Prognostic Significance of P16 Expression and P53 Expression in Primary Vaginal Cancer.

To evaluate the correlation between p16 expression and clinical outcomes in patients with primary vaginal cancer treated with definitive radiotherapy. P16 immunohistochemical was performed on 25 patient samples and recorded from pathology reports in 7 patients. P53 immunohistochemical was performed on 3 p16-negative samples.

Increases in Serial Pretreatment F-FDG PET-CT Metrics Predict Survival in Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: Quantitative changes in positron emission tomography with computed tomography imaging metrics over serial scans may be predictive biomarkers. We evaluated the relationship of pretreatment metabolic tumor growth rate (MTGR) and standardized uptake value velocity (SUVV) with disease recurrence or death in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR).

Methods And Materials: Under institutional review board approval, we retrospectively identified patients who underwent positron emission tomography with computed tomography at diagnosis and staging and simulation for SABR.

A Postoperative Care Bundle Reduces Surgical Site Infections in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgeries.

Background: Pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgeries are at an increased surgical site infection (SSI) risk, given prolonged cardiopulmonary bypasses and delayed sternal closures. At one institution, the majority of cardiac patients developed SSIs during prolonged recoveries in the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU). Although guidelines have been published to reduce SSIs in the perioperative period, there have been few guidelines to reduce the risk during prolonged hospital recoveries.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. Standard therapy depends on patient age and performance status but principally involves surgical resection followed by a 6-wk course of radiation therapy given concurrently with temozolomide chemotherapy. Despite such treatment, prognosis remains poor, with a median survival of 16 mo.

Assessment of hepatic function decline after stereotactic body radiation therapy for primary liver cancer.

Purpose: This study aims to determine how the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score compares with the Child-Pugh (CP) score for assessing liver function following stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Methods And Materials: In total, 60 patients, 40 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 20 with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), were treated with SBRT. Liver function panels were obtained before and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after SBRT.

Perfusion CT measurements predict tumor response in rectal carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the capacity of perfusion CT imaging to distinguish between complete and incomplete responders after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy for rectal carcinoma, with particular attention to segmentation technique.

Materials And Methods: 17 patients were evaluated in this prospective IRB-approved study. For each patient, a perfusion CT acquisition was obtained prior to the initiation of chemoradiation, at 1-2 weeks after the start of chemoradiation, and at 12 weeks after the start of chemoradiation therapy.

Central liver toxicity after SBRT: An expanded analysis and predictive nomogram.

Purpose: To further explore the correlation of central biliary tract (cHBT) radiation doses with hepatobiliary toxicity (HBT) after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in a larger patient dataset.

Methods: We reviewed the treatment and outcomes of all patients who received SBRT for primary liver cancer (PLC) and metastatic liver tumors between July 2004 and November 2015 at our institution. The cHBT was defined as isotropic expansions (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25mm) from the portal vein (PV).

Cost-Effectiveness of Pertuzumab in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Purpose: The Clinical Evaluation of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab (CLEOPATRA) study showed a 15.7-month survival benefit with the addition of pertuzumab to docetaxel and trastuzumab (THP) as first-line treatment for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) -overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis to assess the value of adding pertuzumab.

Implementation of a standardized postanesthesia care handoff increases information transfer without increasing handoff duration.

Background: In the transition of a patient from the operating room (OR) to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), it was hypothesized that (1) standardizing the members of sending and receiving teams and (2) requiring a structured handoff process would increase the overall amount of patient information transferred in the OR-to-PACU handoff process.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted at a 311-bed freestanding academic pediatric hospital in Northern California. The intervention, which was conducted in February-March 2013, consisted of (1) requiring the sending team to include a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and a circulating nurse, and the receiving team to include the PACU nurse; (2) standardizing the content of the handoff on the basis of literature-guided recommendations; and (3) presenting the handoff verbally in the I-PASS format.

Smad4 inactivation predicts for worse prognosis and response to fluorouracil-based treatment in colorectal cancer.

Aims: To determine whether expression of Smad4, a tumour suppressor found to be absent in 10% of colorectal cancer (CRC), is associated with outcomes in patients with CRC.

Methods: Tumour samples from 241 consecutive patients with CRC who underwent upfront colon resection between 2005 and 2009 were obtained. Triplicate tissue cores from resected primary colon tumours and matched normal controls were used to construct the tissue microarrays (TMAs).

Postradiotherapy CA19-9 kinetics correlate with outcomes in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Objectives: We sought to determine if carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9 ) nadir (nCA19-9), time to nadir (TTN), and doubling time (DT) after radiotherapy (RT) correlate with outcomes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Methods: We examined the records of 102 patients treated with RT for primary, nonmetastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma between August 1998 and July 2011. Of these, 33 patients were treated with postoperative chemoradiotherapy (PORT) and 69 patients with definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

Factors that determine academic versus private practice career interest in radiation oncology residents in the United States: results of a nationwide survey.

Purpose: To determine what factors US radiation oncology residents consider when choosing academic or nonacademic careers.

Methods And Materials: A 20-question online survey was developed and sent to all US radiation oncology residents to assess factors that influence their career interest. Residents were asked to rate their interest in academics (A) versus private practice (PP) on a 0 (strong interest in A) to 100 (strong interest in PP) scale.