Age-specific interval breast cancers in New South Wales and meta-analysis of studies of women aged 40-49 years.

Objective: To compare interval cancers in the 40-49 year age group with other age groups in New South Wales and with published trials and service studies.

Setting: New South Wales data were derived from the population-based biennial mammography screening program, which achieved state-wide coverage in 1995. Women aged 40-49 years screened during 1995-1998 were included.

What pathologic features influence survival in patients with local residual tumor after resection of colorectal cancer?

Background: Local residual tumor predicts poor patient survival after resection for colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of residual tumor in a line of resection in a large prospective series and to identify other pathology variables that may influence survival in the absence of distant metastases in such patients.

Study Design: This study was based on all patients who had a resection for colorectal cancer at Concord Hospital between 1971 and 2001.

Automatic pectoral muscle segmentation on mediolateral oblique view mammograms.

Mammograms are X-ray images of the breast which are used to detect breast cancer. When mammograms are analyzed by computer, the pectoral muscle should preferably be excluded from processing intended for the breast tissue. For this and other reasons, it is important to identify and segment out the pectoral muscle.

Anastomotic leakage is predictive of diminished survival after potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether anastomotic leakage has an independent association with overall survival and cancer-specific survival.

Summary Background Data: There are many known prognostic indicators following surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the impact of anastomotic leakage has not been adequately assessed.

The use of animals for research on animal diseases: its impact on the harm-benefit analysis.

The use of animals in scientific experiments is sometimes controversial. Usually, the debate focuses on the advantages or disadvantages of using animals in biomedical research or for testing products for safety or efficacy in humans. This has been the case in the previous World Congresses on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences.

Background and perioperative risk factors for prolonged hospital stay after resection of colorectal cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify independent background and perioperative risk factors for prolonged postoperative hospital stay among patients having a resection for colorectal cancer.

Methods: Data from 1095 consecutive resections performed by specialist colorectal surgeons between 1995 and 2001 were examined by multiple least squares regression. Each putative risk factor was coded 0 if absent and 1 if present and postoperative stay was measured in days, so that the unstandardized partial regression coefficients (B) represent days of additional stay if the factor was present.

Diagnostic abilities of three CAD methods for assessing microcalcifications in mammograms and an aspect of equivocal cases decisions by radiologists.

Radiologists use an "Overall impression" rating to assess a suspicious region on a mammogram. The value ranges from 1 to 5. They will definitely send a patient for biopsy if the rating is 4 or 5.

Anastomotic leakage after curative anterior resection results in a higher prevalence of local recurrence.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether leakage from a colorectal anastomosis following potentially curative anterior resection for rectal cancer is an independent risk factor for local recurrence.

Methods: The study included all patients who had a potentially curative anterior resection with anastomosis for adenocarcinoma of the rectum between 1971 and 1991 at Concord Hospital. The data were collected prospectively, with complete follow-up for at least 5 years.

Breast compression in mammography: how much is enough?

The amount of breast compression that is applied during mammography potentially influences image quality and the discomfort experienced. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between applied compression force, breast thickness, reported discomfort and image quality. Participants were women attending routine breast screening by mammography at BreastScreen New South Wales Central and Eastern Sydney.

Emotional suppression: can it predict cancer outcome in women with suspicious screening mammograms?

Background: Previous studies have implicated emotional suppression, in particular suppression of anger, in the onset and progression of breast cancer. Many of these studies used non-standardized measures and failed to control for the effects of age and/or possible knowledge of diagnosis. The present study aimed to avoid these methodological errors in investigating the relationship of emotional suppression to a diagnosis of breast cancer in a large mammography screened population.

Interval breast cancers in New South Wales, Australia, and comparisons with trials and other mammographic screening programmes.

Objective: To present information on 1st year interval breast cancer from the New South Wales mammographic screening programme and to compare with published results from trials and services.

Setting: New South Wales data were derived from a population based biennial mammographic screening programme, which achieved statewide coverage in 1995. Women aged 50-69 years screened during 1995-7 were included.

Laparoscopy for colon cancer.

Laparoscopic resection of the colon is certainly feasible. There are conflicting reports regarding decreased postoperative pain, resumption of gastrointestinal function, and earlier return to work. There is no change in either mortality or morbidity when compared with open resection.

Screen-detected breast cancer compared to symptomatic presentation: an analysis of surgical treatment and end-points of effective mammographic screening.

