tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Effect of palliative care on economic burden in lung cancer admissions: Insights from the NIS database.
Authors: Ekrem Turk, Ayobami Gbenga Olafimihan, Lina James George, Badri Aryal, Youjin Oh, Vaishali Deenadayalan, Kunnal Batra
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

12081 Background: Lung cancer (LC) remains the leading cause of cancer mortality globally, presenting substantial challenges in symptom management and quality of life (QoL) for affected patients. Despite the crucial role of palliative care (PC) in alleviating suffering and enhancing QoL, its integration into LC treatment is inconsistent, attributed to healthcare provider perceptions and systemic barriers. This study examines the utilization of PC consultations in LC admissions using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, seeking to identify patterns of use and opportunities for improved care integration. Methods: The study queried the NIS database from 2016 to 2020 for adult hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of LC using ICD-10 codes. The primary outcome examined was the impact of PC consultations on length of stay (LOS), total hospital charges (THC), and healthcare utilization, with inpatient mortality as a secondary outcome. Baseline characteristics were assessed using t-tests and chi-square tests, while multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, race, Charlson index, insurance type, and household income was employed to evaluate the outcomes. Results: Among 584,055 LC patients, 50.4% was female and 14.6% had a PC consult. These patients were typically older (68.4 vs. 70.6 years, p &lt;0.001), more likely to be male (51.1% vs. 49.3%, p &lt; 0.001) and African American (13.3% vs. 11.9% p &lt; 0.001), and had Medicaid coverage (11.1% vs. 9.7%, p &lt; 0.001) compared to their counterparts . PC was more frequently consulted in non-teaching hospitals (16.3% vs 14.1%, p &lt; 0.001). Patients with PC consults also had a higher Charlson Comorbidity index 6.4 vs. 4.9 (p &lt; 0.001). The overall inpatient mortality rate was 7.4%, with a significantly higher rate in patients with PC (32%) versus without (3.2%) (p &lt; 0.001). While PC was associated with a longer LOS (7.6 vs. 5.9 days, p &lt; 0.001), it resulted in lower THC ($74,399 vs. $84,233, adjusted difference: $6,874 p &lt; 0.0001) and increased discharges with home health care and to nursing homes. Conclusions: PC consultations in LC patients are associated with reduced THC despite a slight increase in LOS. This finding emphasizes the economic and therapeutic value of PC in the treatment of LC, advocating for its earlier and broader integration. By addressing both symptom management and healthcare costs, palliative care can play a significant role in enhancing the comprehensive care of lung cancer patients, highlighting the need for overcoming existing barriers to its adoption. [Table: see text]
Preliminary validation of a novel patient-reported outcomes (PRO) questionnaire for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma: The CTCL-PRO-18.
Authors: Neha Akkad, Donna Jeffe, Anastasia Frank, Noor Al-Hammadi, Marcus Watkins, Amy Musiek, Neha Mehta-Shah
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e23161 Background: Improving quality of life (QoL) is key to clinical decision-making for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Currently there is no measure of QoL that captures concerns of patients with advanced-stage CTCL. A thematic analysis of interviews with early- and late-stage patients with CTCL identified novel QoL domains. Using these data, we developed questionnaire items for a new QoL measure (CTCL-PRO-18). Methods: Consented patients completed our new survey and previously validated metrics: SF-36, MF/SS-CTCL QoL, VAS-Itch (past 24 hours), Skindex-29, CES-D, and PROMIS™ Sleep Disturbance. Principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation reduced the number of items on our measure; Cronbach’s alpha evaluated the internal-consistency reliability of items that loaded on each component and the overall measure. We examined the construct and convergent validity of the CTCL-PRO-18 using Pearson correlations, and differences in QoL outcomes by patient demographics and disease status using analyses of variance (ANOVA). Results: 82 patients (47 male; 69 white, 11 Black, 2 Hispanic) completed the surveys. The