Analyzing the cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios and health expenditures in the aging population: a 20-year comparative study across high-income countries

BackgroundThe global burden of cancer is expected to increase by 60% over the next two decades, largely due to population aging. The study aims to examine the association between cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIR) with healthcare expenditures (HE), and human development index score for individuals 70 years old or older.MethodThis is an epidemiological study using publicly available data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) for six over the years 1990–2019. A generalized linear model was employed to examine the association between MIR, and health expenditures and health development index score.ResultsIncluded countries showed a statistically significant negative association between MIR and both HE, and HE, indicating that higher HDI and HE are associated with decreased MIR with the highest decrease was for China, the coefficient for HDI is −1.29 (95% CI: –1.35 to −1.24, p < 0.0001), the coefficient for HE is −0.103 (95% CI: –0.17 to −0.03, p < 0.0001). There are variations exist in MIRs between high and low health expenditure countries for each cancer type.ConclusionThe study reveals a significant impact of HE and HDI on cancer outcomes in older adults. Variations between high and low HE nations highlight potentially improved cancer outcomes in high HE countries. Considering the anticipated growth in the aging population worldwide, a rise in cancer cases is expected among older individuals. The implications are profound, suggesting an impending strain on healthcare systems, particularly in nations with a high proportion of elderly and low health expenditures

Public awareness and understanding of stem cell treatments available in Saudi Arabia and their trust in hospitals and research centers involved in stem cell research—a cross sectional study

IntroductionAlthough stem cell research and therapeutic applications hold great promise for medical advancements, and have rapidly progressed globally, there remains a lack of genuine public awareness of the status of this subject in Saudi Arabia. Successful integration of stem cell therapy into healthcare relies on public awareness, understanding, and trust. Therefore, we aimed in this cross-sectional study to assess the public’s knowledge, awareness, trust, support, participation, and confidence in stem cell treatments and centers involved in it.Materials and methodsA voluntary questionnaire of 20 questions was distributed randomly via social media outlets.ResultsThree thousand five hundred eighty four individuals participated in the survey, with approximately half of them falling within the age range of 35–50 years (46.71%). Majority of the participants, 90.71%, would like to know more about stem cell therapy and more than half of the participants (56.94%) were unfamiliar with the idea, and a comparable proportion (50.41%) expressed concerns about the safety of stem cell therapy. A lower level of awareness, indicated by a score of 5, was evenly distributed across all age groups and genders. However, regardless of gender, older participants—especially those 50 years of age or older—tended to report higher levels of confidence, trust, and support than participants in other age groups. Moreover, trust, support, participation, and confidence score for those attained high school or less was statistically significantly lower than those attained master’s or PhD degree. Of the participants, 33.57% had either received stem cell therapy themselves or known someone who had; about 24.07% of them reported that it was a cosmetic type of treatment.ConclusionThe study emphasizes the persistent need for awareness and educational initiatives to minimize the lack of public awareness and understanding of approved stem cell treatments in Saudi Arabia. It advocates for increased education, transparency, and communication to bridge knowledge gaps and enhance public trust to ensure the understanding of successful treatment

Living with the enemy: from protein-misfolding pathologies we know, to those we want to know

Conformational diseases are caused by the aggregation of misfolded proteins. The risk for such pathologies develops years before clinical symptoms appear, and is higher in people with alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) polymorphisms. Thousands of people with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) are underdiagnosed. Enemyaggregating proteins may reside in these underdiagnosed AATD patients for many years before a pathology for AATD fully develops. In this perspective review, we hypothesize that the AAT protein could exert a new and previously unconsidered biological effect as an endogenous metal ion chelator that plays a significant role in essential metal ion homeostasis. In this respect, AAT polymorphism may cause an imbalance of metal ions, which could be correlated with the aggregation of amylin, tau, amyloid beta, and alpha synuclein proteins in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, respectively

NuMA Overexpression in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Highly aneuploid tumours are common in epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC). We investigated whether NuMA expression was associated with this phenomenon

Expression analysis of the MCPH1/BRIT1 and BRCA1 tumor suppressor genes and telomerase splice variants in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Aims The aim of this study was to explore the correlation of hTERT splice variant expression with MCPH1/BRIT1 and BRCA1 expression in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) samples. Background Telomerase activation can contribute to the progression of tumors and the development of cancer. However, the regulation of telomerase activity remains unclear. MCPH1 (also known as BRIT1, BRCT-repeat inhibitor of hTERT expression) and BRCA1 are tumor suppressor genes that have been linked to telomerase expression. Methods qPCR was used to investigate telomerase splice variants, MCPH1/BRIT1 and BRCA1 expression in EOC tissue and primary cultures. Results The wild type α+/β+ hTERT variant was the most common splice variant in the EOC samples, followed by α+/β− hTERT, a dominant negative regulator of telomerase activity. EOC samples expressing high total hTERT demonstrated significantly lower MCPH1/BRIT1 expression in both tissue (p = 0.05) and primary cultures (p = 0.03). We identified a negative correlation between MCPH1/BRIT1 and α+/β+ hTERT (p = 0.04), and a strong positive association between MCPH1/BRIT1 and both α−/β+ hTERT and α−/β− hTERT (both p = 0.02). A positive association was observed between BRCA1 and α−/β+ hTERT and α−/β− hTERT expression (p = 0.003 and p = 0.04, respectively). Conclusions These findings support a regulatory effect of MCPH1/BRIT1 and BRCA1 on telomerase activity, particularly the negative association between MCPH1/BRIT1 and the functional form of hTERT (α+/β+)

