Safety of pregnancy after breast cancer in young women with hormone receptor-positive disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Despite increasing evidence on the safety of pregnancy after anticancer treatments in breast cancer survivors, many physicians and patients remain concerned about a potential risk of pregnancy specifically in the case of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic literature search of Medline, Embase and Cochrane library with no language or date restriction up to 31 March 2023 was carried out. To be included, articles had to be retrospective and prospective case-control and cohort studies as well as clinical trials comparing survival outcomes of premenopausal women with or without a pregnancy after prior diagnosis of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were the outcomes of interest. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Study protocol is registered in PROSPERO (n. CRD42023394232).

RESULTS

Out of 7796 screened studies, 8 were eligible to be included in the final analysis. A total of 3805 patients with hormone receptor-positive invasive early breast cancer were included in these studies, of whom 1285 had a pregnancy after breast cancer diagnosis. Median follow-up time ranged from 3.8 to 15.8 years and was similar in the pregnancy and non-pregnancy cohorts. In three studies (n = 987 patients) reporting on DFS, no difference was observed between patients with and those without a subsequent pregnancy (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.75-1.24, P = 0.781). In the six studies (n = 3504 patients) reporting on OS, patients with a pregnancy after breast cancer had a statistically significant better OS than those without a pregnancy (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.27-0.77, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This systematic review and meta-analysis of retrospective cohort studies provides updated evidence that having a pregnancy in patients with prior history of hormone receptor-positive invasive early breast cancer appears safe without detrimental effect on prognosis.

Comparison of resource utilization and long-term quality-of-life outcomes between laparoscopic and conventional colorectal surgery

BACKGROUND

The outcomes of laparosopic and conventional colorectal surgery, with special reference to costs of treatment and patients' quality of life, were compared.

METHODS

A partly retrospective cohort study was designed to assess the use of resources, and a follow-up interview was undertaken to evaluate patients' quality of life after both to define laparoscopic (LAP) and conventional (CON) surgery.

RESULTS

The length of hospital stay was significantly lower in the LAP group (median, 11 days; interquartile range [IQR], 9-15) than in the CON group (median, 16 days; IQR, 13-23; p < 0.0001), which is reflected in lower costs of hospitalization calculated for the three most frequent surgical interventions. Statistically significant improvements were noted between the median scores in the domains of physical functioning (LAP 85 vs CON 68; p < 0.05) and vitality (LAP 85 vs CON 69; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopy is a promising alternative for the treatment of patients with colorectal diseases, offering lower costs and a better quality of life in the long term.

Impact of the reduction of anaesthesia turnover time on operating room efficiency

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

We investigated whether an increase in anaesthesia staffing to permit induction of anaesthesia before the previous case had ended ('overlapping') would increase overall efficiency in the operating room. Hitherto, the average duration of operating sessions was too long, thus impeding the timely commencement of physicians' ward duties.

METHODS

The investigation was designed as a prospective, non-randomized, interrupted time-series analysis divided into three phases: (a) a baseline of 3.5 months, (b) a 2.5 month intervention phase, in which anaesthesia staffing was increased by one attending physician and one nurse, and (c) a further 2 months under baseline conditions. Data focussed on process management were collected from operating room staff, anaesthesia personnel and surgeons using a structured questionnaire collected daily during the entire study.

RESULTS

Turnover time between consecutive operations decreased from 65 to 52 min per operation (95% CI: 9; 17; P = 0.0001). Operating room occupancy increased from 4:28 to 5:27 h day-1 (95% CI: 50; 68; P = 0.005). The surgeons began their work on the ward 35 min (95% CI: 30; 40) later than before the intervention and their overtime increased from 22:36 to 139:50 h.

CONCLUSIONS

The time between surgical operations decreased significantly. Increased operating room efficiency owing to overlapping induction of anaesthesia allows more intense scheduling of operations. Thus, physicians and nurses can be released to spend more time with their patients in the ward. Improving the efficiency of the operating room alone is insufficient to improve human resource management at all levels of a surgical clinic.

Determinants of costs and resource utilization associated with open heart surgery

AIMS

This study sought to determine the patient- and the therapy-related determinants of in-hospital costs for patients undergoing heart surgery at the University Hospital in Zurich.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed a retrospective analysis of all adult cardiac surgical patients from the canton St. Gallen who were covered by a fixed fee arrangement (29,500 Swiss francs (19,470 Euro)) and referred to our institution during 1998. A total of 201 patients (143 (71%) male) with basic insurance were hospitalized in 1998 under the fixed fee arrangement. The mean age of the patients was 61.4 years (95% confidence intervals (CI): 60; 63). With the help of univariate analysis, the following pre-operative characteristics were found to be significantly associated with cost: age (P<0.001), pre-operative cardiac diagnosis (coronary vs valvular heart disease) (P<0.001) and EuroSCORE (P<0.0001). A significant correlation was also found between intra-operative variables and costs (P<0.0001) as well as between postoperative variables and costs (P<0.0001). A linear regression model based on EuroSCORE, operation time and postoperative infection status is able to predict costs for patients (all P -values <0.0001, except for P<0.05 for operation time, R(2)=0.565).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that both pre-operative (patient related) and intra-operative (therapy- and patient-related) variables are predictors of costs in cardiac surgical patients.

[Economic significance of heart failure. An overview of costs and economics of therapy]

The economic burden of congestive heart failure is significant. Approximately 1 to 2% of total health care expenditure is attributed to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congestive heart failure. A great share of this expenditure is related to the costs of long-term complications and productivity losses. In order to manage these costs, providers and policymakers increasingly have to focus on economically attractive interventions. Pharmacoeconomic analyses aid the systematic selection of cost-effective drug therapy in congestive heart failure in an era of increasing cost-containment.