Laila Sherief

Zagazig University

Laila Sherief is a Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. She has more than fifty publications to her credit and is a peer reviewer for more than thirty-eight international journals. She is also an editorial board member for several other journals. Prof. Sherief maintains memberships in many professional societies, including the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), the Egyptian Pediatric Hematology Oncology Society (EPHOS), and Egyptian societies of thalassemia. She is the president of the Sharkia Thalassemia Association, in Egypt, and a member of the Egyptian National Guidelines Committee (NEGC) for evidence-based clinical practice.

2chapters authored

Chapters authored

β-Thalassemia: Genotypes and Phenotypes

By Tamer Hassan, Mohamed Badr, Usama El Safy, Mervat Hesham, Laila Sherief and Marwa Zakaria

β-Thalassemias are extremely heterogeneous at the molecular level. More than 200 disease-causing mutations have been identified. The majority of mutations are single nucleotide substitutions. Rarely, β-thalassemia results from gross gene deletion. The degree of globin chain imbalance is determined by the nature of the mutation of the β-gene. β0 refers to the complete absence of production of β-globin on the affected allele. β+ refers to alleles with some residual production of β-globin (around 10%). In β++, the reduction in β-globin production is very mild. The broad spectrum of β-thalassemia alleles can produce a wide spectrum of different β-thalassemia phenotypes. In this chapter, we review the molecular basis of the marked heterogeneity of the thalassemia syndromes or in other words the genotype-phenotype relationship in β-thalassemia.

Part of the book: Epidemiology of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases

Target Therapy in Neuroblastoma

By Tamer Hassan, Mohamed Badr, Usama El Safy, Mervat Hesham, Laila Sherief, Mohamed Beshir, Manar Fathy, Mohamed Al Malky and Marwa Zakaria

Neuroblastoma is an embryonal malignancy that originates in the sympathetic nervous system. It is the most common solid tumor in infants and the most frequent extracranial solid tumor in children. Neuroblastoma accounts for 10% of childhood malignancies with 75% occurring in children <4 years. Stage, age, clinical and tumor genomic features are the principal criteria for determining treatment policy. Treatment modalities traditionally employed in the management of neuroblastoma are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Intensive multimodal treatment in patients with neuroblastoma has resulted in improved survival rates. However, there is a considerable percentage of patients with refractory and relapsed disease. Targeted therapy for neuroblastoma involves treatment aimed at molecular targets that have a unique expression in this childhood cancer. A large number of molecular targets have been identified for the treatment of high-risk and relapsed neuroblastoma. Treatment in this way aims at providing a more selective way to treat the disease and decreasing toxicities associated with the conventional treatment regimen.

Part of the book: Neuroblastoma

Laila Sherief

Chapters authored

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