An overview of Clinical Quality Registries (CQRs) on gynecological oncology worldwide.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical Quality Registries (CQRs) were initiated in order to compare clinical outcomes between hospitals or regions within a country. To get an overview of these CQRs worldwide the aim of this study was to identify these CQRs for gynecological oncology and to summarize their characteristics, processes and QI's and to establish whether it is feasible to make an international comparison in the future. METHODS: To identify CQRs in gynecological oncology a literature search in Pubmed was performed. All papers describing the use of a CQR were included. Administrative, epidemiological and cancer registries were excluded as these registries do not primarily serve to measure quality of care through QI's. The taskforce or contact person of the included CQR were asked to participate and share information on registered items, processes and indicators. RESULTS: Five nations agreed to collaborate: Australia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden established a nationwide registry, collecting data on multiple tumor types, and various QI's. Australia and Italy included patients with ovarian cancer only. All nations had a different process to report feedback results to participating hospitals. CONCLUSION: CQRs serve the same purpose to improve quality of care but vary on different aspects. Although similarities are observed in the topics measured by the QI's, an international comparison was not feasible as numerators or denominators differ between registries. In order to compare on an international level it would be useful to harmonize these registries and to set an international standard to measure the quality of care with similar indicators.

Health-related quality of life after interval cytoreductive surgery with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in patients with stage III ovarian cancer.

INTRODUCTION: The addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to interval cytoreductive surgery (CRS) improves recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer. We evaluated the effect of HIPEC on patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the OVHIPEC trial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: OVHIPEC was a multicentre, open-label, randomized phase III trial for patients with stage III ovarian cancer. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive interval CRS with or without HIPEC with cisplatin. HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30, and the ovarian (QLQ-OV28) and colorectal cancer (QLQ-CR38) modules. HRQoL questionnaires were administered at baseline, after surgery, after end of treatment, and every three months thereafter. HRQoL was a secondary endpoint, with the prespecified focus on the QLQ-C30 summary score and symptom scores on fatigue, neuropathy and gastro-intestinal symptoms. HRQoL was analysed using linear and non-linear mixed effect models. RESULTS: In total, 245 patients were randomized. One-hundred-ninety-seven patients (80%) completed at least one questionnaire. No significant difference over time in the QLQ-C30 summary scores was observed between the study arms (p-values for linear and non-linear growth: p > 0.133). The pattern over time for fatigue, neuropathy and gastro-intestinal symptoms did not significantly differ between treatment arms. CONCLUSION: The addition of HIPEC to interval CRS does not negatively impact HRQoL in patients with stage III ovarian cancer who are treated with interval CRS due to the extent of disease. These HRQoL results, together with the improvement in RFS and OS, support the viability of HIPEC as an important treatment option in this patient population. CLINICALTRIALS. GOV NUMBER: NCT00426257. EUDRACT NUMBER: 2006-003466-34.

Comparison of GP5+/6+-PCR and SPF10-line blot assays for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus in samples from women with normal cytology results who develop grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Using a case control approach, we performed a two-way comparison study between GP5+/6+-PCR and HPV SPF(10)-Line Blot 25 (SPF(10)) assays for detection of 14 types of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) in samples from women with normal cytology results who had or developed grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 3). Samples were pooled from two cohorts, i.e., women participating in population-based screening and women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic. Cases (n = 45) were women with histologically confirmed CIN 3 diagnosed within a median follow-up time of 2.7 (range, 0.2 to 7.9) years. Control samples were from women (n = 264) who had developed CIN 1 lesions at maximum (median follow-up at 5.8 [range, 0 to 10] years). Identical numbers of cases tested positive for 1 or more of the 14 hrHPV types by both systems (40/45; McNemar; P = 1.0). Conversely, SPF(10) scored significantly more controls as hrHPV positive than did GP5+/6+-PCR (95/264 versus 29/264; McNemar; P < 0.001). Consequently, women with normal cytology results and an hrHPV GP5+/6+-PCR-positive test exhibited a risk of CIN 3 that was 4.5 times higher (odds ratio [OR], 65; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 24 to 178) than that seen for women with an hrHPV-positive SPF(10) test (OR, 14; 95%CI, 5 to 38)). Similar results were obtained after analysis of both cohorts separately. Discrepancy analysis by viral load assessment for the most common discordant hrHPV types (HPV16, -18, and -52) showed that samples which were SPF(10) positive only for these types had viral loads significantly lower than those for samples that were positive by both assays (analysis of variance; P < or = 0.006). Our data indicate that GP5+/6+-PCR has a better clinical performance than SPF(10) for women who are diagnosed with CIN 3 after prior normal cytology results. The extra positivity scored by SPF(10) mainly involved infections characterized by low viral loads that do not result in CIN 3.

First case of vaginal radical trachelectomy in a pregnant patient.

Women who present with cervical carcinoma during pregnancy pose for us a clinical problem. In general, three treatment options exist: (i) radical hysterectomy with termination of pregnancy, (ii) a planned delay, or (iii) chemotherapy until lung maturation has occurred, both followed by a radical hysterectomy. Vaginal radical trachelectomy is an alternative approach to preserve the pregnancy. We report on a woman with a stage IBI cervical carcinoma, diagnosed at 16 weeks of gestation treated with vaginal radical trachelectomy. At a gestational age of 36 weeks, a cesarean section was performed, followed by radical hysterectomy. Follow-up of 9 months is uneventful for both the mother and the child. The vaginal radical trachelectomy is a new approach in the treatment of cervical carcinoma during pregnancy.

Significant decrease of adenocarcinoma in situ not reflected in cervical adenocarcinoma incidence in the Netherlands 1989-2003.

Over the period 1989-2003, the incidence of cervical adenocarcinoma (n=1615) was stable whereas that of cervical adenocarcinoma in situ (n=1884) significantly decreased (P=0.008), mainly caused by adenocarcinoma in situ lesions with a concurrent squamous dysplasia.

Long-term follow-up after large-loop excision of the transformation zone: evaluation of 22 years treatment of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Early treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) significantly reduces the risk of invasive cancerous progression. Residual and recurrent high-grade CIN should be detected and retreated in an early phase. Therefore, a postsurgery cytologic follow-up protocol was introduced at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and yearly thereafter for 5 years. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term experience in treating high-grade CIN using large-loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ). Additionally, the long-term follow-up in this study gains the opportunity to document the pattern of disease recurrence beyond 5 years. The average follow-up of the 1696 women included in this study was 6.5 years. Overall, 8.5% of the patients who underwent LLETZ showed a high-grade repetitive CIN and three patients had invasive carcinoma. Eighty percent of those lesions were probably residual, whereas 20% of all high-grade repetitive lesions appeared more than 2 years after initial surgery and were considered recurrent lesions. Half of the recurrent lesions occurred more than 5 years after LLETZ.

Fluctuations in prevalence of cervical human papillomavirus in women frequently sampled during a single menstrual cycle.

In the last few years much attention has been focused on the implementation of human papillomavirus detection in population based screening programmes to identify women at risk for cervical cancer. Short-term fluctuations in prevalence of human papillomavirus were investigated within a single menstrual cycle. The highest prevalence was found at the follicular phase (55%), whereas the cumulative prevalence was 75%.