Can We Make More Accurate Prognoses During Last Days of Life?

Background: Life expectancy prediction is important for end-of-life planning. Established methods (Palliative Performance Scale [PPS], Palliative Prognostic Index [PPI]) have been validated for intermediate- to long-term prognoses, but last-weeks-of-life prognosis has not been well studied. Patients admitted to a palliative care facility often have a life expectancy of less than three weeks. Reliable last-weeks-of-life prognostic tools are needed. Objective: To improve short-term survival prediction in terminally ill patients. Method: This prospective study included all patients admitted to a palliative care facility in Montreal, Canada, over one year. PPS and PPI were assessed until patients' death. Seven prognostic clinical signs of impending death (Short-Term Prognosis Signs [SPS]) were documented daily. Results: The analyses included 273 patients (76% cancer). The median survival time for a PPS ≤20% was 2.5 days, while for a PPS ≥50% it was 44.5 days, for a PPI >8 the median survival was 3.5 days and for a PPI ≤4 it was 38.5 days. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed a high accuracy in predicting survival. Median survival after the first occurrence of any SPS was below one week. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the PPS and PPI perform well between one week and three months extending their usefulness to shorter term survival prediction. SPS items provided survival information during the last week of life. Using SPS along with PPS and PPI during the last weeks of life could enable a more precise short-term survival prediction across various end-of-life diagnoses. The translation of this research into clinical practice could lead to a better adapted treatment, the identification of a most appropriate care setting for patients, and improved communication of prognosis with patients and families.

Injection Drug Use Endocarditis: An Inner-City Hospital Experience.

BACKGROUND: There has been a rise in the incidence of injection drug use and associated infective endocarditis. METHODS: The clinical outcomes of 39 patients admitted with injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis were collected with a mean follow-up of 14 months. The outcomes were compared for patients treated medically with those undergoing surgical intervention. Re sults: The mean age was 39 ± 11 years; 54% were female. Thirty-two patients (82%) had native and 7 (18%) prosthetic infective endocarditis. The tricuspid valve was affected in 17 patients (43%), the mitral in 10 (26%), the aortic in 4 (10%), and multiple valves in 8 (20%). Sixteen (41%) patients underwent surgery, and 23 (59%) were treated with medical therapy. The indications for surgery included heart failure, systemic emboli, recurrent infection, and vegetation size ≥10 mm. Patients undergoing surgery had a higher rate of paravalvular abscess (25% vs 0%, P = 0.02), valve perforation (37% vs 11%, P = 0.04), and mitral valve involvement (44% vs 13%, P = 0.06), whereas medically treated patients had higher tricuspid valve involvement (61% vs 19%, P = 0.02). During follow-up, 26% of medical and 31% of surgical cohort patients died (P = 0.7). Mortality was highest (54%) among those who continued medical management despite an indication for surgery. Univariate predictors of mortality were age (odds ratio [OR] 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.17; P = 0.02), heart failure (OR 6.9; 95% CI: 1.24-37.49; P = 0.02), septicemia (OR 4.40; 95% CI:0.99-19.54; P = 0.05), and shock (OR 10.8; 95% CI: 1.68-69.92; P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Despite contemporary therapy, patients with injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis remain at high risk of complications and poor clinical outcomes. These findings highlight the need for developing new care pathways and a team approach for effective management.

