Melanoma in Singapore: A 20-year review of disease and treatment outcomes

INTRODUCTION@#Melanomas in Asians have different clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis from melanomas in Caucasians. This study reviewed the epidemiology and treatment outcomes of cutaneous melanoma diagnosed at a tertiary referral dermatology centre in Singapore, which has a multiracial population. The study also determined whether Asians had comparable relapse-free and overall survival periods to Caucasians in Singapore.@*METHOD@#This is a retrospective review of cutaneous melanoma cases in our centre between 1996 and 2015.@*RESULTS@#Sixty-two cases of melanoma were diagnosed in 61 patients: 72.6% occurred in Chinese, 19.4% in Caucasians and 3.2% in Indians, with an over-representation of Caucasians. Superficial spreading melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma and nodular melanoma comprised 37.1%, 35.5% and 22.6% of the cases, respectively. The median time interval to diagnosis was longer in Asians than Caucasians; median Breslow's thickness in Asians were significantly thicker than in Caucasians (2.6mm versus 0.9mm, @*CONCLUSION@#More physician and patient education on skin cancer awareness is needed in our Asian-predominant population for better outcomes.

Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in gastrointestinal cancers: fad or standard of care?

Peritoneal metastases (PM) are the common endpoint for patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers. PM from these cancers are often managed in a similar fashion to other sites of systemic metastases, but the following must be taken into consideration. (a) PM do not respond to systemic chemotherapy in the same fashion as liver and lung metastases. (b) PM cause local problems, resulting in disruption of chemotherapy. (c) Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) actually work for PM. (d) PM are not easily detected on imaging modalities. There has been mounting evidence of the effectiveness of CRS-HIPEC at prolonging survival in selected patients with colorectal and gastric PM, but there remains a reluctance to explore this treatment modality. This is likely because of the perceived morbidity and mortality. An effective management strategy employing CRS-HIPEC for selected patients with gastrointestinal PM can only be achieved if a concerted effort is made to understand this disease and address the concerns regarding this treatment.

Revision of loop colostomy under regional anaesthesia and sedation

Patients presenting for emergency abdominal procedures often have medical issues that cause both general anaesthesia and central neuraxial blockade to pose significant risks. Regional anaesthetic techniques are often used adjunctively for abdominal procedures under general anaesthesia, but there is limited published data on procedures done under peripheral nerve or plexus blocks. We herein report the case of a patient with recent pulmonary embolism and supraventricular tachycardia who required colostomy refashioning. Ultrasonography-guided regional anaesthesia was administered using a combination of ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric, rectus sheath and transversus abdominis plane blocks. This was supplemented with propofol and dexmedetomidine sedation as well as intermittent fentanyl and ketamine boluses to cover for visceral stimulation. We discuss the anatomical rationale for the choice of blocks and compare the anaesthetic conduct with similar cases that were previously reported.