A randomized trial evaluating the integration of online questionnaires into follow-up (FU) care for early-stage breast cancer (ESBC).

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9107-9107
Author(s):  
Alyse Wheelock ◽  
Meredith Bock ◽  
Eva Mihalis ◽  
Nancy Shepard ◽  
Dan H. Moore ◽  
...  

9107 Background: Large numbers of cancer survivors have led to the need for FU care addressing lasting effects of BC and its treatment. We conducted a trial evaluating formats of FU care to determine if integration of remote electronic questionnaire FU provides for timely symptom management and more efficient care than routine clinic visits alone. Methods: Patients (pts) with ESBC were randomized to either usual care (UC, frequency of visits determined by oncology providers) with completion of an optional online health and symptom questionnaire (Q) before each clinic visit, or to SIS.NET FU care, in which pts were scheduled for up to 3 routine oncology related clinic visits over 18 mos and completed the online Q every 3 mos. Qs were reviewed by a survivorship nurse practitioner (NP) with pt phone contact for symptoms requiring urgent attention. We recorded the time between electronic symptom reporting and FU for pts in the SIS.NET arm. Data included the number of oncology related clinic visits, total number of physician visits, and number of medical tests including labs and imaging studies ordered. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests for equal distributions were used to determine if there were any significant differences between SIS.NET and UC. Results: 100 pts were enrolled, 75 completed the 18 month study and 25 pts remain in FU. For the 75 pts, 85% received chemotherapy and 77% received hormone therapy. Pts in the SIS.NET arm completed an average of 3.8 out of 7.2 emailed surveys (52.6%), and pts in the UC arm completed an average of 2.2 out of 3.4 (69.1%) routine pre-clinic surveys. For pts in the SIS.NET arm, 75% of reported symptoms were reviewed by a NP in < 3 days. There was no significant difference between SIS.NET and UC FU for oncology related clinic appointments, total number of physician visits, or number of medical tests performed. Conclusions: Use of on-line health and symptom surveys with remote NP review provided timely symptom FU but did not reduce clinic visits or medical testing in pts with ESBC. Further analyses of these data as well as additional studies are necessary to understand the barriers to integration of web-based tools to achieve more efficient FU care for BC survivors.

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 382-386
Author(s):  
Maheer Masood ◽  
Trevor Hackman

Introduction Intraoperative parathyroid hormone (ioPTH) testing is a widely accepted standard for assessing the parathyroid gland function. A decline of preoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels by more than 50% is one accepted measure of parathyroid surgery adequacy. However, there may be a variation between preoperative PTH levels obtained at a clinic visit and pre-excisional ioPTH. Objective Our study explores the differences between preoperative PTH and pre-excisional ioPTH levels, and the potential impact this difference has on determining the adequacy of parathyroid surgery. Methods A retrospective study that consisted of 33 patients that had undergone parathyroid resection between September 2009 and March 2016 at a tertiary academic center was performed. Each subject's preoperative PTH levels were obtained from clinic visits and pre-excisional ioPTH levels were recorded along with the time interval between the measurements. Results There was a significant difference between the mean preoperative PTH and the pre-excisional ioPTH levels of 147 pg/mL (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.43 to 284.47; p = 0.0396). The exclusion of four outliers revealed a further significant difference with a mean of 35.09 pg/mL (95% CI 20.27 to 49.92; p < 0.0001). The average time interval between blood draws was 48 days + 32 days. A weak correlation between the change in PTH values and the time interval between preoperative and pre-excision blood draws was noted (r2 = 0.15). Conclusion Our study reveals a significant difference between the preoperative PTH levels obtained at clinic visits and the pre-excisional intraoperative PTH levels. We recommend routine pre-excisional intraoperative PTH levels, despite evidence of elevated preoperative PTH levels, in order to more accurately assess the adequacy of surgical resection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 171-171
Author(s):  
Kirsten A Nyrop ◽  
Allison Mary Deal ◽  
Grant Richard Williams ◽  
Emily Jean Guerard ◽  
Mackenzi Pergolotti ◽  
...  

