Mammographic Screening Downstages Breast Carcinomas at Time of Diagnosis: A Community-Based Experience

Abstract: To determine the effectiveness of screening mammography in a community medical setting, data from a population-based, retrospective study was analyzed. Medical records of 827 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer in California between October 1994 and March 1996 were reviewed. The primary care physician's record was abstracted for clinical history, including recommendation of screening mammography. The facility records where final diagnosis was made were abstracted for stage and treatment data. Among the patients who did not have previous screening mammography, 65.7% were diagnosed with "advanced" breast cancer (stages II, III, IV), while only 39.9% who had previous screening mammography were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer (p < 0.001). This study has reaffirmed that screening mammography of adult females generates downstaging at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer. Despite possession of a health insurance program and receiving educational materials, only 65% of patients over 50 years of age had screening mammography. As opposed to the once-a-year mailing of general reminders to all women 40 years old and older, developing a longitudinal electronic medical record in the managed care setting will support a more coordinated and individualized intervention based on age, date of last mammogram, and relative risk, among other factors. Continuing education efforts must also be directed to referring physicians, who may not yet recognize the value of screening mammography.     

不可切除中晚期肝癌的转化治疗后肝切除术

多数肝癌起病隐匿,早期症状不明显,就诊时往往已属中晚期,预后不佳.转化治疗可使不可切除晚期肝癌病人获得手术治疗机会,并达到R0切除.在转化治疗后,对病人肿瘤、肝脏及其他器官细致全面的评估,将为安全肝切除的术前决策提供依据.转化治疗期间建议采用多学科综合治疗协作组模式定期评估转化治疗效果,并及时制定手术切除方案.     

Evaluation of downstaging in the detection of cervical neoplasia in Kolkata,India

Unaided visual inspection or "downstaging" has been suggested as a potential alternative method for cervical cancer screening in developing countries. Our study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of downstaging to detect cervical neoplasia in a low-resource setting. A total of 6,399 women aged 30-64 years were screened with downstaging by trained nonmedical health workers. Two thresholds were used to define positive downstaging: "low threshold" when any visible abnormality on the cervix was considered positive and "high threshold" when selected abnormalities such as bleeding on touch, bleeding erosion, hypertrophied oedematous cervix, congested stippled cervix and growth or ulcer constituted the positive test. All women underwent a colposcopy examination. Biopsies were directed when colposcopy revealed abnormal lesions. True disease status was defined as histologically proven moderate dysplasia and worse lesions. Since all the participants received a diagnostic (reference) investigation (biopsy and/or colposcopy), sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were estimated directly. Low- and high-threshold downstaging were positive in 1,585 (24.8%) and 460 (7.2%) women, respectively. The sensitivities of low- and high-threshold downstaging to detect high-grade precursors and invasive cancers were 48.9% and 31.9%, respectively. The specificities were 75.8% and 93.3%, respectively. These results indicate that downstaging is not suitable as an independent primary screening modality for cervical neoplasia.     

术前单疗程化疗治疗ⅢA期非小细胞肺癌的临床研究

目的 探讨术前单疗程化疗加外科手术治疗ⅢA期非小细胞肺癌的可行性和毒性反应．同时评价其有效性以及对病期、切除率和生存率的影响。方法 对166例ⅢA期非小细胞肺癌进行前瞻性随机对照试验，试验组（术前化疗组）和对照组各83例；前者进行术前化疗1个疗程，其中鳞癌44例以CAP方案，腺癌39例以FAD方案治疗，化疗结束10—14d后接受手术；对照组直接行手术治疗。两组均在术后行4—6次化疗。结果 试验组化疗的有效率为56．7％（47／83），病期下调率36．1％（30／83）。手术切除率和根治性切除率试验组和对照组分别为92．8％（77／83）、80．7％（67／83）和85．5％（71／83）、66．3％（55／83），两组比较差异均有显著性（均为P〈0．05）。术后1、2年生存率试验组和对照组分别为93．9％（78／83）、77．1％（64／83）、79．9％（58／83）和84．3％（70／83）、62．7％（52／83）。两组2年生存率比较差异有显著性（P〈0．05）。两组手术并发症和病死率比较差异均无显著性。结论 术前单疗程化疗安全、有效，能降低ⅢA期非小细胞肺癌的病期，提高手术切除率尤其是根治性切除率及术后生存率，同时并不增加并发症发生率和病死率。     

A Comparative Analysis of Transarterial Downstaging for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Chemoembolization Versus Radioembolization

Chemoembolization and other ablative therapies are routinely utilized in downstaging from United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) T3 to T2, thus potentially making patients transplant candidates under the UNOS model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) upgrade for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study was undertaken to compare the downstaging efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) versus transarterial radioembolization. Eighty-six patients were treated with either TACE (n = 43) or transarterial radioembolization with Yttrium-90 microspheres (TARE-Y90; n = 43). Median tumor size was similar (TACE: 5.7 cm, TARE-Y90: 5.6 cm). Partial response rates favored TARE-Y90 versus TACE (61% vs. 37%). Downstaging to UNOS T2 was achieved in 31% of TACE and 58% of TARE-Y90 patients. Time to progression according to UNOS criteria was similar for both groups (18.2 months for TACE vs. 33.3 months for TARE-Y90, p = 0.098). Event-free survival was significantly greater for TARE-Y90 than TACE (17.7 vs. 7.1 months, p = 0.0017). Overall survival favored TARE-Y90 compared to TACE (censored 35.7/18.7 months; p = 0.18; uncensored 41.6/19.2 months; p = 0.008). In conclusion, TARE-Y90 appears to outperform TACE for downstaging HCC from UNOS T3 to T2.     

Hepatic resection following systemic chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal carcinoma.

