Dry eye signs and symptoms in aromatase inhibitor treatment and the relationship with pain

PurposeAromatase inhibitors (AIs) limit the synthesis of oestrogen in peripheral tissues thus lowering levels of oestrogen. The primary aim was to evaluate whether women treated with AIs have altered dry eye symptoms and signs. A sub-aim was to investigate whether symptoms of dry eye in postmenopausal women were associated with symptoms of non-eye pain, ocular pain and self-rated pain perception.MethodsThis cross-sectional, observational, single visit study recruited 56 postmenopausal women (mean age 64.1 + 7.9 years) and 52 undergoing AI treatment (mean age 66.6 + 9.0). Ocular symptoms (OSDI, MGD14) and pain questionnaires (PSQ, OPAS) were administered and signs of dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction were evaluated.ResultsAlmost half of each group reported dry eye symptoms, defined as OSDI>12 (48% control, 46% AI). The PSQ score was significantly higher in the AI group (p = 0.04). Neither frequency or severity of dry eye (or MGD) symptoms scores were significantly different between groups. In the AI group, meibomian gland expressibility score was worse (p = 0.003); there were no differences in any other signs. Higher OSDI scores were associated with higher OPAS eye-pain scores (r = 0.49, p < 0.001), but not OPAS non-eye pain (r = 0.09, p = 0.35). Pain perception (PSQ) showed a moderate positive association with OPAS eye-pain (r = 0.30, p = 0.003).ConclusionsIn this study elevated ocular symptoms were observed in both the AI treated and the untreated groups, with no difference between the groups. Women undergoing AI treatment for early stage breast cancer had worse meibum expressibility score and increased pain perception compared to an untreated group of women.     

Patient preferences and predicted relative uptake for targeted therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer: a discrete choice experiment

Abstract

Objective

Ras wild-type metastatic colorectal cancers (mCRC) may be treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) agents. We aim to estimate patients’ preferences for mCRC treatment and relative importance of cost, efficacy improvement, avoidance of side effects and therapy convenience, and relative uptake between profiles that resemble Bevacizumab (anti-VEGF) and Cetuximab (anti-EGFR), two commonly prescribed mCRC targeted therapies.     

El papel de la resonancia magnética multiparamétrica en el diagnóstico de la recidiva local tras la prostatectomía radical y antes de la radioterapia de rescate

PurposeAssess multiparametric-MRI (mp-MRI) diagnostic accuracy in the detection of local recurrence of prostate cancer (PCa) after radical prostatectomy (PR) and before radiation therapy (RT).Materials and methodsA total of 188 patients underwent 1.5-T mp-MRI after RP before RT. Patients were divided into 2 groups: with biochemical recurrence (group A) and without but with high risk of local recurrence (group B). Continuous variables were compared between 2 groups using Student-t test; categoric variables were analyzed using Pearson chi-square. ROC analysis was performed considering PSA before RT, ISUP, pT and pN as grouping variables.ResultsPCa recurrence (reduction of PSA levels after RT) was 89.8% in group A and 80.3% in group B. Comparing patients with and without PCa recurrence, there was a significant difference in PSA values before RT for group A and for PSA values before RT and after RT for group B. In group A, there was a significant correlation between PSA before RT and diameter of recurrence and between PSA before RT and time spent before recurrence. The mp-MRI diagnostic accuracy in detecting PCa local recurrence after RP is of 62.2% in group A and 38% in group B. Diffusion weighted imaging is the most specific MRI-sequence and dynamic contrast enhanced the most sensitive. For PSA = 0.5 ng/ml, the AUC decreases while sensitivity and accuracy increase for each MRI-sequence. For PSA = 0.9 ng/ml, dynamic contrast enhanced-AUC increases significantly.Conclusionmp-MRI should always be performed before RT when a recurrence is suspected. New scenarios can be opened considering the role of diffusion weighted imaging for PSA ≤ 0.5 ng/ml.     

