Inaccurate Citations Are Prevalent Within Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Literature

Purpose

To evaluate the peer-reviewed orthopaedic sports medicine literature for reference errors within 2 high-impact journals.

Methods

In total, 769 references with 1,082 in-line citations were assessed from 20 randomly selected peer-reviewed articles published in 2 high-impact orthopaedic sports medicine journals, Arthroscopy and the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Full-text copies of references were obtained through online literature subscription databases. Two investigators evaluated each citation for agreement between the reference's study design, methods, data, discussion, and conclusion with the citing authors' claims. Error rates, interobserver agreement, and association between error rates and journal demographics were assessed.

Results

Cohen's κ coefficient representing interobserver agreement was 0.61. The mean citation error rate across 20 articles from 2 orthopaedic sports medicine journals was 6.6%. The most common error was failure to support the authors' assertions within the citing article, accounting for 32% of errors. There was no significant association between error rate and journal impact factor, number of cited references or total references, ratio of in-line citations to cited references (citation ratio), and number of authors. There was no significant relationship between error rate and journal, study type, and level of evidence.

Conclusions

Inaccurate claims and citations are common within the orthopaedic sports medicine literature, occurring in every reviewed article and 6.6% of all in-line citations. Failure to support the assertions of the article in which a reference is cited is a common error. Authors should take care to rigorously assess references with particular attention to accurate citation of primary sources.

Clinical Relevance

This study highlights the prevalence of citation errors within a random sampling of high-level orthopaedic sports medicine articles. Given science is cumulative, these errors perpetuate inaccuracies and are at odds with evidence-based practice.

Fever and Increased Gastrointestinal Uptake on Positron Emission Tomography after Anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor Therapy: A Case Report of Whipple's Disease

Introduction

Whipple's disease is a rare condition that can present with atypical and non-specific features requiring a high index of suspicion for diagnosis.

Case Presentation

We present a case of a man in his 40s with peripheral arthritis and bilateral sacro-ileitis for 4-5 years that was treated with an anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy, which led to worsening of his symptoms, elevation of the inflammatory markers, and the development of fever, night sweats, anorexia, and a significant weight loss. The patient had no abdominal pain, diarrhoea, or other gastrointestinal symptoms. An FDG-PET scan showed increased uptake in the stomach and caecum. Endoscopic examination showed inflammatory changes in the stomach and normal mucosa of the duodenum, jejunum, terminal ileum, caecum, and colon. Histopathology was inconclusive, but the diagnosis was confirmed with Tropheryma whipplei PCR testing. He had no neurological symptoms, but cerebrospinal fluid Tropheryma whipplei PCR was positive. He was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone 2 g daily for 4 weeks, followed by trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole 160/800 mg twice daily for 1 year with close monitoring and follow-up.

Conclusion

This case presents an atypical and challenging presentation of Whipple's disease and the importance of proactive testing for neurological involvement.

The Content of Patient-Identified Suicidal Drivers within CAMS Treatment Planning

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is an evidence-based, suicide-focused, clinical framework that effectively treats people who are suicidal across clinical settings. A central tool within CAMS is the Suicide Status Form (SSF) which is a multipurpose assessment, treatment planning, tracking, to clinical outcome tool that guides suicide-focused care from the start of CAMS treatment to completion. Previous SSF assessment research investigated the content of patient-written qualitative responses to SSF assessment prompts which were reliably coded into twelve content categories. Four coding categories captured 70% of written responses revealing the content of patients' suicidal ideation which centered on: relationships, vocation, the self, and unpleasant internal states. While qualitative SSF assessment research has thus revealed key information about suicidal ideation content, patient-identified "drivers" of suicide within CAMS treatment planning have not yet been examined qualitatively. "Drivers" of suicide are the issues that compel one to consider suicide, and ultimately become the focus of CAMS treatment; thus, it is important to examine their qualitative content. The present exploratory study investigated suicide driver content collected in the context of two randomized controlled trials of CAMS. Reliably coded qualitative content of patient-articulated drivers were comparable to previously noted SSF content assessment results, emphasizing the following driver issues: (1) Relationships, (2) Unpleasant Internal States (e.g., suffering and anxiety), (3) Role Responsibility (vocational concerns), and (4) the Self (e.g., self-hatred or esteem issues). These four coding themes captured 70% of 332 total treatment planning drivers obtained from 166 patients who were suicidal and seeking treatment. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Generation of the iPSC line FINi002-A from a male Parkinson's disease patient carrying compound heterozygous mutations in the PRKN gene

