Utilizing geospatial artificial intelligence to map cancer disparities across health regions.

We have developed an innovative tool, the Intelligent Catchment Analysis Tool (iCAT), designed to identify and address healthcare disparities across specific regions. Powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, our tool employs a robust Geographic Information System (GIS) to map healthcare outcomes and disease disparities. iCAT allows users to query publicly available data sources, health system data, and treatment data, offering insights into gaps and disparities in diagnosis and treatment paradigms. This project aims to promote best practices to bridge the gap in healthcare access, resources, education, and economic opportunities. The project aims to engage local and regional stakeholders in data collection and evaluation, including patients, providers, and organizations. Their active involvement helps refine the platform and guides targeted interventions for more effective outcomes. In this paper, we present two sample illustrations demonstrating how iCAT identifies healthcare disparities and analyzes the impact of social and environmental variables on outcomes. Over time, this platform can help communities make decisions to optimize resource allocation.

Disparities in Gynecologic Cancers.

ABSTRACT: Gynecologic cancer disparities have different trends by cancer type and by sociodemographic/economic factors. We highlight disparities in the United States arising due to poor delivery of cancer care across the continuum from primary prevention, detection, and diagnosis through treatment and identify opportunities to eliminate/reduce disparities to achieve cancer health equity. Our review documents the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancer outcomes, with Black patients experiencing the worst outcomes, and notes literature investigating social determinants of health, particularly access to care. Although timely delivery of screening and diagnostic evaluation is of paramount importance for cervical cancer, efforts for ovarian and uterine cancer need to focus on timely recognition of symptoms, diagnostic evaluation, and delivery of guideline-concordant cancer treatment, including tumor biomarker and somatic/germline genetic testing.

Perceived Appropriateness of Assessing for Health-related Socioeconomic Risks Among Adult Patients with Cancer.

Cancer treatment can trigger or exacerbate health-related socioeconomic risks (HRSR; food/housing insecurity, transportation/utilities difficulties, and interpersonal violence). The American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute recommend HRSR screening and referral, but little research has examined the perceptions of patients with cancer on the appropriateness of HRSR screening in healthcare settings. We examined whether HRSR status, desire for assistance with HRSRs, and sociodemographic and health care-related factors were associated with perceived appropriateness of HRSR screening in health care settings and comfort with HRSR documentation in electronic health records (EHR). A convenience sample of adult patients with cancer at two outpatient clinics completed self-administered surveys. We used χ 2 and Fisher exact tests to test for significant associations. The sample included 154 patients (72% female, 90% ages 45 years or older). Thirty-six percent reported ≥1 HRSRs and 27% desired assistance with HRSRs. Overall, 80% thought it was appropriate to assess for HRSRs in health care settings. The distributions of HRSR status and sociodemographic characteristics were similar among people who perceived screening to be appropriate and those who did not. Participants who perceived screening as appropriate were three times as likely to report prior experience with HRSR screening (31% vs. 10%, P = 0.01). Moreover, 60% felt comfortable having HRSRs documented in the EHR. Comfort with EHR documentation of HRSRs was significantly higher among patients desiring assistance with HRSRs (78%) compared with those who did not (53%, P < 0.01). While initiatives for HRSR screening are likely to be seen by patients with cancer as appropriate, concerns may remain over electronic documentation of HRSRs. Significance: National organizations recommend addressing HRSRs such as food/housing insecurity, transportation/utilities difficulties, and interpersonal violence among patients with cancer. In our study, most patients with cancer perceived screening for HRSRs in clinical settings as appropriate. Meanwhile, concerns may remain over the documentation of HRSRs in EHRs.

Clinicopathologic Evaluation and Molecular Profiling of Recurrent Stage IA Endometrial Endometrioid Carcinoma: A Case-control Study.

Most low-grade, early-stage endometrial endometrioid carcinomas (EEC) have an excellent prognosis; however, recurrences occur in a small subset with several studies reporting an increase in CTNNB1 exon 3 mutations in this population. Herein we evaluated 10 recurrent low-grade (FIGO 1 or 2), early-stage (FIGO IA) EECs matched to 10 nonrecurrent EECs to further characterize their clinicopathologic features and molecular phenotype. Cases were matched to controls based on size, grade, and depth of invasion. All tumors were evaluated for specific clinicopathologic parameters followed by next-generation sequencing using a 1213 gene panel. Recurrent EECs demonstrated no significant clinicopathologic differences when compared with nonrecurrent EECs, in terms of age, body mass index, pattern of invasion, presence of endometrial atypical hyperplasia/endometrioid intraepithelial neoplasia, associated metaplastic changes, peritumoral lymphocytes, mitoses, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Both cohorts also showed a similar number of pathogenic mutations, including CTNNB1 exon 3 mutations, as well as tumor mutational burden and microsatellite profiles. Although in this particular study, the lack of correlation between CTNNB1 exon 3 mutation and recurrence might be secondary to a small sample size, it also suggests the presence of other contributing factors. Thus, it helps set the foundation for larger series incorporating whole genome, transcriptome, proteome, and epigenome analyses to answer this clinically important question.

