The high incidence and recurrence rate of breast cancer has influenced multiple strategies such as early detection with imaging, chemoprevention and surgical interventions that serve as preventive measures for women at high risk. Prophylactic mastectomy is one of the growing strategies of breast cancer risk reduction that is of a special importance for breast cancer gene mutation carriers. Women with personal history of cancerous breast lesions may consider ipsilateral or contralateral mastectomy as well. Existing data showed that mastectomy effectively reduces breast cancer risk. However, careful risk estimation is necessary to wisely select individuals who will benefit from preventing breast cancer.

Context: According to the Saudi Cancer Registry's 2014 Cancer Incidence Report, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the leading form of malignant cancer among Saudi men and ranks third among women. Raising awareness about CRC risk factors could lead to a significant decline in incidence of disease. Aims: To assess CRC awareness and evaluate the main barriers that might prevent individuals' participation in screening. Settings and Design: A self-administered survey was conducted over two days as part of a CRC awareness campaign in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in March, 2018. Methods and Materials: The survey addressed issues regarding knowledge of CRC and available screening methods. The survey also examined barriers that might make one reluctant to undergo preventative screening. Stata/SE 15.0 was used for all statistical analyses. Statistical Analyses: Continuous variables were described with frequencies and percentages. Stepwise linear regression models were constructed to predict CRC knowledge and barriers. Results: Out of 422 participants, 50.2% were men. Most respondents were between 15–35 years old (65.8%). Multivariate analysis revealed that gender was a significant predictor of CRC knowledge. Furthermore, the variables of education and family history of CRC significantly predicted subjects' awareness of colonoscopic screenings. The most common barriers for seeking screening included fear of the procedure, absence of clinical symptoms, and fear of the results. Conclusions: Our results highlight deficits in public CRC knowledge and their awareness of preventative measures. These shortcomings were found to be mainly related to education level. Specific barriers affecting screening decisions were also identified; intensive efforts on awareness to overcome these obstacles will be required.

Advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a deadly disease and is considered incurable. For the past two decades, gemcitabine remained the major chemotherapeutic drug with modest clinical benefit. Many chemotherapy and targeted agents were combined with gemcitabine but failed to demonstrate improvement in pancreatic cancer (PC) survival. Taxanes (paclitaxel, docetaxel) were introduced in the clinic as anti-microtubule agents and showed activity against PC cells in vitro; however, clinical efficacy was limited. Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) is an albumin-bound paclitaxel that has shown clinical activity in advanced breast and lung cancer. Recently, nab-paclitaxel was tested in a large Phase III clinical trial in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced PC. The data showed that the addition of nab-paclitaxel improved the response rate (7% in gemcitabine alone versus 23% in combination), progression-free survival (from 3.7 months to 5.5 months), and overall survival from 6.7 months to 8.5 months, compared to single agent gemcitabine. Through this review, we provide the preclinical and clinical progress in the development of nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of metastatic PC.

Background The global incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) has increased significantly over the past decades. In Saudi Arabia, it is the third most common cancer among adults. This study aims to review the clinical and histopathological characteristics of TC in Saudi Arabia and analyze the size trend over the years. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of all differentiated and poorly differentiated TC patients following up at a tertiary care center in the Western region of Saudi Arabia. All patients 11 years and older, diagnosed between 2004 - 2018, and with sufficient histopathological data were included. Follicular and poorly differentiated TC were categorized and tumor stage was allocated. We performed descriptive and size trend analysis. Results We had a total of 285 patients who qualified for inclusion. The mean age at diagnosis was 40.6 years, and 81.05% of patients were females. Papillary TC comprised 88.07% of these neoplasms, and most patients (89.12%) were at Stage I. Only papillary TC showed a gender difference in the age of the diagnosis. In men, the mean age at diagnosis of papillary TC was 46.98 ± 15.4 years, while in female patients, it was 39.02 ± 12.8 years (p-value = 0.0001). We did not find a trend toward smaller tumours in the more recent years in comparison to the early years (r = -0.083, p-value = 0.168). Conclusions TC is diagnosed at a younger age and larger sizes in Saudi Arabia in comparison to other countries. A gender difference was only noted with papillary TC in regard to the age of diagnosis. There was no trend toward smaller sizes of TC over the years.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor in the development of head and neck cancers (HNCs), with varying prevalence and impact. This study aims to systematically review and analyze the prevalence of HPV in HNCs in India, providing insights into regional variations. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was carried out using PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science up to November 10, 2023. Inclusion criteria focused on original research reporting HPV-positive cases among HNC patients in India. We used Nested-Knowledge software, for screening, and data extraction. The modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used for quality assessment of included studies. We pooled the prevalence of HPV among HNC patients and performed a random-effects model meta-analysis using R software (version 4.3). Results: The search yielded 33 studies, encompassing 4654 HNC patients. The pooled prevalence of HPV infection was found to be 33% (95% CI: 25.8–42.6), with notable heterogeneity (I² = 95%). Analysis of subgroups according to geographical location indicated varying prevalence rates. Specifically, the prevalence was 47% (95% CI: 32.2–62.4) in the eastern regions and 19.8% (95% CI: 10.8–33.4) in the western regions. No evidence of publication bias was detected. Conclusion: The observed considerable regional disparities on the prevalence of HPV in HNC patients in India emphasizes the need for integrated HPV vaccination and screening programs in public health strategies. The findings underline the necessity for further research to explore regional variations and treatment responses in HPV-associated HNCs, considering the impact of factors such as tobacco use and the potential benefits of HPV vaccination.