Assia Konsoulova

Dr. Assia Konsoulova

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

13Years (2014-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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4 August 2015 in European Journal of Cancer Care
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
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DSDan Stark
Dan Stark
SBS. Bielack
S. Bielack
LBL. Brugieres
L. Brugieres
UDU. Dirksen
U. Dirksen
XDX. Duarte
X. Duarte
AFAndrea Ferrari
Andrea Ferrari
Over 14 000 patients aged 15–24 are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer in the European Union (EU) each year. Teenagers and young adults (TYA) often fall down gaps between children's and adults cancer services. The specific challenges of providing optimal care to them are described, but we present a summary of recent progress. Progress to overcome these challenges is happening at different rates across Europe. We summarise the European national projects in this field but more recently we have seen the beginnings of European coordination. Within the EU 7th Funding Programme (FP7) European Network for Cancer Research in Children and Adolescents programme (ENCCA), a specific European Network for Teenagers and Young Adults with Cancer has held a series of scientific meetings, including professionals, patients and caregivers. This group has proposed unanswered research questions and agreed key features of a high‐quality service that can improve outcomes for TYA with cancer, including the primacy of collaboration between adult and paediatric services to eliminate the gap in the management of TYA with cancer.

23 March 2014 in European Respiratory Journal
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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TBTorsten G. Blum
Torsten G. Blum
ARAnna Rich
Anna Rich
DBDavid Baldwin
David Baldwin
PBPaul Beckett
Paul Beckett
DRDirk De Ruysscher
Dirk De Ruysscher
JSJean-Paul Sculier
Jean-Paul Sculier
Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer-related death worldwide and poses a significant respiratory disease burden. Little is known about the provision of lung cancer care across Europe. The overall aim of the Task Force was to investigate current practice in lung cancer care across Europe.The Task Force undertook four projects: 1) a narrative literature search on quality management of lung cancer; 2) a survey of national and local infrastructure for lung cancer care in Europe; 3) a benchmarking project on the quality of (inter)national lung cancer guidelines in Europe; and 4) a feasibility study of prospective data collection in a pan-European setting.There is little peer-reviewed literature on quality management in lung cancer care. The survey revealed important differences in the infrastructure of lung cancer care in Europe. The European guidelines that were assessed displayed wide variation in content and scope, as well as methodological quality but at the same time there was relevant duplication. The feasibility study demonstrated that it is, in principle, feasible to collect prospective demographic and clinical data on patients with lung cancer. Legal obligations vary among countries.The European Initiative for Quality Management in Lung Cancer Care has provided the first comprehensive snapshot of lung cancer care in Europe.

1 January 2015 in BioScience Trends
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
NCNikolay Conev
Nikolay Conev
IDIvan S. Donev
Ivan S. Donev
AKAssia Konsoulova
Assia Konsoulova
TCTrifon G. Chervenkov
Trifon G. Chervenkov
JKJavor K. Kashlov
Javor K. Kashlov
KIKrasimir D. Ivanov
Krasimir D. Ivanov
The present study examined whether miR-17, miR-21, miR-29a, and miR-92 that are dysregulated in colon cancer (CC) can serve as potential predictive markers for relapse of disease after radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Real-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression levels of the miRNAs in serum samples from 37 patients with CC and 7 healthy individuals, tested as a control group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was then used to evaluate the predictive performance of the four miRNAs alone or in combination and compare it with carcinoembryonic antigen. The expression of miR-17, miR-21 and miR-92 were significantly higher in serum of patients with disease relapse. The AUCs for miR-17, miR-21, miR-92 for Nx patients were 0.844, 0.948, and 0.935, respectively (p < 0.05). Combining the four miRNAs for stage III patients increased the diagnostic performance, yielding an AUC of 0.881, with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 85.7% (p < 0.05). Our study suggests that the expression levels of serum miR-21, miR-17, and miR-92 in patients with CC who underwent radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy may have diagnostic value for differentiating between recurred and non-recurred patients.

