Access to surgery following centralization of breast cancer surgical consultations.

Am J Surg

Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada; Providence Breast Centre, Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, 3080 Prince Edward Street, Vancouver, BC, V5T 3N4, Canada. Electronic address:

Published: May 2020

Introduction: Timely access to breast cancer surgery is imperative for patient outcome. Building upon our previous model, 5 breast surgeons centralized all breast surgical referrals using principles of centralized intake and nurse navigator triage. The goal of this study was to investigate whether centralization can further improve access to surgery.

Methods: This study was designed as a before-after series, comparing wait times for breast cancer surgery prior to centralization and after. Primary outcome was wait time from diagnosis to surgery, and secondary outcomes included median wait time, days required for 90% case completion, number of available operating days, and number of patients who underwent breast reconstruction and neoadjuvant therapy.

Results: Overall, centralization of breast cancer surgical referrals reduced wait time from 47 to 41 days. The median wait time and time required for 90% of case completion was reduced, despite a 7% reduction in operating room availability. Fewer patients underwent neoadjuvant therapy and more patients underwent breast reconstruction following centralization.

Conclusion: Centralization of surgical referrals for breast cancer patients improved access to surgery.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.01.050DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

breast cancer
20
wait time
16
surgical referrals
12
patients underwent
12
breast
9
access surgery
8
centralization breast
8
cancer surgical
8
cancer surgery
8
median wait
8

Similar Publications

Tumor-specific HLA class I expression is required for cytotoxic T-cell elimination of cancer cells expressing tumor-associated or neo-antigens. Cancers downregulate antigen presentation to avoid adaptive immunity. The highly polymorphic nature of the genes encoding these proteins, coupled with quaternary-structure changes after formalin fixation, complicate detection by immunohistochemistry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Enhanced breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recommended to women with elevated risk of breast cancer, yet uptake of screening remains unclear after genetic testing.

Objective: To evaluate uptake of MRI after genetic results disclosure and counseling.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study was conducted at the University of Southern California Norris Cancer Hospital, the Los Angeles General Medical Center, and the Stanford University Cancer Institute.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: This systematic review aims to synthesize the current literature on the association between chemotherapy (CTX) and chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) with functional and structural brain alterations in patients with noncentral nervous system cancers.

Methods: A comprehensive search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Embase databases was conducted, and results were reported following preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses guidelines. Data on study design, comparison cohort characteristics, patient demographics, cancer type, CTX agents, neuroimaging methods, structural and functional connectivity (FC) changes, and cognitive/psychological assessments in adult patients were extracted and reported.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The occurrence and progression of breast cancer (BCa) are complex processes involving multiple factors and multiple steps. The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in this process, but the functions of immune components and stromal components in the TME require further elucidation. In this study, we obtained the RNA-seq data of 1086 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Physical exercise is a promising intervention to improve brain white matter integrity. In the PAM study, exercise intervention effects on white matter integrity were investigated in breast cancer patients. Chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients with cognitive problems were randomized 2-4 years post-diagnosis to an exercise (n = 91) or control group (n = 90).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!