Associations between context and affect within the daily lives of cancer caregivers.

PURPOSE: This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to test the association between activity, location, and social company contexts with cancer caregivers' in-the-moment affect to identify precisely when and where to deliver psychological interventions for caregivers. METHODS: Current cancer caregivers (N = 25) received 8 EMA prompts per day for 7 consecutive days. At each prompt, caregivers reported their current positive affect and negative affect, as well as what they were doing, where they were located, and who they were with. Multilevel logistic regressions tested the associations between caregivers' contexts with their own person-mean-centered state (concurrent momentary level) and trait (overall weekly average) positive or negative affect. RESULTS: Caregivers reported lower state negative affect, as well as higher state positive affect, when socializing (ps < .001), when at a public location (ps < .03), and when around their friends, family, spouse/partner, or care recipient (i.e., person with cancer, ps < .02), relative to when not endorsing the context. Caregivers also reported lower state negative affect when eating/drinking or engaging in leisure (ps < .01; but no parallel effects for state positive affect). Caregivers reported higher state negative affect while working, when at their workplace, or when around work colleagues (ps < .001) and lower state positive affect when at home or alone (ps < .03). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the pertinence of a behavioral activation framework to mitigate the emotional strain of caregiving. Interventions that facilitate caregivers' ability to socialize with a range of friends and family, including their loved one with cancer, outside of the home may have the strongest positive emotional impact.

The Clinical Utility and Cost of Routine Staging Exam under Anesthesia for Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: The standard complete evaluation of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has included a staging exam under anesthesia (EUA) since the 1970s. The EUA for all sites of HNSCC has historically consisted of panendoscopy for the purpose of diagnostic biopsy, accurate staging of primary disease, and identification of second primary tumors. However, due to the accessibility of the oral cavity, the sole purpose of EUA for tumors of this site is to identify second primary tumors. Since the EUA became the gold standard for evaluation of HNSCC, there have been significant advancements in less invasive technologies such as CT, PET-CT, MRI, and fiberoptic examination. In this study, we sought to determine the value to patient care and cost-effectiveness of EUA in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). METHODS: A retrospective chart review identified 77 patients who underwent EUA for OCSCC. RESULTS: The most common subsites were the oral tongue and floor of mouth (59.7% and 24.7% respectively). All underwent direct laryngoscopy, 94.8% underwent esophagoscopy, and 20.8% underwent flexible transnasal examination in clinic prior to EUA. For 90.9% of patients, the EUA did not change initial T-staging based on clinical examination and imaging. The remaining 9.1% of patients were upstaged after EUA, however this change did not impact the treatment plan. Second primary tumors were identified in 3.9% of patients, all were found in either the oral cavity or oropharynx, and were also identified with clinical examination or imaging. Analysis of patient charges determined an average cost of $8,022.93 per patient under the current paradigm involving EUA, however with a new algorithm eliminating mandatory EUA average cost decreases to $1,448.44. CONCLUSION: Formal EUA has historically been the gold standard for all HNSCC tumors. However, when performed for cases of oral cavity carcinoma, it is safe and cost effective to limit its use to select clinical scenarios.

An Internally Validated Prognostic Risk-Score Model for Disease-Specific Survival in Clinical Stage I and II Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare cutaneous malignancy for which factors predictive of disease-specific survival (DSS) are poorly defined. METHODS: Patients from six centers (2005-2020) with clinical stage I-II MCC who underwent sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy were included. Factors associated with DSS were identified using competing-risks regression analysis. Risk-score modeling was established using competing-risks regression on a training dataset and internally validated by point assignment to variables. RESULTS: Of 604 patients, 474 (78.5%) and 128 (21.2%) patients had clinical stage I and II disease, respectively, and 189 (31.3%) had SLN metastases. The 5-year DSS rate was 81.8% with a median follow-up of 31 months. Prognostic factors associated with worse DSS included increasing age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.03, p = 0.046), male sex (HR 3.21, p = 0.021), immune compromise (HR 2.46, p = 0.013), presence of microsatellites (HR 2.65, p = 0.041), and regional nodal involvement (1 node: HR 2.48, p = 0.039; ≥2 nodes: HR 2.95, p = 0.026). An internally validated, risk-score model incorporating all of these factors was developed with good performance (AUC 0.738). Patients with ≤ 4.00 and > 4.00 points had 5-year DSS rates of 89.4% and 67.2%, respectively. Five-year DSS for pathologic stage I/II patients with > 4.00 points (n = 49) was 79.8% and for pathologic stage III patients with ≤ 4.00 points (n = 62) was 90.3%. CONCLUSIONS: A risk-score model, including patient and tumor factors, based on DSS improves prognostic assessment of patients with clinically localized MCC. This may inform surveillance strategies and patient selection for adjuvant therapy trials.

