Does it fit in your pocket? economic burden of PD-1 inhibitors' toxicity in the supplementary health system: evidence from Brazil.

BACKGROUND: A full understanding of the economic burden associated with treatment-related adverse events (AEs) can aid estimates of the incremental costs associated with incorporating new technologies and support cost-effective economic modeling in Brazil. In this context, the main objective of this work was to evaluate in a real-life database: (i) the direct medical cost of monitoring the occurrence of AEs (CMO); (ii) the direct medical cost of managing an identified AE (CMN); and (iii) the total direct medical cost of monitoring and managing AEs (TMC), in quarterly periods from 0 to 24 months of the monitoring of cancer patients who used a PD-1 inhibitor from the perspective of the supplementary health system in Brazil. METHODS: This study was conducted from the supplementary health system (SSS) perspective and followed the methodological guidelines related to cost-of-illness studies. A bottom-up (person-based) approach was used to assess the use of health resources to monitor and manage AEs during the use of PD-1 inhibitors, which made it possible to capture differences in the mean frequency of the use of health services with stratification results for different subgroups. As the Brazilian SSS is complex, asymmetric, and fragmented, this study used information from different sources. The methodology was divided into three parts: (i) Data Source: clinical management of AEs; (ii) Microcosting: management of the economic burden of AEs; (iii) Statistical analysis: stratification of results for different subgroups. RESULTS: Analysis of the economic burden of toxicity showed higher CMO costs than CMN in all the periods analyzed. In general, for every BRL 100 on average invested in the TMC of AEs, BRL 95 are used to monitor the occurrence of the AE and only BRL 5 to manage an identified AE. This work also showed that the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, the journey of oncological treatment, and the toxicity profile affect the economic burden related to AE. CONCLUSION: This study provided real-world evidence of the economic burden of AEs associated with the use of PD-1 inhibitors in Brazil. This work also made methodological contributions by evaluating the economic burden of AE of PD-1 inhibitors considering the kinetics of toxicity occurrence and categorizing the costs in terms of CMO, CMN and TMC.

Assessment of Medical Students' Knowledge of Imaging Methods for Bone Sarcomas.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in Brazil and worldwide. However, Brazilian medical education fails to include oncology as an essential topic. This creates a gap between the health status of the population and medical education. Bone sarcomas fall into both the group of malignant neoplasms and rare diseases and are thus doubly influenced by misinformation. To assess medical students' knowledge of imaging diagnostic methods for bone sarcomas. A cross-sectional, quantitative study was undertaken by obtaining the responses of medical students to a questionnaire containing radiographic images and questions about the radiological aspects of bone sarcomas. The categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test. The level of significance was 5% for all the tests. SPSS software version 25.0 was used for the analysis. A total of 325 responses were collected, with 72% of the participants having no interest in oncology and 55.6-63.9% not knowing how to diagnose a periosteal reaction on bone radiography. Only 11.1-17.1% of the students correctly interpreted the radiographic image of osteosarcoma. Medical students fail to correctly interpret images of bone sarcomas. It is important to promote oncology undergraduate education in general and to include the approach to bone sarcomas in this context.

Pain Treatment and Cancer Patients: Are we Heeding Quality of Life?

The use of opioid analgesics remains the primary therapy for pain control in cancer patients. However, ample evidence persists showing that treatment is still inadequate. This cross-sectional study was carried out during one year in a Brazilian Cancer Hospital to evaluate the impact of opioid use on analgesia and patients' quality of life. The Pain Management Index (PMI), EORTC QLQ.C30 (Quality of Life of Cancer Patients), Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4), and Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) were used. A hundred patients with advanced solid tumors and using opioids were included, with 82% of them reporting daily pain with 58% having intense pain. Morphine with a mean dose of 49 Morphine Milligram Equivalent were used by 57% of them, and PMI was negative in 34% of the sample. Neuropathic pain was found in 72% of patients. The pain was related to all BPI variables. Despite the substantial negative impact of pain on QOL, no association was found between the clinical factors assessed and QOL itself. This gap can be related to the persistence of high levels of sub-treatment, depression, and neuropathic pain associated with the use of low doses of opiates and adjuvant medications in the sample.