25 October 2018 in European Respiratory Journal
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Journal Article
Open access
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ARAnna L. Rich
Anna L. Rich
DBDavid R. Baldwin
David R. Baldwin
PBPaul Beckett
Paul Beckett
TBThierry Berghmans
Thierry Berghmans
JBJeanette Boyd
Jeanette Boyd
TBTorsten Gerriet Blum
Torsten Gerriet Blum
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) task force for harmonised standards for lung cancer registration and lung cancer services in Europe recognised the need to create a single dataset for use in pan-European data collection and a manual of standards for European lung cancer services.The multidisciplinary task force considered evidence from two different sources, reviewing existing national and international datasets alongside the results of a survey of clinical data collection on lung cancer in 35 European countries. A similar process was followed for the manual of lung cancer services, with the task force using existing guidelines and national or international recommendations for lung cancer services to develop a manual of standards for services in Europe.The task force developed essential and minimum datasets for lung cancer registration to enable all countries to collect the same essential data and some to collect data with greater detail. The task force also developed a manual specifying standards for lung cancer services in Europe.Despite the wide variation in the sociopolitical landscape across Europe, the ERS is determined to encourage the delivery of high-quality lung cancer care. Both the manual of lung cancer services and the minimum dataset for lung cancer registration will support this aspiration.

24 July 2023 in Tumori Journal
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
ISIvana Bozovic Spasojevic
Ivana Bozovic Spasojevic
AFAndrea Ferrari
Andrea Ferrari
JMJohan De Munter
Johan De Munter
AGAshley Gamble
Ashley Gamble
AKAssia Konsoulova
Assia Konsoulova
DSDaniel P Stark
Daniel P Stark
Background: It is well documented that traditional health care models do not meet the specific needs of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) cancer patients. Methods: We explore a map of the development of age-specific AYA cancer care across Europe, from the perspective of healthcare professionals with an interest in AYA care, in order to understand the specific challenges and map progress over time. An on-line survey was developed by international professional cancer organisations. Results: We had 377 respondents from 60 countries. The majority of respondents were physicians 298 (79%), a minority of survey respondents (39, 10.4%) work exclusively with AYA patients, most respondents declared substantial and routine clinical service collaborations to provide care and treatment to AYA with cancer. Policy for the multidisciplinary management of AYA cancer patients commonly appears in Europe now, and was reported by 234 (78.52%) respondents. Specific professional training for AYA cancer care is not uniformly available. Conclusion: There is considerable opportunity for many organisations to work together in raising the profile of AYA cancer related issues, in providing education and in encouraging research and collaboration.

9 December 2019 in Medicina
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
angel yordanovangel yordanov
angel yordanov
MKMartin Karamanliev
Martin Karamanliev
MKMilena Dimitrova Karcheva
Milena Dimitrova Karcheva
AKAssia Konsoulova
Assia Konsoulova
MVMariela Vasileva-Slaveva
Mariela Vasileva-Slaveva
SSStrahil Strashilov
Strahil Strashilov
Background and objectives: Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) is a histological type of malignant tumor arising from the uncontrolled mitosis of transformed cells originating in epithelial tissue. It is a rare subtype of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. There are significant differences in frequency, mean age, viral status, and outcomes in Asian or Caucasian patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of all cases of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the cervix at the Clinic of Oncogynecology, University Hospital, Pleven, Bulgaria between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2016 was performed. All patients were followed-up till March 2019. We analyzed some clinical characteristics of the patients, calculated the frequency of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the cervix from all patients with stage I cervical cancer, and looked at the overall survival rate, the 5-year survival rate, and the correlation between overall survival, lymph node status, and the size of the tumor. Results: The frequency of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma was 3.3% for all cases with cervical carcinoma at stage I. The mean age of the patients with LELC was 49.6 years (range 32–67). Fourteen patients (82.4%) were in the FIGO IB1 stage, three patients (17.6%) were in the FIGO IB2 stage. Lymph nodes were metastatic in three patients (17.6%), non-metastatic in 13 patients (76.5%), and unknown in one patient. The overall survival rate was 76.47% for the study period and the 5-year survival rate of the patients that were followed-up until the 5th year (14 patients) was 69.23%. Conclusions: Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma is a rare SCC subtype, but it could be more frequent among western patients than previously thought. Our results do not confirm the data showing low risk of lymph metastasis and good prognosis of LELC, which is why we think that the treatment in these cases has to be more aggressive than is reported in the literature.