The most common cause of autosomal recessive familial Parkinson's disease (PD) are mutations in the PRKN/PARK2 gene encoding an E3 ubiquitin protein-ligase PARKIN. We report the generation of an iPSC cell line from the fibroblasts of a male PD patient carrying a common missense variant in exon 7 (p.Arg275Trp), and a 133 kb deletion encompassing exon 8, using transiently-present Sendai virus. The established line displays typical human primed iPSC morphology and expression of pluripotency-associated markers, normal karyotype without SNP array-detectable copy number variations and can give rise to derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers. We envisage the usefulness of this iPSC line, carrying a common and well-studied missense mutation in the RING1 domain of the PARKIN protein, for the elucidation of PARKIN-dependent mechanisms of PD using in vitro and in vivo models.

Extensor Tendon Integrity After Percutaneous Placement of Intramedullary Metacarpal Screws: A Cadaveric Study

BACKGROUND

Intramedullary implants are an increasingly common method for fixation of metacarpal fractures. Numerous techniques for instrumentation have been described with varied consideration for the risk of extensor tendon injury. The current cadaveric study evaluates the prevalence and degree of extensor tendon injury and compares percutaneous approaches with different drilling techniques.

METHODS

Ninety-six metacarpals (thumbs excluded) from 24 fresh-frozen cadaveric upper extremities were used to compare 2 percutaneous approaches and 2 drilling techniques. This resulted in 4 subgroups available for comparison: oscillate to bone (OB), forward to bone (FB), oscillating through the skin (OS), and forward through the skin (FS). After instrumentation, the extensor tendons were dissected and disruption was characterized. The main outcome measures were tendon "hit rate" and relative extensor tendon defect width.

RESULTS

Tendon hit rate was significantly higher in the long finger (LF), that is, 79.2%, compared with other metacarpals: index finger, 20.8%; ring finger, 12.5%; and small finger 25%. The mean relative tendon disruption was significantly less in the OB group (16.05%) compared with the other groups: FB (31.84%), FS (31.50%), and OS (29.85%).

CONCLUSION

Retrograde intramedullary screw fixation of metacarpal fractures can be performed using percutaneous approaches without a significant disruption of the extensor mechanism. Instrumentation through a longitudinal stab incision down to the metacarpal head and the use of drill oscillation minimize injury to the extensor tendons. The LF extensor tendon is most at risk with retrograde intramedullary implant placement.

Association of DCIS size and margin status with risk of developing breast cancer post-treatment: multinational, pooled cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between size and margin status of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and risk of developing ipsilateral invasive breast cancer and ipsilateral DCIS after treatment, and stage and subtype of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer.

DESIGN

Multinational, pooled cohort study.

SETTING

Four large international cohorts.

PARTICIPANTS

Patient level data on 47 695 women with a diagnosis of pure, primary DCIS between 1999 and 2017 in the Netherlands, UK, and US who underwent surgery, either breast conserving or mastectomy, often followed by radiotherapy or endocrine treatment, or both.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The main outcomes were 10 year cumulative incidence of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer and ipsilateral DCIS estimated in relation to DCIS size and margin status, and adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses with multiple imputed data RESULTS: The 10 year cumulative incidence of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer was 3.2%. In women who underwent breast conserving surgery with or without radiotherapy, only adjusted risks for ipsilateral DCIS were significantly increased for larger DCIS (20-49 mm) compared with DCIS <20 mm (hazard ratio 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.11 to 1.72). Risks for both ipsilateral invasive breast cancer and ipsilateral DCIS were significantly higher with involved compared with clear margins (invasive breast cancer 1.40, 1.07 to 1.83; DCIS 1.39, 1.04 to 1.87). Use of adjuvant endocrine treatment was not significantly associated with a lower risk of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer compared to treatment with breast conserving surgery only (0.86, 0.62 to 1.21). In women who received breast conserving treatment with or without radiotherapy, higher DCIS grade was not significantly associated with ipsilateral invasive breast cancer, only with a higher risk of ipsilateral DCIS (grade 1: 1.42, 1.08 to 1.87; grade 3: 2.17, 1.66 to 2.83). Higher age at diagnosis was associated with lower risk (per year) of ipsilateral DCIS (0.98, 0.97 to 0.99) but not ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (1.00, 0.99 to 1.00). Women with large DCIS (≥50 mm) more often developed stage III and IV ipsilateral invasive breast cancer compared to women with DCIS <20 mm. No such association was found between involved margins and higher stage of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer. Associations between larger DCIS and hormone receptor negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive ipsilateral invasive breast cancer and involved margins and hormone receptor negative ipsilateral invasive breast cancer were found.