171 Background: National guidelines recommend that patients with a cancer diagnosis engage in regular physical activity (PA) to reduce cancer-related fatigue, maintain quality of life and physical function, and improve overall prognosis and survival. This study investigates oncology provider communications about PA during routine clinic visits with early stage breast, colon or prostate cancer patients. Methods: Retrospective chart review for documentation of communications (inquiries or recommendations) pertaining to PA in clinician notes and after visit patient summaries. Mixed methods analysis. Results: In a 1-month period, 55 oncology providers had 361 encounters (clinic visits) with early stage cancer patients. Of these encounters, 35% included a provider communication about “physical activity”, “exercise” or “activity”. Encounters with a medical oncologist resulted in a PA communication 55% of the time as compared to 20% of encounters with other clinician specialties (p < 0.0001). Older patients were more likely than younger patients to have a PA communication (p < 0.001). When the encounter was with a patient who was being seen for surveillance, chemotherapy or endocrine treatment, the rate of PA communications was significantly higher (46%, 37%, 58% respectively) as compared to when the visit was during radiation treatment or surgery (6%, 19% respectively) (p < 0.0001). Four PA themes emerged from our analysis of provider communications: (1) level and types of engagement in PA, (2) restrictions on PA either by the provider or perceived by patients, (3) encouragement or recommendations, or (4) relationships between PA and weight, nutrition, pain, and fatigue. There were no significant differences in PA communication rates by clinician gender, clinician training, patient gender, patient race, or disease site. Conclusions: This study shows it is feasible for oncology providers to have PA communications during routine clinic visits; however, the frequency of PA communications varies among providers. Interventions are needed to remind all oncology providers to encourage of their patients with early stage cancer to be physically active.


2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1029-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna L. Berry ◽  
Brent A. Blumenstein ◽  
Barbara Halpenny ◽  
Seth Wolpin ◽  
Jesse R. Fann ◽  
...  

Purpose Although patient-reported cancer symptoms and quality-of-life issues (SQLIs) have been promoted as essential to a comprehensive assessment, efficient and efficacious methods have not been widely tested in clinical settings. The purpose of this trial was to determine the effect of the Electronic Self-Report Assessment–Cancer (ESRA-C) on the likelihood of SQLIs discussed between clinicians and patients with cancer in ambulatory clinic visits. Secondary objectives included comparison of visit duration between groups and usefulness of the ESRA-C as reported by clinicians. Patients and Methods This randomized controlled trial was conducted in 660 patients with various cancer diagnoses and stages at two institutions of a comprehensive cancer center. Patient-reported SQLIs were automatically displayed on a graphical summary and provided to the clinical team before an on-treatment visit (n = 327); in the control group, no summary was provided (n = 333). SQLIs were scored for level of severity or distress. One on-treatment clinic visit was audio recorded for each participant and then scored for discussion of each SQLI. We hypothesized that problematic SQLIs would be discussed more often when the intervention was delivered to the clinicians. Results The likelihood of SQLIs being discussed differed by randomized group and depended on whether an SQLI was first reported as problematic (P = .032). Clinic visits were similar with regard to duration between groups, and clinicians reported the summary as useful. Conclusion The ESRA-C is the first electronic self-report application to increase discussion of SQLIs in a US randomized clinical trial.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-115
Author(s):  
Paul J. Bröckelmann ◽  
Horst Müller ◽  
Teresa Guhl ◽  
Karolin Behringer ◽  
Michael Fuchs ◽  
...  

PURPOSE We evaluated disease and treatment characteristics of patients with relapse after risk-adapted first-line treatment of early-stage, favorable, classic Hodgkin lymphoma (ES-HL). We compared second-line therapy with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) or conventional chemotherapy (CTx). METHODS We analyzed patients with relapse after ES-HL treated within the German Hodgkin Study Group HD10+HD13 trials. We compared, by Cox proportional hazards regression, progression-free survival (PFS) after relapse (second PFS) treated with either ASCT or CTx and performed sensitivity analyses with overall survival (OS) from relapse and Kaplan-Meier statistics. RESULTS A total of 174 patients’ disease relapsed after treatment in the HD10 (n = 53) and HD13 (n = 121) trials. Relapse mostly occurred > 12 months after first diagnosis, predominantly with stage I-II disease. Of 172 patients with known second-line therapy, 85 received CTx (49%); 70, ASCT (41%); 11, radiotherapy only (6%); and 4, palliative single agent therapies (2%). CTx was predominantly bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (BEACOPP [68%]), followed by the combination regimen of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (19%), or other regimens (13%). Patients aged > 60 years at relapse had shorter second PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 3.0; P = .0029) and were mostly treated with CTx (n = 33 of 49; 67%) and rarely with ASCT (n = 8; 16%). After adjustment for age and a disadvantage of ASCT after the more historic HD10 trial, we did not observe a significant difference in the efficacy of CTx versus ASCT for second PFS (HR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.3 to 1.6; P = .39). In patients in the HD13 trial who were aged ≤ 60 years, the 2-year, second PFS rate was 94.0% with CTx (95% CI, 85.7% to 100%) versus 83.3% with ASCT (95% CI, 71.8% to 94.8%). Additional sensitivity analyses including OS confirmed these observations. CONCLUSION After contemporary treatment of ES-HL, relapse mostly occurred > 12 months after first diagnosis. Polychemotherapy regimens such as BEACOPP are frequently administered and may constitute a reasonable treatment option for selected patients with relapse after ES-HL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 00256
Author(s):  
Murat Baimishev ◽  
Sergey Eremin ◽  
Kirill Plemyashov ◽  
Hamidulla Baimishev ◽  
Igor Konopeltsev ◽  
...  