Cross-Country Comparison of Bans on Internet Tobacco Advertising, and Search Interest in Vaping Products

Background: The rise in vaping use across high-income countries is driven partly by marketing, advertising, and flavors promoted by e-cigarette producer firms. The current study aim is to examine the potential variation in the relative research volume on vaping products between countries with highest level of tobacco banning internet advertising and those with no ban on tobacco internet advertising. Method: We used weekly relative search volume (RSV) data produced by Google Trends (GT). A total of eight countries included in the study, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. The countries were regrouped into ban in internet advertising countries, and the no bans in internet advertising countries. Results: The trend test indicates a statistically significant upward trend in GT vaping search volume across all the included countries. However, the percentage increase of search volume for the ads no ban group was higher than ban group. There is a statistically significant difference in median between the two group, ( P < 0.0007), (median, 6.25 [IQR, 0.103] for the ban in internet advertising countries vs (median 7.5 Interquartile Ranges (IQR), [0.542] for the no bans on internet advertising countries. Conclusion: Countries with stringent bans on online tobacco advertising have shown lower levels of vaping-related search interest, indicating the potential effectiveness of such regulations. Our research underscores the importance of emphasizing comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and sales online could help mitigate the upward trend in vaping interest

Protective potential of mesenchymal stem cells against COVID-19 during pregnancy

SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. COVID-19 has led to severe clinical illnesses and an unprecedented death toll. The virus induces immune inflammatory responses specifically cytokine storm in lungs. Several published reports indicated that pregnant females are less likely to develop severe symptoms compared with non-pregnant. Putative protective role of maternal blood circulating fetal mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has emerged and have been put forward as an explanation to alleviated symptoms. MSCs with immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral roles, hold great potential for the treatment of COVID-19. MSCs could be an alternative to treat infections resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 and potential future outbreaks. This review focuses on the MSCs putative protective roles against COVID-19 in pregnant females

Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Google Trends Analysis

Background: Breast cancer awareness month (BCAM) strategy has been established in Saudi Arabia to promote national knowledge about Breast Cancer, as the Saudi Cancer Registry annual reports reported that breast cancer has ranked first among other cancerous diseases in women. Early detection and the treatment in the early stages of the disease will increase the survival rate of breast cancer patients. Many detection techniques have been used for breast cancer. The objectives of this study are to investigate the popular pattern in seeking screening information of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia using Google Trends. Methods: Data from January 2012 to December 2022 were analyzed for "breast cancer" and "Mammogram" searches. A difference-in-differences design compared pre- and post-COVID-19 search volumes. Ethical approval was obtained, and statistical analysis was conducted using SAS. Results: Over a decade, interest in breast cancer and mammograms in Saudi Arabia increased steadily. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decline in both searches. Breast cancer searches decreased notably post-pandemic (p = 0.007), while mammogram searches declined but not significantly (p = 0.31). Regional disparities in search volumes were observed. Conclusion: Several awareness campaigns especially in the country sides are essential to help increase public awareness and interest

An Infodemic of Misinformation on Stem Cell Therapy Among the Population of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

In recent years, the industry of unproven stem cell-based therapies has been on the rise around the globe, putting patients at great risk of potential harm. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of the general public, including patients and/or their relatives, in Saudi Arabia on stem cell therapy and to assess the degree of willingness to try stem cell-based treatment options, should it be offered to them.MethodsA voluntary questionnaire of 16 questions was distributed randomly through social media outlets.ResultsIn the survey of this study, 2,030 individuals participated. A total of 1,292 (63.6%) stated that they would accept stem cell therapy or would recommend it to their friends and relatives. Alarmingly, 72.1% of participants were unaware that using unapproved stem cell-based treatments may lead to serious health complications including cancer. More than 20% believed that stem cell therapy is already approved for organ/tissue regeneration. Worryingly, 60.6% of the physicians and 56.4% of the medical students stated that they would recommend stem cell treatment for their patients.ConclusionsThere is a concerning spread of misinformation among the Saudi population, including physicians, regarding stem cell therapy. This calls for a targeted effort to raise awareness about the current status of stem cell treatment in the general public and among health care practitioners.</jats:sec

Variation of ASPM nuclear and cytoplasmic staining in validation set EOC tissue samples.

<p>A and B. TMA core with low nuclear and cytoplasmic ASPM expression. C and D. TMA core with high nuclear and cytoplasmic ASPM expression. White arrow indicates nuclear stain, black arrow indicates cytoplasmic stain. A and C are 6.2x and B, D are 20x magnification respectively.</p