Hajar EL AGOURI - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Hajar EL AGOURI
Visual journal of emergency medicine, Apr 1, 2024
Digestive Diseases, 2014
In this paper, we will discuss the nuances of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis based on symptom... more In this paper, we will discuss the nuances of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis based on symptoms, diagnostics and therapy. The diagnostics will include endoscopy, histology and anesthesia. Therapeutics will include the diet, drugs and ‘distress'. Future directions in terms of clinical presentation and diagnostics will be discussed and important issues such as repeated exposure to anesthetic agents and effects of therapy on growth and psychological distress will be listed.
Research Square (Research Square), Aug 31, 2021
Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related ... more Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Its early diagnosis and detection can effectively help in increasing the chances of survival rate. For this reason, the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer using Deep learning algorithms have attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, our study aimed to design a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural networks for an efficient classification of breast cancer histopathological images by using our own created dataset. We collected overall 328 digital slides, from 116 of surgical breast specimens diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of nonspecific type, and referred to the histopathology department of the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. We used two models of deep neural network architectures in order to accurately classify the images into one of three categories: normal tissue-benign lesions, in situ carcinoma or invasive carcinoma. Results: Both Resnet50 and Xception models achieved comparable results, with a small advantage to Xception extracted features. We reported high degrees of overall correct classification accuracy (88%), and sensitivity (95%) for detection of carcinoma cases, which is important for diagnostic pathology workflow in order to assist pathologists for diagnosing breast cancer with precision. The results of the present study showed that the designed classification model has a good generalization performance in predicting diagnosis of breast cancer, in spite of the limited size of the data. To our knowledge, this approach can be highly compared with other common methods in the automated analysis of breast cancer images reported in literature.
PAMJ clinical medicine, 2022
International journal of clinical studies and medical case reports, Jan 31, 2022
International Journal of Clinical Studies and Medical Case Reports
Annales d'Endocrinologie, 2021
BMC Gastroenterology, Jun 5, 2023
Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of... more Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal cancer. It is clear that the efficacy of anti-EGFR depends upon the RAS mutational status, since any mutation in RAS is associated with resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. The aim of this study is to report the largest North African description of KRAS and NRAS status in metastatic colorectal cancer and to describe the association of these mutations with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods This is a prospective study of all consecutive unselected metastatic colorectal cancer samples, collected from the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat, Morocco, from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2021. The molecular analysis was performed on the Idylla™ platform (fully automated real-time polymerase chain reaction-based assay) for KRAS and NRAS mutations in exons 2, 3 and 4. These mutations were correlated to gender, primary tumor site, histological type and degree of differentiation of tumor using adequate statistical methods. Results Four hundred fourteen colorectal tumors were screened for KRAS and NRAS mutations. These mutations occurred in 51.7% of tumors for KRAS (mainly in exon 12) and in 3% of tumors for NRAS. There was a significant correlation between NRAS mutation and age of colorectal patients in this study. The low rate of invalid RAS tests (1.7% for KRAS and 3.1% for NRAS) was certainly obtained due to the strict respect of pre-analytical factors such as cold ischemia time and formalin fixation. Conclusion We report the largest North African analysis of NRAS and KRAS status in colorectal metastatic patients. This study showed the ability in low middle income countries to perform a high rate of valid tests and the unusual trend towards older patients for NRAS mutations.
PAMJ clinical medicine, 2022
BMC Research Notes, Feb 19, 2022
Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related ... more Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Its early diagnosis and detection can effectively help in increasing the chances of survival rate. For this reason, the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer using Deep learning algorithms have attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, our study aimed to design a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural networks for an efficient classification of breast cancer histopathological images by using our own created dataset. We collected overall 328 digital slides, from 116 of surgical breast specimens diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of nonspecific type, and referred to the histopathology department of the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. We used two models of deep neural network architectures in order to accurately classify the images into one of three categories: normal tissue-benign lesions, in situ carcinoma or invasive carcinoma. Results: Both Resnet50 and Xception models achieved comparable results, with a small advantage to Xception extracted features. We reported high degrees of overall correct classification accuracy (88%), and sensitivity (95%) for detection of carcinoma cases, which is important for diagnostic pathology workflow in order to assist pathologists for diagnosing breast cancer with precision. The results of the present study showed that the designed classification model has a good generalization performance in predicting diagnosis of breast cancer, in spite of the limited size of the data. To our knowledge, this approach can be highly compared with other common methods in the automated analysis of breast cancer images reported in literature.
