Real-world adjuvant chemotherapy treatment patterns and outcomes over time for resected stage II and III colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The administration of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) to colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in Australia and impact of recent trial data has not been well reported. We aim to evaluate temporal trends in AC treatment and outcomes in real-world Australian patients. METHODS: CRC patients were analyzed from 13 hospitals, stratified by stage (II or III) and three 5-year time periods (A: 2005-2009, B: 2010-2014, C: 2015-2019). Stage III was further stratified as pre- and post publication of the International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant Therapy (IDEA) collaboration (March 2018). AC prescription, time-to-recurrence (TTR), and overall survival (OS) was compared across the time periods. RESULTS: Of 3977 identified patients, 1148 (stage II: 640, stage III: 508), 1525 (856 vs. 669), and 1304 (669 vs. 635) were diagnosed in Period A, B, and C, respectively. Fewer patients in Period C received AC compared to Period B in stage II (10% vs. 15%, p <.01) and III (70% vs. 79%, p <.01). Post-IDEA, the proportion of patients receiving ≤3 months of oxaliplatin-based AC increased (45% vs. 13%, p <.01). The proportion of patients who remained recurrence free at 3 years was similar between time periods in stage II (A: 89% vs. B: 88% vs. C: 90%, p = .53) and stage III (72% vs. 76% vs. 72%, p = .08). OS significantly improved for stage II (80%-85%, p = .04) and stage III (69%-77%, <.01) from period A to B. CONCLUSION: AC use has moderately decreased over time with no impact on recurrence rates. Improved survival in more recent years despite similar recurrence rates may be related to improved baseline staging, better postrecurrence treatment, and reduced noncancer-related mortality.

Drinking from the firehose - A clinician's perspective on the challenges of delivering biomarker-driven care in routine practice.

Countless biomarkers continue to be identified and analysed in the modern era of omics focused research, with innumerable articles purporting clinical utility and bolstering optimism for truly personalised cancer care. While many commentaries have expounded on the complexities of biomarker development, validation and reporting, the monumental challenge of integrating this research into clinical practice has to date received little attention. The challenges are multitude; variable and sometimes contradictory findings across studies for individual biomarkers, a rapidly evolving landscape with new biomarkers continually being presented and tendency to examine each biomarker in isolation. Here, using examples from colorectal cancer, we explore the difficulties for the practicing clinician in interpreting and integrating novel biomarkers. Here, we present the '4Cs' to interrogate the biomarker literature, including analysis of the credibility, consistency, completeness and context of the biomarker research, and suggest a framework to frame the literature moving forward.

Can Social Media Be Used as a Community-Building and Support Tool among Jewish Women Impacted by Breast and Ovarian Cancer? An Evidence-Based Observational Report.

About 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jewish women carry a deleterious mutation in BRCA1/2 genes, predisposing them to hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC). Thus, efforts to prevent and control HBOC in the US must include sufficient outreach and education campaigns within and across the Jewish community. Social media (SM) is utilized in public health campaigns focused on cancer, but very little is known about the efficacy of those efforts when directed toward Jewish women at risk for ("previvors") and affected by ("survivors") HBOC. Here, we report on outcomes of a targeted SM campaign for this population, as led by a national not-for-profit HBOC advocacy organization. Mixed-methods data were obtained from n = 393 members of the community, including n = 20 key informants, and analyzed for engagement and satisfaction with its SM campaign and HBOC resources. Message recipients identified the SM campaign as helpful/meaningful (82%), of 'newsworthy' value (78%), and actionable/navigable (71%): interviews revealed that women were more likely to engage with SM if/when it featured stories relevant to their personal cancer experiences. SM is a valuable public health education tool to address the comprehensive cancer control and prevention needs of those previving and surviving with HBOC, including high-risk Jewish women.

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre lung cancer clinical audit: collecting the UK National Lung Cancer Audit data from hospitals in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Clinical audit may improve practice in cancer service provision. The UK National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA) collects data for all new cases of thoracic cancers. AIM: To collect similar data for our Victorian patients from six hospitals within the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre and associated Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective audit of all newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer and mesothelioma in 2013 across the six Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre/Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service hospitals. The objectives were to adapt the NLCA data set for use in the Australian context, to analyse the findings using descriptive statistics and to determine feasibility of implementing a routine, ongoing audit similar to that in the UK. Individual data items were adapted from the NLCA by an expert steering committee. Data were collated from the Victorian Cancer Registry, Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset and individual hospital databases. Individual medical records were audited for missing data. RESULTS: Eight hundred and forty-five patients were diagnosed across the sites in 2013. Most were aged 65-80 (55%) and were male (62%). Most had non-small-cell lung cancer (81%) with 9% diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and 2% with mesothelioma. Data completeness varied significantly between fields. For those with higher levels of completeness, headline indicators of clinical care were comparable with NLCA data. The Victorian population seem to lack access to specialist lung cancer nurse services. CONCLUSION: Lung cancer care at participating hospitals appeared to be comparable with the UK in 2013. In future, prospective data collection should be harmonised across sites and correlated with survival outcomes. One area of concern was a lack of documented access to specialist nursing services.