Epidemiology of breast cancer in women based on diagnosis data from oncologists and senologists in Algeria.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is a major health issue threatening women's life. No reliable epidemiological data on BC diagnosed by oncologists/senologists are available in Algeria. METHODS: The BreCaReAl study, a non-interventional prospective cohort study, included adult women with confirmed BC in Algeria. Disease incidence, patients and disease characteristics, treatment patterns, and mortality rate were recorded up to 12 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Overall, 1,437 patients were analysed: median age was 48 [41;57] years and 337 (23.5%) women had a family history of BC. BC incidence was 22.3 (95% CI: 21.5; 23.2) cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 8 months. Delayed diagnosis was reported in 400 (29.2%) patients. First line of treatments were mainly chemotherapy and surgery. Twenty-eight serious adverse events were reported including 10 (37.0%) events which led to death. Mortality rate reached 3.2% at 12 months CONCLUSION: A delayed diagnosis highlights the importance of implementing more effective screening strategies.

Motivation for organ donation among college students in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The majority of the patients presently waiting for an organ are waiting for a kidney. Living kidney donation by about 0.1% of the adult population of a nation may completely eliminate kidney shortage. We investigated the concerns of college students toward charitable and compensated organ donation. METHODS: A 40-question survey was conducted. The respondents were students of the Biology Department of Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah, United States. The data were tabulated and analyzed. Tests of association among potentially linked attributes and the difference between two independent proportions were performed at the 0.05 level of significance and P-values were also calculated using XLSTAT software. RESULTS: The participants (n = 321) were 47% male, 53% female, 89% Caucasian, and 93% healthy, and 7% of the respondents had some health conditions. Of the respondents, 55% were ages 18 to 25 and 40% were ages 26 to 50 years; 43% were unmarried or single, 57% were married, and 85% had health insurance. About 65% of the respondents lived in small cities and the rest lived in large cities (23%) or the countryside (9%). There was no significant association between gender, level of education, location of living, and household income in relation to belief in organ donation with or without compensation, except that males favored compensated organ donation over females (P = .004). Rumors on organ theft and extraction of organ from questionable brain-dead patients had not negatively affected the decision of participants on being listed as organ donors in their driver's license (P = .0001). Those who considered organ donation ethically acceptable also believed that a person has the right to sale a kidney (P = .015) and the donor party should be somehow compensated (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: A large percentage of college students supports compensated organ donation and considers that compensation will increase organ donation.