Sachin Trivedi

SBA is a rare tumour which carries a poor prognosis. Very few data on prognostic factors and treatment outcomes are available. We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients treated for SBA at our institution. Clinico-pathological characteristics, treatments and outcomes of all the SBA patients treated consecutively from 1996 to 2011 were retrospectively collected. The prognostic value of baseline factors was assessed using the Cox regression model. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the survival outcomes. Eighty-four patients with SBA were treated during the study period. Of these, 48 presented with early stage SBA, while 36 had unresectable disease. All early stage SBA patients (58.3% males; median age, 59 years) underwent resection (R0 in 44/48) and 27 (56%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. Median relapse-free survival and overall survival (OS) were 31.1 months (95% CI: 8.0-54.3) and 42.9 (95% CI: 0–94.9), respectively. In univariate analyses, poor histological differentiation (p = 0.025) and lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.003) were prognostic for OS. In the group of patients with relapsed, unresectable or metastatic disease (n = 59), systemic chemotherapy was administered in 46 cases (78%). The response rate to first line chemotherapy was 50%. Median progression-free survival and OS were 8.8 (95% CI: 5.5-12.3) and 12.8 months (95% CI: 8.4-17.2), respectively. In univariate analyses, low albumin (p = 0.041) and high platelet count (p = 0.007) were prognostic for OS. Prospective clinical trials are needed to inform the management of SBA patients. Prognostic factors evaluated in our series may be useful for patient stratification and treatment selection in future studies.

AIM: To evaluate the process of placing DNR order in elderly cancer patients in practice and analysis of physician perspectives on the issue. BACKGROUND: Decision not to resuscitate (DNR/DNAR) is part of practice in elderly cancer care. Physicians issue such orders when a patient is suffering from irreversible disease and the patient's life is coming to an end. Modern practice emphasises the need of communication with the patients and their relatives while issuing a DNR. The decision making process of placing DNR can be quite daunting. The moral and ethical dimensions surrounding such a decision make it a contentious topic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the literature to find relevant works that would help physicians and especially the junior health care staff in dealing with the complexities. In this article, we discuss the issues that physicians encounter whilst dealing with a DNR order in elderly cancer patients. RESULTS: There are no objective adjuncts or guidelines directed towards the approach of placing a DNR in elderly cancer patients. Better communication with the patients and relatives when making such decision remains a very important aspect of a DNR decision. Most health care staff find themselves ill equipped to deal with such situation. Active training and briefing of junior staff would help them deal better with the stresses involved in this process. CONCLUSION: There are complex psychosocial, medical, ethical and emotive aspects associated with placing a DNR order. Patients and their loved ones and the junior staff involved in the care of patient need early communication and briefing for better acceptance of DNR. Studies that could devise or identify tools or recommendations would be welcome.

Abstract BACKGROUND Patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer go on to have surgery regardless of their response. Women with HER-2 positive ER negative tumours (7.5% of all operable breast cancers in the UK) respond so well to neoadjuvant treatment with dual anti-HER2 therapy in combination with chemotherapy that pathological complete response rates of 80% can be achieved. This means that for patients receiving this treatment surgery is being performed to remove a cancer that isn't there in the large majority. A study is planned in the UK (NOSTRA ) to assess if it is feasible to treat patients with HER-2 positive ER negative breast cancer who achieve a pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzmab and pertuzumab with radiotherapy alone. The first phase of the trial will be a feasibility study commencing in 2017 where all patients will have image guided tumour bed biopsies post treatment and all patients will have surgery. If the group of patients where a pCR is achieved can be accurately identified then a phase III trial randomising to surgery and radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone is planned. The NOSTRA PRELIM study reported here assessed the ability of post neoadjuvant chemotherapy tumour bed biopsies to detect residual disease to provide experience to inform the much larger NOSTRA feasibility trial biopsy protocol. METHODS 23 consecutive patients with operable primary breast cancer scheduled for neoadjuvant chemotherapy were approached to take part in the study and 20 gave consent. All 20 patients had a clip inserted into the tumour bed under ultrasound(USS) guidance at diagnosis as is standard procedure. The number of cores taken ranged from 2-6. The median number of biopsies was 4 Tumour size range at diagnosis was 15-61mm with USS. All received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and those who were Her2 positive received neoadjuvant trastusumab. At completion all patients had USS guided tumour bed biopsy. They then went on to have surgery, after which pathology was assessed and an RCB score calculated for each patient. For this study patients all tumour types were included as non pCR outcomes were required to determine accuracy and inform changes to the biopsy protocol for future use. RESULTS Only 2 patients in this study achieved a pCR Residual disease was correctly identified in 16/20 patients. Four patients had no tumour in their post treatment biopsies but had small residual invasive tumour at surgery. The size of residual disease in these patients ranged from 0.5 -9mm and all these patients had 3 core biopsies. One patient had negative post treatment biopsies and a PCR of their invasive tumour. This patient had a diagnostic biopsy that confirmed separate area of DCIS several centimetres from the invasive component. This area did not undergo post treatment tumour bed biopsies (although both areas were clipped at diagnosis). CONCLUSION A protocol for biopsy in the upcoming NOSTRA feasibility study has been designed to both take more biopsies and sample a larger area of the tumour bed in order minimise the false negative rate. Citation Format: Francis A, Herring K, Molyneux R, Jafri M, Trivedi S, Shaaban A, Rea DW. NOSTRA PRELIM: A non randomised pilot study designed to assess the ability of image guided core biopsies to detect residual disease in patients with early breast cancer who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy to inform the design of a planned trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-16-14.

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Background and objective Emergency departments (EDs) often find the number of arriving patients exceeding their capacity and find it difficult to triage them in a timely manner. The potential risk to the safety of patients awaiting assessment by a triage professional has led some hospitals to consider implementing patient self-triage, such as using kiosks. Published studies about patient self-triage are scarce and information about patients' ability to accurately assess the acuity of their condition or predict their need to be hospitalized is limited. In this study, we aimed to compare computer-assisted patient self-triage scores versus the scores assigned by the dedicated ED triage nurse (TN). Methods This pilot study enrolled patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital ED without ambulance transport. They were asked a short series of simple questions based on an algorithm, which then generated a triage score. Patients were asked whether they were likely to be admitted to the hospital. Patients then entered the usual ED system of triage. The algorithm-generated triage score was then compared with the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) score assigned by the TN. Whether the patients actually required hospital admission was determined by checking their medical records. Results Among the 492 patients enrolled, agreement of triage scores was observed in 27%. Acuity was overestimated by 65% of patients. Underestimation of acuity occurred in 8%. Among patients predicting hospitalization, 17% were admitted, but the odds ratio (OR) for admission was 3.4. Half of the patients with cardiorespiratory complaints were correct in predicting the need for hospitalization. Conclusion The use of a short questionnaire by patients to self-triage showed limited accuracy, but sensitivity was high for some serious medical conditions. The prediction of hospitalization was more accurate with regard to cardiorespiratory complaints.