INTRODUCTION: Il y a eu une augmentation de l'incidence de l'endocardite infectieuse associée à l'usage de drogues par injection. MÉTHODES: Nous avons recueilli au cours d'un suivi moyen de 14 mois les résultats cliniques de 39 patients admis en raison d'une endocardite infectieuse associée à l'usage de drogues par injection. Les résultats ont été comparés pour les patients traités médicalement avec ceux subissant une intervention chirurgicale. RÉSULTATS: L'âge moyen était de 39 ± 11 ans; 54 % étaient des femmes. Trente-deux patients (82 %) avaient une endocardite infectieuse sur valve native et 7 (18 %), une endocardite infectieuse sur prothèse valvulaire. La valve tricuspide était touchée chez 17 patients (43 %), la valve mitrale, chez 10 patients (26 %), la valve aortique, chez 4 patients (10 %), et plusieurs valves, chez 8 patients (20 %). Seize (41 %) patients ont subi une intervention chirurgicale, et 23 (59 %) ont reçu un traitement médical. Les indications d'intervention chirurgicale étaient les suivantes : l'insuffisance cardiaque, les embolies systémiques, l'infection récurrente et la taille de la végétation ≥ 10 mm. Les patients qui avaient subi une intervention chirurgicale ont plus fréquemment eu des abcès paravalvulaires (25 % vs 0 %, P = 0,02), des perforations de valves (37 % vs 11 %, P = 0,04) et des atteintes de la valve mitrale (44 % vs 13 %, P = 0,06), tandis que les patients qui avaient reçu un traitement médical ont plus fréquemment eu des atteintes de la valve tricuspide (61 % vs 19 %, P = 0,02). Durant le suivi, 26 % des patients de la cohorte du traitement médical et 31 % des patients de la cohorte de l'intervention chirurgicale sont morts (P = 0,7). La mortalité était plus élevée (54 %) chez les patients qui poursuivaient la prise en charge médicale malgré l'indication chirurgicale. Les prédicteurs univariés de la mortalité étaient l'âge (rapport de cotes [RC] 1,09, intervalle de confiance [IC] à 95 % : 1,01-1,17; P = 0,02), l'insuffisance cardiaque (RC 6,9; IC à 95 % : 1,24-37,49; P = 0,02), la septicémie (RC 4,40; IC à 95 % : 0,99-19,54; P = 0,05) et le choc (RC 10,8; IC à 95 % : 1,68-69,92; P = 0,01). CONCLUSIONS: En dépit de l'approche thérapeutique contemporaine, les patients atteints d'une endocardite infectieuse associée à l'usage de drogues par injection restent exposés à un risque élevé de complications et de mauvais résultats cliniques. Ces résultats illustrent la nécessité d'élaborer de nouveaux cheminements cliniques et une approche du travail en équipe pour assurer une prise en charge efficace.

Practice patterns and recurrence after partial cystectomy for bladder cancer.

PURPOSE: Partial cystectomy (PC) remains a viable alternative to radical cystectomy (RC) for management of invasive bladder cancer in approximately 5% of patients. We used a population-based database to examine practice patterns and recurrence after partial cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained billing records of all partial and radical cystectomies performed for bladder cancer in Quebec from 1983 until 2005. Analysis included age, gender, year of surgery, surgeon's age, hospital type, preoperative and postoperative visits with accompanying diagnoses and dates of recurrences salvage RC, and death. RESULTS: A total of 714 (30.4%) patients with invasive bladder cancer underwent PC. Majority of PC (65%) were performed in non-academic institutions. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in only 163 patients (23%) and concomitant ureteral reimplantation was performed in 89 patients (13%). Of 714 patients, 52 (23.7%) required a salvage RC. Median time from PC to salvage RC was 17.6 months (range 1-240 months), respectively. Patients who underwent PC had similar 5-year overall survival compared with patients who underwent upfront RC (49.8% vs. 51%, p = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Rate of PC for invasive bladder cancer is significantly higher than expected. Pelvic lymphadenectomy is underutilized in bladder cancer patients treated with PC. Whether prevalent use of PC is due to less stringent selection criteria remains unknown. Since late recurrence is not uncommon, lifelong follow-up is recommended.