Impact of proper surgical treatment on the survival of patients with epithelial ovary cancer.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the quality of surgical treatment of ovarian cancer patients and assess the impact of adequate surgical oncological treatment on disease-free survival and overall survival of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: this is an observational, retrospective study with quantitative analysis, with the collection of data in medical records of a temporal convenience sample of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer admitted to a High Complexity Oncology Unit, in Belo Horizonte, from the period of 2014 to 2020. RESULTS: a total of 91 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer were evaluated, with the epithelial histopathological type being the most frequent (85%). Of this total, 68 patients (74.7%) had advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Appropriate surgical treatment was performed in 30.9% of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer and the type of performed surgery was statistically significant for overall survival. This low proportion of appropriate surgical oncological treatment was not related to surgical specially or surgeon competence, but mainly to advanced disease related to patient flow at UNACON. It was not possible to confirm if the advanced-stage disease was related to tumor biology or losing time from diagnosis to oncological surgery. CONCLUSION: overall survival of advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer patients is directly influenced by appropriate surgical treatment, however, in this study, the percentage of advanced ovarian cancer receiving adequate surgical treatment was much lower than the rates reported in the literature. To improve these outcomes, we believe that surgeons should keep following patients during neoadjuvant chemotherapy to point to a better time for surgery, and clinical oncologists should better consider adequate oncological surgery as one of the pillars of ovarian cancer treatment and get more involved in facilitating surgeries.

Cancer patients admitted in the emergency department: A single-centre observational study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyse patients' clinical profiles seen at an emergency unit of a public oncology reference hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study, with data collection through patients' medical records seen between 2016 and 2018. The identification of patients was carried out through research on hospital admission authorization guides. RESULTS: A total of 2932 medical records were evaluated, of which only 21.5% were cancer patients. A cancer diagnosis was made for 21.5% of patients during hospitalisation. In this group, pain and weight loss are frequent symptoms, and haematological diseases (15.2%) were the most frequent tumour type. Patients with a previous cancer diagnosis presented the most prevalent tumour breast (18.3%) and altered consciousness level as a leading symptom. Analgesics were the most prescribed drugs in both groups. CONCLUSION: This study showed two distinct groups of cancer patients: with or without a previous cancer diagnosis. However, these two groups are comparable in almost all the variables analysed. Therefore, we believe that the factors that could guide the care in an emergency are related to education on cancer symptoms for the population to contribute to an early diagnosis and cancer training for emergency department (ED) professionals' to better monitor advanced-stage patients for symptom management.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy after Previous Radical Lymphadenectomy of the Same Lymph Node Basin.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the feasibility of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative radio-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients previously submitted to complete lymphadenectomy (CL) in the same region. There is no current proposal to stage patients diagnosed with a new melanoma after SLNB if the regional lymph node (LN) was removed, preventing this specific population from adjuvant treatments due to understaging.Methods: We assessed six cases of patients with a previous cancer diagnosis (melanoma, breast, or thyroid cancer) who had undergone CL and later developed a new cutaneous melanoma in the same extremity submitted to CL. They underwent preoperative lymphoscintigraphy to locate the sentinel lymph node (SLN), followed by a radio-guided SLNB with the assistance of patent blue dye. A pathologist then evaluated the excised SLN.Results: We had 100% feasibility, all six patients had their SLN located, and three (50%) patients tested positive for metastasis in the excised LNs.Conclusions: All these patients met the criteria to undergo SLNB, but no previous reports demonstrated and corroborated the performance of this procedure in this situation. SLNB with expected drainage for regions previously submitted to a radical lymphadenectomy is a safe and effective procedure. A lymphoscintigraphy allows locating the SLN that is likely to be resected in surgery. In this scenario, we had a 50% positivity, providing how relevant and essential this information is for the prognosis and practical therapeutical approaches for this rare but relevant melanoma population.

ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN LAPAROSCOPIC GASTRECTOMY MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY BETWEEN YOUNG AND OLDER?

BACKGROUND: Due to the longer life expectancy and consequently an increase in the elderly population, a higher incidence of gastric cancer is expected in this population in the coming decades. AIM: To compare the results of laparoscopic GC surgical treatment between individuals aged<65 years (group I) and ≥ 65 years (group II), according to clinical, surgical, and histopathological characteristics. METHODS: A observational retrospective study was performed by analyzing medical charts of patients with gastric cancer undergoing total or subtotal laparoscopic gastrectomy for curative purposes by a single oncologic surgery team. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients were included in each group. Regarding the ASA classification, 31% of the patients in group I was ASA 1, compared to 3.1% in group II. The mean number of concomitant medications in group II was statistically superior to group I (5±4.21 x 1.42±3.08, p<0.001). Subtotal gastrectomy was the most performed procedure in both groups (69.4% and 63.9% in groups I and II, respectively) due to the high prevalence of distal tumors in both groups, 54.4% group I and 52.9% group II. According to Lauren's classification, group I presented a predominance of diffuse tumors (50%) and group II the intestinal type (61.8%). There was no difference between the two groups regarding the number of resected lymph nodes and lymph node metastases and the days of hospitalization and mortality. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic gastrectomy showed to be a safe procedure, without a statistical difference in morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization time between both groups.

Identification of victims of the collapse of a mine tailing dam in Brumadinho.

The collapse of the B1 Dam of VALE SA mining company in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil was the largest humanitarian disaster and occupational accident in the country's history, and it posed challenges regarding the management and identification of multiple victims. We evaluated the impact of the iron ore tailings on the victims' bodies. We examined the scientific identification of the victims and the dynamics of the disaster over the 1st year after it occurred. We also determined the socio-demographic profiles of the victims. In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, we investigated the expert reports of the victims' biological remains from 25 January 2019 to 25 January 2020. We analysed the socio-demographic data, identification methods, identification status, identification time, and necroscopic information. During the study period, 259 of 270 victims were identified, and 603 biological materials were analysed; among them, 86.2% were body parts and 13.8% were whole bodies. Of the total cases registered that year, 476 (78.9%) were submitted during the first 10 weeks after the disaster. Friction ridge analysis accounted for 67.9% of primary identifications and DNA analysis did so for 91.6% of re-identification cases. Body dismemberment was 3.4 times greater among mine workers than among community victims. Adult males accounted for the greatest number of victims (P < 0.001). Polytraumatic injury was the prevalent single cause of death. Necropsy examination revealed the occurrence of asphyxia in 7% of cases. The higher number of fatalities and greater dismemberment among employees than with community residents underlines the occupational dangers in the mining industry and clarifies the dynamics of the disaster. In the initial weeks after the dam collapsed, friction ridge analysis was the most appropriate method for identification. Subsequently, DNA analysis became the most-used technique for identification and re-identification owing to the great volume of body parts and decomposed biological tissue. Autopsy allowed diagnosis of the causes of death to be clarified according to the Brazilian criminal legal system.

Impact of proper surgical treatment on the survival of patients with epithelial ovary cancer / Impacto do tratamento cirúrgico adequado na sobrevida de mulheres com carcinoma epitelial ovariano

