Effectiveness and Safety of Irreversible Electroporation When Used for the Ablation of Stage 3 Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Initial Results from the DIRECT Registry Study.

Background/objectives: Overall survival for patients with Stage 3 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains limited, with a median survival of 12 to 15 months. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a local tumor ablation method that induces cancerous cell death by disrupting cell membrane homeostasis. The DIRECT Registry study was designed to assess the effectiveness and safety of IRE when combined with standard of care (SOC) treatment for Stage 3 PDAC versus SOC alone in a real-world setting after at least 3 months of induction chemotherapy; Methods: Patients with Stage 3 PDAC treated with IRE plus SOC or SOC alone were prospectively enrolled in a multicenter registry study.

Multicenter randomized controlled trial and registry study to assess the safety and efficacy of the NanoKnife® system for the ablation of stage 3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma: overview of study protocols.

Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a local ablation technique utilizing high voltage, low energy direct current to create nanopores in cell membrane which disrupt homeostasis and leads to cell death. Previous reports have suggested IRE may have a role in treating borderline resectable and unresectable Stage 3 pancreatic tumors.

Methods: Patients with Stage 3 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) will be enrolled in either a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial (RCT) or a multicenter registry study.

Coil embolization of a lumbar artery to control vascular injury during intradiscal surgery.

Study Design: Case study.

Objective: To emphasize the role that interventional radiology can perform in stemming bleeding to vascular structures injured during spine surgery without altering patient position.

Summary And Background Data: Injury to the lumbar artery or aorta may occur during lumbar disc surgery.

The effects of hormone replacement therapy on postmenopausal breast cancer biology and survival.

Background: The goal of this study was to compare the characteristics of breast cancers and survival rates in HRT users versus nonusers.

Methods: Data were analyzed for 1055 patients > or = 50 years of age who had definitive therapy for breast cancer from 1994 through 2002.

Results: There were 471 (45%) HRT users.

Effect of hospital volume on margin status after pancreaticoduodenectomy for cancer.

Background: The volume-outcome relationship has been repeatedly demonstrated for pancreatectomy, but identifying underlying reasons for this association has been challenging. Some have suggested that differences in surgical technique may affect longterm survival, but it is unknown whether margin-positive resection rates vary by hospital volume. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of hospital pancreatectomy volume on margin status.

Survival rates for breast cancers detected in a community service screening mammogram program.

Background: This single-institution long-term prospective study was performed in the setting of community service screening mammography to evaluate the association between the methods of breast cancer detection and survival rates.

Methods: From 1994 through 2001, data on 1237 patients with breast cancer were collected concurrent with definitive surgical treatment and entered into a comprehensive database.

Results: Mammography was the sole method of detection for 517 (44%) of 1179 Tis-T2 breast cancers.

Axillary recurrence after sentinel node biopsy.

Background: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has evolved as the standard of care in the surgical staging of breast cancer. This technique is accurate for surgical staging of axillary nodal disease. We hypothesized that axillary recurrence after SNB is rare and that SNB may provide regional control in patients with microscopic nodal involvement.

Failure of sentinel lymph node mapping in patients with breast cancer.

Background: Lymphatic mapping with sentinel lymphadenectomy (SL) has become more widely used as an alternative to axillary dissection for the staging of breast cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential associations of patient and tumor characteristics with the lymphatic mapping failure rate.

Study Design: Between September 1996 and April 2003, 1,094 breast cancer patients participated in a single-institution prospective SL protocol, which was conducted using technetium 99 m sulfur colloid alone to identify sentinel lymph nodes.

Upstaging of atypical ductal hyperplasia after vacuum-assisted 11-gauge stereotactic core needle biopsy.

Background: Nonpalpable mammographic abnormalities are frequently evaluated by means of a stereotactic core needle biopsy. This technique is a very sensitive indicator of invasive cancer, but is less reliable to discriminate between ductal carcinoma in situ and atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH). The objective of this study was to determine the correlation of the 11-gauge vacuum-assisted core needle biopsy to open biopsy when a diagnosis of ADH is obtained.

Tumor volume as a prognostic factor for sarcomatosis.

Background: The appropriate therapeutic interventions for sarcomatosis, or sarcoma characterized by intraabdominal dissemination, remain unclear. The authors performed a retrospective analysis of their recent experience with patients diagnosed with sarcomatosis to determine the overall survival and the effects of clinicopathologic features on survival rates at two and four years.

Methods: A query of the authors' prospective soft tissue sarcoma database identified 51 patients with a diagnosis of sarcomatosis who were evaluated at the authors' institution between June 1996 and June 1999.