Impact of COVID-19 on Public Interest in Breast Cancer Screening and Related Symptoms: Google Trends Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in cancer screening due to the redeployment of health care resources and public avoidance of health care facilities. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in female individuals, with improved survival rates from early detection. An avoidance of screening, resulting in late detection, greatly affects survival and increases health care resource burden and costs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate if a sustained decrease in public interest in screening occurred and to evaluate other search terms, and hence interest, associated with that. METHODS: This study used Google Trends to analyze public interest in breast cancer screening and symptoms. We queried search data for 4 keyword terms ("mammogram," "breast pain," "breast lump," and "nipple discharge") from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2022. The relative search frequency metric was used to assess interest in these terms, and related queries were retrieved for each keyword to evaluate trends in search patterns. RESULTS: Despite an initial drastic drop in interest in mammography from March to April 2020, this quickly recovered by July 2020. After this period, alongside the recovery of interest in screening, there was a rapid increase in interest for arranging for mammography. Relative search frequencies of perceived breast cancer-related symptoms such as breast lump, nipple discharge, and breast pain remained stable. There was increase public interest in natural and alternative therapy of breast lumps despite the recovery of interest in mammography and breast biopsy. There was a significant correlation between search activity and Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. CONCLUSIONS: Online search interest in breast cancer screening experienced a sharp decline at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a subsequent return to baseline interest in arranging for mammography followed this short period of decreased interest.

Improving the accuracy of revised cardiac risk index with HbA1C: Hemoglobin ratio (HH ratio) - A retrospective cohort study.

Background: The current Lee's Revised cardiac risk index (RCRI) was created in 1999. Validation studies have found RCRI to be only moderately discriminant. The "Diabetes Mellitus on insulin" component of the score does not accurately reflect the severity of the disease. A previously studied HbA1C:Hemoglobin ratio shows an improved association with outcomes than individual components alone. Study design: A retrospective cohort study was performed in diabetic patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Ethics approval was obtained. The study compares the predictive value of RCRI and substitution of the "DM on insulin" component with HH ratio for 30- and 90-day mortality, and postoperative acute myocardial injury (AMI) and acute kidney injury (AKI). Results: A total of 20,099 adult patients were included in the final analysis. The incidence of 30- and 90-day mortality was at 4.2 and 6.5%, respectively. Substitution of HH ratio in RCRI resulted in 687 more patients being in the moderate to high-risk category. The substituted HH-RCRI score had better prediction for 30-day (AUC 0.66 vs. 0.69, p < 0.001) and 90-day mortality (AUC 0.67 vs. 0.70, p < 0.001), and postoperative AMI (AUC 0.69 vs. 0.71, p < 0.001) and AKI (AUC 0.57 vs. 0.62, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Although currently not an universal practice, substitution of "DM on insulin" with HbA1C:Hemoglobin ratio in RCRI score improves the accuracy of the RCRI risk prediction model in diabetic patients going for non-cardiac surgery.

Adherence to Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Recommendations in Patients With Curable Esophageal and Gastric Cancers.

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary tumor board (MDT) discussion is standard practice in the management of Upper Gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers. However, poor adherence to MDT recommendations may account for the lack of improved oncological outcomes with MDTs. We aim to quantify adherence rates and compare outcomes between adherent and non-adherent patients. METHODS: We included all patients with potentially curable primary UGI carcinomas who were discussed at UGI MDT from 2017 to 2018. MDT recommendations were compared to actual treatment received. Oncological and survival outcomes were compared between both groups. RESULTS: Amongst 153 patients, 64 (41.8%) were non-adherent to MDT recommendations. Reasons for non-adherence were patient refusal (50.0%), treatment-related complications (31.3%), disease factors (17.2%) and clinician decision (1.56%). Univariate analysis showed that non-adherent patients were older (71.6 vs 65.2 years, p < 0.001), with higher clinical stage at point of diagnosis (p = 0.028), pathological stage after resection (p < 0.001) and were more likely to be recommended for multimodal therapy. No significant factors were associated with non-adherence at multivariate analysis. Non-adherent patients had worse median overall survival (19.5 months) compared to adherent patients (not reached at follow-up) with both unmatched and propensity-score matched analysis. Patients who received only part of the intended adjuvant chemotherapy course had worse median overall survival and disease-free survival compared to patients who completed or did not initiate adjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Non-adherence to MDT recommendations was associated with advanced age and tumor stage, and potentially contributes to the worse oncological outcomes in a group of patients already predisposed to poor outcomes.