Utilization of an Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Platform to Evaluate the Psychosocial and Quality-of-Life Experience Among a Community Sample of Ovarian Cancer Survivors.

PURPOSE: Novel distress screening approaches using electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) measurements are critical for the provision of comprehensive quality community cancer care. Using an ePRO platform, the prevalence of psychosocial factors (distress, post-traumatic growth, resilience, and financial stress) affecting quality of life in ovarian cancer survivors (OCSs) was examined. METHODS: A cross-sectional OCS sample from the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition-Illinois Chapter completed web-based clinical, sociodemographic, and psychosocial assessment using well-validated measures: Hospital Anxiety/Depression Scale-anxiety/depression, Post-traumatic Growth Inventory, Brief Resilience Scale, comprehensive score for financial toxicity, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Ovarian (FACT-O/health-related quality of life [HRQOL]). Correlational analyses between variables were conducted. RESULTS: Fifty-eight percent (174 of 300) of OCS completed virtual assessment: median age 59 (range 32-83) years, 94.2% White, 60.3% married/in domestic partnership, 59.6% stage III-IV, 48.8% employed full-time/part-time, 55.2% had college/postgraduate education, 71.9% completed primary treatment, and median disease duration 6 (range < 1-34) years. On average, OCS endorsed normal levels of anxiety (mean ± standard deviation = 6.9 ± 3.8), depression (4.1 ± 3.6), mild total distress (10.9 ± 8.9), high post-traumatic growth (72.6 ± 21.5), normal resilience (3.7 ± 0.72), good FACT-O-HRQOL (112.6 ± 22.8), and mild financial stress (26 ± 10). Poor FACT-O emotional well-being was associated with greater participant distress (P < .001). Partial correlational analyses revealed negative correlations between FACT-O-HRQOL and anxiety (r = -0.65, P < .001), depression (r = -0.76, P < .001), and total distress (r = -0.92, P < .001). Yet, high FACT-O-HRQOL was positively correlated with post-traumatic coping (r = 0.27; P = .006) and resilience (r = 0.63; P < .001). CONCLUSION: ePRO assessment is feasible for identification of unique psychosocial factors, for example, financial toxicity and resilience, affecting HRQOL for OCS. Future investigation should explore large-scale, longitudinal ePRO assessment of the OCS psychosocial experience using innovative measures and community-based advocacy populations.

Lessons learned: Telemedicine patterns and clinical application in patients with gynecologic cancers during COVID-19.

Objective: To describe the use of telemedicine in gynecologic oncology and identify patient characteristics associated with telemedicine use during COVID-19. Methods: Single-institution retrospective chart review of patients with gynecologic cancer who participated in in-person and telemedicine visits (video and telephone) from January 2019 to November 2020. Patient characteristics, visit and treatment characteristics were collected. Comparisons between 2019 and 2020 and between in-person and telemedicine visits were performed. Cancer-specific visit details were described. Results: From January to November 2020, 2,039 patients attended 5240 ambulatory visits in our gynecologic oncology outpatient clinics with 4,304 (82.1%) in-person visits, 512 (9.8%) video telemedicine visits, and 424 (8.1%) telephone visits. In 2020, 936 (45.9%) patients participated in a telemedicine visit. Demographic characteristics did not differ between those who participated in any telemedicine versus in-person visits (p > 0.05). Black patients represented a larger share of telephone visits but this was not significant. Patients aged > 65 years were more likely to use the telephone for a visit and less likely to use video visits compared to their younger counterparts. The majority of patients who attended a telemedicine visit also attended a visit in-person (88.0%). The most common purpose of the telemedicine visits was to discuss results and/or treatment plans (46%) with other appointments occurring for treatment check-ins and clinical trials. Conclusions: The use of telemedicine drastically increased in 2020. Patient demographics were not different between in-person and telemedicine visits except that older patients were more likely to use telephone visits over video visits. Telemedicine can be used for a variety of care needs in gynecologic oncology but further work needs to be done to optimize implementation, assess cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes.