Background: Mammographic screening has been shown to reduce mortality from breast cancer and to offer more opportunity for breast conservation surgery (BCS). The minimum standards (or surrogate end-points) that need to be achieved by a screening programme if it is to reduce mortality have been derived from the Two County Study. Three surrogate end-points that can be used to gauge the quality of the screening service are that 50% of the identified infiltrating cancers should be < 15 mm; at least 30% of grade 3 cancers should be < 15 mm; and 70% of screen-detected cancers should have a negative axillary dissection.

The operative management of screen-detected breast cancers.

Background: Mammographic screening for breast cancer not only reduces the overall mortality from breast cancer but allows greater opportunities for breast-conserving operations. The predicted degree of breast conservation is not being realized, but is increasing in centres that have published their results.

Methods: The operative management of breast cancers diagnosed by BreastScreen Central and Eastern Sydney Screening and Assessment Service were compared between two time periods: January 1988-December 1992 (group 1) and January 1993-December 1995 (group 2).

Duration of immunity, efficacy and safety in sheep of a recombinant Taenia ovis vaccine formulated with saponin or selected adjuvants.

The efficacy and safety of a recombinant Taenia ovis protein was tested in sheep using 13 different adjuvant formulations, including oil adjuvants, aluminium salts, saponin, Iscoms and DEAE-dextran. The oil adjuvants, saponin and DEAE-dextran gave the highest antibody responses and greatest degree of protection against challenge infection with T. ovis eggs.

Current issues in mammographic breast cancer screening.

Mammographic screening for the early detection of breast cancer is widely accepted as the most effective means currently available to reduce breast cancer deaths. However, evidence shows that to maximize benefits and minimize harm, mammographic screening must be of high quality.

Approaches to managing aquatic animal health in Australia.

Despite a rapid and continuous expansion in aquaculture industries, Australia has not experienced significant disease emergencies in farmed aquatic animal populations. However, recent events in relation to wild, farmed, native and introduced aquatic animals have provided warning signals. The development of a national response mechanism for fisheries and aquaculture emergencies became a high priority following the pilchard mortality outbreak in 1995.

Interval breast cancers in an Australian mammographic screening program.

Objective: To determine the incidence of interval cancers which occurred in the first 12 months after mammographic screening at a mammographic screening service.

Design: Retrospective analysis of data obtained by crossmatching the screening Service and the New South Wales Central Cancer Registry databases.

Setting: The Central & Eastern Sydney Service of BreastScreen NSW.

Diagnosis of small sized invasive breast cancer by an Australian mammography screening service: surrogate end-points for mortality reduction.

Background: The percentage of screen-detected infiltrating cancers that are small, the percentage that are node-negative and the percentage of those that are grade 3 and small, are surrogate end-points for the main object of breast screening, namely the reduction in mortality from breast cancer in the screened population.

Methods: This study reports these end-points; that is, the prognostic features of invasive cancers, as detected by the Central and Eastern Sydney Service of BreastScreen NSW. The data reported were collected by the Service on women who attended for screening between March 1988 and December 1994.

Resident rights. Knowledge of and implementation by nursing staff in long-term care facilities.

In this study, we assessed the differences between certified nursing assistants' (CNAs) and nurses' (RNs and LPNs) level of knowledge and perceived implementation of resident rights. The CNAs and nurses responded to a series of 11 scenarios representing rights such as privacy, choice, and respect. Their responses suggested that although they knew what the appropriate response to the situation was, it was not the typical response to that type of situation within their facilities.

Limitations of intra-arterial thrombolysis.

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy, costs and complications of acutely ischaemic limbs initially treated with urokinase-induced thrombolysis, and to compare the subsequent patencies of occluded native arteries, vein grafts and prosthetic grafts. Data from 45 consecutive episodes of thrombolysis in 37 patients (37 limbs) were reviewed retrospectively. An initial bolus dose of urokinase was used in all limbs, with pulse-spray in nine 30 limbs received additional infusions of urokinase including six who received initial treatment with pulse-spray.

Compression in mammography and the perception of discomfort.

Breast compression in mammography is an uncomfortable experience for most women. The discomfort experienced has the potential to deter women from attending regular breast screening by mammography. The aim of the present study was to assess factors related to the degree of discomfort experienced by women attending for first-time mammography at the Central and Eastern Sydney BreastScreen Service.

Partial and impartial ethical reasoning in health care professionals.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between ethical reasoning and gender and occupation among a group of male and female nurses and doctors.

Design: Partialist and impartialist forms of ethical reasoning were defined and singled out as being central to the difference between what is known as the "care" moral orientation (Gilligan) and the "justice" orientation (Kohlberg). A structured questionnaire based on four hypothetical moral dilemmas involving combinations of (health care) professional, non-professional, life-threatening and non-life-threatening situations, was piloted and then mailed to a randomly selected sample of doctors and nurses.