• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4281-4284
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• 2012

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in children, responsible for a high rate of amputation and death. This is the first long-term, population-based, epidemiologic and survival study in Thailand. Objective: To study the incidence and survival rates of pediatric osteosarcoma in Khon Kaen. Method: Childhood osteosarcoma cases (0-19 years) diagnosed between 1985-2010 were reviewed. The data were retrieved from the population-based data set of the Khon Kaen Cancer Registry and medical records from Srinagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University. All cases were censored until the end of April 2012. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) was calculated using the standard method. Survival experience was analyzed using the standard survival function (STATA 9.0) and presented with a Kaplan-Meier curve. Results: 58 cases were enrolled. The overall ASR was 14.1 per million. Males and females were equally affected. The peak incidence was for 15-19 year-olds in both sexes (ASR=10.4 per million in males and 8.5 in females). The 5-year overall survival rate was 27.6% (95% CI: 15.8-40.8%). The median survival time was 1.6 years (95% CI: 1.2-2.1). In a subgroup analysis, the patients who received only chemotherapy survived longer (5-year survival 45.7%, median survival time 4.1 years, p=0.12). Conclusion: The incidence rate for childhood osteosarcoma was slightly less than those reported for Western countries. The survival rate was also lower than reports from developed countries. Further evaluation of the treatment protocol and risk factor stratification is needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8499-8502
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• 2014

The incidence rate of breast cancer in developed countries is almost three-fold higher than in developing countries. Iran has had one of the lowest incidence rates for breast cancer in the world, but during the recent decades a marked increase has been seen. The purpose of this study was to investigate some established risk factors of breast cancer in Iranian women. A study of 11,850 women participating in abreast screening program was conducted. The 197 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 11,653 healthy women were compared. Logistic regression was performed to investigate associations of reproductive and anthropometric factors with breast cancer risk. Family history of breast cancer (OR=1.94, 95%CI=1.35-2.78), occupation (OR= 1.65,95%CI=1.20-2.25), education level (OR=0.50,95%CI=0.28-0.91), parity (OR=0.27, 95%CI=0.12-0.59), menopausal status (OR=3.15, 95%CI=2.35-4.21), age at menarche (OR=0.33, 95%CI=0.15-0.70), and age at the first pregnancy (OR=4.10, 95%CI=1.13-14.77) were related to the risk of breast cancer. Decrease in parity may to some extent explain the rising trend of incidence of breast cancer incidence in Iranian women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4459-4463
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• 2014

Background: Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and infection with H. pylori is considered essential for its development. Helicobacter pylori infects more than 50% of the world's population with higher prevalence in developing countries than developed countries. The prevalence of H. pylori varies in different societies and geographical locations. The objectives of this study were to estimate the seroprevalence and determine the risk factors of H. pylori infection in dyspeptic patents in Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 209 dyspeptic patients was carried out from February 15 to April 30, 2013. Five to ten ml venous blood was collected from each dyspeptic patient and analyzed for detection of Helicobacter pylori immunoglobulin (IgG). The socio-demographic characteristic, hygienic practices, alcohol consumption, sources of drinking water and types of latrine were also obtained with a pre-tested questionnaire. Results: The overall seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori was 72.2%. There was statistically significant difference in the prevalence of H. pylori among age groups (p=0.02). Seroprevalence of H. pylori was higher in those patients who used unprotected surface water (76.4%) than those with access to piped tap water (65.9%). There was also statistically significant differences in prevalence of H. pylori with the habit of hand washing before meal (p=0.01) and alcohol consumption (p=0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of H. pylori was high in the study area and increased with age of dyspeptic patients. Alcohol consumption and the type of drinking water are risk factors that have associations with the prevalence of H. pylori. Molecular epidemiological techniques can show a true picture of H. pylori and improvement in the drinking water quality is recommended.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4455-4457
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• 2013