CONCLUSIONS

The association of DCIS size and margin status with ipsilateral invasive breast cancer and ipsilateral DCIS was small. When these two factors were added to other known risk factors in multivariable models, clinicopathological risk factors alone were found to be limited in discriminating between low and high risk DCIS.

Microcalcification crystallography as a potential marker of DCIS recurrence

Ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) accounts for 20-25% of all new breast cancer diagnoses. DCIS has an uncertain risk of progression to invasive breast cancer and a lack of predictive biomarkers may result in relatively high levels (~ 75%) of overtreatment. To identify unique prognostic biomarkers of invasive progression, crystallographic and chemical features of DCIS microcalcifications have been explored. Samples from patients with at least 5-years of follow up and no known recurrence (174 calcifications in 67 patients) or ipsilateral invasive breast cancer recurrence (179 microcalcifications in 57 patients) were studied. Significant differences were noted between the two groups including whitlockite relative mass, hydroxyapatite and whitlockite crystal maturity and, elementally, sodium to calcium ion ratio. A preliminary predictive model for DCIS to invasive cancer progression was developed from these parameters with an AUC of 0.797. These results provide insights into the differing DCIS tissue microenvironments, and how these impact microcalcification formation.

ExPeCT: a randomised trial examining the impact of exercise on quality of life in men with metastatic prostate cancer

PURPOSE

All patients living with cancer, including those with metastatic cancer, are encouraged to be physically active. This paper examines the secondary endpoints of an aerobic exercise intervention for men with metastatic prostate cancer.

METHODS

ExPeCT (Exercise, Prostate Cancer and Circulating Tumour Cells), was a multi-centre randomised control trial with a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention arm or a standard care control arm. Exercise adherence data was collected via heart rate monitors. Quality of life (FACT-P) and physical activity (self-administered questionnaire) assessments were completed at baseline, at 3 months and at 6 months.

RESULTS

A total of 61 patients were included (69.4 ± 7.3 yr, body mass index 29.2 ± 5.8 kg/m²). The median time since diagnosis was 34 months (IQR 7-54). A total of 35 (55%) of participants had > 1 region affected by metastatic disease. No adverse events were reported by participants. There was no effect of exercise on quality of life (Cohen's d =  - 0.082). Overall adherence to the supervised sessions was 83% (329 out of 396 possible sessions attended by participants). Overall adherence to the non-supervised home exercise sessions was 72% (months 1-3) and 67% (months 3-6). Modelling results for overall physical activity scores showed no significant main effect for the group (p-value = 0.25) or for time (p-value = 0.24).

CONCLUSION

In a group of patients with a high burden of metastatic prostate cancer, a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention did not lead to change in quality of life. Further exercise studies examining the role of exercise for people living with metastatic prostate cancer are needed.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02453139) on May 25th 2015.

