ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Cancer morbidity represents an increasing public health issue; this worldwide phenomenon also is true for emerging upper-middle-income countries, such as Colombia. The main purpose of this study was to uncover the relationship between scientific productivity and cancer-related mortality in our setting. METHODS: We conducted a temporal-trend ecologic study by means of bibliometric analysis from records of publications from SCOPUS database with Colombian institutional affiliations between 2000 and 2015. Productivity and overall mortality were estimated and compared using econometric modeling to identify potential correlations. Additional exploratory analyses per six most frequent cancer sites were performed. RESULTS: Of 2,645 publication records retrieved, 1,464 (55.3%) met selection criteria to be classified as Colombian scientific production (interobserver agreement, 92.96%; κ = 0.859; 95% CI, 0.800 to 0.918). Overall, 79.6% of the records corresponded to original or in-press articles; furthermore, almost half (49.7%) embodied descriptive study designs. Selected records reported a median of five authors and three different affiliations per publication; 66% had been cited at least once up to September 2017. The most-studied cancer-specific locations were cervix (16.1%), breast (11.5%), and stomach (9.8%), but nonspecific locations had the largest combined participation (23.4%). An increasing trend in scientific productivity was correlated to decreasing trend in overall cancer mortality, which was reported as an inverse proportional relationship in the linear regression modeling (r = -0.958; P < .001). Graphic analyses per cancer-specific sites revealed heterogeneous behaviors of this relationship. CONCLUSION: Colombian cancer-specific scientific productivity demonstrated a steady growth as opposed to a decreasing mortality trend in the recent years. The research output is predominantly descriptive with relatively low interinstitutional partnership and low impact in the international scientific community.
Subject(s)
Neoplasms/mortality , Colombia , HumansABSTRACT
Resumen Antecedentes. El tumor neuroectodérmico primitivo (TNEP) de la pared torácica o Tumor de Askin, es un tumor maligno clasificado dentro de los TNEP periféricos y perteneciente a los tumores de la familia del sarcoma de Ewing (FSE). Este tipo de neoplasia de la región toracopulmonar es muy poco frecuente y suele presentarse con mayor frecuencia en la población pediátrica. Objetivo. Describir algunas características de pacientes con Tumor de Askin de la Fundación Hospital La Misericordia. Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un análisis retrospectivo de los casos atendidos en una sola institución, Fundación Hospital de la Misericordia, en un lapso de 16 años. Resultados. Se encontraron 8 pacientes, 7 varones, 4 con metástasis al diagnóstico, 2 en pulmón y 2 en hueso, a 2 se les hizo resección quirúrgica completa del tumor al diagnóstico, los demás pacientes fueron llevados a biopsia y quimioterapia citoreductora previa a la cirugía para resección tumoral. Todos recibieron quimioterapia con protocolos para Sarcoma de Ewing y radioterapia en 6 casos. A la fecha están vivos 5 pacientes (62%) con una mediana de seguimiento de 32 meses; 3 de ellos tenían metástasis en el diagnóstico. De los 3 pacientes muertos, 2 no tenían metástasis en el diagnóstico, ambos recayeron y fallecieron por progresión de enfermedad; el otro abandonó el tratamiento a los 6 meses del diagnóstico. Dos pacientes en recaída recibieron quimioterapia de 2 líneas a altas dosis con rescate autólogo, uno está vivo y el otro falleció por progresión de la enfermedad. Conclusión. Se describieron las características clínicas, de laboratorio, diagnóstico, tratamiento y pronóstico de este grupo de pacientes.
Summary Background. The primitive neuroectodermal tumor (TNEP) of the chest wall, or Askin tumor, is a malignant neoplasia classified within the Ewing family of tumours (FSE). This particular type of malignancy of the chest wall is rare and usually appears in the pediatric population. Objective. Describe some characteristics of patients with Askin tumor of the Fundacion Hospital de La Misericordia. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of cases treated at a single institution, Fundación Hospital de la Misericordia, in a 16 years period was performed. Results. 8 patients were found, 7 boys, 4 with metastases at the diagnosis, 2 in lungs and 2 in bone, 2 underwent surgery at diagnosis. For the other 6 patients surgical resection was done after chemotherapy. All patients received chemotherapy and 6 received radiotherapy. To date, 5 patients are alive (62 %) with a median follow up of 32 months; 3 of them had metastases at diagnosis. 3 patients died, 2 of which had no metastases in the diagnosis, both relapsed and died of disease progression, the other abandoned treatment at 6 months after diagnosis. Other 2 patients that relapsed received chemotherapy plus autologous transplant, one is alive and the other one died due to disease progression. Conclusion. Clinical, laboratory, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis characteristics of this patient group were described.
