Poison With a Purpose: A Case Report on Arsenic Cardiotoxicity and Obesity.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a form of leukemia in which there is an arrest of the maturation of the myeloid lineage at the promyelocyte stage. Although there is high early mortality due to coagulopathy, APL is now a curable disease with the use of arsenic trioxide (ATO) and all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA). Arsenic is weight-based for the treatment of APL, and many toxicities are dose-dependent, although there are no guidelines regarding dosing adjustments for obese patients. We present a case of a 34-year-old male with obesity and APL who developed arsenic-induced QTc prolongation and symptomatic sinus tachycardia while receiving treatment. Further research is needed to guide appropriate dosing for obese patients to determine if ideal body weight dosing is able to provide similar cure rates with fewer adverse events.

Variation in Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations by Primary Care Providers Surveyed in Wisconsin.

BACKGROUND: Cancer screening is chiefly performed by primary care providers (PCPs) who rely on organizational screening guidelines. These guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations; however, they are often without unanimity leading to divergent screening recommendations. OBJECTIVE: Due to the high incidence of breast cancer, the availability of screening methods, and the presence of multiple incongruent guideline recommendations, we sought to understand breast cancer screening practices in Wisconsin to identify patterns that would allow us to improve evidence-based screening adherence. METHODS: A 46-question survey on breast cancer screening beliefs and practices for average-risk women was sent to healthcare providers in Wisconsin in 2018, who provided cancer screening services to women. Providers included physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and midwives. RESULTS: A total of 295 people responded to the survey, for a response rate of 28.6%. Most respondents were physicians (64.1%), followed by NPs (25.7%), PAs (5.3%), and midwives (1.5%). Of physicians, most practiced family medicine (65.3%), followed by internal medicine (25.3%) and gynecology (9.4%). The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was reported as being "very influential" for 60.5% of providers, followed by the American Cancer Society at 46.8%. For patients 40-49 years old, 75.6% of providers performed clinical breast exams and 58.5% recommended self-breast exams; these numbers increased for women 50+ years old to 78.7% and 61.2%, respectively. Mammography was more likely to be recommended annually for women aged 40-49 rather than biennially by non-physician clinicians compared to physicians (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: PCPs in Wisconsin continue to overestimate the efficacy of clinical and self-breast exams as well as overuse these in clinical practice. Providers find multiple screening guidelines influential but favor the USPSTF; however, these guidelines are frequently not being followed. Further research needs to be done to investigate the lack of national guideline adherence by providers to improve compliance with evidence-based screening recommendations.