Resilience in the Face of Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Psychologic Morbidity and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Women With Ovarian Cancer.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for ovarian cancer survivors. This study aims to evaluate the psychologic morbidity and alterations in medical care caused by the pandemic. METHODS: Advanced-stage ovarian cancer survivors at our institution were contacted for participation in a cross-sectional telephone-based quantitative survey study assessing pandemic-related psychologic morbidity. Psychologic domains using validated measures were explored: health-related quality of life (HRQOL; functional assessment of cancer therapy [FACT-G7]), anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder-7 [GAD7]), depression (Patient Health Questionnarie-2 [PHQ2]), global health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System - Global Physical Health/Global Mental Health (PROMIS-GMH/GPH), resilience (brief resilience scale), and loneliness (English Longitudinal Study on Aging). Novel COVID-19 pandemic questions were drawn from a larger survey developed in our department. RESULTS: Fifty-nine percent (61 of 104) of contacted patients completed the survey. One quarter of respondents had high resilience, with only 10% reporting low resilience. Only one patient screened positive for depression, and two for anxiety. Increased loneliness was reported by 43% of respondents. Patients' overall HRQOL was good (median = 21; range = 6-28). Few patients experienced treatment delays, with only four experiencing chemotherapy interruption and two reporting surgical delays. Multiple regression analyses revealed that high FACT-G7 HRQOL was predicted by age > 65 years, high self-reported mental health, high resilience, and being off chemotherapy. Lower COVID-19 concern was predicted by recurrent cancer and high resilience. CONCLUSION: Despite the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ovarian cancer survivors' HRQOL has been maintained. Older age, high resilience, high mental health, and being off chemotherapy predicted better HRQOL. Ovarian cancer survivors remain resilient in the face of the pandemic, and the support of clinicians to preserve this invaluable personal resource is critical for well-being.

Gaps in patient-physician communication at the time of malignant bowel obstruction from recurrent gynecologic cancer: a qualitative study.

PURPOSE: We sought to investigate the patient and physician approaches to malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) due to recurrent gynecologic cancer by (1) comparing patient and physician expectations and priorities during a new MBO diagnosis, and (2) highlighting factors that facilitate patient-doctor communication. METHODS: Patients were interviewed about their experience during an admission for MBO, and physicians were interviewed about their general approach towards MBO. Interviews were analyzed for themes using QDAMiner qualitative analysis software. The analysis utilized the framework analysis and used both predetermined themes and those that emerged from the data. RESULTS: We interviewed 14 patients admitted with MBO from recurrent gynecologic cancer and 15 gynecologic oncologists. We found differences between patients and physicians regarding plans for next chemotherapy treatments, foremost priorities, communication styles, and need for end-of-life discussions. Both patients and physicians felt that patient-physician communication was improved in situations of trust, understanding patient preferences, corroboration of information, and increased time spent with patients during and before the MBO. CONCLUSION: Gaps in patient-physician communication could be targeted to improve the patient experience and physician counseling during a difficult diagnosis. Our findings emphasize a need for patient-physician discussions to focus on expectations for future cancer-directed treatments, support for patients at home with home health or hospice level support in line with their wishes, and acknowledgement of uncertainty while providing direct information about the MBO diagnosis.

Provider-Level Barriers to Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Survivors of Childhood and Young Adult Cancers.

Purpose: We sought to understand clinician-level barriers to providing HPV vaccination to survivors of childhood and young adult cancers (CYACs). Methods: We conducted 30-minute qualitative interviews with primary care and specialty clinicians who care for survivors of CYACs at our academic medical center. Blinded reviewers analyzed transcripts and used an inductive approach to identify barriers to vaccination in this population. Results: We conducted 24 interviews (n = 11 primary care clinicians, n = 13 oncology clinicians). Thematic analysis revealed that primary care clinicians are universally viewed as holding ultimate responsibility for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among survivors of CYACs. Both primary care and oncology clinicians believed vague, inconsistent HPV guidelines engendered uncertainty toward HPV vaccination's role and timing following completion of CYAC therapies. As such, compared with other vaccines, the HPV vaccination is not as consistently offered to survivors. Respondents identified direct guidance from oncologists to primary care clinicians and to patients as a potential strategy for improving HPV vaccination rates in this population. Finally, oncology clinicians frequently deprioritize the issue of preventing second, noniatrogenic cancers and consequently miss opportunities to discuss vaccination's merits with their patients. Conclusions: Despite not holding ultimate responsibility for vaccination, oncology clinicians have an opportunity to play an important role in ensuring access and overcoming hesitancy among survivors of CYACs. Developing clearer and more collaborative guidelines, helping to integrate vaccination into institutional electronic health record protocols, offering direct guidance to primary care colleagues, and participating in conversations with survivors of CYACs may help improve vaccination rates.

