Nazima J. Dharsee

Ocean Road Cancer Institute · Academic and Research Unit

Introduction: Metastatic breast cancer is a common presentation in Tanzania. Estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive tumors are known to metastasize to the bones and require hormonal treatment as first-line therapy. Challenges with accessing immunohistochemistry services can delay information on breast cancer subtypes, further delaying treatment with effec...

Objective Recent studies have identified challenges facing women oncologists in Western contexts. However, similar studies in Africa have yet to be conducted. This study sought to determine the most common and substantial challenges faced by women oncologists in Africa and identify potential solutions. Methods and analysis A panel of 29 women onco...

Background Radiotherapy plays a key role as an adjuvant treatment in pediatric Wilm’s tumor, improving both survival and quality of life. The success of radiotherapy depends on the precise delivery of radiation dose to the tumor while sparing radiosensitive structures in the vicinity of the tumor. Pediatric patients pose unique challenges in achiev...

Tracheostomy is a lifesaving, essential procedure performed for airway obstruction in the case of head and neck cancers, prolonged ventilator use, and for long-term pulmonary care. While successful quality improvement interventions in high-income countries such as through the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative significantly reduced length of hospita...

This study assessed the efficiency of offline setup correction protocol and the use of a thermoplastic mask for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy at Ocean Road Cancer Institute. A prospective study was conducted from April to August 2021 to verify 62 patients’ treatment setup using an offline...

Background Febrile Neutropenia (FN) caused by bacteria in cancer patients is associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of FN and associated factors among cancer patients on chemotherapy at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), Tanzania. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2...

Over the past few years, a number of studies have revealed that a significant number of men with prostate cancer had genetic defects in the DNA damage repair gene response and mismatch repair genes. Certain of these modifications, notably gene alterations known as homologous recombination (HRR) genes; PALB2, CHEK2 BRCA1, BRCA2, ATM, and genes for D...

Purpose: In the past 20 years, the burden of anal cancer (AC) increased by 60% in the United States and over three-fold in Africa. Rates of AC have increased by 20× in people living with HIV and the highest (50×) in men with HIV who have sex with men. However, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where HIV is endemic, data on clinicopathological characteri...

Background Febrile Neutropenia (FN) caused by bacteria in cancer patients is associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of FN and associated factors among cancer patients on chemotherapy at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), Tanzania. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2...

The ecancer Choosing Wisely conference was held for the second time in Africa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from the 9th to 10th of February 2023. ecancer in collaboration with the Tanzania Oncology Society organised this conference which was attended by more than 150 local and international delegates. During the 2 days of the conference, more than t...

This study aimed to compare the dose distributions of three-dimensional conformal treatment planning using two and six radiation beams among paediatric patients receiving radiotherapy for Wilms tumour at Ocean Road Cancer Institute. CT scans of 53 patients were used to generate 106 treatment plans, 53 plans for two beams, and 53 plans for six beams...

INTRODUCTION: In East Africa, the estimated incidence of breast cancer is second only to cervical cancer. Supraclavicular irradiation post-modified mastectomy is crucial to breast cancer management, as it improves local control and overall survival. However, this is associated with adverse effects, including hypothyroidism (HT), which is usually un...

Purpose/Objective(s) Pediatric sarcomas are aggressive solid childhood tumors which often present with distant metastatic disease. Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) treats most of the childhood cancers diagnosed in Tanzania adapting management strategies from established treatment protocols conducted in the Europe. The objective of this study is to...

Objective Effective cancer treatment involves aggressive chemo-radiotherapy protocols that alter survivors’ quality of life (QOL). This has recently aroused the attention not only to focus on clinical care but rather to be holistic and client-centered, looking beyond morbidity and mortality. The study assessed the QOL and associated factors among p...

Background: Growing prevalence and aggressiveness of breast cancer (BC) among East African women strongly indicate that the genetic risk factor implicated in the etiology of the disease may have a key role. Germline pathogenic variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) are known to increase the lifetime risk of BC. This study investigated the prevalenc...

Background A multidisciplinary Task Force of African oncologists and patient representatives published the Choosing Wisely Africa (CWA) recommendations in 2020. These top 10 recommendations identify low-value, unnecessary, or harmful practices that are frequently used in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this study, we describe agreement and concordance...

Background Reproductive history and genetics are well‐known risk factors of breast cancer (BC). Little is known about how these factors interact to effect BC. This study investigated the association of ten polymorphisms in DNA repair genes with BC susceptibility in the Tanzanian samples and further analyzed the association between reproductive risk...

e18835 Background: A multidisciplinary Task Force of African oncologists and patient representatives published the Choosing Wisely Africa (CWA) recommendations in 2020. These recommendations identified low-value, unnecessary, or harmful practices that are frequently used in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We describe agreement and concordance with the re...

Objective: Effective cancer treatment involves aggressive chemo-radiotherapy protocols that alter survivors’ quality of life (QOL). This has recently aroused the attention not only to focus on clinical care but rather to be holistic and client-centered, looking beyond morbidity and mortality. The study assessed the QOL and associated factors among...

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) require proper patient immobilization, for which a thermoplastic mask is used. Studies have reported a variety of patient experiences in using this device. Understanding these experiences in our local context is important to improve the current practice in the RT departmen...

