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Preoperative radiotherapy combined with total mesorectal excision (TME) has provided excellent local control in the treatment of rectal cancer. This study is a review of patients treated at our regional cancer center from 1998 to 2004. The results were compared with a similar study carried out in our region from 1988 to 1998 to determine any changes in treatment methods, recurrence rates, and survival. A retrospective review of 448 patients treated with definitive surgery for rectal cancer was conducted. Patient factors analyzed included sex, age, type of surgery, and adjuvant strategy. Tumor factors analyzed included level, stage, and grade. The presence of local recurrence was recorded and overall survival was determined. The local recurrence rate was 8.3% compared with 12.7% in the previous study. Patients treated with preoperative radiotherapy had a recurrence rate of 3.7%. The type of surgical therapy had no significant effect on local recurrence. There was no significant change in overall survival between the present study and the previous one. Preoperative radiotherapy is used more frequently in our region and has resulted in a decrease in the local recurrence rate compared to our previous retrospective review. There was no change in local recurrence seen in those patients treated with operative management alone. This study supports the use of preoperative radiotherapy in the management of rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Reported local recurrence rates for rectal cancer are significantly reduced using a combination of superior surgical technique, in the form of total mesorectal excision, and routine radiotherapy. In an attempt to determine the effectiveness of current local management strategies, a review of Vancouver Island Cancer Centre patients with rectal cancer was performed and the overall local recurrence rate was identified. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 272 rectal cancer patients from 1988 to 1998. Two hundred and twenty-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Analysis of patient factors included age, gender, type of surgery, and adjuvant therapy. Tumors were assessed for level, stage, and grade. Local recurrence and distant metastases were also documented. Variables influencing local recurrence in this group were identified and disease-free and actuarial survival determined. RESULTS: Of 229 patients analyzed, 12.7% (29) had local recurrences. Variables influencing local recurrence were number of positive lymph nodes, vascular invasion, and neural invasion. There was no significant difference in local recurrence between patients having anterior resection and those having abdominoperineal resection. None of the patients who received preoperative radiotherapy had a local recurrence. Actuarial disease-free survival was 87% at 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Limiting local recurrence is one of the most important goals in the treatment of rectal cancer. It is essential to identify those patients with “high risk” tumors as identified by endorectal ultrasound or pathologic features. These patients comprise the group most likely to benefit from a routine mesorectal excision combined with adjuvant radiotherapy.

In treating patients with cancer, the dose intensity of chemotherapeutic drugs, defined as the dose of drug per unit of time, may be a determinant of their response 1 . Because non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with aggressive histologic features is a chemotherapy-sensitive tumor, 2 – 8 increasing the dose intensity may improve outcome 9 . Support for this suggestion has come from a comparison of case-series results, 9 a meta-analysis using calculated measures of dose intensity, 10 and retrospective assessments of the received dose intensity 11 , 12 . However, these analyses have methodologic limitations, 10 and no randomized trials directly comparing regimens that differ only in dose intensity have been . . .

Late recurrence of nonseminomatous germ cell tumours of the testis is rare. The authors report on a 35-year-old man treated initially for embryonal cell carcinoma of the testis with metastases, who presented 12 years later with an increasing serum alpha-fetoprotein level and a biopsy-proven embryonal cell cancer in the hilus of the left lung. Because the tumour was highly resistant to two separate courses of cis-platinum-based chemotherapy and one course of radiotherapy, surgical resection for salvage was carried out. The patient was free of disease 3.5 years after the second operation. The possible reasons for the occurrence of this highly resistant metastatic testicular cancer are discussed. They include a second primary tumour and malignant degeneration of the original tumour. In this patient the latter cause was the most plausible.

