Factors Associated with Readmission After Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis.

PURPOSE: Cytoreductive surgery/hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) for peritoneal carcinomatosis is a morbid endeavor. Despite improvement in perioperative management of these patients, there are subsets of patients requiring hospital readmission after discharge. We sought to identify variables associated with readmission rates for CRS/HIPEC. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of CRS/HIPEC cases at the University of Cincinnati between 1999 and 2014. Patient-, tumor-, and treatment-specific characteristics were evaluated. The association between patient- and outcome-specific variables for 30- and 90-day readmission were evaluated. RESULTS: Of 215 CRS/HIPEC patients, the 7-, 30-, and 90-day readmission rates were 9.8 % (n = 21), 14.9 % (n = 32), and 21.4 % (n = 46), respectively. The most common reasons for readmission within 90 days included abdominal pain (n = 14), intra-abdominal abscess (n = 9), malnutrition/failure to thrive (n = 8), and bowel obstruction (n = 7). The primary factor associated with readmission at all time points (7, 30, and 90 days) was the presence of an enterocutaneous fistula (p < 0.01). Six patients (2.8 %) had multiple readmissions; 3 of these had ECF. Factors not associated with higher admission rates included sex, age, race, operative blood loss, pancreatectomy or liver resection at the index operation, and postoperative complications of wound infection, line infection, and thromboembolic events. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC, readmission was primarily associated with poor pain control, malnutrition, and infectious complications. Patients with enterocutaneous fistula were also disproportionately readmitted multiple times. These data should inform clinicians about patients at high risk for readmission after CRS/HIPEC and encourage more comprehensive coordination of postdischarge planning and care for specific patient populations.

VISTA expression and patient selection for immune-based anticancer therapy.

V-domain Ig suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA) is a B7 family member that plays key roles in maintaining T cell quiescence and regulation of myeloid cell populations, which together establish it as a novel immunotherapy target for solid tumors. Here we review the growing literature on VISTA expression in relation to various malignancies to better understand the role of VISTA and its interactions with both tumor cells and immune cells expressing other checkpoint molecules within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The biology of VISTA creates several mechanisms to maintain the TME, including supporting the function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, regulating natural killer cell activation, supporting the survival of regulatory T cells, limiting antigen presentation on antigen-presenting cells and maintaining T cells in a quiescent state. Understanding these mechanisms is an important foundation of rational patient selection for anti-VISTA therapy. We provide a general framework to describe distinct patterns of VISTA expression in correlation with other known predictive immunotherapy biomarkers (programmed cell death ligand 1 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) across solid tumors to facilitate investigation of the most efficacious TMEs for VISTA-targeted treatment as a single agent and/or in combination with anti-programmed death 1/anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 therapies.

Use of Wearable Activity Tracker in Patients With Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: Toward Evaluating Risk of Unplanned Health Care Encounters.

PURPOSE: Unplanned health care encounters (UHEs) such as emergency room visits can occur commonly during cancer chemotherapy treatments. Patients at an increased risk of UHEs are typically identified by clinicians using performance status (PS) assessments based on a descriptive scale, such as the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale. Such assessments can be bias prone, resulting in PS score disagreements between assessors. We therefore propose to evaluate PS using physical activity measurements (eg, energy expenditure) from wearable activity trackers. Specifically, we examined the feasibility of using a wristband (band) and a smartphone app for PS assessments. METHODS: We conducted an observational study on a cohort of patients with solid tumor receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Patients were instructed to wear the band for a 60-day activity-tracking period. During clinic visits, we obtained ECOG scores assessed by physicians, coordinators, and patients themselves. UHEs occurring during the activity-tracking period plus a 90-day follow-up period were later compiled. We defined our primary outcome as the percentage of patients adherent to band-wear ≥ 80% of 10 am to 8 pm for ≥ 80% of the activity-tracking period. In an exploratory analysis, we computed hourly metabolic equivalent of task (MET) and counted 10 am to 8 pm hours with > 1.5 METs as nonsedentary physical activity hours. RESULTS: Forty-one patients completed the study (56.1% female; 61.0% age 40-60 years); 68% were adherent to band-wear. ECOG score disagreement between assessors ranged from 35.3% to 50.0%. In our exploratory analysis, lower average METs and nonsedentary hours, but not higher ECOG scores, were associated with higher 150-day UHEs. CONCLUSION: The use of a wearable activity tracker is generally feasible in a similar population of patients with cancer. A larger randomized controlled trial should be conducted to confirm the association between lower nonsedentary hours and higher UHEs.