The germline BRCA1 c.68_69delAG (185delAG) and c.5266dupC (5382insC) mutations are associated with hormone receptor-negative breast cancer (BC). Limited studies have examined their contribution to alarming BC incidence in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Our study aimed to examine the contribution of germline BRCA1 c.68_69delAG and c.5266dupC mutations to...

Abstract Background Recent epidemiological studies suggest that reproductive factors are associated with breast cancer (BC) molecular subtypes. However, these associations have not been thoroughly studied in the African populations. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of BC molecular subtypes and assess their association with repr...

Quality of life among cervical cancer patients after chemo radiotherapy.

p>Purpose: Treatment decision-making in the setting of advanced cancer is often complex and culturally embedded. Potential benefits of treatment must be weighed against toxicities, economic burden, and social consequences. The standard of shared decision-making (SDM) between doctor and patient, rooted in the Western principle of patient autonomy, m...

Research productivity and outcomes of junior researchers are usually correlated with the degree and quality of mentorship they receive. A bottom-up approach was followed to develop a research group at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), the major cancer center in Tanzania, to build upon the existing clinical and research resources and instituti...

The immune system plays an important role in protecting the body against malignancy. During cancer immunoediting, the immune system can recognize and keep checking the tumor cells by down-expression of some self-molecules or by increasing expression of some novel molecules. However, the microenvironment created in the course of cancer development h...

Purpose/Objective(s): A major challenge for radiotherapy (RT) centers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is to ensure that they deliver consistently high-quality treatment. The RT multi-disciplinary team requires adequate training in RT planning and access to ongoing expert input and peer review to achieve this. Cloud-based technology may...

Purpose: Albinism affects some facets of the eye's function and coloration, as well as hair and skin color. The prevalence of albinism is estimated to be one in 2,000-5,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa and one in 270 in Tanzania. People in Tanzania with albinism experience sociocultural and economic disparities. Because of stigma related to albini...

Background: In Tanzania Wilms tumor (WT) ranks second among the most frequently diagnosed childhood cancer. Due to late presentation an intensified treatment protocol was established aiming for tumor reduction before surgery for achieving better surgical outcomes. We used two indicators for measuring the protocol concordance. First indicator was as...

PURPOSE Sub-Saharan Africa is simultaneously facing a rising incidence of cancer and a dearth of medical professionals as a result of insufficient training numbers and emigration, creating a growing shortage of cancer care. To combat this, Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center partnered with institutions in South A...

e24132 Background: The incidence of breast cancer is increasing in low- & middle- income countries (LMICs). Alongside attempts to reduce the disparity in cancer survival between high-income countries (HIC) & LMICs, it is important that survivorship is well understood and managed in an evidence based, resource and culturally sensitive manner. This p...

Background: During cancer growth, immunosuppressive microenvironment is created that enables tumour cells to evade an eliminative immune response and hence manage to grow into malignancy. HLA-G, existing as either membrane-bound (mHLA-G) or soluble (sHLA-G) molecule is thought to be immunosuppressive and produced more by tumor cells. The +3142G/C...

Background: East Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and faces a rising burden of cancer; however, few people are equipped to effectively conduct research in this area. Materials and methods: A 31-item questionnaire was distributed to current trainees and recent graduates of the Master in Medicine in Clinical Oncology Progr...

Background Pediatric sarcomas represent an important group of childhood tumors who require treatment at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), the largest pediatric oncology center in Tanzania. Treatment is often adapted from established childhood protocols validated in clinical trials from the United States and United Kingdom. There are no studies des...

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa is simultaneously facing a rising incidence of cancer and a dearth of medical professionals because of insufficient training numbers and emigration, creating a growing shortage of cancer care. To combat this, Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center partnered with institutions in South...

PURPOSE Pediatric sarcomas represent an important group of childhood tumors that require treatment at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), the largest pediatric oncology center in Tanzania. Treatment is often adapted from established childhood protocols validated in clinical trials from the United States and the United Kingdom. There are no studies d...

Purpose: Pediatric sarcomas represent an important group of childhood tumors that require treatment at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), the largest pediatric oncology center in Tanzania. Treatment is often adapted from established childhood protocols validated in clinical trials from the United States and the United Kingdom. There are no studies...

INTRODUCTION: In East Africa, the estimated incidence of breast cancer is second only to cervical cancer. Supraclavicular irradiation post-modified mastectomy is crucial to breast cancer management, as it improves local control and overall survival. However, this is associated with adverse effects, including hypothyroidism (HT), which is usually...

Implication Of Soluble HLA-G and HLA-G +3142G/C Polymorphism in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Therapy at ORCI, Tanzania.

Background and context: Breast cancer is a common type of cancer among women worldwide, with about 2 million new cases diagnosed in the yearly. It is the second common cancer and leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Tanzania, after cervical cancer. More than 70% of breast cancer patients in developed countries are diagnosed at early sta...

Purpose Low-income countries (LICs) face a growing cancer burden and a pressing need to strengthen cancer care delivery systems. Overall case fatality from cancer is estimated to be 30% higher in LICs than in high-income countries, and adherence to standard treatment guidelines is a critical component of addressing this disparity. Despite several r...