A look at the gynecologic oncologist workforce - Are we meeting patient demand?

OBJECTIVE: to examine the geographic distribution of gynecologic oncologists (GO) and assess if the GO workforce is meeting the demand for oncology services for patients with gynecologic cancers. METHODS: We identified GO by National Provider Identifiers (NPI) and calculated county-level density of GO. County-level gynecologic cancer rates were derived from the U.S. Cancer Statistics to represent demand for GO services. A spatial data plot compared GO workforce to gynecologic cancer service demand. U.S. census county-level demographic information was collected and compared. RESULTS: In 2019, 1527 GO had a registered NPI. Of 3142 counties in the US, 2864 (91.2%) counties had no GO in their local county and 1943 (61.8%) counties had no GO in local or adjacent (neighboring) counties. As the gynecologic cancer rate increases (described in quintiles) in counties, there are fewer counties without a GO or adjacent GO. However, county-level GO density (number of GO per 100,000 women) did not significantly increase as the county-level incidence of gynecologic cancer increased (r = -0.12, p = 0.06)… Women living in counties with the highest gynecologic cancer rates and without access to a GO were more likely to reside in a rural area where residents had a lower median income and were predominately of White race.. CONCLUSION: There are a significant number of counties in the U.S. without a GO. As county-level gynecologic cancer incidence increased, the proportion of counties without a GO decreased; GO density did not increase with increasing cancer rates. Rural counties with high gynecologic incidence rates are underserved by GO. This information can inform initiatives to improve outreach and collaboration to better meet the needs of patients in different geographic areas.

Pembrolizumab and lenvatinib versus carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line therapy for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer: A Markov analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost effectiveness of pembrolizumab/lenvatinib (P/L) versus standard-of-care carboplatin/paclitaxel (C/T) as first-line systemic therapy for patients with advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer. METHODS: We designed a Markov model to simulate treatment outcomes for advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer patients whose tumors are either microsatellite stable (MSS) or have high microsatellite instability (MSI-high). We adopted a healthcare sector perspective for the analysis. Model inputs for costs, health utility, and clinical estimates were obtained from the literature including data from GOG0209 and KEYNOTE-146. Primary outcomes included costs of care, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). The time-horizon was three years and the discount rate was 3% annually. RESULTS: In a MSS cohort, compared to C/T, first-line treatment with P/L increased treatment costs by $212,670 and decreased QALYs by 0.28 per patient. In a MSI-high cohort, compared to C/T, P/L increased costs by $313,487 and increased QALYs by 0.11 per patient, representing an ICER of $2,849,882 per QALY. Sensitivity analyses found that the price of the new drugs was the most important determinant of the ICER and that the price of the new drugs would need to decrease by 85% to $2817 per cycle to reach a $150,000/QALY threshold. CONCLUSION: In the MSS model, we found that first-line therapy for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with P/L increased costs and worsened outcomes compared to C/T. In the MSI-high model, P/L improved survival and QALYs compared to C/T but was not cost-effective at the current cost of the drugs.

Differences in Sociodemographic Disparities Between Patients Undergoing Surgery for Advanced Colorectal or Ovarian Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) for ovarian cancer with peritoneal metastases (OPM) is an established treatment, yet access-related racial and socioeconomic disparities are well documented. CRS for colorectal cancer with peritoneal metastases (CRPM) is garnering more widespread acceptance, and it is unknown what disparities exist with regards to access. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study analyzed medical records from the National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2015. Patients diagnosed with CRPM or ORP only and either no or confirmed resection were included. Patient- and facility-level characteristics were analyzed using uni- and multivariable logistic regressions to identify associations with receipt of CRS. RESULTS: A total of 6634 patients diagnosed with CRPM and 14,474 diagnosed with OPM were included in this study. Among patients with CRPM, 18.1% underwent CRS. On multivariable analysis, female gender (odds ratio [95% CI] 2.04 [1.77-2.35]; P < 0.001) and treatment at an academic or research facility (OR 1.55 [1.17-2.05]; P = 0.002) were associated with CRS. Among patients with OPM, 87.1% underwent CRS. On multivariable analysis, treatment at facilities with higher-income patient populations was positively associated with CRS, while age (OR 0.97 [0.96-0.98]; P < .0001), use of nonprivate insurance (OR 0.69 [0.56-0.85]; P = 0.001), and listed as Black (OR 0.62 [0.45-0.86]; P = 0.004) were negatively associated with CRS. CONCLUSION: There were more systemic barriers to CRS for patients with OPM than for patients with CRPM. As CRS becomes more widely practiced for CRPM, it is likely that more socioeconomic and demographic barriers will be elucidated.

