Human Immunodeficiency Virus Is Associated With Poor Overall Survival Among Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) occurs at higher rates among persons with HIV (PWH). This study compares the impact of sociodemographic and clinicopathologic characteristics on outcomes among PWH-HNSCC compared with HNSCC patients without HIV. METHODS: Patient data from HNSCC individuals were collected at a single academic hospital center between 2002 and 2018. Forty-eight patients with HIV (HIV-HNSCC) and 2894 HNSCC patients without HIV were included. Multivariate analysis determined predictors of survival using Cox proportional hazards regression model. HIV-positive and -negative tumors were analyzed by quantitative immunofluorescence for expression of CD4, CD8, CD20 and PD-L1. RESULTS: HIV-HNSCC patients had a lower median overall survival than HNSCC patients without HIV (34 [18-84] vs 94 [86-103] months; P < .001). In multivariate analysis that included age, sex, race/ethnicity, stage, site, tobacco use, time to treatment initiation, and insurance status, HIV was an independent predictor of poorer survival, with a hazard ratio of 1.98 (95% CI: 1.32-2.97; P < .001). PWH with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal tumors also had worse prognosis than HPV-positive oropharyngeal tumors in the population without HIV (P < .001). The tumor microenvironment among HIV-HNSCC patients revealed lower intratumoral CD8 infiltration among HIV+ HPV+ tumors compared with HIV- HPV+ tumors (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: HIV-HNSCC patients had worse prognosis than the non-HIV population, with HIV being an independent predictor of poor clinical outcomes when accounting for important sociodemographic and clinicopathologic factors. Our findings highlight differences in tumor biology that require further detailed characterization in large cohorts and increased inclusion of PWH in immunotherapy trials.

Decreased Overall Survival in HIV-associated Non-small-cell Lung Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to compare demographics, disease characteristics, and outcomes of patients with HIV-infection with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with the general NSCLC population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was used to compare the HIV-infected and -uninfected groups. Medical records of all patients who were HIV-positive diagnosed with NSCLC between 2000 and 2016 at Yale New Haven Hospital (New Haven, CT) were reviewed and compared with the general Yale NSCLC population regarding demographics, NSCLC characteristics, treatment, and survival. Log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze survival differences. Unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess predictors of survival. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients with HIV-NSCLC and 5187 general patients with NSCLC were identified. The median age at cancer diagnosis was 54 years (interquartile range [IQR], 49-59 years) for patients with HIV-NSCLC versus 68 years (IQR, 61-76 years) for patients with NSCLC (P < .001). Both groups had high rates of tobacco use. At the time of NSCLC diagnosis, 80% of patients with HIV-NSCLC were on antiretroviral therapy, 60% had an HIV-1 RNA < 400 copies/mL, and their median CD4 was 407 cells/µL (IQR, 218-592 cells/µL). Histology, cancer stage, and first-line cancer treatment regimens were not significantly different between groups. The overall median survival was 12.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.2-20.4 months) for patients with HIV-NSCLC versus 22.8 months (95% CI, 21.2-24.1 months) for general patients with NSCLC. Patients with HIV-NSCLC had decreased survival at 2 years (P = .028) and 3 years (P = .014) compared with general patients with NSCLC. HIV status was an independent risk factor for poorer outcomes when controlling for other factors (hazard ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.24-2.62). CONCLUSION: Despite similar histology, stage, and treatment between groups, patients with HIV had worse outcomes for NSCLC.

Long-Term Survival of De Novo Stage IV Human Epidermal Growth Receptor 2 (HER2) Positive Breast Cancers Treated with HER2-Targeted Therapy.