In the new millennium people are facing serious challenges in health care, especially with increasing non-communicable diseases (NCD). One of the most common NCDs is cancer which is the leading cause of death in developed countries and in developing countries is the second cause of death after heart diseases. Cancer registry can make possible the analysis, comparison and development of national and international cancer strategies and planning. Information technology has a vital role in quality improvement and facility of cancer registries. With the use of IT, in addition to gaining general benefits such as monitoring rates of cancer incidence and identifying planning priorities we can also gain specific advantages such as collecting information for a lifetime, creating tele medical records, possibility of access to information by patient, patient empowerment, and decreasing medical errors. In spite of the powerful role of IT, we confront various challenges such as general problems, like privacy of the patient, and specific problems, including possibility of violating patients rights through misrepresentation, omission of human relationships, and decrease in face to face communication between doctors and patients. By implementing appropriate strategies, such as identifying authentication levels, controlling approaches, coding data, and considering technical and content standards, we can optimize the use of IT. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the need for identifying positive and negative effects of modern IT on cancer registry in general and specific aspects as an approach to cancer care management.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5917-5921
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• 2015

Background: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the entire world. Reported standardized incidence rates are 12.6, 61.7, 11.9 and 27.9 in Iran, developed countries, developing countries and the entire world, respectively. The present study investigated the relative risk of PC in Iran at the province level and also explored the impact of some factors by the use of Bayesian models. Materials and Methods: Our study population was all men with PC in Iran from 2005 to 2008. Considered risk factors were smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, obesity and human development index. We used empirical and full Bayesian models to study the relative risk in Iran at province level to estimate the risk of PC more accurately. Results: In Iran from 2005 to 2008 the total number of known PC cases was 10,361 with most cases found in Fars and Tehran and the least in Ilam. In all models just human development index was found to be significantly related to PC risk Conclusions: In the unadjusted model, Fars, Semnam, Isfahan and Tehran provinces have the highest and Sistan-and-Baluchestan has the least risk of PC. In general, central provinces have high risk. After adjusting for covariates, Fars and Zanjan provinces have the highest relative risk and Kerman, Northern Khorasan, Kohgiluyeh Boyer Ahmad, Ghazvin and Kermanshah have the lowest relative risk. According to the results, the incidence of PC in provinces with higher human development index is higher.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3541-3546
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• 2014

TEL-AML1 fusion oncogene (t 12; 21) is the most common chromosomal abnormality in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This translocation is associated with a good prognosis and rarely shows chemotherapeutic resistance to 3-drug based remission induction phase of treatment as well as overall treatment. Thus, the higher the frequency of this fusion oncogene, the easier to manage childhood ALL in a given region with less intensive chemotherapy. Although global frequency of TEL-AML1 has been reported to be 20-30%, a very low frequency has been found in some geographical regions, including one study from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan and others from India. The objective of present study was to investigate if this low frequency of TEL-AML1 in pediatric ALL is only in Lahore region or similar situation exists at other representative oncology centers of Pakistan. A total of 167 pediatric ALL patients were recruited from major pediatric oncology centers situated in Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Islamabad. Patients were tested for TEL-AML1 using nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Only 17 out of 167 (10.2%) patients were found to be TEL-AML1 positive. TEL-AML1+ALL patients had favorable prognosis, most of them (82.4%, 14/17) showing early remission and good overall survival. Thus, our findings indicate an overall low frequency of TEL-AML1 in Pakistan pediatric ALL patients, in accordance with lower representation of this prognostically important genetic abnormality in other less developed countries, specifically in south Asia, thus associating it with poor living standards in these ethnic groups. It also indicates ethnic and geographical differences in the distribution of this prognostically important genetic abnormality among childhood ALL patients, which may have a significant bearing on ALL management strategies in different parts of the world.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6189-6193
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• 2013

In December 2011, the Cancer Research Centre of the Cancer Institute of Iran sponsored a 3-day workshop on "Cancer Registration Principle and Challenges in Iran", which convened cancer registry experts. The objectives of the workshop were: to introduce standard cancer registration, to review the policy and procedure of cancer registration in Iran, and to review the best practices in the cancer registries in Iran. Challenges to cancer registration were discussed and recommendations were developed. The workshop was evaluated by participants for better organization of subsequent workshops. The objective of publication of this report is that based on Cancer in 5 Continents, many low- or middle-income countries do not meet the criteria for a standard population-based cancer registry (PBCR); on the other hand cancer is the most important cause of mortality and the essential part of any cancer control program is the cancer registry. Therefore this report focuses on problems and challenges of PBCR and provides recommendations which might help other developing countries to decrease their PBCR defects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.135-141
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• 2016