Approach to Palliative Care Consultation for Patients With Malignant Bowel Obstruction in Gynecologic Oncology: A Qualitative Analysis of Physician Perspectives.

PURPOSE: Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) from gynecologic cancer is associated with increased symptoms and short survival. A gynecologic oncologist's approach to palliative care consultation in the setting of MBO has not been well studied-it could be an opportune time for collaboration with palliative care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative analysis of interviews with gynecologic oncologists focuses on their perspectives on palliative care consultation at the time of MBO. Interviews were analyzed using a framework analysis, and key themes and quotations were extracted. RESULTS: We interviewed 15 gynecologic oncologists from 8 institutions in Chicago. They described a variety of expectations from palliative care consultation. Most frequently, they consulted palliative care for specific questions but managed the remainder of the care. Most participants frequently consulted palliative care, but they also worried about fragmentation of care, the timing of when to introduce a new team during MBO, and the selection of appropriate patients for a limited resource. Many participants preferred earlier palliative care consultation, and many described an emotional toll of caring for patients with MBO. Palliative care consultation was most readily discussed for nonsurgical patients. CONCLUSION: Participants' expectations of palliative care consultations during MBO varied and were not always met. We recommend strengthening communication and protocols for palliative care involvement that meet the needs of specific patient populations and physician teams for surgical and nonsurgical patients. More research is needed to better understand how to integrate palliative care into oncologic and surgical care with gynecologic oncologists.

Current recommendations and recent progress in endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States, and its incidence is rising. Although there have been significant recent advances in our understanding of endometrial cancer biology, many aspects of treatment remain mired in controversy, including the role of surgical lymph node assessment and the selection of patients for adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. For the subset of women with microsatellite-instable, metastatic disease, anti- programmed cell death protein 1 immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) is now approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and numerous trials are attempting to build on this early success.

Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Receiving Extended Pharmacologic Prophylaxis After Robotic Surgery for Endometrial Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the rate of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) in endometrial cancer patients undergoing robotic hysterectomy with or without extended pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis. METHODS/MATERIALS: A retrospective chart review of women undergoing robotic hysterectomy with or without other procedures for endometrial cancer from January 2010 to February 2015 was conducted at 2 institutions. Charts were manually abstracted, and rates of VTE within 30 and 60 days after surgery were determined. Patients were then stratified by those who did and did not receive extended VTE prophylaxis. RESULTS: A total of 403 patients were included, of which 367 patients (91%) received extended pharmacologic prophylaxis and 36 patients (9%) did not. Low molecular weight heparin prescriptions ranged from 7 to 30 days. Patients receiving extended prophylaxis (EP) were older (63 ± 11 vs 57 ± 12; P = 0.004), more frequently underwent lymphadenectomy (67% vs 34%; P < 0.001), and had higher-grade tumors compared with patients not receiving EP. Overall 30-day and 60-day VTE rates were 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively. There were no significant differences in 30-day and 60-day VTE rates among patients that did and did not receive EP, although a trend toward lower VTE rates in the EP group was observed (30-day rates 0.5% vs 2.8% respectively, P = 0.25; 60-day rates 0.8% vs 5.6%, P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, 30-day and 60-day VTE rates after minimally invasive surgery for endometrial cancer were low. Rates were also similar to those of previous reports in this setting in which the majority of patients did not receive extended VTE prophylaxis. Given the consistent finding that postoperative VTE in this population is rare regardless of prophylaxis use and the variability in practice patterns for VTE prophylaxis, the development of best practice guidelines for EP use specific to this setting is warranted.