The purpose of the research is to determine the etiopathogenesis of reproductive dysfunction in highly productive cows. For this, one group of cows was formed on the principle of paranalogs in the amount of 37 animals inseminated in the first sexual hunt after calving, followed by taking blood samples from them using the Monovet system, considering the duration of pregnancy. During the start-up period, blood was taken 1–4 days before calving and on the first day after calving. A total of 253 blood samples were examined. Subsequently, depending on the effectiveness of insemination, animals were divided into two groups. The first group included inseminated cows after the first insemination (20 animals), the second group included 17 unfertilized cows after the first insemination. Subsequently, blood was taken from animals considering the course of childbirth and the postpartum period. Blood counts were studied according to generally accepted methods using certified equipment. The study found that at an early stage of pregnancy, cows have a significant difference in lipid metabolism and in their peroxidation, in the state of antioxidant systems compared to unstable animals. In the process of pregnancy development in cows, there is a decrease in the level of total lipids and their class, and the accumulation of products of transoxidation of lipids is reduced. In animals with retention of the placenta, a low lipid metabolism and a higher level of peroxidation were established already in the dry period. After calving, this difference increases. The obtained data can be used to develop an algorithm for the prevention of postpartum complications in cows by using substances with antioxidant properties.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-261
Author(s):  
Filomena Soares ◽  
Ana Paula Lopes ◽  
Anna Cellmer ◽  
Anne Uukkivi ◽  
Carolina Rebollar ◽  
...  

AbstractEmbracing tertiary education system represents the beginning of a transition and adjustment period for several students. Most of these have just finished high school where the environment is strictly defined, controlled, stable and attendance is mandatory. Higher Education changes the role of students’ responsibility and this can cause stress and difficulty in the transition to self-directed learning and autonomy promotion. The purpose of this paper is to present an Erasmus+ project that brought together six Higher Education Institutions from different European countries and to describe its current stage. This project aims to develop a shared understanding of engineering mathematics at an early stage of tertiary education and to raise awareness of cultural, professional and educational issues. The initial focus of the work is on the partners’ mutual interest in active learning, particularly the application of Information and Communication Technology in the field of engineering education. When finalised, the project hopes to provide students with a new authentic engineering mathematics subject which meets their needs. This is also the core reason why the on-line course will be composed using innovative pedagogics and ICT tools, as appropriate pedagogics supports students’ procedural, conceptual and application understanding in mathematics and enhances digital competencies, literacy and skills.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1417
Author(s):  
Binafsha M. Syed ◽  
Andrew R. Green ◽  
Emad A. Rakha ◽  
David A.L. Morgan ◽  
Ian O. Ellis ◽  
...  