Cost-effectiveness comparison of delayed versus immediate coloanal anastomosis following ultralow anterior resection for rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Following ultralow anterior resection for distal rectal cancers, a coloanal anastomosis is usually created along with a defunctioning ileostomy (DI). Recent evidence suggests that abdominoperineal pull-through with delayed coloanal anastomosis (DCAA) is a viable alternative to immediate coloanal anastomosis (ICAA), minimizing the risk of anastomotic leakage and avoiding the need for stoma creation with the risk of stoma-associated morbidity. However, DCAA requires a longer initial hospitalization. We aimed to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis to compare DCAA versus ICAA for elective rectal cancer surgery. METHODS: A decision tree model was used to compare the cost-effectiveness of the two strategies. Cost data were obtained from the 2019 to 2020 United Kingdom National Health Service reference costs. Model probabilities were derived from published studies. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were used to evaluate the robustness of the results. RESULTS: DCAA was the overall cheaper strategy at £13 541 compared with £14 856 for ICAA in the base case analysis. This was explained by the decreased overall costs of hospitalization/surgery, reduction in costs associated with anastomotic or stoma-related complications, specifically dehydration-induced hospital readmissions and avoidance of stoma maintenance costs. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that DCAA remained consistently more inexpensive except when the duration of total parenteral nutrition exceeded 14 days. CONCLUSION: Despite a longer index hospitalization with higher initial costs, this economic analysis demonstrates that DCAA without stoma is overall more cost-effective compared with ICAA with DI following ultralow anterior resection. Cost savings should be considered an additional benefit when selecting the DCAA approach for rectal cancer surgery.

Technical insights to multivisceral resections using the da Vinci Xi.

BACKGROUND: There have been few reports on the feasibility and safety of robotic multivisceral surgeries. The da Vinci Xi boasts significant upgrades that improve its applicability in combined resections. We report our early experience of multivisceral, multi-quadrant resections with the Xi system. METHODS: Between May 2015 and August 2019, 13 multivisceral resections were performed. Patient demographics, procedural data, and perioperative outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: The procedures were completed at a median operative time of 290 (range, 210-535) minutes. The median postoperative length of hospital stay was 3.5 (range, 2-7) days. There was one case of readmission for anastomotic leak, but no positioning injuries, external robot arm collisions or issues arising from trocar position. There were no cases of perioperative mortality. CONCLUSION: Multivisceral resections can be safely accomplished using the Xi. Further studies are necessary to ascertain whether there are benefits of the robotic approach over conventional laparoscopy in these complex cases.

Risk Stratification in Oral Cancer: A Novel Approach.

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common head and neck cancer with high morbidity and mortality. Currently, treatment decisions are guided by TNM staging, which omits important negative prognosticators such as lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion (PNI), and histologic differentiation. We proposed nomogram models based on adverse pathological features to identify candidates suitable for treatment escalation within each risk group according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Methods: Anonymized clinicopathologic data of OSCC patients from 5 tertiary healthcare institutions in Asia were divided into 3 risk groups according to the NCCN guidelines. Within each risk group, nomograms were built to predict overall survival based on histologic differentiation, histologic margin involvement, depth of invasion (DOI), extranodal extension, PNI, lymphovascular, and bone invasion. Nomograms were internally validated with precision-recall analysis and the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results: Low-risk patients with positive pathological nodal involvement and/or positive PNI should be considered for adjuvant radiotherapy. Intermediate-risk patients with gross bone invasion may benefit from concurrent chemotherapy. High-risk patients with positive margins, high DOI, and a high composite score of histologic differentiation, PNI, and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition T staging should be considered for treatment escalation to experimental therapies in clinical trials. Conclusion: Nomograms built based on prognostic adverse pathological features can be used within each NCCN risk group to fine-tune treatment decisions for OSCC patients.

A machine learning approach to identify predictive molecular markers for cisplatin chemosensitivity following surgical resection in ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is associated with poor prognosis. Platinum resistance contributes significantly to the high rate of tumour recurrence. We aimed to identify a set of molecular markers for predicting platinum sensitivity. A signature predicting cisplatin sensitivity was generated using the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases. Four potential biomarkers (CYTH3, GALNT3, S100A14, and ERI1) were identified and optimized for immunohistochemistry (IHC). Validation was performed on a cohort of patients (n = 50) treated with surgical resection followed by adjuvant carboplatin. Predictive models were established to predict chemosensitivity. The four biomarkers were also assessed for their ability to prognosticate overall survival in three ovarian cancer microarray expression datasets from The Gene Expression Omnibus. The extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm was selected for the final model to validate the accuracy in an independent validation dataset (n = 10). CYTH3 and S100A14, followed by nodal stage, were the features with the greatest importance. The four gene signature had comparable prognostication as clinical information for two-year survival. Assessment of tumour biology by means of gene expression can serve as an adjunct for prediction of chemosensitivity and prognostication. Potentially, the assessment of molecular markers alongside clinical information offers a chance to further optimise therapeutic decision making.

Gene Expression Changes Associated with Dedifferentiation in Liposarcoma Predict Overall Survival.

