PTHrP, A Biomarker for CNS Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Selection for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Node-Negative Disease.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by poor prognosis and lack of targeted therapies and biomarkers to guide decisions on adjuvant chemotherapy. Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is frequently overexpressed in breast cancer and involved in proliferation and metastasis, two hallmarks of poor prognosis for node-negative breast cancer. We investigated the prognostic value of PTHrP with respect to organ-specific metastasis and nodal status in TNBC.

Outside the operating room: How a robotics program changed resource utilization on the inpatient Ward.

Objective: To analyze the changes in the composition of the gynecologic oncology inpatient ward following the implementation of a robotic surgery program and its impact on inpatient resource utilization and costs.

Methods: Retrospective review of the medical charts of patients admitted onto the gynecologic oncology ward the year prior to and five years after the implementation of robotics. The following variables were collected: patient characteristics, hospitalization details (reason for admission and length of hospital stay), and resource utilization (number of hospitalization days, consultations, and imaging).

Influence of postoperative infectious complications on long-term survival of lung cancer patients: a population-based cohort study.

Introduction: Surgery is essential to any curative plan for lung cancer, but is associated with a high complication rate. We sought to determine the impact of complications on long-term survival after a curative surgery for lung cancer, independent of the effect on early postoperative mortality.

Methods: We studied a population-based cohort of patients with lung cancer who underwent curative-intent surgery in the province of Quebec, Canada, from 2000 to 2005.

Outcomes and cost comparisons after introducing a robotics program for endometrial cancer surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of introducing a robotic program on cost and patient outcome.

Methods: This was a prospective evaluation of clinical outcome and cost after introducing a robotics program for the treatment of endometrial cancer and a retrospective comparison to the entire historical cohort.

Results: Consecutive patients with endometrial cancer who underwent robotic surgery (n=143) were compared with all consecutive patients who underwent surgery (n=160) before robotics.