Browsing by Author "Yaren, Arzu"

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Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer in Turkey: A Cross-Sectional Disease Registry Study (A Turkish Oncology Group Trial)
(2015) Aykan, Nuri Faruk; Yalcin, Suayib; Turhal, N. Serdar; Ozdogan, Mustafa; Demir, Gokhan; Ozkan, Metin; Yaren, Arzu; Camci, Celalettin; Akbulut, Hakan; Artac, Mehmet; Meydan, Nezih; Uygun, Kazim; Isikdogan, Abdurrahman; Unsal, Diclehan; Ozyilkan, Ozgur; Arican, Ali; Seyrek, Ertugrul; Tekin, Salim Basol; Manavoglu, Osman; Ozet, Ahmet; Elkiran, Tamer; Disci, Rian; 0000-0001-8825-4918; 25835113; AAD-2817-2021
Background/Aims: This study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of colorectal cancer in Turkey. Materials and Methods: In this multicenter, prospective, and cross-sectional registry study, data for 968 patients with colorectal cancer from 21 centers in 7 geographic regions were analyzed. Results: Diagnosis was colon cancer in 662 (68.4%) and rectum cancer in 306 (31.6%) patients. In total, 60.9% of patients was male; mean age was 58.9 +/- 12.6 years. Among patients, 15.0% was drinking alcohol, 17.5% was smoking, 1.5% had familial history of polyposis, 15.0% had diabetes mellitus, 1.0% had inflammatory bowel disease. Fruit and vegetable consumption was low (<3 times/week) in 35.5% and red meat consumption was high (>= 3 times/week) in 47.4% of the patients. Median time-to diagnosis was 3.0 months and 4.0 months for patients with colon and rectum cancer, respectively. Mean body mass index was >25 in all group of patients. Distal rectum (61.3%) and sigmoid colon (36.8%) were the most common locations of cancer, for rectum and colon respectively. In total, 85.6% of patients were operated; 25.8% had emergency surgery. Low anterior resection rate was 64.2% in rectum cancer. In majority (89.8%) of the patients with rectum cancer who received preoperative treatment, conventional chemo-radiotherapy regimen was given. pTNM staging at diagnosis showed that stage III and IV patients were in majority (35.9% and 29.7%, respectively). Conclusion: Colon cancer is more frequent than rectum cancer in Turkey. Colorectal cancer patients are diagnosed at later stages. Most of the cases were operated. Interregional differences for risk factors are worthwhile for evaluation in future trials.
The Perspective of Non-oncologist Physicians on Patients with Metastatic Cancer and Palliative Care (ALONE Study): A Study of the Palliative Care Working Committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)
(2015) Tanriverdi, Ozgur; Yavuzsen, Tugba; Akman, Tulay; Senler, Filiz Cay; Taskoylu, Burcu Yapar; Turhal, Serdar; Komurcu, Seref; Cehreli, Ruksan; Yaren, Arzu; Ozyilkan, Ozgur; 0000-0001-8825-4918; 0000-0001-9375-8133; 0000-0002-7714-5385; 0000-0002-0598-7284; 25631655; AAD-2817-2021; Q-1628-2019; F-1577-2019; M-2172-2015; AAB-7092-2022; AAI-1824-2019
The aim of our study was to determine the perspective of non-oncologist physicians regarding their attitudes and beliefs associated with palliative care for patients with metastatic cancer. The study was planned as a cross-sectional survey, and non-oncologist physicians were reached via e-mail and social networking sites. The first part of the questionnaire involved demographic properties, the second part inquired as to the perspectives of participants regarding metastatic disease, and the third part was used to determine beliefs and attitudes about palliative care. All of the questions were five-point Likert-type questions. A total of 1734 physicians completed the questionnaire. The majority of participants were general surgeons or internal medicine specialists (21 and 18 %, respectively), were male (61 %), were younger than 50 years of age (54 %), worked in the town center (67 %), had more than 11 years of professional experience (57 %), and worked in a hospital without an active oncology service (86 %). A total of 71 % of participants identified all patients with metastatic cancer as being terminal stage, 62 % were unaware of palliative care techniques, 64 % did not know about common supportive care options, 59 % were against hospice, and 63 % had no opinion on resuscitation. We determined that non-oncologist physicians believed that all patients with metastatic cancer are at the terminal stage and that palliative/supportive care is the oncologist's task. These data suggest that non-oncologist physicians would benefit from additional graduate and postgraduate courses on these topics.