Up to 10% of well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDLS) progress to dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLS). We aimed to identify gene expression changes associated with dedifferentiation and whether these were informative of tumour biology of DDLS. We analysed datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO, ID = GSE30929) database to identify differentially expressed genes between WDLS (n = 52) and DDLS (n = 39). We validated the signature on whole and laser-capture microdissected samples from patients with tumours consisting of mixed WDLS and DDLS components. A subset of this signature was applied to an independent dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA, n = 58 DDLS) database to segregate samples based on gene expression and compared for recurrence and overall survival (OS). A 15-gene signature consisting of genes with increased expression in DDLS compared to WDLS was generated. This signature segregated WDLS and DDLS samples from patients with mixed component tumours and across multiple recurrences. A further subset of this signature, consisting of five genes (AQP7, ACACB, FZD4, GPD1, LEP), segregated DDLS in a TCGA cohort with a significant difference in OS (p = 0.019) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.061). The five-gene model stratified DDLS into prognostic groups and outperformed clinical factors in existing models in retroperitoneal DDLS.

Spontaneous spinal epidural haematoma following intra-arterial catheter-directed thrombolysis: A case report.

A 79-year-old Chinese gentleman presented with unilateral acute lower limb ischaemia and received intra-arterial catheter-directed thrombolysis, initially with good result and reversal of the ischaemia. However, he developed an extensive spontaneous spinal epidural haematoma within hours of the procedure and was left with permanent paraplegia after being deemed unsuitable for decompressive spinal surgery. This report serves as a reminder of the risk of severe complications of catheter-directed thrombolysis by describing this rare but devastating side-effect that occurred even despite early detection from onset of symptoms.

A set of molecular markers predicts chemosensitivity to Mitomycin-C following cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for colorectal peritoneal metastasis.

Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality. We aim to generate and validate a biomarker set predicting sensitivity to Mitomycin-C to refine selection of patients with colorectal peritoneal metastasis (CPM) for this treatment. A signature predicting Mitomycin-C sensitivity was generated using data from Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer and The Cancer Genome Atlas. Validation was performed on CPM patients who underwent CRS-HIPEC (n = 62) using immunohistochemistry (IHC). We determined predictive significance of our set using overall survival as a surrogate endpoint via a logistic regression model. Three potential biomarkers were identified and optimized for IHC. Patients exhibiting lower expression of PAXIP1 and SSBP2 had poorer survival than those with higher expression (p = 0.045 and 0.140, respectively). No difference was observed in patients with differing DTYMK expression (p = 0.715). Combining PAXIP1 and SSBP2 in a set, patients with two dysregulated protein markers had significantly poorer survival than one or no dysregulated marker (p = 0.016). This set independently predicted survival in a Cox regression model (HR 5.097; 95% CI 1.731-15.007; p = 0.003). We generated and validated an IHC prognostic set which could potentially identify patients who are likely to benefit from HIPEC using Mitomycin-C.

The Approach to Solitary Fibrous Tumors: Are Clinicopathological Features and Nomograms Accurate in the Prediction of Prognosis?

INTRODUCTION: Currently, factors such as size, mitotic rate, and degree of necrosis have been shown to influence survival in patients with solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs); however, there remains no consensus regarding the associations between tumor characteristics and the malignant nature of these tumors. The aim of this article was to identify factors that would help in prognosticating SFTs and to validate the MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) SFT nomogram in the largest known series of SFTs treated in an Asian population. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients with a diagnosis of SFT treated surgically in our institution between 2005 and 2015 was carried out. Basic demographics, clinicopathological, and surgical factors were analyzed for association with clinical outcomes. Factors that predicted for distant recurrence (DR) and poor survival were identified as high-risk features. The MDACC nomogram was validated by assessing the extent of discrimination, quantified using Harrell's concordance index (C-index). RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were included in analysis. Significant univariate associations for DR were found for mitotic rate ( P = .05) and presence of necrosis ( P = .04). Significant univariate associations for overall survival were found for presence of recurrence ( P = .035), presence of necrosis ( P = .072), and mitotic rate ( P = .033). The C-index associated with the nomogram was 0.75. CONCLUSION: There is a negative association for DR and overall survival, with the mitotic rate and presence of necrosis. We propose that SFTs with these features should be regarded as high risk. The MDACC nomogram generally predicts well for patients in an Asian population.

Platinum agents and mitomycin C-specific complications in cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).

