An Exploration of the Pillars of Leadership in Cancer Education.

Leadership plays a key role in cancer education (CE) and the success of its practices. Leaders in CE must effectively use their leadership skills to be able to communicate, collaborate, and educate their team members. There is a lack of formalized and standardized curriculums for institutions in developing leadership programs, including what themes to focus on in CE. In this article, the authors describe key pillars of leadership in CE that have presented themselves throughout their experience and within the literature. A search was conducted using the Ovid MEDLINE® database and articles were reviewed for eligibility. In this review, thirty articles were selected for their relevance to CE. With this literature search and the authors' reflections, four pillars of leadership in CE were identified: (1) leadership development, (2) collaboration, (3) diversity and equity, and (4) implementation. Within these themes, key areas of importance were discussed further, and barriers to CE leadership were identified. By reflecting upon pillars of leadership in CE, this article may be helpful for developing future leadership programs within CE. It is vital that initiatives continue to be held and barriers are addressed to increase leadership effectiveness within CE.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Metachronous Colorectal Adenoma Risk among Participants in the Selenium Trial.

Genetic variants related to colorectal adenoma may help identify those who are at highest risk of colorectal cancer development or illuminate potential chemopreventive strategies. The purpose of this genome-wide association study was to identify genetic variants that are associated with risk of developing a metachronous colorectal adenoma among 1,215 study participants of European descent from the Selenium Trial. Associations of variants were assessed with logistic regression analyses and validated in an independent case-control study population of 1,491 participants from the Colorectal Cancer Study of Austria (CORSA). No statistically significant genome-wide associations between any variant and metachronous adenoma were identified after correction for multiple comparisons. However, an intron variant of FAT3 gene, rs61901554, showed a suggestive association (P = 1.10 × 10-6) and was associated with advanced adenomas in CORSA (P = 0.04). Two intronic variants, rs12728998 and rs6699944 in NLRP3 were also observed to have suggestive associations with metachronous lesions (P = 2.00 × 10-6) in the Selenium Trial and were associated with advanced adenoma in CORSA (P = 0.03). Our results provide new areas of investigation for the genetic basis of the development of metachronous colorectal adenoma and support a role for FAT3 involvement in the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway leading to colorectal neoplasia.Trial Registration number: NCT00078897 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Mentorship in Medicine and Other Health Professions.

Mentoring skills are valuable assets for academic medicine and allied health faculty, who influence and help shape the careers of the next generation of healthcare providers. Mentors are role models who also act as guides for students' personal and professional development over time. Mentors can be instrumental in conveying explicit academic knowledge required to master curriculum content. Importantly, they can enhance implicit knowledge about the "hidden curriculum" of professionalism, ethics, values, and the art of medicine not learned from texts. In many cases, mentors also provide emotional support and encouragement. It must be noted that to be an effective mentor, one must engage in ongoing learning in order to strengthen and further mentoring skills. Thus, learning communities can provide support, education, and personal development for the mentor. The relationship benefits mentors as well through greater productivity, career satisfaction, and personal gratification. Maximizing the satisfaction and productivity of such relationships entails self-awareness, focus, mutual respect, and explicit communication about the relationship. In this article, the authors describe the development of optimal mentoring relationships, emphasizing the importance of different approaches to mentorship, roles of the mentors and mentees, mentor and mentee benefits, interprofessional mentorships for teams, gender and mentorship, and culture and mentorship.

Psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life in prostate cancer survivors and their intimate or family partners.

PURPOSE: The primary purpose was to test the effectiveness of two telephone-delivered psychosocial interventions for maintaining and improving quality of life (QOL) (psychological, physical, social, and spiritual well-being) among 71 prostate cancer survivors and the 70 intimate or family partners who were supporting them in their recovery. METHODS: This study used a three-wave repeated measures experimental design. Both the interpersonal counseling intervention (TIP-C) and health education attention condition (HEAC) were delivered using the telephone. RESULTS: Improvements in depression, negative affect, stress, fatigue, and spiritual well-being were significantly higher for survivors in the HEAC than for those in the TIP-C condition. Partners in the HEAC condition showed significantly greater improvements in depression, fatigue, social support from family members, social well-being, and spiritual well-being compared to partners in the TIP-C condition. The results revealed superior outcomes for those assigned to the HEAC intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The psychosocial interventions in this study were effective in maintaining or improving the QOL for prostate cancer survivors and their partners. Both the survivor and their intimate partner or family member benefitted from the interventions. Future research is needed to determine the optimal timing and client characteristics for each intervention.

Neuroblastoma of the elderly, an oncologist's nightmare: case presentation, literature review and SEER database analysis.