Predictors of False Negative Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Clinically Localized Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is routinely recommended for clinically localized Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC); however, predictors of false negative (FN) SLNB are undefined. METHODS: Patients from six centers undergoing wide excision and SLNB for stage I/II MCC (2005-2020) were identified and were classified as having either a true positive (TP), true negative (TN) or FN SLNB. Predictors of FN SLNB were identified and survival outcomes were estimated. RESULTS: Of 525 patients, 28 (5.4%), 329 (62.7%), and 168 (32%) were classified as FN, TN, and TP, respectively, giving an FN rate of 14.3% and negative predictive value of 92.2% for SLNB. Median follow-up for SLNB-negative patients was 27 months, and median time to nodal recurrence for FN patients was 7 months. Male sex (hazard ratio [HR] 3.15, p = 0.034) and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (HR 2.22, p = 0.048) significantly correlated with FN, and increasing age trended toward significance (HR 1.04, p = 0.067). The 3-year regional nodal recurrence-free survival for males >75 years with LVI was 78.5% versus 97.4% for females ≤75 years without LVI (p = 0.009). Five-year disease-specific survival (90.9% TN vs. 51.3% FN, p < 0.001) and overall survival (69.9% TN vs. 48.1% FN, p = 0.035) were significantly worse for FN patients. CONCLUSION: Failure to detect regional nodal microscopic disease by SLNB is associated with worse survival in clinically localized MCC. Males, patients >75 years, and those with LVI may be at increased risk for FN SLNB. Consideration of increased nodal surveillance following negative SLNB in these high-risk patients may aid in early identification of regional nodal recurrences.

Feasibility of ecological momentary assessment to study depressive symptoms among cancer caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) may help with the development of more targeted interventions for caregivers' depression, yet the use of this method has been limited among cancer caregivers. This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of EMA among cancer caregivers and the use of EMA data to understand affective correlates of caregiver depressive symptoms. METHODS: Caregivers (N = 25) completed a depressive symptom assessment (Patient Health Questionnaire-8) and then received eight EMA survey prompts per day for 7 days. EMA surveys assessed affect on the orthogonal dimensions of valence and arousal. Participants completed feedback surveys regarding the EMA protocol at the conclusion of the week-long study. RESULTS: Of 32 caregivers approached, 25 enrolled and participated (78%), which exceeded the a priori feasibility cutoff of 55%. The prompt completion rate (59%, or 762 of 1,286 issued) did not exceed the a priori cutoff of 65%, although completion was not related to caregivers' age, employment status, physical health quality of life, caregiving stress, or depressive symptoms or the patients' care needs (ps > 0.22). Caregivers' feedback about their study experience was generally positive. Mixed-effects location scale modeling showed caregivers' higher depressive symptoms were related to overall higher reported negative affect and lower positive affect, but not to affective variability. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this feasibility study refute potential concerns that an EMA design is too burdensome for distressed caregivers. Clinically, findings suggest the potential importance of not only strategies to reduce overall levels of negative affect, but also to increase opportunities for positive affect.

Accuracy of MRI for the diagnosis of metastatic cervical lymphadenopathy in patients with thyroid cancer.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to systematically compare a comprehensive array of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features in terms of their sensitivity and specificity to diagnose cervical lymph node metastases in patients with thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 41 patients with thyroid malignancy who underwent surgical excision of cervical lymph nodes and had preoperative MR imaging ≤4weeks prior to surgery. Three head and neck neuroradiologists independently evaluated all the MR images. Using the pathology results as reference, the sensitivity, specificity and interobserver agreement of each MR imaging characteristic were calculated. RESULTS: On multivariate analysis, no single imaging feature was significantly correlated with metastasis. In general, imaging features demonstrated high specificity, but poor sensitivity and moderate interobserver agreement at best. CONCLUSIONS: Commonly used MR imaging features have limited sensitivity at correctly identifying cervical lymph node metastases in patients with thyroid cancer. A negative neck MR scan should not dissuade a surgeon from performing a neck dissection in patients with thyroid carcinomas.

Utility of abdominal imaging to assess for liver metastasis in patients with head and neck cancer and abnormal liver function tests.

PURPOSE: To determine the utility of abdominal imaging to further evaluate abnormal pre-operative liver function tests (LFTs) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: Records of patients evaluated by the head and neck surgery service from January 2004 through December 2009 were reviewed. For patients with abnormal alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase, or aspartate transaminase, subsequent abdominal imaging was assessed. RESULTS: Of the 862 patients with HNSCC who had documented LFTs, 109 (12.6%) had one or more abnormal values. In the same time period, LFTs were also obtained on 361 patients with benign head and neck tumors; of these, 40 (11.1%) had abnormalities. Of the 109 patients with HNSCC and abnormal LFTs, 78 (71.6%) underwent abdominal imaging (ultrasound, CT, MRI, or PET/CT). Overall, liver metastasis was demonstrated in only 1 of 109 patients with abnormal LFTs (0.92%) and in only 1 of 862 patients with HNSCC (0.12%). CONCLUSIONS: While HNSCC patients rarely present with liver metastasis, they often have abnormal LFTs. Although the presence of liver metastasis can dramatically change patient management, the yield of follow-up liver imaging for all patients with elevated LFTs is exceedingly low. Thus, the use of risk-stratified abdominal imaging may be prudent and cost effective in a select group of patients in whom distant metastasis is more likely. However, characteristics of this group are difficult to define given the rarity of liver metastasis in HNSCC.

Diagnostic Delay in HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Introduction Human papillomavirus-related (HPV + ) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing in incidence and presents diagnostic challenges given its unique clinical presentation. Objective The purpose of the present study is to characterize the impact of the unique clinical presentation of HPV-related OPSCC on delays in diagnosis. Methods Retrospective review of presenting symptoms and clinical characteristics of 284 patients with OPSCC treated from 2002-2014. Delay in diagnosis was defined as the presence of any of the following: multiple non-diagnostic fine needle aspirate (FNA) biopsies; two or more courses of antibiotic therapy; surgery with incorrect preoperative diagnosis; evaluation by an otolaryngologist without further workup; or surgery without definitive postoperative diagnosis. Results p16+ tumors demonstrated a distinct clinical presentation that more commonly involved a neck mass (85.1% versus 57.3% of p16-; p < 0.001) and less frequently included odynophagia (24.6% versus 51.7% of p16-; p < 0.001). Patients who experienced diagnostic delay were more likely to have p16+ tumors (77.7% delayed versus 62.8% not delayed; p = 0.006). p16+ primary tumors were more likely to be undetectable by physical examination of the head and neck including flexible laryngoscopy (19.0% versus 6.7% of p16-; p = 0.007) and more frequently associated with nondiagnostic FNA biopsies of a cervical nodal mass (11.8% versus 3.4% of p16-, p = 0.03). Conclusions Compared with non-HPV related OPSCC, the unique clinical presentation and characteristics of HPV+ OPSCC are associated with an increased incidence of diagnostic delay. Targeted education of appropriate care providers may improve time to diagnosis and treatment.