Background Hospitals expanded critical care capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic by treating COVID-19 patients with high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNC) in non-traditional settings, including general internal medicine (GIM) wards. The impact of this practice on intensive care unit (ICU) capacity is unknown. Objective To describe how our hospital operationalized the use of HFNC on GIM wards, assess its impact on ICU capacity, and examine the characteristics and outcomes of treated patients. Design Retrospective cohort study of all patients treated with HFNC on GIM wards at a Canadian tertiary care hospital. Participants All patients admitted with COVID-19 and treated with HFNC on GIM wards from December 28, 2020, to June 13, 2021, were included. Main Measures We combined administrative data on critical care occupancy daily with chart-abstracted data for included patients to establish the total number of patients receiving ICU-level care at our hospital per day. We also collected data on demographics, medical comorbidities, illness severity, COVID-19 treatments, HFNC care processes, and patient outcomes. Key Results We treated 124 patients with HFNC on the GIM wards (median age 66 years; 48% female). Patients were treated with HFNC for a median of 5 days (IQR 3 to 8); collectively, they received HFNC for a total of 740 hospital days, 71% of which were on GIM wards. At peak ICU capacity strain (144%), delivering HFNC on GIM wards added 20% to overall ICU capacity by managing up to 14 patients per day. Patients required a median maximal fraction of inspired oxygen of 80% (IQR 60 to 95). There were 18 deaths (15%) and 85 patients (69%) required critical care admission; of those, 40 (47%) required mechanical ventilation. Conclusions With appropriate training and resources, treatment of COVID-19 patients with HFNC on GIM wards appears to be a feasible strategy to increase critical care capacity.

Background With rising healthcare costs and a focus on quality, there is a growing need to promote resource stewardship in medical education. Physicians need to be able to communicate effectively with patients/caregivers seeking tests and treatments that are unnecessary. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an interactive workshop on residents’ knowledge of resource stewardship and communication skills when counseling patients/caregivers about requests for unnecessary testing. Methods Participants were 83 Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residents at the University of Toronto in 2014–15. The evaluation compared resource stewardship knowledge and communication skills of 57 (69%) residents that attended the resource stewardship workshop to 26 residents (31%) who did not. Knowledge and communication skills assessment consisted of a written test and a structured assessment using standardized patient raters, respectively. A linear regression was applied to determine predictors of overall communication skills performance. Results Workshop attendance resulted in better performance on the knowledge test (4.3 ± 1.9 vs. 3.1 ± 1.7 out of 8, p  = 0.01), but not better performance on the communication skills assessment (4.1 ± 0.8 vs. 4.0 ± 0.9 out of 5, p  = 0.56). Higher training level ( p  = 0.01) and knowledge test scores ( p  = 0.046) were independent predictors of better overall communication skills, after adjusting for gender, training level, workshop attendance, knowledge and self-reported prior feedback on communication skills. Conclusions An interactive workshop can improve knowledge of resource stewardship, but improving communication skills with patients/caregivers about unnecessary testing may require additional training or reinforcement in the clinical learning environment. These teaching and assessment approaches can support the integration of education on resource stewardship into medical education.

Appropriate use criteria (AUC) for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were developed to address concerns regarding inappropriate use of TTE. A previous pilot study suggests that an educational and feedback intervention can reduce inappropriate TTEs ordered by physicians in training. It is unknown if this type of intervention will be effective when targeted at attending level physicians in a variety of clinical settings. The aim of this international, multicenter study is to evaluate the hypothesis that an AUC-based educational and feedback intervention will reduce the proportion of inappropriate echocardiograms ordered by attending physicians in the ambulatory environment. In an ongoing multicentered, investigator-blinded, randomized controlled trial across Canada and the United States, cardiologists and primary care physicians practicing in the ambulatory setting will be enrolled. The intervention arm will receive (1) a lecture outlining the AUC and most recent available evidence highlighting appropriate use of TTE, (2) access to the American Society of Echocardiography mobile phone app, and (3) individualized feedback reports e-mailed monthly summarizing TTE ordering behavior including information on inappropriate TTEs and brief explanations of the inappropriate designation. The control group will receive no education on TTE appropriate use and order TTEs as usual practice. The Echo WISELY (Will Inappropriate Scenarios for Echocardiography Lessen Significantly in an education RCT) study is the first multicenter randomized trial of an AUC-based educational intervention. The study will examine whether an education and feedback intervention will reduce the rate of outpatient inappropriate TTEs ordered by attending level cardiologists and primary care physicians (www.clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02038101).