Survival difference between surgery versus non-surgery for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients at Liver Centre, Malaysia

Hepatic resection, the only treatment that offers long term survival for patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), have shown significant improvement in results over the past decades. The aim of the study was to compare the survival between patients receiving and not receiving surgery. A retrospective co¬hort study measured the survival of newly diagnosed cases of HCC patients who underwent treatment in Selayang Hospital from 1 January 2003 till 31 December 2006. Survival time was measured from the date of diagnosis until the subjects died or until the end of study period (31 December 2007). Overall survival was significantly longer in surgery group in comparison with non-surgery group with a median survival of 43 and 20 months, respectively (p<0.001). The following factors were noted to have improved survival duration with surgical resection; Child Pugh Class B patients, tumor size less or more than 4cm and number of nodules less than 3. Sub¬group analysis showed improved survival duration with surgical resection among patients with Child Pugh Class B with tumor size less than 4cm or with nodule less than 3 and patients who had less than 3 nodules, even with tumor size of less or more than 4cm. Multivariate Cox Re¬gression showed surgical intervention significantly improved survival time for overall patients (Adjusted HR: 1.5) while non-surgery improved survival in patients with tumor size less than 4cm (Adjusted HR: 0.4). Surgical resection significantly improved the survival duration in over¬all patients while non-surgical procedure improved survival if the tumor size was less than 4cm

Poor Peer Support as a Predictive Factor towards Depression among Adolescent

Kebelakangan ini, tanda-tanda kemurungan dalam kalangan remaja semakin meningkat. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan prevalens kemurungan dan faktor-faktor ramalan. Satu kajian keratan rentas telah dijalankan 191 remaja yang terpilih secara rawak dan terdiri daripada pelajar tingkatan empat dari lima buah sekolah menengah di negeri Selangor, Malaysia. Satu soal selidik yang terdiri daripada enam bahagian (A) demografi, (B) tahap kemurungan, (C) hubungan keluarga, (D) tahap sokongan rakan sebaya, (E) harga diri, dan (F) pencapaian akademik telah diedarkan. Prevalen kemurungan adalah 50.3%. Analisis regresi logistik mendapati, remaja yang mempunyai masalah dengan rakan-rakan adalah lebih cenderung untuk mengalami kemurungan berbanding dengan mereka yang tidak mempunyai masalah dengan rakan-rakan mereka (aOR 2.84, 95% CI 1.50, 5.36). Kajian selanjutnya perlu meneliti faktor-faktor lain seperti tekanan daripada guru-guru untuk mengukuhkan pemahaman kita mengenai kemurungan di kalangan remaja. Diharapkan hasil kajian ini berguna kepada pelbagai pihak yang mengambil berat tentang masalah ini