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the quality of surgical treatment of ovarian cancer patients and assess the impact of adequate surgical oncological treatment on disease-free survival and overall survival of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods: this is an observational, retrospective study with quantitative analysis, with the collection of data in medical records of a temporal convenience sample of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer admitted to a High Complexity Oncology Unit, in Belo Horizonte, from the period of 2014 to 2020. Results: a total of 91 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer were evaluated, with the epithelial histopathological type being the most frequent (85%). Of this total, 68 patients (74.7%) had advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Appropriate surgical treatment was performed in 30.9% of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer and the type of performed surgery was statistically significant for overall survival. This low proportion of appropriate surgical oncological treatment was not related to surgical specially or surgeon competence, but mainly to advanced disease related to patient flow at UNACON. It was not possible to confirm if the advanced-stage disease was related to tumor biology or losing time from diagnosis to oncological surgery. Conclusion: overall survival of advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer patients is directly influenced by appropriate surgical treatment, however, in this study, the percentage of advanced ovarian cancer receiving adequate surgical treatment was much lower than the rates reported in the literature. To improve these outcomes, we believe that surgeons should keep following patients during neoadjuvant chemotherapy to point to a better time for surgery, and clinical oncologists should better consider adequate oncological surgery as one of the pillars of ovarian cancer treatment and get more involved in facilitating surgeries.

RESUMO Objetivo: avaliar a qualidade do tratamento cirúrgico de pacientes com câncer de ovário e o impacto do tratamento oncológico cirúrgico adequado na sobrevida livre de doença e sobrevida global de pacientes com câncer de ovário epitelial avançado. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo observacional, retrospectivo, de análise quantitativo, com coleta de dados em prontuários de uma amostra de conveniência temporal de pacientes com diagnóstico de câncer de ovário internadas em uma Unidade de Oncologia de Alta Complexidade (UNACON), em Belo Horizonte, no período de 2014 a 2020. Resultados: foram avaliadas 91 pacientes diagnosticadas com câncer de ovário, sendo o tipo histopatológico epitelial o mais frequente (85%). Desse total, 68 pacientes (74,7%) apresentavam câncer de ovário em estágio avançado. O tratamento cirúrgico adequado foi realizado em 30,9% das pacientes com câncer de ovário epitelial avançado e o tipo de cirurgia realizada foi estatisticamente significativo para a sobrevida global. Essa baixa proporção de tratamento cirúrgico oncológico adequado não esteve relacionada à especialidade cirúrgica ou competência do cirurgião, mas principalmente à doença avançada relacionada ao fluxo de pacientes na UNACON. Não foi possível confirmar se a doença em estágio avançado estava relacionada à biologia tumoral ou à perda de tempo do diagnóstico para a cirurgia oncológica. Conclusão: A sobrevida global de pacientes com câncer de ovário epitelial em estágio avançado é diretamente influenciada pelo tratamento cirúrgico adequado. Porém, o percentual de câncer de ovário avançado recebendo tratamento cirúrgico adequado foi muito inferior aos índices relatados na literatura. Para melhorar esses resultados, acreditamos que os cirurgiões devem continuar acompanhando as pacientes durante a quimioterapia neoadjuvante para apontar um melhor momento para a cirurgia, e os oncologistas clínicos devem considerar melhor a cirurgia oncológica adequada como um dos pilares do tratamento do câncer de ovário e se envolver mais na facilitação das cirurgias.

A demographic and clinical panorama of a sixteen-year cohort of soft tissue sarcoma patients in Brazil.

Little is known about soft tissue sarcomas (STS) in Brazil, once the federal statistics regarding estimates on incidence and mortality of the most common cancers that affect the Brazilian population currently do not include STS. This study aims to perform a broad evaluation and description of the epidemiological profile, access to treatment and main clinical outcomes of the Brazilian STS patient. A population-based cohort study of 66,825 patients who underwent procedures related to STS treatment registered in the Brazilian public health system (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) databases. Median age was 57 years, 30% of them older than 65 years and 50.7% of the cohort was female. The majority, 50,383 patients (75.4%), was diagnosed between 2008 and 2015. Most prevalent anatomic sites were upper and lower limbs (12.6%) and the registry of sarcomas without a specific location comprehended 29.7% of the cohort. The majority of patients resided in the Northeast (40.2% of the patients). Surgery was the first treatment modality in 77.7% of the cases. For survival analysis, only patients with stage and histological grade information were included. The 1-, 5- and 10-year survival rate of the patients was, respectively, 75.4% (95% CI = 74.1-76.7%), 43.4% (95% CI = 41.5-45.5%) and 18.6% (95% CI = 14.8-23.3%).