Impact of treatment delay in patients with bladder cancer managed with partial cystectomy in Quebec: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Treatment delays have been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy (RC). We sought to evaluate the impact of treatment delay on disease recurrence and survival in patients with bladder cancer treated with partial cystectomy (PC) in Quebec. METHODS: We reviewed and obtained billing records for all patients who underwent PC and/or RC for bladder cancer in Quebec between 1983 and 2005. Analysis included age, sex, year of surgery, surgeon's age, hospital type, preoperative and postoperative visits with accompanying diagnoses and dates of death. RESULTS: A total of 714 patients underwent PC. The median patient age was 70 years. Two-hundred nineteen (30.7%) patients experienced recurrence; of these, 52 (23.7%) required salvage RC. Five-year overall and recurrence-free survival for patients who underwent PC were 49.8% and 40.3%, respectively. Patients delayed more than 12 weeks from transurethral resection of bladder tumours (TURBT) to PC were at significantly increased risk of requiring salvage RC compared with those delayed 12 weeks or less (hazard ratio [HR] 3.0, p < 0.001). Patients who underwent salvage RC had worse survival than patients who had upfront RC (HR 1.5, p = 0.006). Variables including age, sex, presence of hematuria, intravesical therapy, surgeon age, hospital PC volume, surgeon PC volume, type of hospital (academic v. nonacademic) or year of surgery were not significantly associated with PC treatment delay. CONCLUSION: Treatment delay in patients with bladder cancer managed with PC was associated with increased risk of salvage RC. Patients with bladder cancer who underwent salvage RC had worse outcomes than those who had upfront cystectomy.

Dietary habits and prostate cancer detection: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have suggested that nutritional factors may affect prostate cancer development. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary habits and prostate cancer detection. METHODS: We studied 917 patients who planned to have transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostatic biopsy based on an elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, a rising serum PSA level or an abnormal digital rectal examination. Before receiving the results of their biopsy, all patients answered a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. In combination with pathology data we performed univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses for the predictors of cancer and its aggressiveness. RESULTS: Prostate cancer was found in 42% (386/917) of patients. The mean patient age was 64.5 (standard deviation [SD] 8.3) years and the mean serum PSA level for prostate cancer and benign cases, respectively, was 13.4 (SD 28.2) mug/L and 7.3 (SD 4.9) mug/L. Multivariable analysis revealed that a meat diet (e.g., red meat, ham, sausages) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer (odds ratio [OR] 2.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.55-4.87, p = 0.027) and a fish diet was associated with less prostate cancer (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32-0.89, p = 0.017). Aggressive tumours were defined by Gleason score (>/= 7), serum PSA level (>/= 10 mug/L) and the number of positive cancer cores (>/= 3). None of the tested dietary components were found to be associated with prostate cancer aggressivity. CONCLUSION: Fish diets appear to be associated with less risk of prostate cancer detection, and meat diets appear to be associated with a 3-fold increased risk of prostate cancer. These observations add to the growing body of evidence suggesting a relationship between diet and prostate cancer risk.

An analysis of preoperative delays prior to radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in Quebec.

BACKGROUND: The province of Quebec has the highest incidence of urothelial tumours in Canada. Radical cystectomy remains the standard treatment for invasive bladder cancer. We have previously observed that prolonged delays between transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) and radical cystectomy lead to worse survival in Quebec. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to characterize the various periods of delay sustained by bladder cancer patients before radical cystectomy across Quebec and to determine their relation to survival. METHODS: We obtained the billing records for all patients treated with radical cystectomies for bladder cancer across Quebec from 1990 to 2002. Collected information included patient age and sex; dates of family physician (FP) and specialist visits with accompanying diagnoses; dates of cystoscopy, TURBT and CT scanning; surgeon age; surgical volume and dates of death. RESULTS: We analyzed a total of 25 862 visits for 1633 patients. Median diagnostic delays from FP to specialist, then to cystoscopy, then to TURBT and finally from TURBT to CT were 20, 11, 4 and 14 days, respectively, over the entire study period. Median overall delay from FP visit to radical cystectomy was 93 days. In addition, median FP to radical cystectomy delay progressively increased from 1990 to 2000 from 58 to 120 days (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses showed that patients with an overall delay of either < 25 or > 84 days had a 2.1 and 1.4 times increased risk of dying, respectively (p 84 days may translate into worse outcomes. Poor survival in cases with < 25 days delay may be attributed to case selection, with more advanced cases being managed much quicker. Poor survival in cases with delays of > 84 days may be attributed to disease progression while awaiting completion of management.