BACKGROUND: An increasing proportion of human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is diagnosed as de novo stage IV disease. We hypothesize that a subset of these patients who achieve no evidence of disease (NED) status after multimodality HER2-targeted treatments may have prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with de novo stage IV, HER2+ MBC (n = 483) diagnosed between 1998 and 2015 were identified at two institutions (Yale and MD Anderson Cancer Centers). Clinical variables, treatment details, and survival outcomes were compared between those who achieved NED and those who did not. RESULTS: All patients received trastuzumab, and 20% also received pertuzumab as first-line therapy. The median OS was 5.5 years (95% confidence interval [Cl]: 4.8-6.2). Sixty-three patients (13.0%) achieved NED; their PFS and OS rates were 100% and 98% (95% CI: 94.6%-100%), respectively, at 5 years and remained the same at 10 years. For patients with no NED (n = 420), the PFS and OS rates were 12% (95% CI: 4.5%-30.4%) and 45% (95% CI: 38.4%-52.0%) at 5 years and 0% and 4% (95% CI, 1.3%-13.2%) at 10 years, respectively. NED patients more frequently had solitary metastasis (79% vs. 51%, p = .005) and surgery to resect cancer (59% vs. 22%, p ≤ .001). In multivariate analysis, NED status (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.014, p = .0002) and estrogen receptor positive status (HR: 0.72; p = .04) were associated with prolonged OS. CONCLUSION: Among patients with de novo stage IV, HER2+ MBC, those who achieve NED status have a very high PFS and OS. Further randomized studies are required to fully understand the impact of systemic or locoregional therapy on achieving these excellent long-term outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: In this retrospective review at two institutions, it was demonstrated that 13% of patients with de novo stage IV, human epidermal growth receptor 2 positive metastatic breast cancer achieved no evidence of disease (NED) status with trastuzumab-based therapy plus/minus local therapies, and these patients had a very high progression-free survival (100%) and overall survival (98%) at both the 5- and 10-year time points. Achieving NED status may be an important therapeutic goal. However, further randomized studies are required to fully understand the impact of systemic or locoregional therapy on achieving these excellent long-term outcomes.

Development of Imminent Mortality Predictor for Advanced Cancer (IMPAC), a Tool to Predict Short-Term Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With Advanced Cancer.

PURPOSE: End-of-life care for patients with advanced cancer is aggressive and costly. Oncologists inconsistently estimate life expectancy and address goals of care. Currently available prognostication tools are based on subjective clinical assessment. An objective prognostic tool could help oncologists and patients decide on a realistic plan for end-of-life care. We developed a predictive model (Imminent Mortality Predictor in Advanced Cancer [IMPAC]) for short-term mortality in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: Electronic health record data from 669 patients with advanced cancer who were discharged from Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital were extracted. Statistical learning techniques were used to develop a tool to estimate survival probabilities. Patients were randomly split into training (70%) and validation (30%) sets 20 times. We tested the predictive properties of IMPAC for mortality at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days past the day of admission. RESULTS: For mortality within 90 days at a 40% sensitivity level, IMPAC has close to 60% positive predictive value. Patients estimated to have a greater than 50% chance of death within 90 days had a median survival time of 47 days. Patients estimated to have a less than 50% chance of death had a median survival of 290 days. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for IMPAC averaged greater than .70 for all time horizons tested. Estimated potential cost savings per patient was $15,413 (95% CI, $9,162 to $21,665) in 2014 constant dollars. CONCLUSION: IMPAC, a novel prognostic tool, can generate life expectancy probabilities in real time and support oncologists in counseling patients about end-of-life care. Potentially avoidable costs are significant.

Electronic Intervention to Improve Structured Cancer Stage Data Capture.