Surveillance Imaging after Primary Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ

Background Guidelines recommend annual surveillance imaging after diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Guideline adherence has not been characterized in a contemporary cohort. Purpose To identify uptake and determinants of surveillance imaging in women who underwent treatment for DCIS. Materials and Methods A stratified random sample of women who underwent breast-conserving surgery for primary DCIS between 2008 and 2014 was retrospectively selected from 1330 facilities in the United States. Imaging examinations were recorded from date of diagnosis until first distant recurrence, death, loss to follow-up, or end of study (November 2018). Imaging after treatment was categorized into 10 12-month periods starting 6 months after diagnosis. Primary outcome was per-period receipt of asymptomatic surveillance imaging (mammography, MRI, or US). Secondary outcome was diagnosis of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer. Multivariable logistic regression with repeated measures and generalized estimating equations was used to model receipt of imaging. Rates of diagnosis with ipsilateral invasive breast cancer were compared between women who did and those who did not undergo imaging in the 6-18-month period after diagnosis using inverse probability-weighted Kaplan-Meier estimators. Results A total of 12 559 women (median age, 60 years; IQR, 52-69 years) were evaluated. Uptake of surveillance imaging was 75% in the first period and decreased over time (P < .001). Across the first 5 years after treatment, 52% of women participated in consistent annual surveillance. Surveillance was lower in Black (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.80; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.88; P < .001) and Hispanic (OR, 0.82; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.94; P = .004) women than in White women. Women who underwent surveillance in the first period had a higher 6-year rate of diagnosis of invasive cancer (1.6%; 95% CI: 1.3, 1.9) than those who did not (1.1%; 95% CI: 0.7, 1.4; difference: 0.5%; 95% CI: 0.1, 1.0; P = .03). Conclusion Half of women did not consistently adhere to imaging surveillance guidelines across the first 5 years after treatment, with racial disparities in adherence rates. © RSNA, 2023 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Rahbar and Dontchos in this issue.

Abstract P4-02-22: Breast microcalcification chemistry predicts DCIS prognosis

Introduction: Microcalcifications are a common feature in mammographic detection of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and occur in &gt;80% of cases. Known to be present as type I (calcium oxalate-CaO) and type II (carbonated calcium hydroxyapatite-CHAP) microcalcifications, their association with DCIS and their role in the progression of DCIS to invasive breast cancer (IBC) remains unexplored. In an effort to understand the factors involved in DCIS prognosis, it is hypothesized that changes in the chemical composition of calcifications, in tandem with molecular changes in the surrounding soft tissue, will define patients with DCIS who will progress to develop IBC from those who remain with a stable DCIS phenotype. To this end, a novel label-free approach of hyperspectral imaging using mid-infrared (mid-IR) and Raman spectroscopy was used to probe calcification chemistry and molecular composition of the surrounding ductal and stromal soft tissue. The main aim of the work is to identify biomarkers for DCIS prognosis, based on chemical and molecular compositional changes of calcifications and the surrounding soft tissue. It is anticipated that the spectral biomarkers will provide patients and clinicians an informed risk assessment whether to undertake treatment for DCIS or to be placed under active surveillance. Methods: Tissue samples from 422 patient have been obtained and include (i) ‘pure DCIS’ (DCIS without recurrence) (n=193), (ii) ‘DCIS with invasive recurrence’ (DCIS from patients who subsequently were known to develop invasive disease) (n=123), (iii) ‘DCIS plus contemporaneous invasive cancer’ (n=44) and ‘benign’ (n=62) samples. Serial tissue sections were measured using mid-IR and Raman hyperspectral imaging approaches targeting the same calcification and soft tissue regions from specific DCIS ducts. Hyperspectral imaging data was initially pre-processed to digitally remove paraffin and unintended spectral interferences. The pre-processed data was subjected to cluster analysis followed by unsupervised and supervised machine learning classification models to identify spectral features associated with DCIS and its progression to IBC. Results: Cluster analysis based segmentation of hyperspectral images revealed histopathological features including calcifications, epithelium, necrotic areas, connective tissue and stroma. Spectra were extracted from each of the histopathological features using image coordinates, and biomodelling analysis was performed. Initial analysis of 314 calcification images from 170 patients with (i) ‘pure DCIS’ (n=118) and (ii) ‘DCIS with invasive recurrence’ (n=52) showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) mean value of 85% in distinguishing pure DCIS from DCIS that later recurred as IBC. The calcification features appeared to indicate pathology specific changes in phosphate and carbonate content as well as changes in magnesium whitlockite content. Similar analysis of the surrounding soft tissue spectral features showed an AUROC mean value of 85% (necrotic regions surrounding calcifications) and 76% (epithelium) respectively. The epithelial features showed changes in protein secondary structure and content, which together with the calcification changes indicate structural remodelling in DCIS that progresses to IBC, from those that do not. Perspectives: In the ongoing analyses of imaging data from 422 patients, it is anticipated that molecular/structural features from calcification and soft tissue imaging data will provide important cues in understanding DCIS prognosis and could be a promising way forward in determining management of DCIS risk and treatment underpinned by the identification of specific discriminatory spectral markers. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Cancer Research UK and by KWF Kankerbestrijding (ref. C38317/A24043).