As age advances, breast cancer (BC) tends to change its biological characteristics. This study aimed to explore the natural progression of such changes. The study included 2383 women with clinically T0-2N0-1M0 BC, managed by primary surgery and optimal adjuvant therapy in a dedicated BC facility. Tissue micro-arrays were constructed from their surgical specimens and indirect immunohistochemistry was used for analysis of a large panel (n = 16) of relevant biomarkers. There were significant changes in the pattern of expression of biomarkers related to luminal (oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptors (PgR), human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2), E-cadherin, MUC1, bcl2 CK7/8, CK18 and bcl2) and basal (CK5/6, CK14, p53 and Ki67) phenotypes, lymph node stage, histological grade and pathological size when decade-wise comparison was made (p < 0.05). The ages of 40 years and 70 years appeared to be the milestones marking a change of the pattern. There were significantly higher metastasis free and breast cancer specific survival rates among older women with ER positive tumours while there was no significant difference in the ER negative group according to age. Biological characteristics of BC show a pattern of change with advancing age, where 40 years and 70 years appear as important milestones. The pattern suggests <40 years as the phase with aggressive phenotypes, >70 years as the less aggressive phase and 40–70 years being the transitional phase.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 648-657
Author(s):  
Karen E. Steinhauser ◽  
Karen M. Stechuchak ◽  
Katherine Ramos ◽  
Joseph Winger ◽  
James A. Tulsky ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveCompare the efficacy of two interventions addressing emotional and existential well-being in early life-limiting illness.MethodPrimary trial analysis (n = 135) included patients with advanced cancer, congestive heart failure, or end-stage renal disease; Arm 1 received the Outlook intervention, addressing issues of life completion and preparation, and Arm 2 received relaxation meditation (RM). Primary outcomes at five weeks (primary endpoint) and seven weeks (secondary): completion and preparation (QUAL-E); secondary outcomes: anxiety (POMS) quality of life (FACT-G) and spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp) subscales of faith, meaning, and peace.ResultsAverage age was 62; 56% were post-high school-educated, 54% were married, 52% white, 44% female, and 70% had a cancer diagnosis. At baseline, participants demonstrated low levels of anxiety (<5 on POMS subscale) and depression (<10 on CESD) relative to population norms. Results of the primary analysis revealed no significant differences in mean Preparation by treatment arm at five weeks (14.4 Outlook vs. 14.8 RM; between-group difference −0.4 [95% CI, −1.6, 0.8], p = 0.49) or seven weeks (15.2 vs.15.4; between-group difference −0.2 [95% CI, −1.5, 1.0], p = 0.73). There were also no significant differences in mean Life Completion by treatment arm between five weeks (26.6 Outlook vs. 26.3 RM; between-group difference 0.2 [95% CI, −1.2, 1.7], p = 0.76) or seven weeks (26.5 vs. 27.5; between-group difference −1.0 [95% CI, −2.7, 0.7], p = 0.23). Compared to RM, Outlook participants did not have significant differences over time in the secondary outcomes of overall quality of life, anxiety, depression, FACT-G subscales, and FACIT-Sp subscales.DiscussionIn early-stage life-limiting illness, Outlook did not demonstrate a significant difference in primary or secondary outcomes relative to RM. Results underscore the importance of pre-screening for distress. Qualitatively, Outlook participants were able to express suppressed emotions, place illness context, reflect on adaptations, and strengthen identity. Screening for distress and identifying specified measures of distress, beyond anxiety and depression, is essential in our ability to adequately assess the multi-dimensional mechanisms that decrease existential suffering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annarita Perillo ◽  
Valeria Landoni ◽  
Alessia Farneti ◽  
Giuseppe Sanguineti

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate inter- and intra-fraction organ motion as well as to quantify clinical target volume (CTV) to planning target volume (PTV) margins to be adopted in the stereotactic treatment of early stage glottic cancer. Methods and materials Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to 36 Gy in 3 fractions was administered to 23 patients with early glottic cancer T1N0M0. Patients were irradiated with a volumetric intensity modulated arc technique delivered with 6 MV FFF energy. Each patient underwent a pre-treatment cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to correct the setup based on the thyroid cartilage position. Imaging was repeated if displacement exceeded 2 mm in any direction. CBCT imaging was also performed after each treatment arc as well as at the end of the delivery. Swallowing was allowed only during the beam-off time between arcs. CBCT images were reviewed to evaluate inter- and intra-fraction organ motion. The relationships between selected treatment characteristics, both beam-on and delivery times as well as organ motion were investigated. Results For the population systematic (Ʃ) and random (σ) inter-fraction errors were 0.9, 1.3 and 0.6 mm and 1.1, 1.3 and 0.7 mm in the left-right (X), cranio-caudal (Y) and antero-posterior (Z) directions, respectively. From the analysis of CBCT images acquired after treatment, systematic (Ʃ) and random (σ) intra-fraction errors resulted 0.7, 1.6 and 0.7 mm and 1.0, 1.5 and 0.6 mm in the X, Y and Z directions, respectively. Margins calculated from the intra-fraction errors were 2.4, 5.1 and 2.2 mm in the X, Y and Z directions respectively. A statistically significant difference was found for the displacement in the Z direction between patients irradiated with > 2 arcs versus ≤ 2 arcs, (MW test, p = 0.038). When analyzing mean data from CBCT images for the whole treatment, a significant correlation was found between the time of delivery and the three dimensional displacement vector (r = 0.489, p = 0.055), the displacement in the Y direction (r = 0.553, p = 0.026) and the subsequent margins to be adopted (r = 0.626, p = 0.009). Finally, displacements and the subsequent margins to be adopted in Y direction were significantly greater for treatments with more than 2 arcs (MW test p = 0.037 and p = 0.019, respectively). Conclusions In the setting of controlled swallowing during treatment delivery, intra-fraction motion still needs to be taken into account when planning with estimated CTV to PTV margins of 3, 5 and 3 mm in the X, Y and Z directions, respectively. Selected treatments may require additional margins.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 282.1-282
Author(s):  
R. Flood ◽  
C. Kirby ◽  
Y. Alammari ◽  
D. Kane ◽  
R. Mullan

