Breast cancer and cervical cancer are among the leading causes of death among women in the world. Even though chemotherapy is available as cancer treatment, the development of drug resistance in both cancer cells has reduced the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in such treatment. The current study was aimed to evaluate the cell viability of human breast cancer cells, MCF-7, and cervical cancer cells, HeLa upon the combination treatment of ascorbic acid and tamoxifen. The cell viability was measured using the MTT assay, with an incubation period of 72 hours in a humidified CO2 incubator. The concentrations of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid that reduced 50% of the cell population (IC50) were determined from the dose-response curve. The IC50 concentration was used to determine the cell viability in the treated cells. CompuSyn software was used to evaluate the combined effects towards both cells upon treatment and the results were calculated as combination index (CI). The data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism (version 7). Statistical analysis was performed using an independent t-test. The IC50 values of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid on MCF-7 cells were 14.53 µg/ml and 15.8 µg/ml respectively, while the IC50 values of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid on HeLa cells were 11.09 µg/ml and 202.3 µg/ml respectively. The combination of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid exerted a greater growth reduction percentage in both cells compared to tamoxifen alone. The results indicated that ascorbic acid synergizes the cytotoxic effect of tamoxifen at lower concentrations towards MCF-7 cells with a CI less than 1. However, the combination of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid exerted an antagonistic effect in HeLa cells, with a CI more than 1.

Introduction: Adequate daily intake of fruits and vegetables is crucial for the prevention of chronic diseases. This study aimed to determine the effects of My Body is Fit and Fabulous at School (MyBFF@school) with nutrition education intervention (NEI) on the stages of change for fruit and vegetable intake among overweight and obese secondary school children based on the trans-theoretical model (TTM). Methods: This was a cluster randomised controlled trial involving 15 out of 415 eligible government secondary schools in central Peninsular Malaysia, which were randomly assigned into intervention (six schools; 579 school children) and control (nine schools; 462 school children). The intervention group was given NEI for 24 weeks, while the control group followed the existing school programme by the Ministry of Education. Results: There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups for the stages of change, with majority at the maintenance stage after six months (intervention: 34.9%; control: 39.0%). The within group analysis showed a significant reduction after six months for those at the action stage (action and maintenance stage) from 68.0% to 60.4% in the intervention group and from 71.4% to 65.6% in the control group. However, there was a significant increase among those with adequate fruit and vegetable intake in the intervention group and no significant increase in the control group. Conclusion: MyBFF@school with NEI based on TTM provided acceptable changes in fruit and vegetable intake among overweight and obese secondary school children.

Carbonated soft drinks (CSD) consumption is one of the contributing factors to weight gain, dental caries and non-communicable diseases among adolescents. This study aims to determine CSD consumption among Malaysian adolescents and their associated factors. The Adolescent Health Survey 2017, was a nationally representative survey sampled school-going adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. Findings reported that 36.9% of adolescents reported CSD consumption at least once daily in the past 30 days, and the prevalence was higher than a similar study conducted in 2012. Boys, schools in rural areas, lower secondary schoolers, not physically active, consuming fast food, having food insecurity, and truancy problem reported significantly higher odds of consuming CSD compared to their counterparts. By ethnicity, Bumiputera Sarawak adolescents showed the highest odds of consuming CSD and followed by Bumiputera Sabah. Thus, interventions to limit CSD consumption among Malaysian adolescents should consider the factors highlighted in this study.

We reported a case of cauda equina myxopapillary ependymoma in a patient who presented with atypical history of progressive blurring of vision. Ophthalmology examination revealed relative afferent pupillary defect, binasal hemianopia and papilloedema. This case report serves as a reminder that the intraspinal tumour could be a cause of papilloedema, despite rare, should be considered in a hydrocephalus patient who presented with no intracranial pathology and minimal spinal symptoms.

Introduction: Awareness of the importance of dietary fibre (DF) in health among adolescents is seldom reported in Malaysia. This study aimed to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of DF intake between Malaysian rural and urban school-going adolescents. Pulau Pangkor in Perak and Damansara in Selangor were randomly selected as rural and urban schools, respectively. Methods: A total of 305 school adolescents with a mean age of 13.5±0.6 years were randomly selected from rural (72 Malay, 85 Chinese) and urban (86 Malay, 62 Chinese) schools completed socio-demographic, validated KAP on DF intake questionnaire, as well as a 24-hour dietary recall. Results: Adolescents from both areas have moderate knowledge (54.4±11.3%), positive attitude (78.7±13.1%) and good practice (65.8±19.9%) scores towards DF intake. Although rural adolescents had significantly (p=0.022) higher DF intake (7.8±3.5 g) compared to urban adolescents (6.9±3.5 g), their DF intake was still lower than the Malaysian recommendation of 20-30 g/day. The attitude of DF intake of rural (r=0.390) and urban (r=0.370) adolescents showed significant positive correlations with practice score of DF intake. While a significant correlation was found between the practice score and DF intake (r=0.191, p=0.017), no significant correlation was found between knowledge and attitude scores with DF intake. Conclusion: Public health authorities and schools should raise awareness on health benefit of consuming DF to promote an increase in DF consumption among school adoles