PCA yielded an 18-item, 5-component solution: 6-item self-consciousness; 3-item burden of treatment; 3-item concern about sores; 3-item sleep/fatigue; and 3-item lack of available CTCL resources. The 5 subscales and overall CTCL-PRO-18 measure had acceptably high reliabilities; Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .74 to .93. Correlations between the CTCL-PRO-18 and each of the previously validated measures were statistically significant (P &lt; .005). Correlations between CTCL-PRO-18 and SF-36 (subscales ranged r =-.320 to -.624), CESD ( r= .645), PROMIS™ Sleep Disturbance ( r= .4780), and VAS-Itch ( r= .665) were moderate. Correlations between CTCL-PRO-18 and MF/SS-CTCL QoL ( r= .720) and Skindex-29 ( r= .814) were high. Correlations between the overall CTCL-PRO-18 and each of its subscales were significant (P &lt; .001) and ranged from .571 (Burden of Treatment) to .882 (Self-consciousness). ANOVAs showed no statistically significant gender or racial/ethnic (white vs. Black/Hispanic race/ethnicity) differences in the CTCL-PRO-18 or the 5 component scores. Burden of Treatment scores were significantly lower for patients with no active disease compared with patients with reduced symptoms and active disease (4.9 [SD 3.9], 6.4 [3.2], and 8.2 [3.8], respectively; P = .018). Conclusions: The CTCL-PRO-18 and its 5 subscales had high internal-consistency reliability. Correlations were higher between the CTCL-PRO-18 and other CTCL-relevant measures (Skindex-29, MF/SS-CTCL QoL) than they were between the CTCL-PRO-18 and less CTCL-specific measures, providing preliminary evidence of the construct and convergent validity of the CTCL-PRO-18. Examination of the discriminant validity of this metric is warranted.
EROS: Engendering reproductive health within oncologic survivorship—ECOG-ACRIN E1Q11 assessing discrepancy in clinician-patient importance of sexuality over 2 years post-cancer diagnosis.
Authors: Shivani Rao, Ju-Whei Lee, Sinan Hashim, Howard A. Zaren, Erika K. Radeke, David Cella, Michael Jordan Fisch, Lynne I. Wagner
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e23197 Background: Cancer diagnosis and therapeutic interventions are associated with altered reproductive health including sexuality. Despite pertinence to quality of life, cancer management frequently precludes periodic assessments of sexual health. Methods: The EROS trial is a clustered randomized trial performed at 17 NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) sites (including 8 NCORP sites and 9 Minority/Underserved NCORP sites) from 2016-2023. Eligible subjects included reproductively capable women aged 15-55 with new cancer diagnosis. We report on an embedded observational study pertaining to oncosexuality. Perceived importance of patient’s sexuality maintenance was assessed for clinicians and patients on a 10-point Likert scale (1 = Not important; 10 = Extremely important). Mean and standard deviation were computed for value discrepancy (pairwise clinician-patient differential) by arm assignment and timepoint (baseline, 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-months). One-sample t-test was conducted with Bonferroni’s adjustment to evaluate cell mean of the value discrepancy against zero (α = 0.02). A mixed effect model analyzed intervention effect on value discrepancy over time, adjusting for baseline covariates (α = 0.05). Results: Mean patient importance rating within the intervention arm ranged from 8.39 (SD = 2.39) at baseline to 7.84 (SD = 2.86) at 24-month assessment; paired clinician value varied from 8.17 (SD = 2.57) to 7.77 (SD = 2.92), respectively. Within non-intervention arm, mean patient importance rating varied from 8.23 (SD = 1.95) at baseline to 8.68 (SD = 1.67) at 24-month assessment; paired clinician value ranged from 7.93 (SD = 1.86) to 8.15 (SD = 1.70). Mean clinician-patient value differentials with respect to arm assignment and timepoint were not significantly different from zero. A significant arm-by-timepoint interaction effect was noted (p = 0.0417). Post-hoc simple main effect analysis exhibited no intervention effect at any assessment timepoint. Conclusions: Data indicate high concordance of sexuality importance within oncologic clinicians and patients over the 2 years. Findings necessitate investigation to ensure management of sexual health matches level of importance to the cancer survivor. Clinical trial information: NCT01806129 .