Increasingly effective systemic chemotherapy has improved responses in patients with previously unresectable colorectal hepatic metastases. In the future, response to chemotherapy may define a new population of patients that may benefit from hepatic resection. A retrospective review to determine the safety and effectiveness of potentially curative hepatic resection of metastatic colorectal carcinoma after systemic chemotherapy identified 11 such patients with resections between July 1987 and October 1991. Five patients had unresectable disease confined to the liver, two had hepatic and limited extrahepatic metastases, two had hepatic recurrences after previous hepatic metastasectomy, and two had initially resectable liver metastases. These patients were resected after a mean of 8 months of systemic chemotherapy. Complications, usually minor, occurred in five patients (45%). There were no deaths. Three patients are disease free at 15, 18, and 31 months (mean 21) after hepatic resection. Eight patients have recurred with a median time to recurrence of 8 months. Five patients have subsequently died of recurrent disease. This study suggests that hepatic resection following systemic chemotherapy can be performed safely and may benefit selected patients.     

局部进展期直肠癌新辅助化疗后病理完全缓解及肿瘤降期的预测因素分析

目的:探索局部进展期直肠癌(LARC)经新辅助化疗后病理完全缓解（pCR）和肿瘤降期（ypT0-1）的预测因素。方法:回顾性分析71例经新辅助化疗后进行全直肠系膜切除术的局部进展期直肠癌患者的临床资料,分析其临床特征,筛选经新辅助化疗后达到pCR及肿瘤降期（ypT0-1）的预测因子。结果:单因素分析结果显示肿瘤占肠腔＜1/2周（P＜0.001）、基线CEA≤5 ng/mL（P=0.001）、基线临床N分期为N0期（P=0.019）以及新辅助治疗2周期后影像评估为缓解（P=0.002）与直肠癌新辅助化疗后的高pCR率有关;肿瘤占肠腔＜1/2周（P＜0.001）、基线CEA≤5 ng/mL（P=0.029）以及新辅助治疗2周期后影像评估为缓解（P=0.007）与直肠癌新辅助化疗后的高肿瘤降期率（ypT0-1）有关。多因素Logistic回归分析结果显示,肿瘤占肠腔环周大小（P=0.013）、基线CEA水平（P=0.042）以及基线临床N分期（P=0.038）是影响直肠癌新辅助化疗后pCR的独立预测因子;肿瘤占肠腔环周大小（P=0.001）是影响直肠癌新辅助化疗后肿瘤降期（ypT0-1）的独立预测因子。结论:初始诊断时肿瘤占肠腔环周大小、基线CEA水平及淋巴结是否阳性对局部进展期直肠癌新辅助化疗后pCR有预测作用,肿瘤占肠腔环周大小对局部进展期直肠癌新辅助化疗后肿瘤降期（ypT0-1）有预测作用。     

Predictive clinicopathologic factors for limited response of T3 rectal cancer to combined modality therapy

Purpose The response of T3 rectal cancer to combined modality therapy (CMT) is highly predictive of long-term outcome following surgery. The aim of this study was to identify pretreatment factors associated with poor tumor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation. Methods A prospective institutional database at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was queried for endorectal ultrasound (ERUS) stage T3N0–2 rectal cancer patients, treated with CMT followed by surgical resection, between 1998 and 2003. Preoperative clinicopathologic factors determined by biopsy, ERUS, proctoscopy, and digital rectal examination were correlated with the degree of downstaging of the primary mural lesion (tumor downstaging) in response to neoadjuvant therapy. Associations were analyzed by chi-square, Kaplan–Meier, and logistic regression. Results Of 274 patients, 51% obtained tumor downstaging in response to preoperative treatment, i.e., lower pathologic T-stage compared with pretreatment ERUS. Five-year recurrence-free survival was 89% in the cohort that obtained tumor downstaging compared with only 45% in the cohort that obtained no tumor downstaging. Factors significantly associated with limited or lack of tumor downstaging after CMT included: fixed tumor on digital rectal examination (p < 0.021), near-circumferential tumor (p < 0.011), tumor stenosis (p < 0.025), metastatic disease (p < 0.012), biopsy-proven poorly differentiated pathology (p < 0.002), and radial extension >2.5 mm on ERUS (p < 0.031). On multivariate analysis, deep radial extension on ERUS, metastatic disease, and poorly differentiated pathology were in each, independently associated with limited or lack of tumor downstaging. Conclusions Pretreatment evaluation with biopsy, proctoscopy, and ERUS can identify T3 rectal cancer patients unlikely to respond well to CMT. These patients may be considered for alternative protocols and their tumors studied to ascertain the molecular events responsible for resistance to chemoradiation. Presented at Presented at the 2006 annual meeting of The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, June 3–7, 2006, Seattle, WA, USA.     

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and effects of tumor regression in gastric cancer

AIMS: Aim of this study is the evaluation of the effects induced by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and its impact on survival on a series of locally advanced gastric carcinomas. METHODS: Downstaging was assessed comparing pre-treatment clinical and laparoscopic staging with post-operative pathologic staging on 30 consecutive patients who completed a 3-year follow-up. Tumor downstaging and the grade of pathologic response were included in a statistical correlation between tumor regression induced by NACT and 3-year survival. RESULTS: In this series tumor downstaging was obtained in 13 out of 30 patients. After the completion of 3-year follow-up, overall survival was >37.5months with an overall survival rate of 56.7%; this figure reached up to 70.8% in those cases who benefited from a R0-resection (24/30 patients: R0-resection rate 80.0%). CONCLUSIONS: In this study the 3-year survival for locally advanced gastric cancer treated by NACT prior to "D2" surgical resection, compares favourably with historical series treated by surgery alone. Patients who obtained T-downstaging and subsequently benefited from a R0-resection had a definitely better chance of cure, according to a complete 3-year follow-up.