Albumin and Total Protein in Cancer Patients at Radiotherapy Clinic, Zimbabwe
Journal Title: Saudi Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Year 2017, Vol 3, Issue 10
Abstract
Abstract:Cancer is a major public health problem and a cause of morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world. On the other hand radiotherapy is one of the cancer treatment methods available but it has many side effects. Hypoalbuminaemia and hypoproteinaemia are common effects of radiotherapy and are often used to assess nutritional status of patients but there are few published reports on albumin and total protein levels in cancer patients on radiotherapy in Zimbabwe. Hence this study was carried out to determine the levels of serum albumin and total protein and compare levels in radiotherapy-exposed patients at Parirenyatwa Radiotherapy Clinic by type of cancer. A total of 63 cancer patients took part in this cross-sectional study, 30 had breast cancer while 18 had cervical cancer and 15 had prostate cancer. Samples were analysed using the Beckman Coulter AU680 Chemistry Analyser based on Bromocresol Green (BCG) method for albumin and the Biuret method for total protein, respectively. One way ANOVA was used for comparison of normally distributed data while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for skewed data. Out of all cancer patients who took part in this study, 18 (28.6%) were hypoalbuminaemic and 3 (4.7%) had hypoproteinaemia. There was no significant difference between albumin and total protein of patients with different types of cancer. Prevalence of patients with hypoalbuminaemia (28.6%) and hypoproteinaemia (4.7%) was comparable to studies from other countries. High prevelance of hypoalbuminaemia is worrying in this context as it worsens prognosis of cancer patients. Keywords:albumin, cancer, radiotherapy, total protein, Zimbabwe.
Authors and Affiliations
Kudakwashe Nyarota, DanaiTavonga Zhou
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP393509
- DOI -
- Views 69
- Downloads 0
Comparative Study of Oxytocin and Prostaglandin E2 Gel in Induction of Labourin High Risk Pregnant Women from Tamil Nadu
Abstract: A few studies concluded that EASI with oxytocin is a better method of induction than prostaglandin E2 gel whereas a few others observed that EASI efficiency similar to that of prostaglandin compounds. We planne...
Effects of Work Environment and Engagement on Nurses Organizational Commitment in Public Hospitals Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract: Work environment and engagement has great importance regarding organizational commitment. Now a day’s nurses are stressed and burdened due to poor working environment and less engagement. Organizational commitm...
The Profile of Infectious Keratitis
Abstract: Corneal blindness account for 20 to 30 % of all blindness in the developing countries of the world. Corneal blindness is a major public health problem in India and infections constitute the most predominant cau...
Mineral Content and Chemical Composition of Napier (Pennisetumpurpureum) Grass
Abstract:Napier grass is a popular tropical grass, employed by farmers in livestock nutrition. In this work, the matrices of matured shoots of P. purpureum (schumach) commonly called Napier grass, were subjected to pr...
Distribution of Blood Groups in Donors and Functioning Pattern of a New Semiurban Blood Bank
Abstract:Blood transfusion system is a basic necessity of health care delivery system. As off now more than 700 antigens and about 30 blood group systems have been identified. ABO and Rhesus (Rh) blood group systems are...