title: A review of the infection-associated cancers in North African countries.
abstract: Cancer is typically classified as a leading non-communicable disease; however, infectious agents, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human papilloma virus (HPV), contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of various cancers. Less developed countries, including countries of the North African (NA) region, endure the highest burden of infection-related cancers. The five most common infection-associated cancers in NA in order of incidence are bladder cancer, cervical cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This review aims to outline the epidemiologic pattern of infection-associated cancers in five NA countries (namely: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) highlighting the similarities and differences across the region. The present study employed an initial literature review of peer-reviewed articles selected from PubMed, ScienceDirect and World Health Organization (WHO) databases based on key word searches without restriction on publication dates. Original research articles and reports written in French, as well as data from institutional reports and regional meeting abstracts were also included in this extensive review. Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were selected to be the focus of this review.
authors: Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain ShamsUniversity, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Wafaa Mohamed
authors: WM
authors: Hussein
authors: Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain ShamsUniversity, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Wagida A
authors: WA
authors: Anwar
authors: Biology and Medical Research Unit, National Center of Energy, Sciences and Nuclear Technics, Rabat, Morocco.
authors: Mohammed
authors: M
authors: Attaleb
authors: Laboratory of Onco-virology, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco.
authors: Loubna
authors: L
authors: Mazini
authors: Department of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany ; Center for Primary Health Care Research, Clinical Research Center, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Asta
authors: A
authors: Försti
authors: Laboratory of Onco-virology, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco.
authors: Roxana-Delia
authors: RD
authors: Trimbitas
authors: Laboratory of Onco-virology, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco.
authors: Meriem
authors: 0000-0001-9376-4322
authors: M
authors: Khyatti
keywords: Cancer; Infection; North Africa