Disparities in Care Access to Liver-Directed Therapy Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Liver-directed therapies (LDT) are important components of the multidisciplinary care of patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLM) that contribute to improved long-term outcomes. Factors associated with receipt of LDT are poorly understood. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients > 65 years old diagnosed with CRCLM were identified within the Medicare Standard Analytic File (2013-2017). Patients with extrahepatic metastatic disease were excluded. Mixed-effects analyses were used to assess patient factors associated with the primary outcome of LDT, defined as hepatectomy, ablation, and/or hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), as well as the secondary outcome of hepatectomy. RESULTS: Among 23,484 patients with isolated CRCLM, only 2004 (8.5%) received LDT, although resectability status could not be determined for the entire cohort. Among patients who received LDT, 61.7% underwent hepatectomy alone, 28.1% received ablation alone, 8.5% underwent hepatectomy and ablation, and 1.8% received HAIC either alone (0.8%) or in combination with hepatectomy and/or ablation (0.9%). Patient factors independently associated with lower odds of LDT included older age, female sex, Black race, greater comorbidity burden, higher social vulnerability index, primary rectal cancer, synchronous liver metastasis, and further distance from a high-volume liver surgery center (p < 0.05). Results were similar for receipt of hepatectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the well-accepted role of LDT for CRCLM, only a small proportion of Medicare beneficiaries with CRCLM receive LDT. Increasing access to specialized centers with expertise in LDT, particularly for Black patients, female patients, and those with higher levels of social vulnerability or long travel distances, may improve outcomes for patients with CRCLM.

Disparities in access to care among patients with appendiceal or colorectal cancer and peritoneal metastases: A medicare insurance-based study in the United States.

Background: Prior studies attempting to identify disparities in the care of patients with appendiceal (AC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) with peritoneal metastasis (PM) are limited to single-institution, highly selected patient populations. This observational cohort study sought to identify factors associated with specialty care for Medicare beneficiaries with AC/CRC-PM. Materials and methods: Patients >65 years old in the United States diagnosed with AC/CRC and isolated PM were identified within the Medicare Standard Analytic File (2013-2017). Mixed-effects analyses assessed patient factors associated with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) and outpatient consultation with a peritoneal surface malignancy (PSM) surgeon, and Cox proportional-hazards analysis compared 3-year overall survival (OS) between patients receiving CRS/HIPEC versus systemic therapy alone. Results: Among 7,653 patients, only 250 (3.3%) underwent CRS/HIPEC. Among those individuals who did not undergo CRS/HIPEC (N=7,403), only 475 (6.4%) had outpatient consultation with a PSM surgeon. Patient factors independently associated with lower odds of CRS/HIPEC and PSM surgery consultation included older age, greater comorbidity burden, higher social vulnerability index, and further distance from a PSM center (p<0.05). CRS/HIPEC was independently associated with better 3-year OS compared with systemic therapy alone (HR=0.29, 95%CI=0.21-0.38). Conclusion: An exceedingly small proportion of Medicare beneficiaries with AC/CRC-PM undergo CRS/HIPEC or even have an outpatient consultation with a PSM surgeon. Significant disparities in treatment and access to care exist for patients with higher levels of social vulnerability and those that live further away from a PSM center. Future research and interventions should focus on improving access to care for these at-risk patient populations.

Development of stability-indicating methods for cefquinome sulphate.

The degradation behavior of cefquinome sulphate in alkaline medium at different temperatures was investigated using both first derivative spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. The drug degradation was found to be pH and temperature dependant. The pH-rate profile indicated a first order dependence of Kobs on [OH(-)] at pHs ranging between 9 and 11. Arrhenius plot obtained at pH 10 was linear between 65° and 100°C. The estimated activation energy of the hydrolysis was found to be 21.1 kcal mol(-1). Stability-indicating thin-layer chromatographic method for the separation of the drug and its alkaline hydrolysis product has been developed.