Tongue carcinoma in an adult Down's syndrome patient: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer of the oral cavity is rare and unusual in Down's syndrome patient. The over all risk is similar to that in adult population.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>This case report describes a 27 years old male with Down's syndrome, non-smoker, who developed a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. The patient underwent a hemiglossectomy without neck dissection followed by a postoperative locoregional radiation therapy to a total tumor-bed dose of 56 Gy and 45 Gy to the neck. Three months later, the patient presented with local tongue recurrence and was treated by Docetaxel and Carboplatin chemotherapy with no significant response. The patient died one month later, 9 months after his initial diagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is the first case of tongue carcinoma arising in a patient with Down's syndrome. This unique case might not be sufficient to make a significant conclusion on the prognosis and survival of these patients but will increase the awareness about this possibility and will help in the appropriate management of Down's syndrome patients.</p

Analysis of the structural response of Beirut port concrete silos under blast loading

Several months after August 4, 2020, Lebanon is still recovering from the enormous explosion at the port of Beirut that killed more than 200 people and injured more than 7500. This explosion ripped the city to shreds and significantly damaged the Beirut port silos. Saint Joseph University of Beirut “the school of engineering ESIB” in collaboration with “Amann” Engineering performed a 3D scan of the Beirut port silos to assess the silos’ level of damage. The obtained data was then compared to the numerical modelling results, obtained from Abaqus explicit, in order to estimate the blast magnitude and to check if the pile foundation can be reused in building new silos at the same place due to the limited space available at the port of Beirut while considering the soil-foundation-structure interaction effect. In addition, the silos’ structural response against the filling of the silos at the time of explosion was investigated. The displacement of the silos and the amount of silos’ damage obtained from the fixed and flexible numerical models indicate that a blast magnitude of 0.44 kt TNT (approximately 1100 tons of Ammonium Nitrate) best estimates the 20 to 30 cm silos’ tilting in the direction of the blast. In addition, the soil and the foundation played a positive role by absorbing part while dissipating less amount of the blast energy. Also, the grains at the time of the event did not affect the silos’ deformation and damage amount. Noting that the displacement of the pile foundation exceeded all limits set by design codes, indicating that the pile foundation cannot be reused to build new silos at the same place

Management of patients with high-risk and advanced prostate cancer in the Middle East:resource-stratified consensus recommendations

PURPOSE Prostate cancer care in the Middle East is highly variable and access to specialist multidisciplinary management is limited. Academic tertiary referral centers offer cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment; however, in many parts of the region, patients are managed by non-specialists with limited resources. Due to many factors including lack of awareness and lack of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, a high percentage of men present with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer at diagnosis. The aim of these recommendations is to assist clinicians in managing patients with different levels of access to diagnostic and treatment modalities. METHODS The first Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) satellite meeting for the Middle East was held in Beirut, Lebanon, November 2017. During this meeting a consortium of urologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologist and imaging specialists practicing in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia voted on a selection of consensus questions. An additional workshop to formulate resource-stratified consensus recommendations was held in March 2019. RESULTS Variations in practice based on available resources have been proposed to form resource-stratified recommendations for imaging at diagnosis, initial management of localized prostate cancer requiring therapy, treatment of castration-sensitive/naïve advanced prostate cancer and treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. CONCLUSION This is the first regional consensus on prostate cancer management from the Middle East. The following recommendations will be useful to urologists and oncologists practicing in all areas with limited access to specialist multi-disciplinary teams, diagnostic modalities and treatment resources