Implementation of an Integrated Lung Cancer Prevention and Screening Program Using a Mobile Computed Tomography (CT) Unit in Brazil.

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer worldwide and in Brazil. Despite strong evidence, lung cancer screening by low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in high-risk individuals is far from a reality in many countries, particularly in Brazil. Brazil has a universal public health system marked with important inequalities. One affordable strategy to increase the coverage of resources is to use mobile units. OBJECTIVES: To describe the implementation and results of an innovative lung cancer prevention program that integrates tobacco cessation and lung cancer screening using a mobile CT unit. METHODOLOGY: From May 2019 to Dec 2020, health professionals from 18 public primary health care units in Barretos, Brazil, were trained to offer smoking cessation counseling and treatment. Eligible high-risk participants of this program were also invited to perform lung cancer screening in a mobile LDCT unit that was specially conceived to be dispatched to the community. A detailed epidemiological questionnaire was administered to the LDCT participants. RESULTS: Among the 233 screened participants, the majority were women (54.9%), and the average age was 62 years old. A total of 52.8% of participants showed high or very high nicotine dependence. After 1 year, 27.8% of participants who were involved in smoking cessation groups had quit smoking. The first LDCT round revealed that the majority of participants (83.7%) exhibited lung-Rads 1 or 2; 7.3% exhibited lung-Rads 3; 7.7% exhibited lung-Rads 4a; and 3% exhibited lung-Rads 4b or 4x. The three participants with lung-Rads 4b were further confirmed, and their surgery led to the diagnosis of early-stage cancer (1 case of adenocarcinoma and two cases of squamous cell carcinoma), leading to a cancer diagnosis rate of 12.8/1000. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate promising outcomes for an onsite integrative program enrolling high-risk individuals in a middle-income country. Evidence barriers and challenges remain to be overcome.

The Performance of Colorectal Cancer Screening in Brazil: The First Two Years of the Implementation Program in Barretos Cancer Hospital.

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in Brazil. Yet, a nationally organized colorectal screening program is not implemented. Barretos Cancer Hospital (BCH) is one of the largest Brazilian institution that cares for underserved patients. BCH developed a fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based organized colorectal cancer screening program to improve colorectal cancer outcomes.This study aims to present the quality/performance measures of the first 2 years of the FIT-based colorectal cancer screening program and its impact on the colorectal cancer disease stage. Between 2015 and 2017, a total of 6,737 individuals attending the Outpatient Department of Prevention or the Mobile Unit of BCH, which visits 18 cities of Barretos county, ages 50 to 65 years, were personally invited by a health agent/nurse practitioner. Exclusion criteria were personal history of colorectal cancer, adenomatous polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, and colonoscopy, or flexible sigmoidoscopy performed in the past 5 years. European Union (EU) guidelines for colorectal cancer screening programs were evaluated. Overall, 92.8% returned the FIT, with an inadequate examination rate of 1.5%. Among the 6,253 adequately tested, 12.5% had a positive result. The colonoscopy compliance and completion rates were 84.6 and 98.2%, respectively. The PPVs were 60.0%, 16.5%, and 5.6% for adenoma, advanced adenoma, and cancer, respectively. Stage distribution of screen-detected cancers shows earlier stages than clinically diagnosed colorectal cancer cancers reported at BCH and Brazilian cancer registries. Our colorectal cancer screening program achieved desirable quality metrics, aligned with the EU guidelines. The observed shift toward earlier colorectal cancer stages suggests an exciting opportunity to improve colorectal cancer-related cancers in Brazil.