Use of immunotherapy with check point inhibitors in soft tissue sarcoma: Analysis from single institution.
Authors: Pranali Santhoshini Pachika, Shreyas Kalantri, Rohit Kumar
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e23566 Background: Traditional treatments for soft tissue sarcomas include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Effectiveness of Check point inhibitors for sarcoma has been unsatisfactory thus far. Major clinical trials PEMBROSARC and SARC028 revealed median PFS of 2 and 4.5 months, respectively. The FDA has approved three immunotherapy (IO) therapies for sarcoma. Atezolizumab was approved for alveolar soft part sarcoma. Dostarlimab is approved for sarcoma with DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), Sarcoma patients with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H), dMMR, or tumor mutational burden can receive pembrolizumab. A single-institution analysis of soft tissue sarcoma patients with IO is presented in this paper. Methods: All soft tissue sarcoma patients who have received IO from January 2021 to now have been included. At our institute, a total of seven patients received IO for soft tissue sarcoma. Observations were made regarding their fundamental characteristics and the progression free survival (PFS). The data was not statistically examined due to the small sample size and the heterogeneity of the data. Results: 2 of 7 trial patients were lost to follow-up. Recurrent autoimmune hepatitis terminated IO for another patient. Most of the patients are elderly with the median age of 78. Given their comorbidities and age, IO was chosen as the first line for 5 patients. Median PFS was 5.8 months. High PDL1 ( &gt; / = 5%) patients had a median PFS of 5.6 months, while low PDL1 patients had 4.5 months. However, one patient with low PDL1 had PFS of 7 months. 5/7 patients didn’t have IO related side effects. Two patients developed Autoimmune (AI) hepatitis. Conclusions: The limited sample size prevented definitive conclusions from being drawn. Despite the unsatisfactory outcomes, it is worth mentioning that IO provided a certain degree of PFS in older patients with comorbidities who are not suitable candidates for chemotherapy. Based on limited data, patients with high PDL1 status appear to benefit more. IO alone has not shown promising results. In clinical trials, IO is being tested with chemotherapy and Tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The findings from these trials will provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of combination therapy. [Table: see text]
Systemic inflammation-modified PG-SGA index in the survival prediction of advanced cancers.
Authors: Yu Min, Tingting Dai, Xuemei Li, Lei Cai, Jitao Zhou, Xingchen Peng
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

12056 Background: The tight association between inflammation and nutrition has been established. Whether the systemic inflammatory indicators could increase the predictive power of nutrition assessment tools in the survival of advanced cancers remains unclear. Methods: In this retrospective study, advanced cancer patients were enrolled from the West China Hospital between Nov 2019 and Sep 2023. Five systemic inflammatory indicators were selected including the systemic inflammatory index (SII), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), and advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI). Nutritional status was evaluated by the PG-SGA. Kaplan-Meier curves, restricted cubic splines (RCS), and Cox regression analyses were used to estimate the effects of systemic inflammation indices as well as systemic inflammation-modified PG-SGA index on the survival of cancer patients. Stratified and sensitive analyses were conducted to determine the high-risk subgroups and check the robustness of the main findings. Results: In total, there were 1,065 advanced-stage cancer patients included in this study, with a mean age of 58.18 years old. Advanced lung cancer (265 cases, 24.9%) accounted for relatively higher proportions of the whole study population, followed by colorectal cancer (167 cases, 15.7%), esophagus cancer (143 cases, 13.4%), and gastric cancer (139 cases, 13.0%). With a median follow-up of 1,300 days, 501 deaths (47.04%) were observed. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that ALI maintained the best predictive power in predicting the all-cause mortality of advanced-stage cancer patients when compared with other systemic inflammation indicators (4 th quartile: hazard ratio (HR)= 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.29, 0.50, P&lt;0.001), with a C-index of 0.615. The novel inflammation-modified PG-SGA/ALI index showed better predictive value in identifying the high-risk subgroups of advanced-stage cancer patients, with an AUC of ROC of 0.68 in 365-day mortality, 0.65 in 730-day mortality, and 0.64 in 1300-day survival prediction, respectively. The C-index (0.626), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis validated the promising predictive accuracy of the PG-SGA/ALI index in predicting the all-cause mortality of advanced-stage cancer patients. No significant interaction was observed between subgroups. A series of sensitive analyses supported the consistent findings as we determined in the main regression. Conclusions: Our study highlights that the PG-SGA/ALI index has superior predictive value than original PG-SGA criteria in short- and long-term survival prediction of advanced cancers. The PG-SGA/ALI index would be a more accurate tool for nutritional evaluation and prognosis prediction among cancer patients during clinical practice.