Tumori Journal, 2020
Introduction: Apocrine carcinoma of breast is a rare type of malignant tumor, the incidence of wh... more Introduction: Apocrine carcinoma of breast is a rare type of malignant tumor, the incidence of which varies between 0.3 - 0.4 % of all female breast cancers.Apocrine carcinoma is exceptional in male patients and very few cases have been described in literature. This tumor shows distinct microscopic and immunohistological features. We report an exceptional observation of apocrine carcinoma of breast in a man. Patient and observation: He’s a 54 years old man who had for 2months a painless nodule at the left axillary..The patient had family history of breast and prostate cancers. Physical examination revealed a left axilary lymphadenopathy movable relative to superficial and deep plans with no evidence mass of breasts. MRI of the breast was performed and revealed a mass that was 38 x 10 mm in size.A biopsy of the lymphadenopathy was performed. It objectified a carcinomatous proliferation. An immunohistochemical study showed that tumor cells express Her 2, but do not express estrogenic ...
International Journal of Scientific Reports
This article discusses the rare clinical situation where cervical cancer mimics the symptoms of a... more This article discusses the rare clinical situation where cervical cancer mimics the symptoms of a cervical myoma. Cervical cancer is a prevalent cancer in women, often caused by HPV infection, and can cause symptoms such as abnormal vaginal bleeding and pain during sexual intercourse. However, cervical myoma can also cause similar symptoms, making it difficult to differentiate between the two conditions. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer can lead to a poorer outcome for patients, highlighting the importance of accurately identifying the disease. Healthcare professionals should be aware of this rare clinical situation and conduct thorough examinations to differentiate between cervical cancer and cervical myoma. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can improve the prognosis for patients with this disease. Women should also be aware of the potential symptoms of cervical cancer and consult a healthcare professional if they experience abnormal vaginal bleeding or pa...
BMC Gastroenterology
Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of... more Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal cancer. It is clear that the efficacy of anti-EGFR depends upon the RAS mutational status, since any mutation in RAS is associated with resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. The aim of this study is to report the largest North African description of KRAS and NRAS status in metastatic colorectal cancer and to describe the association of these mutations with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods This is a prospective study of all consecutive unselected metastatic colorectal cancer samples, collected from the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat, Morocco, from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2021. The molecular analysis was performed on the Idylla™ platform (fully automated real-time polymerase chain reaction-based assay) for KRAS and NRAS mutations in exons 2, 3 and 4. These mutations were correlated to gen...
International journal of clinical studies and medical case reports, Jan 31, 2022
Journal of Personalized Medicine
Breast cancer is one of the main global priorities in terms of public health. It remains the most... more Breast cancer is one of the main global priorities in terms of public health. It remains the most frequent cancer in women and is the leading cause of their death. The human microbiome plays various roles in maintaining health by ensuring a dynamic balance with the host or in the appearance of various pathologies including breast cancer. In this study, we performed an analysis of bacterial signature differences between tumor and adjacent tissues of breast cancer patients in Morocco. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we observed that adjacent tissue contained a much higher percentage of the Gammaproteobacteria class (35.7%) while tumor tissue was characterized by a higher percentage of Bacilli and Actinobacteria classes, with about 18.8% and 17.2% average abundance, respectively. Analysis of tumor subtype revealed enrichment of genus Sphingomonodas in TNBC while Sphingomonodas was predominant in HER2. The LEfSe and the genus level heatmap analysis revealed a higher abundance of the Rot...
Saudi journal of pathology and microbiology, Apr 25, 2022
Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a malignant mesenchymal tumor most commonly occur... more Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a malignant mesenchymal tumor most commonly occurring in the distal extremities of adults, it generally behaves like a low-grade tumor but is still able to progress locally and metastasize to distant sites, rarely resulting in death. It is a tumor whose unusual morphology can lead to misdiagnosis, either in the non-neoplastic sense (infectious or inflammatory) or as another sometimes malignant tumor entity. The genetic abnormalities detected in MIFS are the t(1;10)(p22:q24) translocation, with rearrangements of TGFBR3 and MGEA5 genes associated with increased levels of FGF8, with chromosome 3 marker/ring formation, and amplification of the VGLL3 locus.
