Response of a comprehensive cancer center to the COVID-19 pandemic: the experience of the Fondazione IRCCS-Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano.

BACKGROUND: The rapid spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is affecting many countries. While healthcare systems need to cope with the need to treat a large number of people with different degrees of respiratory failure, actions to preserve aliquots of the healthcare system to guarantee treatment to patients are mandatory. METHODS: In order to protect the Fondazione IRCCS-Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano from the spread of COVID-19, a number of to-hospital and within-hospital filters were applied. Among others, a triage process to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity in patients with cancer was developed consisting of high-resolution low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan followed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nose-throat swabs whenever CT was suggestive of lung infection. To serve symptomatic patients who were already admitted to the hospital or in need of hospitalization while waiting for RT-PCR laboratory confirmation of infection, a COVID-19 surveillance zone was set up. RESULTS: A total of 301 patients were screened between March 6 and April 3, 2020. Of these, 47 were hospitalized, 53 needed a differential diagnosis to continue with their cancer treatment, and 201 were about to undergo surgery. RT-PCR was positive in 13 of 40 hospitalized patients (32%), 14 of 52 day hospital patients (27%), and 6 of 201 surgical patients (3%). CONCLUSION: Applying filters to protect our comprehensive cancer center from COVID-19 spread contributed to guaranteeing cancer care during the COVID-19 crisis in Milan. A surveillance area and surgical triage allowed us to protect the hospital from as many as 33 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Thirty-day mortality and five-year survival in thoracic surgery: "real-world" assessment of outcomes from a single-institution audit.

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of outcomes is essential to monitor the effectiveness of public health policies. In Italy, the Ministry of Health has chosen 30-day mortality after major surgical or medical procedures as the main outcome measure, pooling all pulmonary resections for malignancy in a single category. The present audit evaluated all pulmonary resections performed over a 13-year period in a single institution to assess the immediate (30-day mortality) and long-term (5-year survival) outcomes according to type and stage of disease and extent of surgery. METHODS: We analyzed the results of 4,234 first pulmonary resections performed from 2003 to 2015 for lung cancer (2,636), lung metastases (1,080), other primary cancers (259) and benign diseases (259). The median follow-up of cancer patients was 4.1 years. RESULTS: Overall 30-day mortality was 1.1%, being 1.2% for lung cancer, 0.3% for lung metastases, 3.5% for pneumonectomies, 1% for lobectomies, and 0.5% for sublobar resections. Among lung cancer patients, 30-day mortality was 0.7% for simple anatomical resections, 2.8% for complex resections, 0.7% for stage I, and 1.6% for higher stages. Overall 5-year survival was 56% for lung cancer, 49% for lung metastases, and 53% for other primary cancers (p = 0.03). According to the surgical procedure for lung cancer, 5-year survival was 60%, 55% and 36% for lobectomies, segmentectomies and pneumonectomies, respectively (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: For better monitoring of thoracic surgery outcomes in a real-world setting, we suggest evaluating lung cancer separately from other thoracic malignancies, and including 5-year survival rates stratified by resection volume and surgical procedure complexity.

Hope in cancer patients: the relational domain as a crucial factor.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Hope is crucial for patients with cancer. We explored the determinants of hope in patients with cancer using a questionnaire administered over the course of 1 day to an unselected sample of patients at an Italian cancer center. METHODS: A team of oncologists, statisticians, and chaplains developed a questionnaire with medical, psychological, spiritual, and religious content. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 320 patients who answered the questionnaire. RESULTS: In the group of participants, 92.8% had a religious belief. Women, patients with limited formal education, and believers were more hopeful. Patients placed trust in God, their partners and children, scientific research, and doctors. On univariate and multivariate analysis, hope was found sensitive to patients' sharing their experiences with others (including family and friends), their positive perception of the people around them, and their relationship with doctors and nurses. CONCLUSIONS: If validated in further studies, these results support the notion that a patient with cancer's sense of hope is sensitive to the quality of relationships with caregivers. This may be important to health care organization and resource allocation.