Clinical features, molecular findings, and clinical outcomes of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma.
Authors: Dongni Yi, Karen Rech, Scott Lester, William Breen, Saurabh Zanwar, Gordon Ruan, Steven Ian Robinson, Scott H. Okuno, Brittany L. Siontis, James Garrity, Brittany Kimball, Aishwarya Ravindran, Mithun Vinod Shah, Nabila Nora Bennani, Gaurav Goyal, Ronald S. Go, Jithma P. Abeykoon
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e23554 Background: Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) is a low-grade neoplasm arising from follicular dendritic cells. Its diagnosis is challenging due to its extreme rarity, and the optimal management remains unknown. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of FDCS patients (pts) seen at Mayo Clinic, MN since 2018. Time to event analyses were done from the time of diagnosis. Results: Ten pts with FDCS were identified (Table). The median age was 60 years (range, 38-76) and 5 were males. Abdominal pain was the most common presenting symptom (30%) followed by constitutional symptoms, shortness of breath, and vision change. In 3 pts, the diagnosis was incidental. The 2 most common primary locations were abdomen/pelvis (50%) and mediastinum (30%). Six pts (60%) presented with advanced disease and 3 (30%) had Castleman’s disease. Most (60%) had advanced disease. Six pts had Epstein-Barr virus in situ hybridization and all tested negative. Seven pts had next generation sequencing and 5 (83%) had genetic alterations detected with CDKN2A/B alterations being most frequent (3 pts, all with advanced disease). The median follow up was 4.3 years (range, 0.2-13.3). In the 4 patients with localized disease, 3 underwent complete surgical excision resulting in complete remissions (CRs). The one who received radiation had a partial remission (PR). The median time to progression after 1 st line treatment was 4 months (all with advanced disease). All 3 pts who died had advanced disease and 2 had CDKN2A/B alterations. Conclusions: In FDCS, localized diseases managed by surgical excision with or without radiation can achieve long term remissions. Advanced diseases generally do not respond to multimodality therapy including immunotherapy but can have disease stabilization with variable survival. CDKN2A/B mutations were common and potentially associated with a worse outcome. Better understanding of the impact of the FDCS mutational landscape on prognosis may provide novel approaches to therapy. [Table: see text]
The benefit of chart curation of electronic health record (EHR) data: Comparing data completeness between curated and structured data.