Cutaneous melanoma: cost of illness under Brazilian health system perspectives.

BACKGROUND: The landscape of cutaneous melanoma (CM) diagnosis, staging, prognosis, and treatment has undergone fundamental changes in the past decade. While the benefits of new health resources are recognized, there is a distinct lack of accurate cost-of-illness information to aid healthcare decision makers. METHODS: The cost-of-illness study for CM was conducted from the perspective of two health systems in Brazil: the public health system (Unified Health System, SUS) and the private health system (Health Management Organization, HMO). The study considered the direct medical cost in a bottom-up analysis, using melanoma incidence, knowledge of the disease's progression, and the overall survival rates. The executional costs for the complete healthcare delivery cycle were investigated considering different disease stages and possible clinical course variations. The structural cost was assessed qualitatively considering the health value chain in Brazil. RESULTS: CM represents a critical financial burden in Brazil, and the cost of illness varied according to the health system and by stage at diagnosis. HMO patient costs are approximately 10-fold and 90-fold more than a SUS patient in the early-stage and advanced disease, respectively. Overall, spending on advanced disease patients can be up to 34-fold (SUS) or 270-fold (HMO) higher than that required for the early-stage disease. Given the massive amount of resources spent by the SUS and HMO, significant efforts must be made to improve the health value chain to deliver the right mix of medical care goods and services using available resources. CONCLUSION: The cost-of-illness study for CM has the potential to inform policymakers and decision-makers regarding the economic burden that melanoma impose on a society in terms of the use of health care services, assisting them in making projections of future health care costs and resource allocation decisions. We believe that cost-of-illness analysis from a strategic perspective could be of help in assessing executional costs and be used to support the change in structural costs required for long-term strategies related to the health value chain.

Perioperative Cancer Care in the Context of Limited Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology Recommendations.

BACKGROUND: As the COVID-19 pandemic moves from rich to poor nations, the healthcare systems of developing countries have to deal with this extra burden. As cancer care cannot stop and surgery is the main mechanism for cure and palliation, it is important to provide safe and rational access to cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: From April 1st to May 1st, the committee of the Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology (BSSO) was responsible for reviewing the literature and writing recommendations for perioperative cancer care in the context of limited resources during the pandemic. The recommendations were submitted to the BSSO board of directors. The orientations that were not consensual were removed and the suggestions were added to the text. From May 15 to 30th, the committee revised the recommendations, aligned them with the objectives of the work and standardize the text. DISCUSSION: The rational use of resources to reduce the risk of surgical cancer patients being operated on during the incubation period of a corona virus infection is important in this context. Prevalence of corona virus in the region, the need for surgery, surgical complexity, patient age and comorbidities, and availability of corona virus testing are central aspects in this matter and are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: We present a protocol, focused on the patients' outcomes, for safe and rational use of resources to reduce the risk of surgical cancer patients being operated on during the virus incubation period, in the context of areas with limited resources.

Are there differences in laparoscopic gastrectomy morbidity and mortality between young and older? / Há diferenças na morbimortalidade da gastrectomia laparoscópica entre jovens e idosos?

ABSTRACT Background: Due to the longer life expectancy and consequently an increase in the elderly population, a higher incidence of gastric cancer is expected in this population in the coming decades. Aim: To compare the results of laparoscopic GC surgical treatment between individuals aged<65 years (group I) and ≥ 65 years (group II), according to clinical, surgical, and histopathological characteristics. Methods: A observational retrospective study was performed by analyzing medical charts of patients with gastric cancer undergoing total or subtotal laparoscopic gastrectomy for curative purposes by a single oncologic surgery team. Results: Thirty-six patients were included in each group. Regarding the ASA classification, 31% of the patients in group I was ASA 1, compared to 3.1% in group II. The mean number of concomitant medications in group II was statistically superior to group I (5±4.21 x 1.42±3.08, p<0.001). Subtotal gastrectomy was the most performed procedure in both groups (69.4% and 63.9% in groups I and II, respectively) due to the high prevalence of distal tumors in both groups, 54.4% group I and 52.9% group II. According to Lauren's classification, group I presented a predominance of diffuse tumors (50%) and group II the intestinal type (61.8%). There was no difference between the two groups regarding the number of resected lymph nodes and lymph node metastases and the days of hospitalization and mortality. Conclusion: Laparoscopic gastrectomy showed to be a safe procedure, without a statistical difference in morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization time between both groups.

