The patient's perspective: a qualitative study of individual experience with decision-making, treatment, and recovery for resectable pancreatic cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cancer (PDAC) remains a challenging diagnosis. The likelihood of long-term survival is limited even for patients who undergo maximal medical therapy with systemic chemotherapy and surgical resection. Within this intensive process, there remains limited understanding of patients' pretreatment expectations of PDAC treatment experience and their decision-making process. METHODS: PDAC patients who underwent chemotherapy and surgical resection were retrospectively identified. Semi-structured phone interviews were completed regarding patient experience with therapy. Qualitative descriptive analysis was performed, and categories, subcategories, and themes were determined. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were interviewed regarding their experience with PDAC treatment. An overall personal disease trajectory experience was identified with two phases. The first phase encompassed the patients' treatment. In this phase, patients expressed a choice, non-choice regarding therapy decisions, viewing therapy as the only option. Misconceptions about the roles of therapies and expected experience of treatment were observed. The second phase focused on life after therapy. Patients reported persistent physical changes secondary to therapy. An overall realistic understanding of the patient's limited prognosis was observed, with patients expressing appreciation of the life time gained as a benefit of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: There remains critical areas for improvement in communication and care of patients with PDAC. Physicians should continue to ensure that patient's goals and wishes are respected when making treatment decisions and confirm that patients understand the roles and limitations of prescribed therapies. Additionally, patients continue to have significant physical changes post treatment which should be assessed for and managed as appropriate to maintain quality of life.

Conditional survival in advanced colorectal cancer and surgery.

BACKGROUND: Recent data show patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) are surviving longer. What is unknown is how specific treatment modalities affect long-term survival. Conditional survival, or survival prognosis based on time already survived, is becoming an acceptable means of estimating prognosis for long-term survivors. We evaluated the impact of cancer-directed surgery on long-term survival in patients with advanced CRC. METHODS: We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data to identify 64,956 patients with advanced (Stage IV) CRC diagnosed from 2000-2009. Conditional survival estimates by stage, age, and cancer-directed surgery were obtained based on Cox proportional hazards regression model of disease-specific survival. RESULTS: A total of 64,956 (20.1%) patients had advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. The proportion of those patients who underwent cancer-directed surgery was 65.1% (n = 42,176). Cancer-directed surgery for patients with advanced stage disease was associated with a significant improvement in traditional survival estimates compared to patients who did not undergo surgery (hazard ratio = 2.22 [95% confidence interval, 2.17-2.27]). Conditional survival estimates show improvement in conditional 5-y disease-specific survival across all age groups, demonstrating sustained survival benefits for selected patients with advanced CRC. CONCLUSIONS: Five-year disease-specific conditional survival improves dramatically over time for selected patients with advanced CRC who undergo cancer-directed surgery. This information is important in determining long-term prognosis and will help inform treatment planning for advanced CRC.

Characterizing the Role of U.S. Surgeons in the Provision of Palliative Care: A Systematic Review and Mixed-Methods Meta-Synthesis.

CONTEXT: The provision of palliative care varies appropriately by clinical factors such as patient age and severity of disease and also varies by provider practice and specialty. Surgical patients are persistently less likely to receive palliative care than their medical counterparts for reasons that are not clear. OBJECTIVES: We sought to characterize surgeon-specific determinants of palliative care in seriously ill and dying patients. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of the literature focused on surgery and palliative care within PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Scopus, and Ovid Medline databases from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2016 according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Quantitative and qualitative studies with primary data evaluating surgeons' attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors or experiences in care for seriously ill and dying patients were selected for full review by at least two study team members based on predefined inclusion criteria. Data were extracted based on a predetermined instrument and compared across studies using thematic analysis in a meta-synthesis of qualitative and quantitative findings. RESULTS: A total of 2589 abstracts were identified and screened, and 35 articles (26 quantitative and nine qualitative) fulfilled criteria for full review. Among these, 17 articles explored practice and attitudes of surgeons regarding palliative and end-of-life care, 11 articles assessed training in palliative care, five characterized surgical decision making, one described behaviors of surgeons caring for seriously ill and dying patients, and one explicitly identified barriers to use of palliative care. Four major themes across studies affected receipt of palliative care for surgical patients: 1) surgeons' experience and knowledge, 2) surgeons' attitudes, 3) surgeons' preferences and decision making for treatment, and 4) perceived barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Among the articles reviewed, surgeons overall demonstrated insight into the benefits of palliative care but reported limited knowledge and comfort as well as a multitude of challenges to introducing palliative care to their patients. These findings indicate a need for wider implementation of strategies that allow optimal integration of palliative care with surgical decision making.

Using the ACMGE Milestones as a Handover Tool From Medical School to Surgery Residency.

OBJECTIVE: To map current medical school assessments for graduating students to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones in general surgery, and to pass forward individual performance metrics on level 1 milestones to receiving residency programs. DESIGN: The study included 20 senior medical students who were accepted into surgery internship positions. Data from medical school performance assessments from the third-year surgery clerkship, fourth-year surgery rotations, fourth-year surgery boot camp, Clinical Competency Assessment Examination, and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 examinations were used to map each student's competency assessments to the General Surgery Milestones based on a scoring system created and validated by independent assessors. This Milestones Assessment was then provided to each student's receiving program director. SETTING: The study was conducted at the University of Michigan Medical School, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. PARTICIPANTS: Fourth-year medical students entering into surgical internship. RESULTS: Of 16 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) General Surgery Milestones subcompetencies, 12 were able to be evaluated with current medical school assessments. Of the 20 students, 11 met criteria for all the level 1 milestones and 9 needed improvement in at least 1 domain. CONCLUSIONS: It was feasible to use medical school assessments to feed forward information about senior medical students on 12 of the 16 General Surgery Milestones subcompetency domains.