Objectives: This study aims to identify the relationship between dietary intakes of β-carotene with riskof oral cancer. Methods: A hospital-based, case-control study was conducted on 306 Malaysians whoseek treatment at participating centres/hospitals. Subjects selected from the Malaysian Oral Cancer Dataand Tissue Banking System (MOCDTBS) consisted of 153 cases and 153 controls that were matchedfor gender, age (±5 years) and ethnicity. Food consumption was measured using Food FrequencyQuestionnaire (FFQ). NutrieMart Version 2.0.0 software was used to estimate daily nutrient of eachsubject from the FFQ. Logistic Regression analysis was conducted to compute the odds ratio (OR) forintakes of β-carotene and oral cancer risk. Results: Intake of β-carotene was found to be not associatedwith risk of oral cancer (OR 0.83, 95%CI: 0.42-1.66, p>0.05). Conclusion: No significant associationwas found between dietary intakes of β-carotene with oral cancer risk in this study population.

The shoulder and axillary regions contain various complex anatomical structures in close proximity, many of which can give rise to neoplasms. Determining the origin and hence the exact diagnosis of advanced (diffuse) tumours in this region may become problematic. In view of the tumour morphology and the affected location in this case, we highlight the importance of Hodgkin lymphoma immunohistochemistry interpretation in a tumour which was initially suspected to be a soft tissue sarcoma.

Acral melanoma has been reported to have distinctive clinical presentation and ethnic distribution compared to other histological types of malignant melanoma. Acral melanoma also exhibits distinctive focused gene amplifi cations, including cyclin D1 overexpression. We reviewed archived histological material of malignant melanoma in the Sarawak General Hospital from year 2004 to 2010. 43 tumours, comprising 28 acral melanoma and 15 non-acral melanoma, had suffi cient material to be included in the study. The majority (36%) of acral melanoma tumours occurred in the heel. The tumours were analyzed for cyclin D1 expression by immunohistochemistry. 68% of acral melanoma were cyclin D1 positive compared to a positivity of 33% in non-acral tumours. This difference was statistically signifi cant (p <0.05). This fi nding may improve the histological diagnosis of acral melanoma and detection of positive resection margins.

This report details the case of a 12-year-old girl with a painful, progressive swelling of the medial portion of the clavicle with no history of trauma or other constitutional symptoms. All laboratory investigations were normal except for an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Initial plain radiographs showed a destructive lesion with magnetic resonance imaging showing features of malignancy. Biopsies revealed osteomyelitis, but with negative bacterial cultures and no evidence of malignancy. Treatment with antibiotics did not result in a favourable response. Over time, the swelling increased in size with episodic exacerbations of pain. Follow-up radiographs showed sclerosis and hyperostosis. After five years, this was recognized as non-bacterial chronic recurrent osteomyelitis of the clavicle.

Colorectal carcinogenesis is a complex multistep process that includes changes in histomorphological appearance of the colonic mucosa and changes at molecular level. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) was first described by Bird in 1987 on examination of methylene-blue-stained colonic mucosa of azoxymethane-treated mice under light microscopy. Since then ACF was considered as the earliest preneoplastic change that can be seen in the colonic mucosa. The aim of this study was to look at the histomorphology and distribution of ACF in colorectal carcinoma. 50 formalin-fixed archival colectomy specimens for colorectal carcinoma were examined under light microscopy after staining with 0.2% methylene blue. ACF was identified by larger and darker crypts with thickened epithelium, and often elevated from adjacent normal mucosa. ACF was found in 41 of 50 colectomy specimens examined. There were 328 ACF consisting of 36 (11.0%) ACF without hyperplasia or dysplasia, 263 (80.2%) ACF with hyperplasia and 29 (8.8%) ACF with dysplasia. Of these 29 ACF with dysplasia, 25 showed low grade dysplasia and four high grade dysplasia. The density of ACF was higher in the left colon, those older than 65 years of age and among males but these findings were statistically not significant. The crypt multiplicity of hyperplastic ACF (30.149, SD 28.395) was larger than dysplastic ACF (20.613, SD 40.128). The spectrum of histological changes observed probably represent the evolution of ACF in colorectal carcinogenesis.
Aberrant Crypt Foci/*pathology ; Adenocarcinoma/*pathology ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*pathology