119,430 research outputs found
Fondaparinux vs warfarin for the treatment of unsuspected pulmonary embolism in cancer patients
No full textHikmat Abdel-Razeq,1 Asem Mansour2 1Department of Internal Medicine, 2Department of Radiology, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanWe read with great interest the study published on June 23, 2016 by Amato et al entitled “Fondaparinux vs warfarin for the treatment of unsuspected pulmonary embolism in cancer patients.”1 While we value the importance of this study in highlighting this important topic, we have several issues to be addressed.View original paper by Amato and colleagues
Current neoadjuvant treatment options for HER2 positive breast cancer
No full textHikmat Abdel-Razeq, Lina MareiSection of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanAbstract: Approximately one quarter of patients with breast cancer demonstrate amplification of the human epidermal receptor type 2 (HER2) gene, the expression of which is associated with a relatively poor prognosis independent of other clinical and pathologic variables. Trastuzumab, a humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody specifically directed against the HER2 receptor, has been shown to be biologically active and of considerable clinical utility in HER2-positive breast cancer patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been used in breast cancer to downstage the tumor and increase the opportunity for breast-conserving surgery. Preoperative chemotherapy can also serve as an in vivo testing of chemotherapy sensitivity. Additionally, a pathologic complete response is usually a surrogate marker of disease-free survival. Following the successful use of trastuzumab in the metastatic and adjuvant settings, many clinical trials have recently reported the successful use of anti-HER2 therapy in combination with different chemotherapy regimens in the neoadjuvant setting with a significantly higher pathologic complete response. With the recent introduction of new anti-HER2 drugs, interest has shifted toward dual HER2 blockade. Two such studies were recently reported, both showing a significant advantage of dual anti-HER2 therapy using lapatinib or pertuzumab in addition to trastuzumab and chemotherapy. However, several key questions need to be investigated further, such as the preferred combination chemotherapy and the optimal duration of trastuzumab in patients who achieve a pathologic complete response following preoperative chemotherapy with trastuzumab. These issues and others are discussed in this review.Keywords: neoadjuvant, breast cancer, trastuzumab, pertuzumab, lapatini
Dealing with thrombocytopenia during anticoagulation with heparins for active venous thromboembolism: a play-it-safe practical approach
No full textHikmat Abdel-Razeq, Yousef IsmaelSection of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanPurpose: Thrombocytopenia is not uncommonly encountered following active anticoagulation of thromboembolism with unfractionated or even low-molecular-weight heparins. In this report, and utilizing a case study, we will address issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in a community-based clinical practice.Methods: The case of a 73-year-old female patient who was recently diagnosed with gastroesophageal junction cancer and who developed left lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) while on active chemotherapy is presented. Following the initiation of anticoagulation, a significant drop in platelet counts was noted and a clinical diagnosis of HIT was made. Articles published in English addressing issues related to anticoagulation and thrombocytopenia were accessed from PubMed and are discussed.Results: HIT is not uncommon, but its diagnosis can occasionally be difficult to confirm. Alternative anticoagulants might not be available for immediate use and many require special expertise for appropriate use. Fondaparinux, a synthetic pentasaccharide, is approved for active anticoagulation of DVT and pulmonary embolism and can be given once daily subcutaneously at a fixed dose with no need for monitoring. Many recent reports described the successful use of this agent in the treatment of HIT.Conclusion: HIT can be difficult to diagnose; diagnostic tests are generally not available in most hospitals and the available ones lack the sensitivity and specificity needed to confirm such diagnosis. Additionally, the alternative anticoagulants are not widely available. In such circumstances, fondaparinux can be used as an alternative anticoagulant.Keywords: anticoagulation, thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, heparin-induced thrombocytopeni
Data for: Financial liquidity, geopolitics, and oil prices
No full textThis package contains the data as well as links to the Matlab files needed to compute the statistics and results in the empirical section of H. Abdel-Latif and M. El-Gamal, "Financial liquidity, geopolitics, and oil prices”https://ssrn.com/abstract=309578
Qarounispora Nourel-Din, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab 2022, gen. nov.