Since the mean age of breast cancer in women living in developing countries, compared with those in developed countries, is lower by about 10 years, repetition of mammography can play an important role in reducing morbidity and mortality. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between family history of breast cancer and risk perception and its impact on repetition of mammography. In this cross-sectional study, 1,507 women aged 50 years and older, referred to the mammography center of Regions 1 and 6 in Tehran, Iran, were enrolled. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS and LISREL. According to our findings, knowledge about the time interval of mammography was found to have the highest correlation with repetition of mammography (r=0.4). Among the demographic variables, marital status (${\beta}$= -0.1) and family history of breast cancer (${\beta}$=0.1) had the most direct and significant impact on repetition of mammography (P <0.05). Among the other variables studied, knowledge (${\beta}$=-0.5) had the highest direct and significant impact on repetition of mammography (P <0.05). Family history of breast cancer was one of the predictors of repetition of mammography, but the results did not prove any relationship with risk perception. Further studies are needed to assess the effect of risk perception and knowledge about time interval on the initiation and continuation of mammography.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2739-2742
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• 2013

Background: This survey aim was to evaluate the epidemiology and outcomes of neuroblastoma patients in one the most important children referral hospitals in Iran as a model from developing countries. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, non-randomized analytic study was conducted on 219 newly diagnosed neuroblastoma cases. Results: The age of patients ranged from 1-156 months with the average of $40.5{\pm}2.44$, with a male/female ratio of 1.9/1. Of the total, 172 (78.5%) were children and 47 (21.5%) were infants The adrenals were the most common primary site (60%). Stage 4 at diagnosis accounted for about 54% of all enrolled patients. Infants had significantly better cumulative survival ($85{\pm}8%$) than children ($33{\pm}7%$) during the follow up period and the survival rate improved from $33{\pm}7%$ in 1974-1994 to $58{\pm}9%$ in 1995-2005. Conclusions: This study indicates that our patient population with neuroblastomas tends to have more advanced disease, perhaps with poor biologic markers, but our analysis shows that the outcomes have improved over 32 years although the overall survival of Iranian neuroblastoma patients is still lower than developed countries. Late diagnosis, inability to determine risk group during the years of study and using single protocol for all enrolled patients can be the reasons of lower survival rate.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2015

Among public organizations, does variation in organizational structure explain variation in public managers' leadership styles (e.g., transformational and transactional leadership)? The study of leadership in public organizations is increasingly an area of scholarly interest partly sparked by movements to reform public organizations, particularly in the context of emergency management. There is, for example, a need for effective leadership that can help organizations respond to disasters (Kapucu et al. 2010; Van Wart and Kapucu 2011; Stern 2013). There are numerous documented cases where the lack of leadership skills has been linked to major social and economic losses as a result of poor disaster response (e.g., Hurricane Katrina in the U.S.). Yet, leadership is a complex concept and numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed to help explain it (Van Wart 2005). Practically speaking, the existence of different theories of leadership suggests that public managers can decide to exercise various styles of leadership. The style of leadership that a public manager exhibits matters because some styles are perceived to be more effective than others (Trottier et al. 2008). While the effects of leadership have been extensively studied, antecedents or predictors of leadership style have received little scholarly attention (Wright and Pandey 2009; Nielsen and Cleal 2011). The purpose of this research note then is to explore the potential causal relationship between the structure of an organization and the ability of a public manager to exercise transformational leadership in the context of emergency management in two Asian countries: South Korea and Japan. This research note consists of three main sections. The following section explores the relationship between leadership and organizational structure. The second section examines how certain concepts of leadership and organizational structure were applied in two case studies of disaster response. The final section presents some directions for future research.