Authors: Simon Blanc, Anna Rui, Anupama Vasudevan, Mike Gart, Teena Sura, Erin Morgan, Prateesh Varughese, Mercedes Mena-Allauca, Jeffrey A. Scott
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

11165 Background: The main objective of an EHR is to effectively standardize clinical workflow. However, EHR data is also utilized extensively as secondary data for clinical research and quality improvement. Healthcare data exists in different forms such as paper, digital images, and notes, only some of which are recorded as structured data in the EHR. It is therefore essential to curate detailed information from unstructured data so that the patient’s journey can be understood in depth for research and quality studies. Methods: Patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) between 01-Jan-2020 and 31-Dec-2022 were identified from the Integra Connect PrecisionQ de-identified database of 3 million cancer patients across 500 sites of care across ~80% community oncology and ~20% academic practices. Manual curation was conducted for a sample of these patients and the fill rates of crucial elements were captured as part of this study. Results: A total of 13,763 mBC patients were identified during this study period. The availability of data for the different variables was assessed from structured data in 13,120 patients. Additional information was obtained by manual curation for 643 patients. Information on staging and grade were available for 62.8% in the structured data, while curation increased the availability of these details to 99.5% among those 643 patients. The fill rates for patients’ tumor size and nodal status, as defined by the T and N values, were found to be 99% in the curated data compared to 60% in the structured data. Similarly, the fill rates were more than 98% for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptor by curation, while they were only approximately 65% in the structured data. HER2 low, HER2-ve, and HER2+ve status was identified in 8%, 45.2%, and 10.1% by structured data and in 57.1%, 84.1%, and 14.0%, respectively, by curated data. Furthermore, the fill rates via curation were 97.1% for HER2 immunohistochemistry tests compared to 49.0% for structured data, while the fill rates for in-situ hybridization (ISH) or fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) tests were 61.3% for curated data compared to 28.4% for structured data. This discrepancy is caused by the fact that IHC and FISH/ISH tests are primarily found only in PDF format. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for curation in order to maximize the utilization of EHR data for secondary research purposes and quality studies. Natural language processing and augmented curation methods can further enhance the quality of EHR data for secondary research.
A real-world assessment of the treatment-related symptoms and associated burden among patients with lung cancer receiving chemotherapy.
Authors: Aaron Galaznik, Emelly Rusli, Tracy Holt, Mordecai Kramer, Peter Trask
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e23159 Background: For patients (pts) with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), treatment with chemotherapy has shown improved survival, symptom control, and increased quality of life. In clinical trials, the adverse event profile associated with these treatments has been identified. Less explored is the real-world experience of treatment-related symptoms and treatment burden. The objective of this study is to evaluate treatment-related symptoms and treatment burden among chemotherapy-treated NSCLC pts through an electronic remote symptom monitoring system. Methods: Pts diagnosed with NSCLC who received chemotherapy at U.S. academic cancer centers were enrolled in the Carevive’s Patient Reported Outcomes Mobile Platform (Carevive PROmpt®) from September 2020 - June 2023. 174 pts were enrolled. Weekly PRO-CTCAE-derived surveys assessed severity, frequency, and interference for 16 symptoms: anxiety, constipation, cough, decreased appetite, diarrhea, fatigue, general pain, insomnia, mouth/throat sores, muscle pain, nausea, numbness and tingling, rash, sadness, shortness of breath, and vomiting. The GP5 assessed weekly overall side effect treatment bother. Results: The mean age of NSCLC pts was 67.3 (SD = 9.2) years, with 51% female, and 12% African American. The majority of pts, 126 (72%), were enrolled at or within 1 month of the start of treatment. Ninety-one (52%) received chemotherapy and 83 (48%) received chemotherapy in combination. At enrollment, cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath was reported by &gt; 40% of pts receiving chemotherapy, with constipation, decreased appetite, general pain, and numbness/tingling occurring in &gt; 20% of pts. Over 40% of pts reported being at least “somewhat” bothered by the side effects of treatment. Pts with decreased appetite, nausea, and numbness/tingling were more likely to rate symptoms as “somewhat” or “very much” bothersome. No differences were noted for those with combination regimens. Conclusions: For real-world chemotherapy pts, the most frequent symptoms at enrollment were cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, decreased appetite, general pain, and numbness/tingling. Patients with decreased appetite and numbness/tingling were more likely to note higher treatment bother. Results show the feasibility of assessing symptom burden and corresponding patient bother in a real-world NSCLC population, which will have increasing importance increasing use of new treatment modalities with and without cytotoxic chemotherapy. [Table: see text]
In transfusion-dependent, angiodysplasia-related anemia, adding octreotide to usual care reduced transfusions at 1 y
Authors: Duncan J. Flynn, Joseph D. Feuerstein
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2024)

Source CitationGoltstein LC, Grooteman KV, Bernts LH, et al. Standard of care versus octreotide in angiodysplasia-related bleeding (the OCEAN study): a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Gastroenterology. 2024;166:690-703. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38158089/AbstractClinical Impact RatingsGIM/FP/GP: Gastroenterology: