The effect of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in renal surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of ERAS on a textbook outcome (TO) after elective renal surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective study of all patients who underwent a robot-assisted laparoscopic partial or radical nephrectomy or robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy in Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), Enschede, the Netherlands. In total, 277 patients were included. 66 patients from 2018 to 2021 (pre-ERAS group) and 211 patients from 2021 to 2023 (ERAS group). TO is a maximum of two nights in the hospital after surgery, no severe complications during or after surgery ≥ grade IIIb, no blood transfusions, no intensive care, no readmissions, and no mortality within 30 days after surgery. Comparisons were made between the pre-ERAS and ERAS groups using unpaired t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, the chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Multivariate logistic regression was used to adjust for possible confounding. RESULTS: TO was significantly (p = 0.005) better in the ERAS group (TO = 76.8%) compared to the pre-ERAS group (TO = 59.1%). Compared to a pre-ERAS patient, the adjusted odds ratio for achieving a TO as an ERAS patient is 2.1 (95% CI 1.15-3.78). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of ERAS showed a positive effect on the TO of elective renal surgery patients.

Correction: Lebbink et al. Opposite Incidence Trends for Differentiated and Medullary Thyroid Cancer in Young Dutch Patients over a 30-Year Time Span. Cancers 2021, 13, 5104.

Error in Figure/Table [...].

Opposite Incidence Trends for Differentiated and Medullary Thyroid Cancer in Young Dutch Patients over a 30-Year Time Span.

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in children. A rising incidence has been reported worldwide. Possible explanations include the increased use of enhanced imaging (leading to incidentalomas) and an increased prevalence of risk factors. We aimed to evaluate the incidence and survival trends of thyroid cancer in Dutch children, adolescents, and young adults (0-24 years) between 1990 and 2019. The age-standardized incidence rates of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC, including papillary and follicular thyroid cancer (PTC and FTC, respectively)) and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), the average annual percentage changes (AAPC) in incidence rates, and 10-year overall survival (OS) were calculated based on data obtained from the nationwide cancer registry (Netherlands Cancer Registry). A total of 839 patients aged 0-24 years had been diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma (PTC: 594 (71%), FTC: 128 (15%), MTC: 114 (14%)) between 1990 and 2019. The incidence of PTC increased significantly over time (AAPC +3.6%; 95%CI +2.3 to +4.8), the incidence rate of FTC showed a stable trend ((AAPC -1.1%; 95%CI -3.4 to +1.1), while the incidence of MTC decreased significantly (AAPC: -4.4% (95%CI -7.3 to -1.5). The 10-year OS was 99.5% (1990-1999) and 98.6% (2000-2009) in patients with DTC and 92.4% (1990-1999) and 96.0% (2000-2009) in patients with MTC. In this nationwide study, a rising incidence of PTC and decreasing incidence of MTC were observed. For both groups, in spite of the high proportion of patients with lymph node involvement at diagnosis for DTC and the limited treatment options for MTC, 10-year OS was high.

Survival after locoregional recurrence or second primary breast cancer: impact of the disease-free interval.

The association between the disease-free interval (DFI) and survival after a locoregional recurrence (LRR) or second primary (SP) breast cancer remains uncertain. The objective of this study is to clarify this association to obtain more information on expected prognosis. Women first diagnosed with early breast cancer between 2003-2006 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. LRRs and SP tumours within five years of first diagnosis were examined. The five-year period was subsequently divided into three equal intervals. Prognostic significance of the DFI on survival after a LRR or SP tumour was determined using Kaplan-Meier estimates and multivariable Cox regression analysis. Follow-up was complete until January 1, 2014. A total of 37,278 women was included in the analysis. LRRs or SP tumours were diagnosed in 890 (2,4%) and 897 (2,4%) respectively. Longer DFI was strongly and independently related to an improved survival after a LRR (long versus short: HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.48-0.88; medium versus short HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.65-1.01). Other factors related to improved survival after LRR were younger age (<70 years) and surgical removal of the recurrence. No significant association was found between DFI and survival after SP tumours. This is the first study to explore the association between the DFI and survival after recurrence in a nationwide population-based cancer registry. The DFI before a LRR is an independent prognostic factor for survival, with a longer DFI predicting better prognosis.

Attending the breast screening programme after breast cancer treatment: a population-based study.

INTRODUCTION: In the Netherlands, breast cancer patients are treated and followed at least 5 years after diagnosis. Furthermore, all women aged 50-74 are invited biennially for mammography by the nationwide screening programme. The relation between the outpatient follow-up (follow-up visits in the outpatient clinic for 5 years after treatment) and the screening programme is not well established and attending the screening programme as well as outpatient follow-up is considered undesirable. This study evaluates potential factors influencing women to attend the screening programme during their outpatient follow-up (overlap) and the (re-)attendance to the screening programme after 5 years of outpatient follow-up. METHODS: Data of breast cancer patients aged 50-74 years, treated for primary breast cancer between 1996 and 2007 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and linked to the National Breast Cancer Screening Programme in the Northern region. Cox regression analyses were used to study women (re-)attending the screening programme over time, possible overlap with the outpatient follow-up and factors influencing this. RESULTS: In total 11227 breast cancer patients were included, of whom 19% attended the screening programme after breast cancer treatment, 4.4% within 5 years and 15.4% after more than 5 years. Factors that independently influenced attendance within 5 years as well as more than 5 years after treatment were: interval tumours (HR 0.77; 95%CI 0.61-0.97 and HR 0.69; 95%CI 0.53-0.88, ref: screen-detected tumours), receiving adjuvant radiotherapy (HR 0.65; 95%CI 0.47-0.90 and HR 0.66; 95%CI 0.47-0.93; ref: none) and diagnosis of in situ tumours (HR 1.67; 95%CI 1.25-2.23 and HR 1.39; 95%CI 1.05-1.85; ref: stage I tumours). Non-screen related tumours (HR 0.41; 95%CI 0.29-0.58) and recent diagnosis (HR 0.89 per year; 95%CI 0.86-0.92) were only associated with attendance within 5 years after treatment. CONCLUSION: The interrelation between outpatient follow-up and screening should be improved to avoid overlap and low attendance to the screening programme after outpatient follow-up. Breast cancer patients should be informed that attending the screening programme during the outpatient follow-up is not necessary.

A validated web-based nomogram for predicting positive surgical margins following breast-conserving surgery as a preoperative tool for clinical decision-making.

BACKGROUND: Breast-conserving therapy, consisting of lumpectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy, is considered standard treatment for early-stage breast cancer. One of the most important risk factors of local recurrence is the presence of positive surgical margins following lumpectomy. We aimed to develop and validate a predictive model (nomogram) to predict for positive margins following the first attempt at lumpectomy as a preoperative tool for clinical decision-making. METHODS: Patients with clinical T1-2N0-1Mx-0 histology-proven invasive breast carcinoma who underwent BCT throughout the North-East region of The Netherlands between June 2008 and July 2009 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (n = 1185). Results from multivariate logistic regression analyses served as the basis for development of the nomogram. Nomogram calibration and discrimination were assessed graphically and by calculation of a concordance index, respectively. Nomogram performance was validated on an external independent dataset (n = 331) from the University Medical Center Groningen. RESULTS: The final multivariate regression model included clinical, radiological, and pathological variables. Concordance indices were calculated of 0.70 (95% CI: 0.66-0.74) and 0.69 (95% CI: 0.63-0.76) for the modeling and the validation group, respectively. Calibration of the model was considered adequate in both groups. A nomogram was developed as a graphical representation of the model. Moreover, a web-based application (http://www.breastconservation.com) was build to facilitate the use of our nomogram in a clinical setting. CONCLUSION: We developed and validated a nomogram that enables estimation of the preoperative risk of positive margins in breast-conserving surgery. Our nomogram provides a valuable tool for identifying high-risk patients who might benefit from preoperative MRI and/or oncoplastic surgery.

Availability of stage at diagnosis, cancer treatment delay and compliance with cancer guidelines as cancer registry indicators for cancer care in Europe: Results of EUROCHIP-3 survey.

EUROCHIP (European Cancer Health Indicators Project) focuses on understanding inequalities in the cancer burden, care and survival by the indicators "stage at diagnosis," "cancer treatment delay" and "compliance with cancer guidelines" as the most important indicators. Our study aims at providing insight in whether cancer registries collect well-defined variables to determine these indicators in a comparative way. Eighty-six general European population-based cancer registries (PBCR) from 32 countries responded to the questionnaire, which was developed by EUROCHIP in collaboration with ENCR (European Network of Cancer Registries) and EUROCOURSE. Only 15% of all the PBCR in EU had all three indicators available. The indicator "stage at diagnosis" was gathered for at least one cancer site by 81% (using TNM in 39%). Variables for the indicator "cancer treatment delay" were collected by 37%. Availability of type of treatment (30%), surgery date (36%), starting date of radiotherapy (26%) and starting date of chemotherapy (23%) resulted in 15% of the PBCRs to be able to gather the indicator "compliance to guidelines". Lack of data source access and qualified staff were the major reasons for not collecting all the variables. In conclusion, based on self-reporting, a few of the participating PBCRs had data available which could be used for clinical audits, evaluation of cancer care projects, survival and for monitoring national cancer control strategies. Extra efforts should be made to improve this very efficient tool to compare cancer burden and the effects of the national cancer plans over Europe and to learn from each other.

Histological type is not an independent prognostic factor for the risk pattern of breast cancer recurrences.

Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is less common than invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) and appears to have a distinct biology. Inconsistent findings regarding disease-free survival (DFS) are probably due to the fact that histologic type is related to hormone receptor status. This study aims to determine whether the type of the primary breast cancer histology is an independent prognostic factor for DFS, the risk pattern of loco-regional recurrences and distant metastases (DM), and whether it is a prognostic factor for the site of DM. All Dutch women diagnosed between 2003 and 2005 with ILC (n = 2,949) or IDC (n = 22,378) were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. DFS was assessed using proportional hazard regression analysis. Compared to patients with IDC, those with ILC were significantly older and more likely to have more than three positive lymph nodes and have larger, better differentiated, more multifocal, and hormone receptor positive tumors (all P < 0.001). ILC was more likely to metastasize to the gastrointestinal organs and bones and less likely to the lung, central nervous system, and lymph nodes. Within the ER+PR+ and ER+PR- subgroups ILC was still more likely to metastasize to gastrointestinal organs and less likely to the lung. The timing of recurrence was correlated to hormone receptor status, independent of histological type. Highest risks were observed among ER-PR- patients within 2 years of surgery. Multivariable analysis showed that histological type is not an independent significant prognostic factor of DFS for the first 3 years post-surgery and thereafter (<3 years HR 0.91, 95 % CI 0.78-1.06, >3 years HR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.88-1.30). Histological type should not be considered an important prognostic factor for the risk and risk pattern of recurrences.