INTRODUCTION: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) have been found to prolong survival in patients with peritoneal disease but is associated with significant morbidity. We evaluate the perioperative complications and the association with the chemotherapy agent used for HIPEC. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of CRS-HIPEC cases between April 2001 and February 2016 was performed. Patients were stratified by the chemotherapy used, and perioperative complications were compared. RESULTS: Out of 214 CRS-HIPEC cases, 113 procedures used Mitomycin-C(MMC), 92 used cisplatin, 8 used oxaliplatin and the HIPEC regimen for one procedure was not recorded and excluded. 94 patients (44%) suffered low-grade complications (grade I-II), and 49 patients (23%) suffered high-grade complications (grade III-V). The frequency of low-grade complications for the cisplain, oxaliplatin and MMC groups were 49%, 50% and 40%, respectively, whereas that of high-grade complications were 24%, 50% and 20%, respectively. HIPEC with platinum agents was associated with a higher rate of acute renal impairment (ARI) compared to MMC (32% and 62% for cisplatin and oxaliplatin vs. 5.6% for MMC), whereas grade IV ARI requiring dialysis occurred only in the cisplatin group (5.6%). HIPEC with oxaliplatin was associated with higher rates of post-operative bleeding (25% vs. 1.1% and 0.88%). Rates of other complications did not differ significantly between the groups receiving different HIPEC regimens. CONCLUSIONS: The overall complication rates do not significantly differ after HIPEC with MMC and platinum based agents. Renal impairment tends to be more common and of greater severity when a platinum agent is used, whereas oxaliplatin is associated with significant post-operative bleeding.

CA-125: an inaccurate surveillance tool immediately after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraoperative chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC)?

OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to evaluate pre and post-operative CA-125 in patients undergoing complete cytoreduction surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), and understand the time frame before values normalise allowing use as a surveillance tool to resume. METHODS: A retrospective review was carried out of 94 patients undergoing CRS-HIPEC to compare pre-operative CA-125 values, measured within one week prior to surgery to post-operative readings within the first 30 d. Raised CA-125 was defined using as a value >35 U/ml. RESULTS: Of 63 (67%) patients with normal pre-operative CA-125, 22 (35%) had raised post-operative CA-125, and consisted of patients with colorectal (n = 8), appendiceal (n = 6), ovarian (n = 4) or other (n = 4) cancers. The average peak CA-125 was 80 U/ml occurring on median 10th post-operative day (POD) (range 7-30). The median day of normalisation for patients with normal pre-operative and raised post-operative CA-125 was 57 (range 28-115). The median day of normalisation for patients with raised pre-operative CA-125 was POD 41 (range 1-114). Notably 10 patients had initial normalisation (median POD 1, range 1-6), followed by subsequent raised value (median POD 10, range 5-40) and re-normalisation (median POD 47, range 19-104). DISCUSSION: For patients with raised pre-operative CA-125 an immediate post-operative CA-125 within 3 d may be useful to assess normalisation following surgery. Aside from immediate measurement CA-125 is misleading and should not be measured post-operatively within the first 3 months after surgery following which its use as a surveillance marker can resume.

Does having a gastrectomy delay time to feeding and prolong hospital stay in patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy?

AIM: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is routinely used to treat selected patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis, but can be associated with prolonged hospital stay, significant morbidity and mortality. Our objective was to assess whether patients undergoing gastrectomy as part of CRS/HIPEC were at increased risk of delayed feeding time and prolonged hospital stay. METHODS: Two hundred and fourteen consecutive patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis treated with CRS/HIPEC between 2001 and 2016 were stratified by whether CRS included gastrectomy (n = 19, 9%) and compared. Primary outcomes were time to full feeds and rate of serious morbidity (Clavien-Dindo grades III-V). Secondary outcomes were durations of ICU and hospital stays. RESULTS: Of 214 patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC, those undergoing gastrectomy (19, 8.9%) had increased time to full feeds (8 vs. 5 days, p < 0.01), and duration of ICU (2 vs. 1 days, p < 0.01) and total hospital stays (16 vs. 14 days, p = 0.013). There was no significant increase in serious complications, although increased risk of pneumonia was noted (21% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.011). Undergoing gastrectomy was not independently prognostic in multivariable analysis including high peritoneal tumour load (PCI >12), multiple CRS procedures (number >2) and operation duration (>480 min) in which operative duration remained independently prognostic (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: After surgery, early oral refeeding may be beneficial in the majority of patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC. However, patients found to have high peritoneal tumour load with extended surgery and those who underwent gastrectomy should be considered for early post-operative TPN due to the significant risk of delayed time to full feeds.

Recurrence of immature ovarian teratoma as malignant follicular carcinoma with liver and peritoneal metastasis 22 years after completion of initial treatment.

Growing tumour syndrome (GTS) is a rare event in which germ cell tumours treated with chemotherapy undergo maturation, acquire resistance to chemotherapy and regrow. The optimum treatment strategy is complete surgical excision. We report on a case of GTS with malignant metastases to the liver presenting 22 years after completion of treatment for immature teratoma, successfully managed with surgical resection alone.