Challenges and outcome of surgery for bowel obstruction in women with gynaecologic cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Bowel obstruction is associated with a reduction in quality of life and survival among cancer patients, and the entity is traditionally treated by general surgeons without dedication to the different malignancies that cause bowel obstruction or to palliation. This study aims to identify and improve outcome of bowel obstruction in women with a history of a gynaecologic cancer. METHODS: Women operated for bowel obstruction were screened for a history of gynaecologic cancer and their records were reviewed. RESULTS: Bowel obstruction followed cancer treatment by a median of 18.4 months (range 2.3-277) in 59 women. A malignant cause was identified in 53% and recurrence of cancer in 61%. The cause of malignant bowel obstruction was peritoneal carcinomatosis (19%), obstructing tumour and carcinomatosis (31%) and solitary tumour (3%). Ovarian cancer (OR: 6.29, 95% CI 1.95-20.21), residual tumour during initial surgery (R2-stage) (OR: 18.7, 96% CI: 4.35-80.46) and chemotherapy (OR: 7.19, 95% CI: 2.28-22.67) were all associated with malignant bowel obstruction. Surgery solved 84% of malignant bowel obstructions, but median survival was brief (2.5 months, 95% CI: 1.4-3.6) when compared to benign bowel obstruction (95.3 months, 64.7-125.9) (p < 0.001). Readmission for bowel obstruction occurred after a median of 4.3 months (95% CI: 3.1-5.5) in surviving patients with malignant bowel obstruction and after a median of 84.5 months (95% CI: 73.6-95.3) with adhesive obstruction (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Increased awareness of the aetiology to bowel obstruction may improve treatment strategy in these women. Women with malignant bowel obstruction should be carefully identified and differentiated in order to improve quality of life rather than pursuing emergency surgical procedures.

Hormone receptor loss in endometrial carcinoma curettage predicts lymph node metastasis and poor outcome in prospective multicentre trial.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative histologic examination of tumour tissue is essential when deciding if endometrial cancer surgery should include lymph node sampling. We wanted to investigate if biomarkers could improve prediction of lymph node metastasis and outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Curettage specimens from 832 endometrial carcinoma patients prospectively recruited from 10 centres in the MoMaTEC trial (Molecular Markers in Treatment of Endometrial Cancer) were investigated for hormone receptor and p53 status. RESULTS: Eighteen per cent of tumours were double negative for oestrogen- and progesterone receptors (ER/PR loss), 24% overexpressed p53. Pathologic expression of all markers correlated with nodal metastases, high FIGO (Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage, non-endometrioid histology, high grade and poor prognosis (all P<0.001). ER/PR loss independently predicted lymph node metastasis (odds ratios (OR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-3.7) adjusted for preoperative curettage histology and predicted poor disease-specific survival adjusted for age, FIGO stage, histologic type, grade and myometrial infiltration (hazard ratio (HR) 2.3, 95% CI 1.4-3.9). For lymph node negative endometrioid tumours, ER/PR loss influenced survival independent of grade. CONCLUSION: Double negative hormone receptor status in endometrial cancer curettage independently predicts lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in a prospective multicentre setting. Implementing hormone receptor status to improve risk-stratification for selecting patients unlikely to benefit from lymphadenectomy seems justified.

Magnetic resonance imaging performs better than endocervical curettage for preoperative prediction of cervical stromal invasion in endometrial carcinomas.

OBJECTIVE: Preoperative identification of cervical stromal invasion in endometrial carcinoma is important to select patients for primary radical hysterectomy. The objective of this prospective implementation study was to assess if introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in addition to the standardly applied endocervical curettage (ECC), improved the preoperative prediction of cervical stromal invasion. METHODS: Over a six-year period, a total of 338 patients were surgically staged after preoperative assessment of the uterine cervix by ECC (years 1 through 3), and a combination of MRI and ECC (years 4 through 6). Suggested presence of cervical stromal invasion based on ECC (n=321) and MRI (n=146) were compared for diagnostic performance applying surgical FIGO stage 2009 as reference standard. RESULTS: For assessment of cervical stromal invasion sensitivity (specificity) [accuracy] values were 65% (79%) [77%] for ECC and 59% (91%) [84%] for MRI. Among patients diagnosed with both preoperative tests (n=129), MRI yielded significantly higher specificity (p=0.001) and accuracy (p=0.005) than ECC. MRI independently predicted cervical stromal invasion with an odds ratio (OR) of 11.2 (p<0.001) compared to OR of 2.7 (p=0.07) for ECC. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic performance of MRI compares favorably to that of ECC for preoperative assessment of cervical stromal invasion in endometrial carcinoma. Thus, the findings in this prospective implementation study support the value of preoperative MRI for assessment of cervical stromal invasion before radical hysterectomy.

