Assessing Completeness of Cancer Treatment Data from an Academic Medical Center's Tumor Registry Through Comparison to the Central Registry

Background

Researchers often rely on hospital tumor registry data to provide comprehensive cancer therapy information. The purpose of this study was to determine the completeness of treatment information found in the abstracted records of patients seen at an academic medical center located in a rural Midwestern state.

Approach

The cohort included 846 Iowa residents diagnosed with a single malignant tumor of the female breast, colon/rectum, lung, pancreas, or prostate in 2017-2018 with an abstract recorded by the academic medical center and at least 1 other hospital. Treatment/no treatment agreement between the academic medical center's abstract and the central registry's consolidated abstract was examined for the following summary variables of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR): surgery of the primary site, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy. Treatment summary variables from the academic medical center abstract that agreed with the corresponding variables from the central registry abstract were classified as concordant. The proportion of concordance for each treatment modality was the outcome measure, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated with the Agresti-Coull method. Concordance was also examined at the specific treatment level.

Results

There was high concordance between the treatment information recorded in the academic medical center and the central registry records. The average proportion of treatment/no treatment agreement across all treatment modalities and cancer sites was 0.97 (SD, 0.02). Concordance remained high even when examining specific treatments (average concordance, 0.95; SD, 0.04). The lowest treatment/no treatment concordance proportion was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.86-0.96) for chemotherapeutic treatment of pancreatic cancer. We also found that the academic medical center's summary variables captured most treatments given at other facilities, ranging from 74.4% capture of immunotherapy to 88.2% capture of surgery of the primary site.

Conclusions

These results indicate that NAACCR-formatted, summary variables from the academic medical center's tumor registry are likely to provide comprehensive treatment information for those individuals diagnosed or treated in this setting. Analyses of either the academic medical record registry records or consolidated records from the central registry should yield similar results. Future research should establish whether similar findings are obtained at other medical centers.

Accuracy of the HPV status site-specific factor 10 (SSF-10) variable for patients with oropharyngeal cancers in the Iowa Cancer Registry, 2010-2014

BACKGROUND

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Cancer Registries (SEER) began collecting human papillomavirus (HPV) status for upper aerodigestive tract cancers in 2010. However, classification of p16-testing was not included in the Collaborative Stage coding guidelines, potentially leading to inconsistent coding.

METHODS

The HPV values for Iowa patients with oropharyngeal cancers (n = 824) were recoded based on modified guidelines that included p16 test results, and compared with the original guidelines.

RESULTS

Forty percent of patients were recoded to a different value, and the HPV testing rate increased from 45% to 55%; 56% received p16-testing only. Of those originally coded as HPV-type 16 (n = 187), 89% were recoded to HPV-not otherwise specified (NOS). When comparing high-level positive/negative/not done categories, original coding captured 81% of patients with HPV-positive cancers.

CONCLUSION

p16 was the most common HPV test but was inconsistently coded as HPV-testing. p16-positivity was also erroneously equated with HPV-type 16. Adding a separate p16 variable would improve consistency and accuracy of HPV coding.

Versatile post-functionalization of the external shell of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus by using click chemistry

We present the modification of the outer protein shell of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) with linear and strained alkyne groups for post-functionalization by click chemistry.

Hybrid polyoxometalates: Keggin and Dawson silyl derivatives as versatile platforms

A new series of polyoxometalate-based hybrids has been synthesized. These covalently linked organic-inorganic materials represent valuable elementary building blocks ready for postfunctionalization, using classical organic reactions and couplings. This approach is exemplified by the grafting of an organic chromophore via a Sonogashira coupling.

Anterior pericardial tracheoplasty for congenital tracheal stenosis: intermediate to long-term outcomes

BACKGROUND

Although several techniques for the treatment of long-segment stenosis of the trachea have been reported, including slide tracheoplasty, rib grafting, and use of a pericardial patch, the optimal repair remains controversial because of a lack of midterm to long-term follow-up data.

METHODS

To assess the intermediate and long-term outcomes of patients having repair with anterior pericardial tracheoplasty, we reviewed case histories of 12 patients (1984 to present). The median age was 6.7 months (range, 1 to 98 months), and the median weight was 6.0 kg (range, 0.97 to 42 kg). All patients underwent anterior pericardial tracheoplasty through a median sternotomy during partial normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. An average of 13 tracheal rings (range, five to 23) were divided anteriorly, and a patch of fresh autologous pericardium was used to enlarge the trachea by 1.5 times the predicted diameter for patient age and weight.

RESULTS

There was one hospital death, and all but 2 patients are long-term survivors. All but 1 current survivor remain asymptomatic, with no bronchoscopic evidence of airway obstruction or granulation on the pericardial patch. All survivors examined have normal tracheal growth and development, with a median follow-up of 5.5 years (range, 1 to 11 years).

CONCLUSIONS

Anterior pericardial tracheoplasty for congenital tracheal stenosis provides excellent results at intermediate to long-term follow-up.

Anterior pericardial tracheoplasty for congenital tracheal stenosis

Congenital tracheal stenosis may be a life-threatening anomaly not relieved by airway intubation. Over the past 7 years, anterior pericardial tracheoplasty has been used at our institution for treatment of congenital long-segment tracheal stenosis in infants with impeding airway obstruction. Case histories of eight patients undergoing nine anterior pericardial tracheoplasties have been reviewed to assess this technique. Of these patients, six have required preoperative tracheal intubation before repair to maintain ventilation. The surgical technique of anterior pericardial tracheoplasty includes a median sternotomy approach with partial normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. An anterior tracheotomy through all hypoplastic rings allows enlargement with autologous pericardium to 1.5 times the predicted normal diameter. After insertion, the pericardium and hypoplastic tracheal cartilages are suspended to surrounding mediastinal structures, which prevents airway collapse. Seven of eight infants have survived without tracheoplasty dehiscence or wound infections. Five were ultimately extubated and are currently free of symptoms from 6 months to 5 years after anterior pericardial tracheoplasty. The other two survivors had residual stenosis as a result of complications of prior tracheostomy. One of these patients has undergone a successful second anterior pericardial tracheoplasty and is currently extubated and well. The other is palliated at 6 months with a tracheostomy awaiting a second anterior pericardial tracheoplasty. Our review of anterior pericardial tracheoplasty has demonstrated the safety, utility, and at least medium-term benefit of this procedure in infants of any age and weight.