Citation Format: Jayakrupakar Nallala, Doriana Calabrese, Sarah Gosling, Esther Lips, Rachel Factor, Allison Hall, Sarah E. Pinder, Ihssane Bouybayoune, Lorraine King, Jeffrey Marks, Thomas Lynch, Donna Pinto, Jelle Wesseling, E Shelley Hwang, Keith Rogers, Nick Stone. Breast microcalcification chemistry predicts DCIS prognosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-02-22.

Abstract P6-04-13: Centralized adequacy assessment of ductal carcinoma in situ samples for the COMET study (AFT-25)

Introduction COMET (Comparing an Operation to Monitoring, with or without Endocrine Therapy) is a phase III clinical trial randomizing patients diagnosed with low-intermediate grade DCIS to either active monitoring or surgery. The study has a planned accrual goal of 1200 patients and is enrolling until 12/31/22. The protocol requires agreement between two pathologists (who do not need to be at the same institution) that a case fulfills COMET eligibility criteria. If there is disagreement, a third pathology review is required. As per protocol, tissue blocks or unstained slides of biopsies containing DCIS from enrolled patients are sent to a designated central location. While central pathology review is not a pre-requisite of the study, a retrospective review of received materials was performed to determine adequacy for correlative molecular and spatial profiling studies. Methods Sites submit either a tissue block or twenty (20) sequentially numbered, unstained, serial five-micron tissue sections from a diagnostic biopsy of DCIS to the Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT) central biorepository, a CAP-accredited biobank. All submitted biospecimens are de-identified (coded) and investigators are blinded to arm assignment and primary study outcomes. To evaluate the adequacy of specimens for subsequent correlative science studies, one unstained slide from each submitted slide set was stained with routine hematoxylin and eosin by the biobank, scanned at 40X magnification with an Aperio scanner, and provided to one of two expert breast pathologists for adequacy review. Slides were rated as “DCIS present”, “DCIS absent”, or “possible DCIS.” To conserve tissue, submitted tissue blocks are held in abeyance pending future correlative science planning. Results As of May 2022, tissue has been submitted from 789 of 856 eligible patients enrolled in the trial, demonstrating a very high level (92%) of case submission compliance. Despite the limiting size of such lesions and general clinical center hesitancy to release blocks for clinical trial research, tissue blocks were received from 376 of 789 (48%) of cases. Among 359 cases involving slide-only submissions that have been retrospectively reviewed to date, 294 were definite DCIS (82%), 25 (7%) were classified as possible DCIS, and 40 cases (11%) were classified as no DCIS present in the section reviewed. In no case was high grade DCIS or invasive breast cancer observed. Of the cases considered possible DCIS, atypical cells were present, but the lesions were too small or incomplete to confirm DCIS. The small percentage of cases that lacked DCIS or definite DCIS could be attributed to the receipt of a different block or subsequent (deeper) section from the same block used for the initial diagnosis. These cases were previously known to the submitting institutions. Conclusion Interim analysis at 71% accrual demonstrates both the feasibility of obtaining diagnostic biopsy material of limited size and the adequacy of these samples for subsequent correlative science studies that aim to improve pathology diagnostics and patient management.

Citation Format: Rachel Factor, Stuart Schnitt, Robert West, Terry Hyslop, Thomas Lynch, Deborah Collyar, Desiree Basila, Lars Grimm, Lorraine King, Jeffrey Marks, Sunil Badve, Mark Watson, Marc Ryser, Anna Weiss, Anna Rapperport, Linda McCall, H. T. Carisa Le-Petross, Ann Partridge, E Shelley Hwang, Alastair M. Thompson. Centralized adequacy assessment of ductal carcinoma in situ samples for the COMET study (AFT-25) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-04-13.