Annals of Cancer Research and Therapy
Introduction: RAS status is a predictive biomarker for anti-EGFR response in metastatic colorecta... more Introduction: RAS status is a predictive biomarker for anti-EGFR response in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The Idylla technology (IT) is a fully automated molecular testing system based on real-time PCR and provides rapid results in a very short preparation time. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the full RAS mutation status in Moroccan patients with mCRC. Methods: formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens obtained between January 22 and December 15, 2020, were analyzed using the IT. The minimum percentage of tumor cells was 10.0%, after morphological control. One to fivemicron sections were collected via a dedicated microtome and inserted directly into the Idylla cartridge. Results: 195 mCRC samples were tested for RAS mutation, 9 (4.6%) could not be treated due to insufficient tumor material. A total of 186 mCRC patients were included in this study, 50.0% were women and 50.0% were men, the mean age was 60.9 years with extremes ranging from 19 to 90 years. The primary site was the most common (83.9%) and the most common histological type was adenocarcinoma (89.8%). 56.5% of tumors were KRAS mutants and the majority of mutations resulted in an amino acid substitution of glycine for aspartic acid. The most frequent mutations were the G>T transversions (41.0%) and the G>A transitions (40.9%). In contrast, NRAS mutations were detected in 8 patients (4.0%). No statistically significant relationship between mCRC patient characteristics and KRAS/NRAS mutations was found. Conclusions: Several studies have shown that the Idylla™ KRAS mutation assay can be applied as a routine tool without requiring infrastructure or molecular expertise, to guide the personalized treatment of CRC patients. Our results suggest that KRAS mutations are more common in Moroccan mCRC patients, which is in agreement with previous studies. Further studies with a larger number of mCRC patients are recommended to confirm our results.
Visual journal of emergency medicine, Apr 1, 2024
Digestive Diseases, 2014
In this paper, we will discuss the nuances of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis based on symptom... more In this paper, we will discuss the nuances of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis based on symptoms, diagnostics and therapy. The diagnostics will include endoscopy, histology and anesthesia. Therapeutics will include the diet, drugs and ‘distress'. Future directions in terms of clinical presentation and diagnostics will be discussed and important issues such as repeated exposure to anesthetic agents and effects of therapy on growth and psychological distress will be listed.
Research Square (Research Square), Aug 31, 2021
Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related ... more Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Its early diagnosis and detection can effectively help in increasing the chances of survival rate. For this reason, the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer using Deep learning algorithms have attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, our study aimed to design a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural networks for an efficient classification of breast cancer histopathological images by using our own created dataset. We collected overall 328 digital slides, from 116 of surgical breast specimens diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of nonspecific type, and referred to the histopathology department of the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. We used two models of deep neural network architectures in order to accurately classify the images into one of three categories: normal tissue-benign lesions, in situ carcinoma or invasive carcinoma. Results: Both Resnet50 and Xception models achieved comparable results, with a small advantage to Xception extracted features. We reported high degrees of overall correct classification accuracy (88%), and sensitivity (95%) for detection of carcinoma cases, which is important for diagnostic pathology workflow in order to assist pathologists for diagnosing breast cancer with precision. The results of the present study showed that the designed classification model has a good generalization performance in predicting diagnosis of breast cancer, in spite of the limited size of the data. To our knowledge, this approach can be highly compared with other common methods in the automated analysis of breast cancer images reported in literature.