Organized Cervical Cancer Screening Program in Barretos, Brazil: Experience in 18 Municipalities of São Paulo State.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this report is to demonstrate the Barretos Cancer Hospital initiative of organizational, laboratorial, and human resources training in the implementation of an organized cervical screening program in low-resource settings. METHODS: We developed a computational program to report all epidemiological, clinical, and laboratorial findings, and to trace all necessary information to recruit women for regular screening or for referral for complementary exams after liquid-based Pap test analyses. RESULTS: All Pap tests were collected in liquid medium and in 2014 more than 160,000 tests were analyzed and 2,900 colposcopy examinations were performed. From 2012 to 2015, the percentage of exams collected increased from 54.6% in 2012 to 62.4% in 2013, 68.4% in 2014, and 71% in 2015. Per 1,000 Pap tests, 0.4 cases of invasive cancer were diagnosed; for in situ carcinoma, 1.9 cases were identified. More importantly, between 2011 and 2015, 89.4% of all carcinomas were detected at clinical stage 0 or I (in situ carcinoma), and only 5% at stages III and IV. CONCLUSIONS: Since the organized system was implemented, 98% of women have attended their recall for colposcopy. So far, we have not reached the target of 70% of women for this proposal, as recommended by the international standards.

Perfil populacional de pacientes com distúrbios da comunicação humana decorrentes de lesão cerebral, assistidos em hospital terciário / Populational profile of patients with human communication disorders after brain injury, assisted in a tertiary hospital

OBJETIVO: caracterizar a população de pacientes com lesão neurológica, queixa e presença de distúrbio da comunicação, assistidos num Hospital Terciário. Os objetivos específicos foram: verificar a prevalência de cada tipo de transtorno de fala e/ou de linguagem, da etiologia neurológica e a origem dos encaminhamentos em relação ao total de pacientes. MÉTODO: Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo, em que foram analisados todos os prontuários dos pacientes atendidos em 5 anos (2002 a 2006), no Núcleo de Investigação e Intervenção Fonoaudiológica em Neuropsicolingüística do Departamento de Fonoaudiologia da Universidade Federal de São Paulo,. RESULTADOS: o estudo revelou 244 casos atendidos entre 2002 e 2006. Quanto à caracterização da amostra encontramos: quanto ao sexo, 56 por cento eram homens; quanto à idade, 44,3 por cento encontraram-se entre 41- 64 anos; quanto à escolaridade, 39,8 por cento dos pacientes apresentaram 1 a 4 anos de escolaridade; quanto aos encaminhamentos para o atendimento no setor 35,7 por cento eram procedentes do ambulatório de Neurologia da UNIFESP; quanto à etiologia da lesão, 69,3 por cento foram diagnosticados com Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC). Sobre o diagnóstico fonoaudiológico, 56,1 por cento foram diagnosticados com Afasia em relação à linguagem e 33 por cento com Disartria em relação à fala. CONCLUSÃO: a afasia foi o transtorno de linguagem mais prevalente; o mesmo ocorreu com a disartria em relação à fala; o AVC foi a etiologia neurológica predominante; em relação ao número geral de casos avaliado verificou-se que 50 por cento do grupo atendido estavam em programas de reabilitação; a maioria dos pacientes foram encaminhados pelo serviço de Neurologia do Hospital São Paulo - UNIFESP.

PURPOSE: to characterize the population of patients with neurological lesion with communication disorders, assisted by a Tertiary Hospital. Specific objectives0 to check the prevalence of each type of speech and / or language disorder, neurological etiologies and the origin of the referrals for the total of the patients. METHOD: we analyzed all medical records of seen patients in the past 5 years (2002 to 2006) from the outpatient clinic of Acquired Neurological Disorders - Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology (UNIFESP) through a retrospective study. RESULT: the study showed 244 cases in the period from 2002 to 2006. As for the characterization of the sample, the following data were found, namely: for gender, 56 percent were men; 44.3 percent aged from 41 to 64 years; for schooling, 39.8 percent of the patients had 1 to 4 year schooling; for the referrals 35.7 percent were from the Neurology outpatient clinic of UNIFESP; for the injury etiology 69.3 percent were diagnosed with stroke. Aphasia and dysartrhias were the most common disorders. CONCLUSION: the stroke and traumatic brain injury stood out as the etiology that most attached the patients; In relation to the overall number of evaluated cases, it was found that 50 percent of the group have had rehabilitation program and the majority of the patients were referred from the service of Neurology, Hospital São Paulo - UNIFESP.