RESUMO Racional: Devido à maior expectativa de vida, e consequentemente aumento da população de idosos, é esperada uma maior incidência de câncer gástrico nesta população nas próximas décadas. Objetivos: Comparar os resultados do tratamento cirúrgico por via laparoscópica do câncer gástrico entre pacientes com idade <65 anos (grupo I) e ≥65 anos (grupo II), de acordo com características clínicas, cirúrgicas e histopatológicas. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo retrospectivo, observacional baseado na análise de prontuários médicos de pacientes com câncer gástrico, submetidos à gastrectomia total ou subtotal laparoscópica com finalidade curativa, por uma única equipe de cirurgia oncológica. Resultados: Foram avaliados 36 pacientes em cada grupo. Em relação à classificação ASA, 62,1% dos pacientes do grupo I eram ASA 1 comparado a 3.1% no grupo II. O número médio de medicações concomitantes do grupo II foi superior ao grupo I (5±4,21 x 1.42±3,08, p<0.001). A gastrectomia subtotal foi o procedimento mais realizado nos dois grupos (69,4% e 63,9% nos grupos I e II respectivamente) devido a maior prevalência de tumores distais em ambos os grupos, 54.4% grupo I e 52.9% grupo II. De acordo com a classificação de Laurén, no grupo I houve predomínio de tumores difusos (50,0%) e no grupo II do tipo intestinal (61,8%). Não houve diferença entre os dois grupos em relação a quantidade de linfonodos ressecados e de linfonodos positivos para metástases, assim como o tempo de permanência no CTI, dias de hospitalização e mortalidade. Conclusão: A gastrectomia por via laparoscópica é procedimento seguro, sem haver diferenças em morbidade, mortalidade e tempo de internação entre pacientes jovens e idosos.

Surgical cancer care in the COVID-19 era: front line views and consensus.

OBJECTIVE: to suggest a script for surgical oncology assistance in COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. METHOD: a narrative review and a "brainstorming" consensus were carried out after discussion with more than 350 Brazilian specialists and renowned surgeons from Portugal, France, Italy and United States of America. RESULTS: consensus on testing for COVID-19: 1- All patients to be operated should be tested between 24 and 48 before the procedure; 2- The team that has contact with sick or symptomatic patients should be tested; 3 - Chest tomography was suggested to investigate pulmonary changes. Consensus on protection of care teams: 1 - Use of surgical masks inside the hospitals. Use of N95 masks for all professionals in the operating room; 2 - Selection of cases for minimally invasive surgery and maximum pneumoperitoneal aspiration before removal of the surgical specimen; 2 - Optimization of the number of people in teams, with a minimum number of professionals, reducing their occupational exposure, the consumption of protective equipment and the circulation of people in the hospital environment; 3 - Isolation of contaminated patients. Priority consensus: 1- Construction of service priorities; 2 - Interdisciplinary discussion on minimally invasive or conventional pathways. CONCLUSION: the Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology (BSSO) suggests a script for coping with oncological treatment, remembering that the impoundment in the assistance of these cases, can configure a new wave of overload in health systems.

Correction to: Diagnosis of Cutaneous Melanoma: the Gap between the Knowledge of General Practitioners and Dermatologists in a Brazilian Population.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The name of "Carolina Ledsham" is now corrected in the author group of this article.