Background:Emerging evidence that the joints of asymptomatic hyperuricaemic individuals contain monosodium urate (MSU) deposits and that alternative presentations of foot pain occur in hyperuricaemia suggests that preclinical phases may occur prior to a first episodic gout attack. (1) This case–control study evaluates urate deposition in hyperuricaemic individuals not fulfilling the current gout classification criteria, as well as a potential therapeutic role for urate lowering therapy (ULT).Objectives:To investigate whether ULT reduces non-episodic foot pain in patients who fail to meet ACR/EULAR 2015 gout classification criteria.Methods:Following informed consent, hyperuricaemic individuals with persistent, non-episodic foot pain (n=53) not fulfilling ACR/EULAR 2015 gout classification criteria, were compared with asymptomatic hyperuricaemic controls (n=18). Ultrasound (US) of bilateral first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints and features of MSU deposition including double contour (DC) sign, tophus and juxta-articular erosion were recorded. Cases only were treated with febuxostat or allopurinol daily for 6 months. Serum urate, 24-hour and 7-day visual analogue score (VAS) 0–100 mm pain scales and the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (MFPDI) were recorded before treatment and after 3 and 6 months. MTP Ultrasound was repeated after a minimum of 6 months on treatment.Results:53 hyperuricaemic individuals with persistent, non-episodic foot pain not meeting the ACR/EULAR 2015 gout classification criteria were recruited. At baseline MTP US DC sign, erosion and tophus occurred in 62.5%, 20.8% and 49% of cases, respectively. No US features of gout occurred in controls. No significant difference was seen in baseline serum urate between cases (481±14 mg/dL) versus controls (437±14; p=NS). Serum urate in cases fell at 3 months (325±25; p<0.01) and 6 months (248±19; p<0.01). For cases, baseline 24-hour pain VAS (46±3.9) reduced at 3 months (32±4.1; p<0.05) and 6 months (21±5.2; p<0.05) of ULT. The 7-day pain VAS (59±3.9) decreased at 3 months (35±4.5; p<0.05) and 6 months (30±5.3; P<0.05). MFPDI (17±1.4) decreased at 3 month (13±1.8; p=<0.05) and 6 months (11±2.2; p=<0.05). When cases were grouped according to the presence (N=33) or absence (N=18) of DC sign on baseline US, no differences were observed for baseline pain scores. Following ULT however, 24-hour pain VAS were significantly lower in DC positive patients at 3 months (22±4.48 DC positive vs 42±6.14 DC negative; p<0.05) and 6 months (12.±5.4 vs 33±8.4; p<0.05). The 7-day pain VAS were significantly lower in DC positive patients at 3 months (23±4.6 vs 47±6.6; p<0.05) and MFDPI were significantly lower in DC positive patients at 3 months (10±1.9 DC positive vs 19±2.9 DC negative; p<0.05).Conclusion:These findings indicate that persistent, non-episodic foot pain in hyperuricaemia is both associated with US features of MSU deposition and is responsive to ULT. Symptomatic hyperuricaemia occurring prior to episodic gout therefore represents an earlier or alternative disease presentation. Changes to the ACR/ EULAR classification criteria to include non-episodic foot pain in the presence of US features of gout may increase the sensitivity of disease classification at an early stage, leading to improved future treatment strategies and long-term outcomes.References:[1]Stewart S, Dalbeth N, Vandal AC, Rome K. Characteristics of the first metatarsophalangeal joint in gout and asymptomatic hyperuricaemia: A cross-sectional observational study. J Foot Ankle Res. 2015;8(1):1–8.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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