电视辅助胸腔镜下解剖性肺切除治疗I期肺癌的临床效果

目的 探讨电视辅助胸腔镜下解剖性肺切除治疗Ⅰ期肺癌的临床效果。方法 采用回顾性研究方法,选取2015年5月至2017年1月广西医科大学附属肿瘤医院收治的I期肺癌患者84例,按照手术方法不同将患者分为两组:观察组和对照组,每组各42例。观察组患者实施电视辅助胸腔镜下解剖性肺切除术治疗,对照组患者给予传统开胸肺叶切除术治疗。比较两组患者的住院时间、切口长度、术中出血量、手术时间、1年和3年生存情况及生活质量评分(SF-36生活量表)变化。结果 观察组患者的住院时间短于对照组(6. 13±1. 46 vs. 10. 39±2. 41 d),切口长度小于对照组(4. 38±1. 09 vs. 11. 84±3. 25 cm),术中出血量少于对照组(284. 62±54. 21 vs. 397. 57±61. 49 ml),差异均具有统计学意义(P <0. 05);而两组手术时间比较(165. 28±33. 24 vs. 156. 39±30. 92 min),差异无统计学意义(P> 0. 05)。观察组患者的1、3年生存率[97. 62%(41/42)、90. 48%(38/42)]均高于对照组[88. 10%(37/42)、76. 19%(32/42)],但差异无统计学意义(P> 0. 05)。观察组患者的各项生活质量评分[精神健康(75. 42±6. 87 vs 61. 30±4. 15分)、情感职能(81. 38±7. 15 vs. 73. 49±5. 76分)、社会功能(82. 67±5. 78 vs. 75. 42±4. 35分)、一般健康状况(79. 49±6. 17 vs.70. 31±5. 04分)、精力(84. 37±5. 45 vs. 74. 13±6. 07分)、生理职能(86. 52±6. 88 vs. 76. 93±6. 42分)、躯体疼痛(83. 46±7. 49 vs. 74. 33±5. 79分)、生理功能(70. 39±4. 31 vs. 61. 38±3. 56分)]均高于对照组,且差异具有统计学意义(P <0. 05)。结论 与传统开胸肺叶切除术相比,电视辅助胸腔镜下解剖性肺切除治疗I期肺癌手术损伤更小、短期生存率更高,且有助于提高患者术后生活质量水平,这对改善患者预后有重要意义,值得临床推广应用。     

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for Stage I lung cancer with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: special reference to survival and radiation-induced pneumonitis

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate radiation-induced pneumonitis (RIP) and a related condition that we define in this report—prolonged minimal RIP (pmRIP)—after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for Stage I primary lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We assessed 136 Stage I lung cancer patients with COPD who underwent SBRT. Airflow limitation on spirometry was classified into four Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grades, with minor modifications: GOLD 1 (mild), GOLD 2 (moderate), GOLD 3 (severe) and GOLD 4 (very severe). On this basis, we defined two subgroups: COPD-free (COPD −) and COPD-positive (COPD +). There was no significant difference in overall survival or cause-specific–survival between these groups. Of the 136 patients, 44 (32%) had pmRIP. Multivariate analysis showed that COPD and the Brinkman index were statistically significant risk factors for the development of pmRIP. COPD and the Brinkman index were predictive factors for pmRIP, although our findings also indicate that SBRT can be tolerated in early lung cancer patients with COPD.     

妊娠期甲状腺癌多学科综合治疗

妊娠期甲状腺癌的诊治是目前甲状腺疾病诊治的热点和难点问题之一。妊娠期发现甲状腺癌对临床医生和孕妇都是一个极大的挑战，应通过多学科协作，尽快明确诊断，全面、合理的评估孕妇和胎儿的情况，选择最合适的治疗和随诊方式，避免对孕妇和胎儿产生副反应，维持正常孕期，获得最佳的治疗效果。     

Medical practitioners’ educational competence about oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Medical practitioners’ (MP) role is pivotal in primary prevention, early diagnosis, prompt referral and effective management of oral and oropharyngeal carcinomas (OC/OPC), which raises the importance of their effective OC/OPC education at all levels of medical education. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarise the available scientific evidence about their educational competence in dealing with OC/OPC. We made a systematic search of papers in the English language in MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Library CENTRAL and CINAHL databases from their inception until December 2018. Overall, 23 cross-sectional and three interventional studies have been selected for the systematic review and 18 of these were included in the meta-analyses. Excluding tobacco use (synthesised estimate of 95% of respondents identified tobacco as an OC/OPC risk factor, 95% CI of synthesised estimate 92% to 97%) and alcohol consumption (65%, 95%CI 52% to 77%), less than half of MP (approximately) were knowledgeable about important OC/OPC risk factors including human papilloma virus (42%, 95% CI 30% to 54%), poor diet (34%, 95% CI 17% to 54%), and advancing age (45%, 95% CI 21% to 70%). There was a low to moderate level of awareness among MP regarding common precancerous oral lesions involving leukoplakia (56%, 95% CI 32% to 79%), erythroplakia (30%, 95% CI 8% to 58%), and oral lichen planus (13%, 95% CI 0 to 41%). Moderate knowledge was also recorded about frequent sites of OC development involving the tongue (48%, 95% CI 33% to 64%) and floor of the mouth (37%, 95% CI 19% to 57%). Most MP enquired about tobacco use (86%, 95% CI 74% to 96%), and alcohol consumption (73%, 95% CI 47% to 94%) during history taking, and expressed willingness to be given supplementary OC/OPC education (78%, 95% CI 54% to 96%), as well. With regard to the incidence of intraoral screening, 27% of MP (95% CI 12% to 46%) make an intraoral examination as a routine. Interestingly, studies from each continent yielded significantly different outcomes to some research questions in the review. From the MP’s perspective, clinical time restrictions and deficiencies in organised training were recognised as the main barriers towards their OC/OPC educational competence. The findings of this systematic review indicated the existence of deficiencies in knowledge and misconceptions, neglected preventive responsibilities, and associated barriers towards OC/OPC. A need for improved OC/OPC training at all levels of medical education is required to increase competence worldwide.