No full textQarounispora Nourel-Din, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab, gen. nov. MycoBank number: MB 841141 Etymology:— Named after the Qaroun Lake. Ascomata perithecial, ostiolate, papillate, partly immersed or superficial, globose to subglobose, yellow to orangebrown in color, membranous. Neck cylindrical to conical, hyaline to yellow, periphysate. Peridium membranous, onelayered, forming textura angularis. Catenophyses present, developing from the pseudoparenchyma of the centrum. Asci unitunicate, thin-walled, without an apical apparatus, developing at the base of the ascomatal venter, eight-spored, semi-persistent, clavate or broadly ellipsoidal. Ascospores hyaline to yellow-orange in color, one-septate, thick-walled, distoseptate, ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoidal, with one polar appendage. Type species:— Qarounispora grandiappendiculata Nourel-Din, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab. Notes:— There are five genera in the Halosphaeiaceae that possess one polar appendage to the ascospores: Moana Kohlm. & Volkm. -Kohlm., Oceanitis Kohlm., Okeanomyces K.L. Pang & E.B.G. Jones, Ophiodeira Kohlm. & Volkm. -Kohlm. and Tirispora E.B.G. Jones & Vrijmoed. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal multigenes placed Qarounispora in a phylogenetically distant clade from these five genera. The new genus grouped with species of Nimbospora (Figure 1). However, both genera are morphologically different. The ascospores of Nimbospora have two type of appendages: enlarged sheath surrounding the ascospores and fibrillar equatorial appendages. Moana turbinulata Kohlm. & Volkm-Kohlm. differs from Qarounispora grandiappendiculata by having thin-walled, unicellular ascospores with a turban-like appendage which uncoils in seawater to produce a long ribbon (Kohlmeyer & Volkmann-Kohlmeyer 1989). Oceanitis differs from Qarounispora by having long and fusiform, hyaline, multi-septate ascospores, with uncoiling appendages at one or both poles (Shearer & Crane 1980, Dupont et al. 2009). Okeanomyces differs from Qarounispora by having brown to black ascomata, early deliquescing asci and cylindrical, thin-walled, hyaline ascospores with a cap-like, subglobose, terminal, deciduous appendage at one end (Kohlmeyer & Kohlmeyer 1979, Pang et al. 2004). Ophiodeira differs from Qarounispora by having dark-brown ascomata that is immersed under a thin black stroma and the nature of the ascospore appendage that is cap-like, attached to the apex and side of the ascospore, at first stiff and homogenous, in water becoming soft and banner-like, eventually transforming into a coil of delicate fibers that uncoil and form long, sticky filaments (Kohlmeyer & Volkmann-Kohlmeyer 1988). Tirispora differs from Qarounispora by having dark-brown ascomata, asci with a ring and apical plate, and the nature of the appendage that is initially adpressed to spore wall but unfurls to form a long filamentous thread (Jones et al. 1994). Halosarpheia japonica Abdel-Wahab & Nagahama has one polar appendage that consists of amorphous material enclosed in cellular sheath that dissolves in water and the appendage swell to form huge tree-like appendage that is similar in its nature and shape to the appendages of Qarounispora grandiappendiculata. However, H. japonica differs from Qarounispora grandiappendiculata by having brown to black, large ascomata with thick peridium with unicellular ascospores. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the ribosomal genes placed H. japonica in the Halosarpheia sensu stricto (Abdel-Wahab & Nagahama 2012).Published as part of Nourel-Din, Ali A. H., Abdel-Aziz, Faten A. & Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed A., 2022, Qarounispora grandiappendiculata gen. et sp. nov. (Halosphaeriaceae, Microascales) from Qaroun Lake, Egypt, pp. 86-94 in Phytotaxa 530 (1) on page 91, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.530.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/582397
Treatment challenges for community oncologists treating postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer
No full textHikmat Abdel-RazeqDepartment of Internal Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanI read with great interest the review written elegantly by Gradishar addressing the challenges that community oncologists face in treating postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer in your journal.1As the author correctly stated, resistance to endocrine therapy in women with hormone receptor-positive disease is very frequent and almost inevitable.Understanding the multiple known mechanisms for endocrine resistance has helped physicians and researchers target these pathways.2 Many of the recently introduced drugs, such as the mTOR inhibitor everolimus3 and the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK 4/6) inhibitor palbociclib,4 are in clinical practice and have been already incorporated in international guidelines.5View original paper by Gradishar
Qarounispora grandiappendiculata Nourel-Din, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab 2022, sp. nov.