PAMJ clinical medicine, 2022
International journal of clinical studies and medical case reports, Jan 31, 2022
International Journal of Clinical Studies and Medical Case Reports
Annales d'Endocrinologie, 2021
BMC Gastroenterology, Jun 5, 2023
Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of... more Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal cancer. It is clear that the efficacy of anti-EGFR depends upon the RAS mutational status, since any mutation in RAS is associated with resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. The aim of this study is to report the largest North African description of KRAS and NRAS status in metastatic colorectal cancer and to describe the association of these mutations with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods This is a prospective study of all consecutive unselected metastatic colorectal cancer samples, collected from the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat, Morocco, from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2021. The molecular analysis was performed on the Idylla™ platform (fully automated real-time polymerase chain reaction-based assay) for KRAS and NRAS mutations in exons 2, 3 and 4. These mutations were correlated to gender, primary tumor site, histological type and degree of differentiation of tumor using adequate statistical methods. Results Four hundred fourteen colorectal tumors were screened for KRAS and NRAS mutations. These mutations occurred in 51.7% of tumors for KRAS (mainly in exon 12) and in 3% of tumors for NRAS. There was a significant correlation between NRAS mutation and age of colorectal patients in this study. The low rate of invalid RAS tests (1.7% for KRAS and 3.1% for NRAS) was certainly obtained due to the strict respect of pre-analytical factors such as cold ischemia time and formalin fixation. Conclusion We report the largest North African analysis of NRAS and KRAS status in colorectal metastatic patients. This study showed the ability in low middle income countries to perform a high rate of valid tests and the unusual trend towards older patients for NRAS mutations.
PAMJ clinical medicine, 2022
BMC Research Notes, Feb 19, 2022
Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related ... more Objective: Breast cancer is a critical public health issue and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Its early diagnosis and detection can effectively help in increasing the chances of survival rate. For this reason, the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer using Deep learning algorithms have attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, our study aimed to design a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural networks for an efficient classification of breast cancer histopathological images by using our own created dataset. We collected overall 328 digital slides, from 116 of surgical breast specimens diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of nonspecific type, and referred to the histopathology department of the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. We used two models of deep neural network architectures in order to accurately classify the images into one of three categories: normal tissue-benign lesions, in situ carcinoma or invasive carcinoma. Results: Both Resnet50 and Xception models achieved comparable results, with a small advantage to Xception extracted features. We reported high degrees of overall correct classification accuracy (88%), and sensitivity (95%) for detection of carcinoma cases, which is important for diagnostic pathology workflow in order to assist pathologists for diagnosing breast cancer with precision. The results of the present study showed that the designed classification model has a good generalization performance in predicting diagnosis of breast cancer, in spite of the limited size of the data. To our knowledge, this approach can be highly compared with other common methods in the automated analysis of breast cancer images reported in literature.
Tumori Journal, 2020
Introduction: Apocrine carcinoma of breast is a rare type of malignant tumor, the incidence of wh... more Introduction: Apocrine carcinoma of breast is a rare type of malignant tumor, the incidence of which varies between 0.3 - 0.4 % of all female breast cancers.Apocrine carcinoma is exceptional in male patients and very few cases have been described in literature. This tumor shows distinct microscopic and immunohistological features. We report an exceptional observation of apocrine carcinoma of breast in a man. Patient and observation: He’s a 54 years old man who had for 2months a painless nodule at the left axillary..The patient had family history of breast and prostate cancers. Physical examination revealed a left axilary lymphadenopathy movable relative to superficial and deep plans with no evidence mass of breasts. MRI of the breast was performed and revealed a mass that was 38 x 10 mm in size.A biopsy of the lymphadenopathy was performed. It objectified a carcinomatous proliferation. An immunohistochemical study showed that tumor cells express Her 2, but do not express estrogenic ...
International Journal of Scientific Reports
This article discusses the rare clinical situation where cervical cancer mimics the symptoms of a... more This article discusses the rare clinical situation where cervical cancer mimics the symptoms of a cervical myoma. Cervical cancer is a prevalent cancer in women, often caused by HPV infection, and can cause symptoms such as abnormal vaginal bleeding and pain during sexual intercourse. However, cervical myoma can also cause similar symptoms, making it difficult to differentiate between the two conditions. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer can lead to a poorer outcome for patients, highlighting the importance of accurately identifying the disease. Healthcare professionals should be aware of this rare clinical situation and conduct thorough examinations to differentiate between cervical cancer and cervical myoma. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can improve the prognosis for patients with this disease. Women should also be aware of the potential symptoms of cervical cancer and consult a healthcare professional if they experience abnormal vaginal bleeding or pa...
