Frameless stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases: a review of outcomes and prognostic scores evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Stereotactic brain radiosurgery provides good local control in patients with limited brain metastases. A newly developed frameless system allows pain-free treatment. We reviewed the effectiveness of this frameless stereotactic brain radiosurgery and identified prognostic factors that may aid better patient selection. METHODS: Medical records of patients with brain metastases treated with linear accelerator-based frameless stereotactic brain radiosurgery between January 2010 and July 2015 in a university affiliated hospital in Hong Kong were reviewed. Outcomes including local and distant brain control rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival were analysed. Prognostic factors were identified by univariable and multivariable analyses. Association of outcomes with four common prognostic scores was performed. RESULTS: In this study, 64 patients with 94 lesions were treated with a median dose of 18 Gy (range, 12-22 Gy) in a single fraction. The median follow-up was 11.5 months. One-year actuarial local and distant brain control rates were 72% and 71%, respectively. The median overall survival was 13.0 months. On multivariable analysis, Karnofsky performance status score (>50 vs ≤50) and number of lesions (1-2 vs ≥3) were found to associate significantly with distinct brain progression-free survival (P=0.022, hazard ratio=0.20, 95% confidence interval 0.05-0.80 and P=0.003, hazard ratio=0.31, 95% confidence interval 0.14-0.68, respectively). Overall survival was associated significantly with Basic Score for Brain Metastases (P=0.031), Score Index for Radiosurgery in Brain Metastases (P=0.007), and Graded Prognostic Assessment (P=0.003). Improvement in overall survival was observed in all groups of different prognostic scores. CONCLUSION: Frameless stereotactic brain radiosurgery is effective in patients with oligo-metastases of brain and should be increasingly considered in patients with favourable prognostic scoring.

A systematic review of axillary web syndrome (AWS).

INTRODUCTION: Axillary web syndrome (AWS) can result in early post-operative and long-term difficulties following lymphadenectomy for cancer and should be recognised by clinicians. This systematic review was conducted to synthesise information on AWS clinical presentation and diagnosis, frequency, natural progression, grading, pathoaetiology, risk factors, symptoms, interventions and outcomes. METHODS: Electronic searches were conducted using Cochrane, Pubmed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, PEDro and Google Scholar until June 2013. The methodological quality of included studies was determined using the Downs and Black checklist. Narrative synthesis of results was undertaken. RESULTS: Thirty-seven studies with methodological quality scores ranging from 11 to 26 on a 28-point scale were included. AWS diagnosis relies on inspection and palpation; grading has not been validated. AWS frequency was reported in up to 85.4 % of patients. Biopsies identified venous and lymphatic pathoaetiology with five studies suggesting lymphatic involvement. Twenty-one studies reported AWS occurrence within eight post-operative weeks, but late occurrence of greater than 3 months is possible. Pain was commonly reported with shoulder abduction more restricted than flexion. AWS symptoms usually resolve within 3 months but may persist. Risk factors may include extensiveness of surgery, younger age, lower body mass index, ethnicity and healing complications. Low-quality studies suggest that conservative approaches including analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and/or physiotherapy may be safe and effective for early symptom reduction. CONCLUSIONS: AWS appears common. Current evidence for the treatment of AWS is insufficient to provide clear guidance for clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Cancer survivors should be informed about AWS. Further investigation is needed into pathoaetiology, long-term outcomes and to determine effective treatment using standardised outcomes.

A randomized, double-blind comparison of ampicillin/sulbactam and ceftriaxone in the prevention of surgical-site infections after neurosurgery.

BACKGROUND: The use of prophylactic antibiotics has been shown to decrease the rate of surgical-site infections after clean neurosurgical operations, although previous clinical trials have provided no evidence that one antibiotic is superior to another for this purpose. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to compare the rates of postoperative infectious complications of neurosurgery with prophylactic ceftriaxone and ampicillin/sulbactam, a less-expensive antibiotic. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing neurosurgery between January and December 1998 were recruited for the study. Those who had an infectious disease for which antibiotics were required, who received antibiotics within 48 hours before surgery, were aged <12 or >85 years, had an indwelling catheter for the monitoring of intracranial pressure, or had a history of allergy to the study drugs were excluded. Before the operation, eligible patients were randomized to either ampicillin/sulbactam 3 g or ceftriaxone 2 g. Surgeons and patients were blinded to treatment assignment. The study drugs were administered by the anesthesiologist as an IV bolus after induction of general anesthesia. All patients were followed for 6 weeks postoperatively. If reoperation was required within 6 weeks of the original operation, the patient received the same antibiotic as during the first surgery, without further randomization. RESULTS: Over the 1-year study period, 180 consecutive patients undergoing neurosurgical operations were recruited. Surgical-site infection occurred in 2 (2.3%) patients in the ampicillin/sulbactam group and 3 (3.3%) in the ceftriaxone group; nonsurgical-site infection occurred in 25 (28.4%) patients in the ampicillin/sulbactam group and 15 (16.3%) in the ceftriaxone group. The between-group differences were not statistically significant, with the exception of surgical implantation of foreign material, which was performed sig- nificantly more frequently in the ceftriaxone group (P = 0.045). In addition, 2 of 3 surgical-site infections in the ceftriaxone group involved foreign-material implantation; however, if these operations are omitted from the analysis, the difference between treatments remains nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that ampicillin/sulbactam and ceftriaxone are of similar prophylactic efficacy in clean neurosurgical operations. Because the acquisition cost of 2 g ceftriaxone is approximately 3 times greater than that of 3 g ampicillin/sulbactam, the latter may be more cost-effective than the former for neurosurgical prophylaxis; however, other relevant hospital-related costs were not assessed in this study.

Epstein-Barr virus carriage by nasopharyngeal carcinoma in situ.

We studied the distribution of the EBV genome in tumour biopsies obtained from 42 patients with poorly differentiated or undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and 3 patients with well-differentiated NPC. Six carcinoma in situ (CIS) foci were seen in 5 tumour specimens. By in-situ hybridization, multiple copies of the EBV genome were detected in some of the tumour cells in 3 CIS lesions involving the full thickness of the mucosal epithelium, but without microinvasion, while the viral genome was present in the majority of the tumour cells contained in another 3 CIS lesions with microinvasion. In agreement with previous findings, poorly differentiated and undifferentiated carcinomas regularly carried the viral genome, the number of copies of which was similar to that seen in CIS, while some, but not all, of the tumour cells of the well-differentiated histological type carried the virus. The viral genome was otherwise rarely detected in other areas of the mucosal epithelium and, where present, the viral carriage was confined to a few epithelial cells, in which the viral genome contents were markedly lower than in tumour cells. These results suggest that EBV may first become associated with NPC at an early stage of the disease shortly after the tumour has been initiated.