African American women with advanced-stage ovarian cancer have worse outcomes regardless of treatment type.

OBJECTIVE: There has been an increase in the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in recent years. Our objective was to determine if African American women are more likely to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy than primary debulking surgery, when compared to their Caucasian counterparts, and the impact of such an approach on oncologic outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed using the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Women aged 18-90 years, diagnosed with stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian cancer between January 2010 through December 2014 were included. Women with unknown treatment or treatments outside of neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary debulking surgery were excluded. Only women of Caucasian, African American, or Hispanic origin who received either neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary debulking surgery were included; all other races were excluded. Descriptive statistics were computed, and continuous variables were assessed for normality. Groups were compared using ANOVA or non-parametric medians tests for continuous variables, and chi-squared tests were used for dichotomous or categorical variables. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of treatment. A p value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 19 838 women with stage IIIC and IV epithelial ovarian cancer met the inclusion criteria. A total of 14 988 (75.6%) were treated with primary debulking surgery, while 4850 women (24.4%) were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Of those treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 24.5% were white, 27.0% were African American, and 22.1% were Hispanic (p=0.005), and when adjusted for confounders, being African American was a predictor of receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.29, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.51). Ninety-day mortality rates were higher in African American women compared with Caucasian and Hispanic women (2.9% vs 2.0% vs 1.6%, p=0.013). There were no differences in 30-day mortality, 90-day mortality, or status at last contact in African American women, when comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and primary debulking surgery. In Caucasian women, outcomes were worse in women receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to other races, African American women with advanced ovarian cancer are more likely to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy than primary debulking surgery and had a higher 90-day mortality rate. In African American women there was no difference in outcomes based on treatment type.

Postoperative infections in women undergoing hysterectomy for benign indications: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There is limited data on the incidence of postoperative infections following hysterectomy by route of surgery. We hypothesize that vaginal hysterectomy has lower rates of postoperative infection than laparoscopic and abdominal hysterectomies. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study and independent hand review of charts of participants undergoing hysterectomy at five hospitals from September 2011 through May 2015 was performed. Cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes and were reviewed by the investigators. The primary outcome was the development of Clostridium difficile infection, urinary tract infection, surgical site infection, or yeast vaginitis within 60 days following surgery. RESULTS: In total, 2742 women underwent hysterectomy: abdominal 17.5% (AH), laparoscopic 65.8% (LH), and vaginal 16.7% (VH). The composite postoperative infection rate for the four specified variables was 8.5% (232). In comparing surgical route, AH was most commonly associated with CDI (0.6%, p <0.001), SSI (6.0%, P=0.001), and yeast vaginitis (1.9%, p <0.001), while VH was most commonly associated with UTI (8.1%, P=0.002). After controlling for demographic and operative factors, multivariable analysis showed that hysterectomy route was not associated with infection. Independent predictors for postoperative infection were increasing age, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, operative time, and hospital type. CONCLUSIONS: Infectious complications after hysterectomy are uncommon, accounting for 8.5% of cases. Multivariable analysis showed that demographic and operative variables were more likely to serve as independent predictors of development of infection than hysterectomy route.