An inter-specialty cancer training programme curriculum for Europe.

INTRODUCTION: Multidisciplinary and multi-professional collaboration is vital in providing better outcomes for patients The aim of the INTERACT-EUROPE Project (Wide Ranging Cooperation and Cutting Edge Innovation As A Response To Cancer Training Needs) was to develop an inter-specialty curriculum. A pilot project will enable a pioneer cohort to acquire a sample of the competencies needed. METHODS: A scoping review, qualitative and quantitative surveys were undertaken. The quantitative survey results are reported here. Respondents, including members of education boards, curriculum committees, trainee committees of European specialist societies and the ECO Patient Advisory Committee, were asked to score 127 proposed competencies on a 7-point Likert scale as to their value in achieving the aims of the curriculum. Results were discussed and competencies developed at two stakeholder meetings. A consultative document, shared with stakeholders and available online, requested views regarding the other components of the curriculum. RESULTS: Eleven competencies were revised, three omitted and three added. The competencies were organised according to the CanMEDS framework with 13 Entrustable Professional Activities, 23 competencies and 127 enabling competencies covering all roles in the framework. Recommendations regarding the infrastructure, organisational aspects, eligibility of trainees and training centres, programme contents, assessment and evaluation were developed using the replies to the consultative document. CONCLUSIONS: An Inter-specialty Cancer Training Programme Curriculum and a pilot programme with virtual and face-to-face components have been developed with the aim of improving the care of people affected by cancer.

Live European School of Oncology e-Sessions (e-ESO).

The European School of Oncology (ESO) embarked on an online educational project, starting with live sessions in 2008 (e-ESO). Our scholars and young oncologists identified the need to be offered independent high-level online education with contributions from experts around the world, free of charge and available at any moment. We report on various types of e-sessions, such as grand-rounds, highlights, debates, clinical cases and other sessions. Our audience has grown over the last decade, reaching 11,123 users who have viewed a total of 77,041 sessions since the beginning of 2008. Moreover, our activities on social media platforms have enhanced our visibility, reaching more physicians around the globe. Due to the recent events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has proven to be of great value in offering long-distance teaching. We have analyzed the growth of our audience and its attendance over the last 12 years.

Occult hepatitis B virus infection in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C: relationship with donor age and fibrosis progression.

Liver transplantation (OLT) recipients who receive a graft from donors positive for hepatitis B virus (HBV) anti-core antibodies may develop overt "de novo" HBV infection. The study was undertaken to explore how often HBV infection may remain occult after OLT for hepatitis C, and whether it may represent a factor of graft fibrosis progression. We studied 30 consecutive patients transplanted for hepatitis C liver disease. Specimens from the native liver and from the graft were searched for occult HBV infection (O-HBV). In the native liver, 8/30 patients had detectable O-HBV; during the follow-up, O-HBV infection was demonstrated in 14 graft specimens. Graft O-HBV was associated with older donor age (> or =50 yr; 8/9 vs. 6/21, p < 0.005). Recipients with graft O-HBV and no O-HBV in the native liver who received their grafts from donors aged >40 yr had faster fibrosis progression than recipients with no post-transplant O-HBV, whose grafts came from donors aged >40 yr and recipients whose grafts came from donors aged < or =40 yr (4/7 vs. 1/7 vs. 2/16, p < 0.05). In OLT recipients, O-HBV is more likely to occur when grafts are obtained from aged donors and may affect the rate of fibrosis progression because of recurrent hepatitis C.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and liver fibrosis progression in patients with recurrent hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism, being a putative steatogenic factor, may promote liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C. This study aimed to verify the role of recipient MTHFR polymorphism in favouring graft fibrosis progression in patients with recurrent HCV after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). METHODS: We studied 63 such patients, followed for >1 year. MTHFR allelic variants were determined by a polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism method. RESULTS: Recipients carrying the TT genotype had more frequently, 1-year post-OLT, homocysteine serum levels >23 micromol/L (P<0.05), serum triglycerides >180 mg/dL (P<0.02) and de novo diabetes mellitus (P<0.05) but not a higher frequency of graft steatosis. Time-to-event analysis in reaching an Ishak staging score >2 was performed by stratifying the recipients as follows: (a) patients with donor age < or =45 years, (b) patients with donor age >45 and C/(*) genotype, and (c) patients with donor age >45 years and TT genotype. A significant linear trend was observed, with increasing frequencies as follows: (a) 8/37, (b) 10/19 and (c) 6/7 (P=0.0005). CONCLUSION: The MTHFR C677T polymorphism may play a role in influencing liver fibrosis progression in patients with recurrent hepatitis C, in conjunction with donor age, but not via steatosis promotion.