BMC Gastroenterology
Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of... more Background Advances in molecular biology have improved understanding of the molecular features of carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal cancer. It is clear that the efficacy of anti-EGFR depends upon the RAS mutational status, since any mutation in RAS is associated with resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. The aim of this study is to report the largest North African description of KRAS and NRAS status in metastatic colorectal cancer and to describe the association of these mutations with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods This is a prospective study of all consecutive unselected metastatic colorectal cancer samples, collected from the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat, Morocco, from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2021. The molecular analysis was performed on the Idylla™ platform (fully automated real-time polymerase chain reaction-based assay) for KRAS and NRAS mutations in exons 2, 3 and 4. These mutations were correlated to gen...
International journal of clinical studies and medical case reports, Jan 31, 2022
Journal of Personalized Medicine
Breast cancer is one of the main global priorities in terms of public health. It remains the most... more Breast cancer is one of the main global priorities in terms of public health. It remains the most frequent cancer in women and is the leading cause of their death. The human microbiome plays various roles in maintaining health by ensuring a dynamic balance with the host or in the appearance of various pathologies including breast cancer. In this study, we performed an analysis of bacterial signature differences between tumor and adjacent tissues of breast cancer patients in Morocco. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we observed that adjacent tissue contained a much higher percentage of the Gammaproteobacteria class (35.7%) while tumor tissue was characterized by a higher percentage of Bacilli and Actinobacteria classes, with about 18.8% and 17.2% average abundance, respectively. Analysis of tumor subtype revealed enrichment of genus Sphingomonodas in TNBC while Sphingomonodas was predominant in HER2. The LEfSe and the genus level heatmap analysis revealed a higher abundance of the Rot...
Saudi journal of pathology and microbiology, Apr 25, 2022
Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a malignant mesenchymal tumor most commonly occur... more Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a malignant mesenchymal tumor most commonly occurring in the distal extremities of adults, it generally behaves like a low-grade tumor but is still able to progress locally and metastasize to distant sites, rarely resulting in death. It is a tumor whose unusual morphology can lead to misdiagnosis, either in the non-neoplastic sense (infectious or inflammatory) or as another sometimes malignant tumor entity. The genetic abnormalities detected in MIFS are the t(1;10)(p22:q24) translocation, with rearrangements of TGFBR3 and MGEA5 genes associated with increased levels of FGF8, with chromosome 3 marker/ring formation, and amplification of the VGLL3 locus.
Annals of Cancer Research and Therapy
Introduction: RAS status is a predictive biomarker for anti-EGFR response in metastatic colorecta... more Introduction: RAS status is a predictive biomarker for anti-EGFR response in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The Idylla technology (IT) is a fully automated molecular testing system based on real-time PCR and provides rapid results in a very short preparation time. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the full RAS mutation status in Moroccan patients with mCRC. Methods: formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens obtained between January 22 and December 15, 2020, were analyzed using the IT. The minimum percentage of tumor cells was 10.0%, after morphological control. One to fivemicron sections were collected via a dedicated microtome and inserted directly into the Idylla cartridge. Results: 195 mCRC samples were tested for RAS mutation, 9 (4.6%) could not be treated due to insufficient tumor material. A total of 186 mCRC patients were included in this study, 50.0% were women and 50.0% were men, the mean age was 60.9 years with extremes ranging from 19 to 90 years. The primary site was the most common (83.9%) and the most common histological type was adenocarcinoma (89.8%). 56.5% of tumors were KRAS mutants and the majority of mutations resulted in an amino acid substitution of glycine for aspartic acid. The most frequent mutations were the G>T transversions (41.0%) and the G>A transitions (40.9%). In contrast, NRAS mutations were detected in 8 patients (4.0%). No statistically significant relationship between mCRC patient characteristics and KRAS/NRAS mutations was found. Conclusions: Several studies have shown that the Idylla™ KRAS mutation assay can be applied as a routine tool without requiring infrastructure or molecular expertise, to guide the personalized treatment of CRC patients. Our results suggest that KRAS mutations are more common in Moroccan mCRC patients, which is in agreement with previous studies. Further studies with a larger number of mCRC patients are recommended to confirm our results.