevalence of 10.9%. Of these malaria infections, 80% was imported, 26.6% was asymptomatic and 23.3% was sub-microscopic. Malaria was reported throughout the year, with February/March and September/October peaks. Infection was significantly more in males than in females (P=0.01). Likewise, infections were detected more in febrile than in non-febrile patients (P=0.01). Adult aged 15-24 years, fever and travel were identified as high-risk factors. Malaria was primarily attributed to Plasmodium falciparum mono-infections, followed by P. vivax mono-infections and lastly to falciparum/vivax mixed infections accounting 76.6%, 16.6%, and 6.6% of PCR-confirmed malaria cases, respectively. The nested PCR was superior to the smear microscopy (sensitivity 76.6%; specificity 100%) and the RDT (sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 94.2%). The overall percent agreement between microscopy and the RDT was 92.7% (kappa=0.63). High proportion of imported malaria including sub-microscopic and sub-patent cases were described. We suggest that incorporation of molecular tool into the conventional malaria diagnosis is beneficial in Jazan district.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2479-2483
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• 2016

Background: This study explored the knowledge and awareness about colorectal cancer (CRC) among undergraduate students of one of the leading universities in Saudi Arabia, along with the mode of information access. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted at the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among students of different faculties. The study questionnaire, containing 28 items, was adapted from surveys identified in the relevant literature. The CRC awareness questionnaire consisted of an awareness section (early CRC signs and symptoms, and risk factors) and a knowledge section. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0. Results: A total of 525 undergraduate students participated in the study. The majority were females (63.0%) and approximately half (56.8%) were medical students. The majority of the students (82.3%) were aware of CRC, and 68% thought that CRC is a preventable disease. Regarding colorectal cancer screening tests, only one-third of students (33%) had actual knowledge, while the majority of the students (77.0%) thought that there are tests which help in early detection. Only 4% of the participants had a family history of CRC. The majority of the participants (84%) thought that CRC is a disease that can be cured. Almost 50-60% participants had good awareness level regarding risk factors, and signs and symptoms. Regarding knowledge, participant responses varied for family history (52%), age (59%), chronic infection of the colon (72%), obesity and lack of exercise (66%). More than one-third of the students had received information material regarding CRC from their curriculum followed by social media (20.4%), and nearly 40% from other sources such as TV, hospital and mass media. Female participants had significantly better awareness in a few questions regarding CRC awareness as compared to their male counterparts. There was a significant difference observed between medical and non-medical students (p<0.001) in overall score of awareness and knowledge about CRC while no significant difference found in gender-wise comparison. Conclusions: Knowledge and awareness of students about CRC were not up to the mark. Medical students and female students had better knowledge in a few areas, but the overall situation is dismal.