Real-world outcomes and toxicity of adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC: a single-center experience.

Aim: Adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC is associated with modest benefits and significant toxicity. We sought to evaluate the toxicity of adjuvant chemotherapy and disease-specific outcomes in a real-world population. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC in an Irish center over a 7-year period. We described treatment-associated toxicity, recurrence-free survival and overall survival. Results: 62 patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. Treatment-associated hospitalisation occurred in 29% of patients. Relapse was recorded in 56% of patients and median recurrence-free survival was 27 months. Conclusion: High rates of disease recurrence and treatment-associated morbidity were observed in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC. Novel therapeutic strategies are required to improve outcomes in this population.

Early NSCLC is primarily managed with lung cancer surgery. Chemotherapy is offered to some patients with early NSCLC after surgery depending on the size of the tumor and lymph node involvement. The benefit of post-surgery (adjuvant) chemotherapy in reducing the chance of cancer recurrence has been shown to be relatively small in previous studies. Large studies of post-surgery chemotherapy in NSCLC have included limited numbers of older patients, and patients with significant medical issues. This study looked to evaluate the safety and treatment-associated side effects of adjuvant chemotherapy in a group of patients more reflective of everyday clinical practice, and to assess the rates of cancer recurrence in these patients. In our study of 62 patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC, nearly 1 in 3 patients required hospital admission due to treatment-associated side effects. Almost 40% of patients experienced significant blood test abnormalities (including anaemia, reduced platelets, and reduced white blood cells). Approximately 1 in 4 patients required a reduction in the doses of their treatment due to treatment-associated side effects. More than half of the patients in our study experienced a recurrence of their cancer. Our study demonstrates the significant side effects associated with adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC and highlights the need for better-tolerated treatment strategies to reduce cancer recurrence in early NSCLC.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-national doctors in Ireland.

BACKGROUND: International doctors make up nearly half of the physicians working in Ireland and are an integral part of the health service. The COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020 led to a global healthcare emergency. Resulting national lockdowns precluded travel at a time of need for family support. AIM: We aimed to measure the professional, psychosocial, and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-EEA doctors working in Ireland. METHODS: An 88-item online survey of demographics, well-being, and financial resilience was circulated nationally between November 2021 and January 2022. The results were analysed using RStudio and Microsoft Excel 365. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-eight responses were received. Sixty-two percent of responders reported wishing to stay in Ireland long-term and 44% had applied for citizenship. Despite 80% of responders working in their desired speciality, only 36% were on a specialist training scheme. Forty-seven percent felt their career was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported missing significant events in their home country. Over 50% reported significant mental health issues personally or in their families; however, only a minority sought professional help. Financial issues were a source of anxiety for 15% of respondents. Financial resilience was poor, 20% of respondents cited a 1-month financial reserve, 10% had a personal pension, and 9% had made a will. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a multifactorial negative impact on non-national doctors working in Ireland. More must be done to offer multidimensional support to this cohort who are a crucial part of the underserviced Irish healthcare system.

Professional and personal opinions of doctors in training during the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID19 pandemic is one of the greatest modern global healthcare crises. The resultant morbidity and mortality of public and healthcare professionals has led to psychological impacts and economic repercussions. We set out to assess the concerns of doctors in training during this crisis. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and delivered via Survey Monkey to doctors in training from 27 March to 6 April 2020, 2 weeks prior to the expected surge in Ireland and UK. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was incorporated to gauge respondent stress as they prepared for the COVID19 impact. RESULTS: A total of 285 participants engaged with 197 (69%) completing all questions. Almost 86% of respondents had been trained in donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE), and nearly 85% felt confident in the process. Overall, most respondents felt somewhat prepared (60%) or well prepared (20%) to treat COVID19 patients. However, 42% worried that their hospital would struggle, or not cope at all; in particular, 91% highlighted the risk of running out of PPE. Family health (86%), personal health (72%), and social life (47%) topped the list of junior doctor concerns. According to the PSS, the majority of respondents (62%) had moderate stress. CONCLUSIONS: This survey is the first to measure the concerns of doctors in training in Ireland as regards the COVID19 pandemic. Worries included PPE exhaustion and personal and family health. A significant majority had moderate stress. Additional supports for doctors in training are essential to aid stress and manage concerns better.

In vivo measurement of skin microrelief using photometric stereo in the presence of interreflections.

This paper proposes and describes an implementation of a photometric stereo-based technique for in vivo assessment of three-dimensional (3D) skin topography in the presence of interreflections. The proposed method illuminates skin with red, green, and blue colored lights and uses the resulting variation in surface gradients to mitigate the effects of interreflections. Experiments were carried out on Caucasian, Asian, and African American subjects to demonstrate the accuracy of our method and to validate the measurements produced by our system. Our method produced significant improvement in 3D surface reconstruction for all Caucasian, Asian, and African American skin types. The results also illustrate the differences in recovered skin topography due to the nondiffuse bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) for each color illumination used, which also concur with the existing multispectral BRDF data available for skin.