Jill H. Tseng

Lifestyle and weight management counseling in uterine cancer survivors: A study of the uterine cancer action network

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences, attitudes, and preferences of uterine cancer survivors with regard to weight and lifestyle counseling. Materials and Methods Members of the US Uterine Cancer Action Network of the Foundation for Women’s Cancer were invited to complete a 45-item, Web-based survey. Standard descriptive statistical methods and χ2 tests were used to analyze responses. Results One hundred eighty (28.3%) uterine cancer survivors completed the survey. Median age was 58 years, 85% were white, and median survivorship period was 4.4 years. Most had stage I–II disease (69%) and were overweight or obese (65%). Eighty-nine percent of respondents received care by a gynecologic oncologist. Increased respondent body mass index was associated with decreased exercise frequency (P = 0.016). Only 50% of respondents underwent any weight/lifestyle counseling, with those living in the West and Southwest reporting the highest rates (70.8% and 69.2%, P = 0.011). Most who received counseling felt that discussions were motivating, performed in a sensitive manner, and did not undermine the patient–physician relationship. Specific recommendations were rarely offered; there were no reported referrals to weight loss programs or bariatric specialists, and few (6%) reported referrals to nutritionists. Respondents (85%) preferred their gynecologic oncologist address weight using direct, face-to-face counseling with specific recommendations regarding interventions and referral to specialists. Finally, self-reported overweight respondents experienced greater success with weight loss compared to those reporting obesity or morbid obesity (30.8% vs 15.8% vs 12.5%, P = 0.011). Conclusions Uterine cancer survivors reported high obesity, low activity rates, and a desire for substantive weight loss counseling from their gynecologic oncologists. Respondents suggested that current counseling practices are inadequate and incongruent with their needs. Further research to define optimal timing, interventional strategies, and specific recommendations for successful lifestyle changes in this population is warranted.

Ovarian carcinosarcoma: effects of cytoreductive status and platinum-based chemotherapy on survival.

Objective. To define survival patterns of women with ovarian carcinosarcoma based on patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics. Methods/Materials. A single-institution, retrospective analysis of women diagnosed with ovarian carcinosarcoma from February 1993 to May 2009 was performed. Survival was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards ratios and Kaplan Meier tests. Results. Forty-seven cases of primary ovarian carcinosarcoma were identified. Age conveyed an HR 3.28 (95% CI 1.51–7.11, P = 0.003) for death. Compared to Stages I-II, Stage III carried an HR for death of 4.75 (95% CI 1.16–19.4, P = 0.03) and Stage IV disease an HR of 9.13 (95% CI 1.76–47.45, P = 0.009). Compared to those with microscopic residual, women with >1 cm diameter of residual disease after primary cytoreductive surgery had an HR for death of 4.71 (95% CI 1.84–12.09, P = 0.001). At analysis, 59.1% of those who received platinum-based chemotherapy were alive, compared to 23.1% of those who received nonplatinum-based chemotherapy (P = 0.08). Conclusions. Age, stage, and cytoreduction to no gross residual disease are associated with improved survival in women with ovarian carcinosarcoma. Complete surgical cytoreduction should be the goal of surgical management when possible, but the ideal adjuvant treatment regimen remains unclear.

Impact of race and ethnicity on treatment and survival of women with vulvar cancer in the United States

OBJECTIVE To examine racial/ethnic differences in treatment and survival in women diagnosed with invasive vulvar cancer in the United States. METHODS Women with invasive vulvar cancer were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 1/1/92 to 12/31/02. Statistical analysis using Chi-square, Fishers Exact Test, Kaplan-Meier survival methods, and Cox regression proportional hazards models was performed. RESULTS Of the 2357 cases of invasive vulvar cancer included in this study, 1974 (83.8%) were non-Hispanic white, 209 (8.9%) were non-Hispanic black, 119 (5.0%) were Hispanic, and 55 (2.3%) women were of another race/ethnicity. After adjustment for stage, black women were half as likely (OR=0.48, 95% CI 0.31-0. 74) to undergo surgery and 1.7 times more likely (OR=1.67, 95% CI 1.18-2.36) to receive radiation than white women. In multivariable analysis, surgical treatment reduced the risk of death from vulvar cancer by 46% (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.43-0.67), whereas radiation was not shown to impact the risk of death (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.84-1.19), after adjusting for age, race, stage, and grade. There was no significant difference in risk of death by race/ethnicity group after adjusting for the previously described variables. CONCLUSIONS Based on this study, race/ethnicity is not an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in women diagnosed with invasive vulvar cancer, despite differences in treatment modality by race/ethnicity. Further research to define the factors contributing to differences in treatment selection according to race/ethnicity and the resulting impact on quality of life is warranted.

Patterns of FIRST recurrence of stage IIIC1 endometrial cancer with no PARAAORTIC nodal assessment

OBJECTIVE To assess the rates and distribution of first recurrence in patients with FIGO stage IIIC1 endometrial cancer (EC) who did not undergo paraaortic dissection at surgical staging. METHODS We retrospectively selected all (n = 207) stage IIIC1 patients treated at a single institution from 5/1993-1/2017. Sites of first recurrence were identified, disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) calculated, multivariate logistic regression performed to identify factors associated with recurrence. RESULTS Three-year DFS and OS were 66.5% and 85.7%, respectively. The most common histology was endometroid (64.2%). Three-year DFS was 81% (SE±3.8%) endometrioid vs. 39.5% (SE±6.6%) non-endometrioid (P < 0.001). Three-year OS was 96.9% (SE±1.8%) endometrioid vs. 65.6% (SE±6.7%) non-endometrioid (P < 0.001). Sixty-two (30.1%) patients recurred. Patterns of recurrence were: 14 (8.3%) multiple sites, 17 (8.2%) abdominal, 14 (6.8%) extra-abdominal, 17 (8.3%) isolated nodal (8 of these (3.9%) paraaortic). Patients with isolated tumor cells (ITCs) in lymph nodes only had 12/71 (17%) recurrence rate vs. 50/135 (37%) for patients with micro-/macrometastasis. On univariate analysis, grade (HR 4.67 95%CI 1.5-14.5, P = 0.008), histology (HR 4.9 95%CI 2.6-9.3, P < 0.001), myometrial invasion (HR 1.9 95%CI 1.04-3.5, P = 0.04), pelvic washing (HR 2.2 95%CI 1.1-4.5, P = 0.03), tumor volume in pelvic LNs (ITC vs. micro-/macrometastasis; HR 0.3 95%CI 0.2-0.7, P = 0.003) were associated with recurrence. On multivariate analysis, only histology was associated with recurrence (HR 7.88 95%CI 3.43-18.13, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Isolated paraaortic recurrence in stage IIIC1 EC is uncommon. Micro-/macrometastasis were associated with twice the recurrence rate compared to ITC. These data will help clinicians counsel patients with stage IIIC1 EC regarding paraaortic assessment.

Management of Laparoscopy-Related Complications

The benefits of laparoscopy have been well established and are numerous. However, laparoscopy is not without complications. The overall complication rate ranges from 0.2 to 10.3 %. The rate of complications is clearly correlated with the complexity of the surgery and the skill set and experience of the surgeon. More than half of laparoscopic injuries occur during abdominal entry. Additionally, 20–25 % of complications are not recognized intraoperatively. The complication rate for surgeons who have performed less than 100 laparoscopies is more than four times greater than a surgeon with more experience.