No full textQarounispora grandiappendiculata Nourel-Din, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab, sp. nov. (Figure 2) MycoBank number: MB 841142 Etymology:— In reference to the large-sized polar appendage to the ascospore. Type:— EGYPT. El-Faiyum governorate: Qaroun Lake, on decaying submerged wood, 29° 29′ 00″ N 30° 49′ 09″ E, 20 November 2018, Coll. A. A. H. Nourel-Din (SUMCC H-17009, holotype). Ascomata 125–200 μm in diameter (x = 166.5 μm, n = 7), perithecial, ostiolate, papillate, superficial or partly immersed, globose to subglobose, yellow to orange-brown in color, membranous. Neck 50–90 μm long, 45–60 μm diam., cylindrical to conical, hyaline to yellow-orange, periphysate, ascospores ooze from the ostiolar canal forming spore mass that is bright yellow-orange in color. Peridium 12.3–22.8 μm thick, membranous, one-layered, yellow to orange-brown in color, forming textura angularis. Catenophyses present. Asci 65–115 × 30–45 μm (x = 86 × 38 μm, n = 6), unitunicate, thin-walled, without an apical apparatus, eight-spored, developing at the base of the ascomatal venter, semi-persistent, clavate or broadly ellipsoidal. Ascospores 18–40 × 13–18 μm (x = 27 × 14 μm, n = 50), hyaline to yellow-orange in color, thick-walled, distoseptate, one septate, not constricted at the septum, ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoidal. Appendages present, one polar appendage coiled inside a globose sheath connected with the ascospore by a hyaline rib and the appendage swell in water to form irregular amorphous large structure 20.3–59 × 14–24.2 μm. Notes:— Qarounispora grandiappendiculata is characterized by having yellow to orange, superficial or partly immersed, membranous ascomata, one layered peridial wall, semi-persistent asci, one-septate, thick-walled, distoseptate, hyaline to yellow-orange, broadly ellipsoidal ascospores with amorphous, large and irregular one polar appendage.Published as part of Nourel-Din, Ali A. H., Abdel-Aziz, Faten A. & Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed A., 2022, Qarounispora grandiappendiculata gen. et sp. nov. (Halosphaeriaceae, Microascales) from Qaroun Lake, Egypt, pp. 86-94 in Phytotaxa 530 (1) on pages 91-92, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.530.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/582397
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists during chemotherapy for ovarian function and fertility preservation for patients with early-stage breast cancer
No full textHikmat Abdel-RazeqDepartment of Internal Medicine, Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology, King Hussein Cancer Center and School of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, JordanAbstract: Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women worldwide. Many patients, especially in our region, are affected while young and during their child-bearing years. Chemotherapy, more commonly used in this age group, may result in premature ovarian failure and thus negatively impact their fertility. Several fertility-preservation methods are currently in use in this age group. Unfertilized ova cryopreservation and in vitro fertilization plus embryo cryopreservation are widely used in clinical practice. More recently, ovarian tissue cryopreservation is gaining in popularity. Several clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown that premenopausal women who received ovarian function suppression with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists while on chemotherapy were less likely to experience ovarian failure and had higher rates of menses resumption compared to those who did not. Some studies have also shown higher rates of successful pregnancies among treated patients. Given the conflicting results of the reported clinical trials and even the many published meta-analyses, this approach continues to be controversial and should only be used when other established fertility preservation methods cannot be utilized. The current review seeks to provide an updated summary on this controversial topic by reviewing all recently published clinical trials and meta-analyses.Keywords: fertility preservation, breast cancer, pregnancy, premenopausal patients, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, premature ovarian failur
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