Statin Use Significantly Improves Overall Survival in High-Grade Endometrial Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Preclinical data and recent epidemiological studies suggest that statins have antiproliferative and antimetastatic effects in various cancer cells, and reduce cancer mortality and recurrence. We study the effect of statin use on survival outcomes and recurrence rates in patients with endometrial cancer with high-risk histology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients receiving definitive therapy for high-risk endometrial cancer from 1995 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Health characteristics at baseline were collected, and statin use was determined from medical records. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used for univariate and multivariate analysis to determine independent factors associated with OS and PFS. RESULTS: A total of 199 patients were included in the study, of which 76 were hyperlipidemic and 50 used statins. The median follow-up time was 31 months from time of diagnosis. Hyperlipidemic patients who used statins had improved OS compared with hyperlipidemic patients not using statins (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.87; P = 0.02). Statin use was also associated with improved PFS (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.95; P = 0.04) on multivariate analysis. Hyperlipidemic patients who used statins had borderline improved freedom from local failure compared with hyperlipidemic cases not using statins (P = 0.08, log-rank test). Statin use was not found to be associated with improved cancer-specific mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Statin use is independently associated with significant improvements in PFS for the overall group and PFS and OS in the hyperlipidemic group.

Patterns and utility of routine surveillance in high grade endometrial cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate surveillance methods and their utility in detecting recurrence of disease in a high grade endometrial cancer population. METHODS: We performed a multi-institutional retrospective chart review of women diagnosed with high grade endometrial cancer between the years 2000 and 2011. Surveillance data was abstracted and analyzed. Surveillance method leading to detection of recurrence was identified and compared by stage of disease and site of recurrence. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-four patients met the criteria for inclusion. Vaginal cytology was performed in the majority of early stage patients, but was utilized less in advanced stage patients. CA-125 and CT imaging were used more frequently in advanced stage patients compared to early stage. Thirty-six percent of patients experienced a recurrence and the majority of initial recurrences (76%) had a distant component. Modalities that detected cancer recurrences were: symptoms (56%), physical exam (18%), surveillance CT (15%), CA-125 (10%), and vaginal cytology (1%). All local recurrences were detected by symptoms or physical exam findings. While the majority of loco-regional and distant recurrences (68%) were detected by symptoms or physical exam, 28% were detected by surveillance CT scan or CA 125. One loco-regional recurrence was identified by vaginal cytology but no recurrences with a distant component detected by this modality. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms and physical examination identify the majority of high grade endometrial cancer recurrences, while vaginal cytology is the least likely surveillance modality to identify a recurrence. The role of CT and CA-125 surveillance outside of a clinical trial needs to be further reviewed.

Corneal abrasion in hysterectomy and prostatectomy: role of laparoscopic and robotic assistance.

BACKGROUND: Radical prostatectomy (RP) is most commonly performed laparoscopically with a robot (robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, R/PROST). Hysterectomy, which may be open hysterectomy (O/HYST) or laparoscopic hysterectomy (L/HYST), has been increasingly frequently done via robot (R/HYST). Small case series suggest increased corneal abrasions (CAs) with less invasive techniques. METHODS: The authors identified RP (166,942), O/HYST (583,298), or L/HYST (216,890) discharges with CA in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2000-2011). For 2009-2011, they determined odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CA, in R/PROST, non-R/PROST, L/HYST, O/HYST, and R/HYST. Uni- and multivariate models studied CA risk depending on surgical procedure, age, race, year, chronic illness, and malignancy. RESULTS: In 2000-2011, 0.18% RP, 0.13% L/HYST, and 0.03% O/HYST sustained CA. Compared with 17,554 non-R/PROSTs (34 abrasions, 0.19%) in 2009-2011, OR was not significantly higher in 28,521 R/PROSTs (99, 0.35%; OR 1.508; CI 0.987 to 2.302; P < 0.057). CA significantly increased in L/HYST (70/51,323; 0.136%) versus O/HYST (70/191,199; 0.037%; OR 3.821; CI 2.594 to 5.630; P < 0.0001), further increasing in R/HYST (63/21, 213; 0.297%; OR 6.505; CI 4.323 to 9.788; P < 0.0001). For hysterectomy, risk of CA increased with age (OR 1.020; CI 1.007 to 1.034; P < 0.003) and number of chronic conditions (OR 1.139; CI 1.065 to 1.219; P < 0.0001). CA risk was likewise elevated in R/HYST with number of chronic conditions. Being African American significantly decreased CA risk in R/PROST and in R/HYST or L/HYST. CONCLUSIONS: L/HYST increased CA nearly four-fold, and R/HYST approximately 6.5-fold versus O/HYST. Identifiable preoperative factors are associated with either increased risk (age, chronic conditions) or decreased risk (race).