PURPOSE: Cancer staging is critical for prognostication, treatment planning, and determining clinical trial eligibility. Electronic health records (EHRs) have structured staging modules, but physician use is inconsistent. Typically, stage is entered as unstructured free text in clinical notes and cannot easily be used for reporting. METHODS: We created an Epic Best Practice Advisory (BPA) decision support tool that requires physicians to enter cancer stage in a structured module. If certain conditions are met, the BPA is triggered as a hard stop, and the physician cannot chart until staging is complete or a reason for not staging is selected. We used Plan, Do, Study, Act methodology to inform the intervention and compared preexisting staging rates to rates at 4, 8, and 12 months postintervention. RESULTS: For 12 months before BPA implementation, 1,480 of 5,222 (28%) patients had cancer stage structured within the Epic problem list. From 1 to 4 months after the BPA 2,057 of 1,788 (115%) cases were staged in Epic. In the 5- to 8-month period after the BPA, 1,057 of 1,893 (56%) cases were staged, and 9 to 12 months after the BPA 1,082 of 1,817 (60%) were staged. CONCLUSION: Electronic decision support improves the rate of structured cancer staging at our institution. The staging rates between 56% and 60% for the 5- to 8-month and 9- to 12-month periods likely reflect accurate postintervention staging rates, whereas the initial 115% rate for 1 to 4 months is inflated by providers staging cancers diagnosed before the BPA.

Incidencia de las cardiopatías congénitas en el menor de un año. Villa Clara. 1998-2002 / Incidence of congenital heart disease in the minor of a year old. Villa Clara. 1998-2002

Introducción: Se evaluó la incidencia de cardiopatías congénitas en 50.432 recién nacidos vivos en el período entre 1/1/1998 a 31/12/2002 en la provincia de Villa Clara, Cuba. Métodos: En todos los niños que se sospechó clínicamente la existencia de cardiopatía congénita se les realizó ecocardiograma. El cateterismo cardíaco y el tratamiento quirúrgico se realizó por determinación del cardiólogo pediatra del paciente. Se realizó necropsia a todos los fallecidos. Los niños con cardiopatía congénita fueron registrados en una base de datos computarizada y fueron seguidos durante su primer año de vida. Resultados: Se diagnosticaron 466 niños con cardiopatía congénita de un total de 50.432 para una incidencia de 9.24/1.000 nacidos vivos cercano a lo estimado mundialmente. Conclusiones: Esta incidencia se debe a la estructura y funcionamiento de nuestra red cardiopediátrica donde son evaluados todos los pacientes sospechosos y enviados a la consulta provincial de cardiología pediátrica y seguidos por el mismo grupo, los servicios gratuitos de salud y el examen ecocardiográfico a todo niño con diagnóstico clínico de cardiopatía congénita. La persistencia del conducto arterioso y la comunicación interventricular turvieron una elevada incidencia debido a su temprano diagnóstico antes de su cierre espontáneo. Palabras claves: Cardiopatías congénitas/ incidencia.

Incidencia de las cardiopatías congénitas en el menor de un año: Villa Clara, 1998-2002 / Incidence of congenital cardiopathies in infants under 1 year of age: Villa Clara, 1998-2002

Se evaluó la incidencia de cardiopatías congénitas en 50 432 recién nacidos vivos en el período entre enero de 1998 a diciembre del 2002 en la provincia de Villa Clara, Cuba.En todos los niños que se sospechó clínicamente la existencia de crdiopatía congénita se les realizó ecocrdiograma. El cateterismo cardíaco y el tratamiento quirúrgico se realizó por determinación del cardiólogo pediátra del paciente. Se realizó necropsia a todos los fallecidos. Los niños con cardiopatía congénita fueron registrados en una base de datos computarizada y fueron seguidos durante su primer año de vida. Se diagnosticaron 466 niños con cardiopatía congénita de un total de 50 432 para una incidencia de 9.24 por 1000 nacidos vivos cercano a lo estudiado mundialmente. Esta incidencia se debe a la estructura y funcionamiento de nuestra red cardiopediátrica donde son evaluados todos los pacientes sospechosos y enviados a la consulta provincial de cardiología pediátrica y seguidos por el mismo grupo, los servicios gratuitos de salud y el examen ecocardiográfico a todo niño con diagnóstico clínico de cardiopatía congénita(AU)