Neuroblastoma is considered a pediatric malignancy as over 95% of cases are diagnosed in patients ≤10 years old. This cancer is extremely rare in elderly patients. We conducted a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database analysis in the USA between 1973-2007 that revealed only 35 elderly patients (>60 years of age) with neuroblastoma of whom only 2 patients had primary mediastinal neuroblastoma. There is a paucity of treatment and survival outcomes data for the elderly owing to the rarity of neuroblastoma in this population. Currently there are no standard guidelines or protocols for treatment of adult neuroblastoma. We report a rare and challenging case of an 86-year old patient presenting with mediastinal neuroblastoma and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) successfully treated with resection. Herein, we also provide a review of the literature and updated survival data on neuroblastoma based on results of our SEER database review.

The great masquerader of malignancy: chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction.

Paraneoplastic syndromes can precede the initial manifestation and diagnosis of cancer. Paraneoplastic syndromes are a heterogeneous group of disorders caused by mechanisms other than the local presence of tumor cells. These phenomena are mediated by humoral factors secreted by tumor cells or by tumor mediated immune responses. Among paraneoplastic syndromes, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is rare and represents a particularly difficult clinical challenge. Paraneoplastic CIPO is a highly morbid syndrome characterized by impaired gastrointestinal propulsion with symptoms and signs of mechanical bowel obstruction. Clinical outcomes of paraneoplastic CIPO are often deleterious. The current standard of care for the management of CIPO includes supportive treatment with promotility and anti-secretory agents. However, the majority of patients with CIPO eventually require the resection of the non-functioning gut segment. Here, we present a 62-year-old patient with anti-Hu antibody associated paraneoplastic CIPO and underlying small cell lung cancer who underwent treatment with cisplatin and etoposide. Herein, we discuss diagnosis, prognosis, proposed mechanisms, treatment options, and future potential therapeutic strategies of paraneoplastic CIPO.

Low-grade, metastasizing splenic littoral cell angiosarcoma presenting with hepatic cirrhosis and splenic artery aneurysm.

The behavior of littoral cell neoplasms ranges from benign (littoral cell angioma, LCA) to highly malignant (angiosarcoma). Two unusual cases of low-grade metastatic littoral cell angiosarcoma (LCAS) have been reported with late recurrence and bulky metastases. We present the third case of this rare neoplasm in a 38-year-old man with cirrhosis and a large splenic artery aneurysm, without extrasplenic masses. The spleen showed nodules resembling LCA, immunoreactive for CD31, factor VIII, CD68, and CD163 but not CD8 or CD34. Also present were solid areas of immunophenotypically identical bland spindle cells, although lighter CD31 immunostaining distinguished them from LCA-like angiomatous channels. Similar cells diffusely infiltrated the cirrhotic liver. After splenectomy, pancytopenia resolved, and he is asymptomatic 19 months later. Low-grade LCAS is a previously unreported cause of cirrhosis and may metastasize without forming masses. In cases of LCA, CD31 immunohistochemistry may facilitate detection of LCAS and indicate metastatic potential.

Who benefits from a psychosocial counselling versus educational intervention to improve psychological quality of life in prostate cancer survivors?

OBJECTIVE: We examined selected survivor characteristics to determine what factors might moderate the response to two psychosocial interventions. DESIGN: Seventy-one prostate cancer survivors (PCSs) were randomly assigned to either a telephone-delivered health education (THE) intervention or a telephone-delivered interpersonal counselling (TIP-C) intervention. MEASURES: Psychological quality of life (QOL) outcomes included depression, negative and positive affect, and perceived stress. RESULTS: For three of the psychological outcomes (depression, negative affect and stress), there were distinct advantages from participating in THE. For example, more favourable depression outcomes occurred when men were older, had lower prostate specific functioning, were in active chemotherapy, had lower social support from friends and lower cancer knowledge. Participating in the TIP-C provided a more favourable outcome for positive affect when men had higher education, prostate specific functioning, social support from friends and cancer knowledge. CONCLUSION: Unique survivor characteristics must be considered when recommending interventions that might improve psychological QOL in PCSs. Future research must examine who benefits most and from what components of psychosocial interventions to enable clinicians to recommend appropriate psychosocial care.

Denosumab chemotherapy for recurrent giant-cell tumor of bone: a case report of neoadjuvant use enabling complete surgical resection.

Giant-cell tumor of the bone (GCTB) is a rare neoplasm that affects young adults. The tumor is generally benign but sometimes can be locally aggressive. There are no standardized approaches to the treatment of GCTB. Recently, the RANKL inhibitor denosumab has shown activity in this tumor type. We present the case of a young female who presented with locally advanced disease and was successfully managed with the neoadjuvant use of denosumab allowing for surgical resection of the tumor that was previously deemed unresectable. Following surgery, the patient is being managed with continued use of denosumab as 'maintenance,' and she continues to be free of disease. Our case highlights a novel approach for the management of locally advanced and aggressive giant cell tumor of the bone.