Outcomes After Surgery for Benign and Malignant Small Bowel Obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common diagnosis; however, outcomes of and risk factors for SBO and malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) surgery are not well understood. We sought to characterize outcomes and risk factors for surgery for SBO and MBO. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed utilizing prospectively collected data from the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (7/2012-3/2015). Cases included those with ICD9 diagnosis code of bowel obstruction and CPT codes for lysis of adhesions, intestinal bypass, and small bowel resection. Cases were stratified by disseminated malignancy (MBO). Factors associated with complications and 30-day mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: Two thousand two hundred thirty-three patients underwent surgery for bowel obstruction, including 86 patients (3.9 %) with MBO. MBO patients had an adjusted mortality rate of 14.5 % (benign 5.0 %); the adjusted complication rate was 32.2 % (benign 27.0 %). Factors independently associated with mortality included disseminated cancer, older age, American Society of Anesthesiologists IV/V, cirrhosis, ascites, urinary tract infection, sepsis, albumin <3.5, hematocrit <30, and bowel resection. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery for bowel obstruction carries a relatively high risk for morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients with malignant bowel obstruction. Considering the identified risk factors for mortality may help clinicians make recommendations regarding surgery in the setting of MBO.

Rethinking autonomy: decision making between patient and surgeon in advanced illnesses.

Patients with advanced illness such as advanced stage cancer presenting with the need for possible surgical intervention can be some of the most challenging cases for a surgeon. Often there are multiple factors influencing the decisions made. For patients they are facing not just the effects of the disease on their body, but the stark realization that the disease will also limit their life. Not only are these factors a consideration when patients are making decisions, but also the desire to make the decision that is best for themselves, the autonomous decision. Also included in this process for the patient facing the possible need for an intervention is the surgeon. While patient autonomy remains one of the main principles within medicine, guiding treatment decisions, there is also the surgeon's autonomy to be considered. Surgeons determine if there is even a possible intervention to be offered to patients, a decision making process that respects surgeons' autonomous choices and includes elements of paternalism as surgeons utilize their expertise to make decisions. Included in the treatment decisions that are made and the care of the patient is the impact patients' outcomes have on the surgeon, the inherent drive to be the best for the patient and desire for good outcomes for the patient. While both the patient's and surgeon's autonomy are a dynamic interface influencing decision making, the main goal for the patient facing a palliative procedure is that of making treatment decisions based on the concept of shared decision making, always giving primary consideration to the patient's goals and values. Lastly, regardless of the decision made, it is the responsibility of surgeons to their patients to be a source of support through this challenging time.

Milestones for the Final Mile: Interspecialty Distinctions in Primary Palliative Care Skills Training.

CONTEXT: Primary palliative care (PPC) skills are useful in a wide variety of medical and surgical specialties, and the expectations of PPC skill training are unknown across graduate medical education. OBJECTIVES: We characterized the variation and quality of PPC skills in residency outcomes-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones. METHODS: We performed a content analysis with structured implicit review of 2015 ACGME milestone documents from 14 medical and surgical specialties chosen for their exposure to clinical situations requiring PPC. For each specialty milestone document, we characterized the variation and quality of PPC skills in residency outcomes-based ACGME milestones. RESULTS: We identified 959 occurrences of 29 palliative search terms within 14 specialty milestone documents. Within these milestone documents, implicit review characterized 104 milestones with direct saliency to PPC skills and 196 milestones with indirect saliency. Initial interrater agreement of the saliency rating among the primary reviewers was 89%. Specialty milestone documents varied widely in their incorporation of PPC skills within milestone documents. PPC milestones were most commonly found in milestone documents for Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Urology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. PPC-relevant milestones were most commonly found in the Interpersonal and Communication Skills core competency with 108 (36%) relevant milestones classified under this core competency. CONCLUSIONS: Future revisions of specialty-specific ACGME milestone documents should focus on currently underrepresented, but important PPC skills.

Implications of age and conditional survival estimates for patients with melanoma.

Overall cancer incidence is decreasing, whereas melanoma cases are increasing. Conditional survival estimates offer a more accurate prognosis for patients the farther they are from time of diagnosis. The effect of age and stage on a melanoma patient's conditional survival estimate is unknown. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data were utilized to identify newly diagnosed cutaneous melanoma patients (N=95 041), from 1998 to 2005, with up to 12 years of follow-up. Estimates of disease-specific survival by stage and age were determined by Cox regression analysis and transformed to estimated conditional 5-year survival. Localized melanoma patients have an excellent 5-year survival at diagnosis and over subsequent years. For patients with localized and regional disease, an age effect is present for disease-specific mortality when comparing older patients (70-79 years) with younger patients (<30 years): hazard ratio (HR) for mortality 3.79 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.01-4.84] and HR 2.36 (95% CI 1.93-2.91), respectively. No age effect difference is observed in disease-specific survival for advanced disease: HR 1.14 (95% CI 0.87-1.53). Over time, conditional survival estimates improve for older patients with localized and regional disease. This improvement is not seen in distant disease, neither is the age gradient. Disease-specific mortality and conditional survival for patients with localized and regional melanomas are initially impacted by older age, with effects dissipating over time. Age does not affect survival in patients with advanced disease. Understanding the conditional 5-year disease-specific survival of melanoma based on age and stage can help patients and physicians, informing decision-making about treatment and surveillance.