Perspective of Turkish Medicine Students on Cancer, Cancer Treatments, Palliative Care, and Oncologists (ARES Study): a Study of the Palliative Care Working Committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)
(2020) Oktay, Esin; Levent, Mustafa; Gelincik, Hakan; Aktas, Gizem; Yumuk, Fulden; Koral, Lokman; Arpaci, Erkan; Keser, Murat; Akan, Ali; Kaci, Ebru; Karadurmus, Nuri; Degirmencioglu, Serkan; Turan, Merve; Uyeturk, Ummugul; Cabuk, Devrim; Avci, Nilufer; Toprak, Omer; Ergen, Arzu; Urvay, Semiha; Bayram, Evrim; Petekkaya, Emine; Nayir, Erdinc; Paydas, Semra; Yavuzsen, Tugba; Senler, Filiz Cay; Yaren, Arzu; Barutca, Sabri; Sahinler, Ismet; Ozyilkan, Ozgur; Tanrıverdi, Ozgur; 0000-0001-8825-4918; 30446981; AAD-2817-2021
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the World (Rahib et al. in Cancer Res 74(11):2913-2921, 2014; Silbermann et al. in Ann Oncol 23(Suppl 3):iii15-iii28, 2012). It is crucial to diagnose this disease early by effective screening methods and also it is very important to acknowledge the community on various aspects of this disease such as the treatment methods and palliative care. Not only the oncologists but every medical doctor should be educated well in dealing with cancer patients. Previous studies suggested various opinions on the level of oncology education in medical schools (Pavlidis et al. in Ann Oncol 16(5):840-841, 2005). In this study, the perspectives of medical students on cancer, its treatment, palliative care, and the oncologists were analyzed in relation to their educational status. A multicenter survey analysis was performed on a total of 4224 medical school students that accepted to enter this study in Turkey. After the questions about the demographical characteristics of the students, their perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, screening, and treatment methods of cancer and their way of understanding metastatic disease as well as palliative care were analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions with answers and a scoring system of Likert type 5 (absolutely disagree = 1, completely agree = 5). In the last part of the questionnaire, there were some words to detect what the words "cancer" and "oncologist" meant for the students. The participant students were analyzed in two study groups; "group 1" (n = 1.255) were phases I and II students that had never attended an oncology lesson, and "group 2" (n = 2.969) were phases III to VI students that had attended oncology lessons in the medical school. SPSS v17 was used for the database and statistical analyses. A value of p < 0.05 was noted as statistically significant. Group 1 defined cancer as a contagious disease (p = 0.00025), they believed that early diagnosis was never possible (p = 0.042), all people with a diagnosis of cancer would certainly die (p = 0.044), and chemotherapy was not successful in a metastatic disease (p = 0.003) as compared to group 2. The rate of the students that believed gastric cancer screening was a part of the national screening policy was significantly more in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.00014). Group 2 had a higher anxiety level for themselves or their family members to become a cancer patient. Most of the students in both groups defined medical oncologists as warriors (57% in group 1 and 40% in group 2; p = 0.097), and cancer was reminding them of "death" (54% in group 1 and 48% in group 2; p = 0.102). This study suggested that oncology education was useful for the students' understanding of cancer and related issues; however, the level of oncology education should be improved in medical schools in Turkey. This would be helpful for medical doctors to cope with many aspects of cancer as a major health care problem in this country.