Standard 1.5-T MRI of endometrial carcinomas: modest agreement between radiologists.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) interobserver agreement for the detection of deep myometrial invasion, cervical stroma invasion and lymph node metastases in endometrial carcinoma patients in relation to surgical staging. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with histologically confirmed endometrial carcinoma were prospectively included in a study of preoperative 1.5-T MRI. Four radiologists, blinded to patient data, independently reviewed the images for the presence of deep myometrial invasion, cervical stroma invasion and lymph node metastases. Kappa coefficients for interobserver agreement and diagnostic performances for each observer were calculated using final surgical staging results (FIGO 09) as reference standard. RESULTS: Overall agreement among all observers was moderate for cervical stroma invasion (κ = 0.50 [95% CI 0.27-0.73]) and lymph node metastases (κ = 0.56 [0.09-0.80]) and fair for deep myometrial invasion (κ = 0.39 [0.26-0.55]). Sensitivity (specificity) values for the four observers were 72-92% (44-63%) for deep myometrial invasion, 38-63% (82-94%) for cervical stroma invasion and 25-38% (90-100%) for lymph node metastases. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional MRI showed only modest interobserver agreement and diagnostic accuracy for detection of deep myometrial invasion, cervical stroma invasion and lymph node metastases. Improved methods are needed for preoperative imaging in the staging of endometrial carcinomas. KEY POINTS: MRI is an important tool for preoperative endometrial cancer staging. • Staging agreement based on pelvic MRI was modest among different observers. • Preoperative MRI alone was suboptimal in identifying high-risk patients. • Improved imaging and biomarkers may refine preoperative risk stratification in endometrial cancer.

Improved survival related to changes in endometrial cancer treatment, a 30-year population based perspective.

OBJECTIVE: Age adjusted incidence rate for uterine cancers in Norway has increased over last three decades from 12.2/100.000 (1981-90) to 16.0 (2001-2010). Corresponding 5-year survival increased nationally from 76.3% to 83.3%. METHODS: We wanted to investigate how changes in therapeutic strategies during a 30-year period are reflected in survival changes through careful characterization of a population-based series of 1077 endometrial carcinoma patients from Hordaland County, Norway. RESULTS: In concordance with increase in endometrial cancer nationally, the number of patients treated from Hordaland County rose from 286 (1981-1990) through 307 (1991-2000) to 484 (2001-2010). Main treatment changes included increase in routine pelvic lymphadenectomy from 0% through 9% to 77%, adjuvant chemotherapy from 0% through 3% to 9% and a dramatic reduction in adjuvant radiotherapy from 75% through 48% to 12% (all P<0.001). Body mass index increased significantly during this 30-year period, as did the 5-year disease-specific survival: from 75.8 through 80.2 to 86.9% (P=0.002) and overall survival from 67.8 through 71.7 to 77.8% (P=0.03). CONCLUSION: Improved overall and disease specific survival for endometrial carcinoma patients over the last 30 years is demonstrated in a population-based setting. Increasing BMI among patients and a change in treatment strategy with reduction in adjuvant radiotherapy and more extensive surgery is demonstrated for the same period.

Genome-wide association study identifies a common variant associated with risk of endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract in developed countries. To identify genetic variants associated with endometrial cancer risk, we performed a genome-wide association study involving 1,265 individuals with endometrial cancer (cases) from Australia and the UK and 5,190 controls from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. We compared genotype frequencies in cases and controls for 519,655 SNPs. Forty seven SNPs that showed evidence of association with endometrial cancer in stage 1 were genotyped in 3,957 additional cases and 6,886 controls. We identified an endometrial cancer susceptibility locus close to HNF1B at 17q12 (rs4430796, P = 7.1 × 10(-10)) that is also associated with risk of prostate cancer and is inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes.

[Medical abortion--the first Norwegian experiences]. / Medikamentell abort--de første norske erfaringern

BACKGROUND: Medical abortion was first introduced in Norway in April 1998. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy, side effects and acceptability of medical abortion with mifepristone and vaginally administered misoprostol in a Norwegian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included the first consecutive 226 women with gestational age of < 63 days who requested non-surgical abortion in the first year at the first Norwegian hospital using this regime. All women received a single dose of mifepristone 600 mg orally followed by 800 microgram of misoprostol vaginally after 48 hours. Complications were the principal outcome measure. We also took note of side effects such as abdominal pain and bleeding and inquired about how acceptable the treatment was for the women concerned. RESULTS: 95 % of the women had an uncomplicated termination of their pregnancies. The side effects were few and tolerable and the method's acceptability high. INTERPRETATION: The combination of mifepristone and vaginally administered misoprostol is effective and safe, has few side effects, and is well accepted by Norwegian women.