Clinical Audit of the Radiotherapy Process in Rectal Cancer: Clinical Practice Guidelines and Quality Certification Do Not Avert Variability in Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic approach to cancer is complex and multidisciplinary. Radiotherapy is among the essential treatments, whether used alone or in conjunction with other therapies. This study reports a clinical audit of the radiotherapy process to assess the process of care, evaluate adherence to agreed protocols and measure the variability to improve therapeutic quality for rectal cancer. METHODS: Multicentre retrospective cohort study in a representative sample of patients diagnosed with rectal cancer in the Institut Català d'Oncologia, a comprehensive cancer centre with three different settings. We developed a set of indicators to assess the key areas of the radiotherapy process. The clinical audit consisted of a review of a random sample of 40 clinical histories for each centre. RESULTS: The demographic profile, histology and staging of patients were similar between centres. The MRI reports did not include the distance from tumour to mesorectal fascia (rCRM) in 38.3% of the cases. 96.7% of patients received the planned dose, and 57.4% received it at the planned time. Surgery followed neoadjuvant treatment in 96.7% of the patients. Among this group, postoperative CRM was recorded in 65.5% of the cases and was negative in 93.4% of these. With regard to the 34.5% (n = 40) of cases where no CRM value was stated, there were differences between the centres. Mean follow-up was 3.4 (SD 0.6) years, and overall survival at four years was 81.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The audit revealed a suboptimal degree of adherence to clinical practice guidelines. Significant variability between centres exists from a clinical perspective but especially with regard to organization and process.

Multidisciplinary cancer care may impact on the postoperative mortality and survival of patients with oesophageal and oesophagogastric junction cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Modern management of Oesophageal and oesophagogastric junction (OGJ) cancers requires a multidisciplinary approach, which was implemented at our health centre in 2005. This study aimed to assess the impact of this change on clinical outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, covering all patients treated for oesophageal and OGJ cancer at the cancer centre established by the Bellvitge University Hospital and Catalonian Institute of Oncology, over two time periods, i.e. 2000-2004 and 2005-2008. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed using survival at 1 and 3 years as dependent variables. RESULTS: Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2008, 586 patients were included. Number of patients with unknown stage at diagnosis was significantly reduced. Preoperative strategies at the oesophageal location clearly increased in the recent period. A multidisciplinary approach resulted in a significant reduction in surgical mortality (11.8 vs. 2 %) in the period 2005-2008. Analysis restricted to patients undergoing surgery with curative intent indicated a significant increase in 1- and 3-year survival in the latter period (68.4 vs. 89.8 and 38.2 vs. 57.1 %, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that variables associated with improved survival were: age; tumour stage; radical intent of treatment (surgery and radical combined chemoradiotherapy); and therapeutic strategy. CONCLUSION: Better selection of patients for therapy together with improved staging resulted in a significant improvement in 1- and 3-year survival in cases undergoing surgery with curative intent. These changes would support the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to clinical decision-making in cases of oesophageal and OGJ cancer.

Interobserver variability in target volume delineation in postoperative radiochemotherapy for gastric cancer. A pilot prospective study

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to determine the interobserver variability (IV) between radiation oncologists (RO) in target volume delineation for postoperative gastric cancer (GC) radiotherapy planning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four physicians were asked to delimitate clinical target volume (CTV) on the same 3D CT images in 9 postoperative radiochemotherapy GC patients. Instructions were given to include tumour bed, remaining stomach, anastomosis, duodenal loop and local lymph nodes. The principal variable was spatial volume discrepancy between the main observer (called "A") and other observers (all called "B"), which were compared using the mathematical formula A⌣B/A⌢B, applied to the 3D CT images using Boolean operators. Analysis of variance with two random effects (observers and patients) was performed. RESULTS: Mean volumes were 1410 cm(3) for OBA, 1231 cm(3) for OB2, 734.6 cm(3) for OB3 and 1350 cm(3) for OB4. Discrepancies were 519.9±431.6 cm(3) for OB2, 652.1±294.36 cm(3) for OB3 and 225.90±237.07 cm(3) for OB4. Standard deviation ascribed to patients as random effect was 898.6 cm(3) and that ascribed to observers was 198.10 cm(3), considered as a statistically significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: A significant IV in target delineation that can be attributed to many factors depends more on patients' characteristics than RO delineating decisions (AU)

Cervical dystonia mimicking dropped-head syndrome after radiotherapy for laryngeal carcinoma.

We report a case of cervical dystonia mimicking dropped-head syndrome (DHS) in a 57-year-old man treated for laryngeal carcinoma by radiotherapy (74.4 Gy) 3 months before. Cervical computerized tomographic scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) did not find any muscle fat changes but found a high-intensity signal on T2 weighted images in the cervical spinal cord. Clinical and electromyographic findings were consistent with cervical dystonia. A trapezius biopsy was normal. Spontaneous remission of the dystonia was observed for 1 month whereas the laryngeal carcinoma progressed. The link between cervical dystonia and radiotherapy might be acute radiation-induced damage to the cervical spinal cord.