Role of repeated biopsy of the prostate in predicting disease progression in patients with prostate cancer on active surveillance.

BACKGROUND: Active surveillance (AS) with deferred treatment is an established management option for patients with prostate cancer and favorable clinical parameters. The impact of repeat biopsy after diagnosis was examined in a cohort of men with prostate cancer on AS. METHODS: In all, 186 men with prostate cancer with favorable parameters or who refused treatment were conservatively managed by AS. Of these, 92 patients had at least 1 biopsy after diagnosis. Patients were followed every 3 to 6 months with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and physical examination and were offered rebiopsy annually or if there were any changes on physical examination or in the PSA value. Disease progression while on AS was defined as having > or =1 of the following: > or =cT2b disease, > or =3 positive cores, >50% of cancer in at least 1 core, or a predominant Gleason pattern of 4 in rebiopsies. RESULTS: The median age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 67 years (range, 49-78 years). The median follow-up was 76 months (range, 20-169 months). Of the 92 patients who underwent repeat biopsies, 42 patients, 25 patients, 13 patients, 10 patients, and 2 patients had 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 rebiopsies, respectively. A total of 34 patients (36%) demonstrated disease progression on rebiopsy. The first rebiopsy was positive for cancer in 48 patients (52.2%) and negative in 44 patients (47.8%). The 5-year actuarial progression-free probability was 82% for patients with a negative first repeat biopsy compared with 50% for patients with a positive first rebiopsy (P = .02). A PSA doubling time <67 months was associated an increased risk of disease progression on biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: Negative rebiopsy in patients with prostate cancer on AS is associated with low-volume disease. The result of first repeated biopsy appears to have a strong impact on disease progression. Patients with a positive first repeated biopsy should be considered for treatment. An intensive biopsy protocol within the first 2 years is required to identify and treat those patients.

Subsequent prostate cancer detection in patients with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or atypical small acinar proliferation.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the predictors of prostate cancer in follow-up of patients diagnosed on initial biopsy with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP). METHODS: We studied 201 patients with HGPIN and 22 patients with ASAP on initial prostatic biopsy who had subsequent prostatic biopsies. The mean time of follow-up was 17.3 months (range 1-62). The mean number of biopsy sessions was 2.5 (range 2-6), and the median number of biopsy cores was 10 (range 6-14). RESULTS: On subsequent biopsies, the rate of prostate cancer was 21.9% (44/201) in HGPIN patients. Of these, 32/201 patients (15.9%), 9/66 patients (13.6%) and 3/18 patients (16.6%) were found to have cancer on the first, second and third follow-up biopsy sessions, respectively. In ASAP patients, the cancer detection rate was 13/22 (59.1%), all of whom were found on the first follow-up biopsy. There was a statistically significant difference between the cancer detection rate in ASAP and HGPIN patients (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the independent predictors of cancer were the number of cores in the initial biopsy, the number of cores (> 10) in the follow-up biopsy and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) density of >/= 0.15 (odds ratio 0.77, 3.46 and 2.7,8 respectively; p < 0.04). Conversely, in ASAP patients none of these variables were found to be associated with cancer diagnosis. CONCLUSION: ASAP is a strong predictive factor associated with cancer when compared with HGPIN. The factors predictive of cancer on follow-up biopsy of HGPIN are number of cores on initial biopsy, more than 10 cores in rebiopsy and elevated PSA density. As the cancer detection rate on repeated biopsy of HGPIN patients is the same as that of patients without HGPIN, perhaps the standard of repeat biopsy in all patients with HGPIN should be revisited.