A two-ward acute care hospital outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant including a point-source outbreak associated with the use of a mobile vital signs cart and sub-optimal doffing of personal protective equipment

BACKGROUND

The arrival of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was associated with increased transmissibility and illness of greater severity. Reports of nosocomial outbreaks of Delta variant COVID-19 in acute care hospitals have been described but control measures varied widely.

AIM

Epidemiological investigation of a linked two-ward COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak was conducted to elucidate its source, risk factors, and control measures.

METHODS

Investigations included epidemiologic analysis, detailed case review serial SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of patients and healthcare workers (HCWs), viral culture, environmental swabbing, HCW-unaware personal protective equipment (PPE) audits, ventilation assessments, and the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS).

FINDINGS

This linked two-ward outbreak resulted in 17 patient and 12 HCW cases, despite an 83% vaccination rate. In this setting, suboptimal adherence and compliance to PPE protocols, suboptimal hand hygiene, multi-bedded rooms, and a contaminated vital signs cart with potential fomite or spread via the hands of HCWs were identified as significant risk factors for nosocomial COVID-19 infection. Sudden onset of symptoms, within 72 h, was observed in 79% of all Ward 2 patients, and 93% of all cases (patients and HCWs) on Ward 2 occurred within one incubation period, consistent with a point-source outbreak. RT-PCR assays showed low cycle threshold (C_T) values, indicating high viral load from environmental swabs including the vital signs cart. WGS results with ≤3 SNP differences between specimens were observed.

CONCLUSION

Outbreaks on both wards settled rapidly, within 3 weeks, using a `back-to-basics' approach without extraordinary measures or changes to standard PPE requirements. Strict adherence to recommended PPE, hand hygiene, education, co-operation from HCWs, including testing and interviews, and additional measures such as limiting movement of patients and staff temporarily were all deemed to have contributed to prompt resolution of the outbreak.

Abstract A011: Effectiveness of an online decision support tool in communicating information about treatment options and related risks for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)

Introduction: Treatment options for women diagnosed with DCIS require careful consideration of the potential risks and benefits. An interactive decision support tool (DST) was developed to provide information about these options, including their potential long-term risk. The DST was implemented through the website www.dcisoptions.org in collaboration with the AFT-25 Comparing an Operation to Monitoring, with or without Endocrine Therapy (COMET), for low-risk DCIS study. Methods: The DST provides personalized prediction of the potential clinical impact of six different treatment options over a 10-year period. Women were asked to select one or more option, and to complete two surveys - one prior to interacting with the DST and one following interaction. Chi-square tests were used to compare the distribution of age group and DCIS grade among women who completed both surveys and those who completed the pre-tool survey only. Mean age was compared using the t-test and median age was compared using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. The signed-rank test was used to compare the median age. The cohort that answered both surveys was analyzed for potential differences in response (pre- versus post-tool). The McNemar test was used to compare percentage distributions and the paired t-test was used to compare mean responses for questions using the Likert scale. A signed rank test was used to compare median changes from pre- to post-tool. Statistical significance was defined as P&lt;0.05 in a two-sided test. The primary endpoint of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the DST in communicating information about DCIS treatment options and related risk predictions. Results: Data were collected from January 2019 to April 2022 for women (non-COMET participants) who completed the DST. Of those 976 women, 831 (85%) completed the pre-tool survey only and 145 (15%) completed both the pre- and post-tool survey. The mean age was 54.4 (9.8 SD) years. 73% of women had low/intermediate-grade DCIS, while 19% had high-grade DCIS. Among women who submitted both surveys, average time spent completing the DST was 10 minutes. Awareness of the treatment options prior to use of the DST was high (90%), except for active surveillance (85.2%) and bilateral mastectomy (84.3%). Awareness post-tool did not change significantly except for active surveillance (85.2% to 96.5% (p=0.004)). Among women who completed both surveys, the percentage who correctly identified that the chance of dying from DCIS is ‘Very Low’ increased from 60.0% to 73.8% (p&lt;0.0001). The median estimated risk of dying from DCIS in 10 years decreased from 9% to 3% (p&lt;0.0001). A total of 101/132 (76.5%) women that responded to a specific question about the DST found it to be ‘Very Helpful’ or ‘Helpful’ in making a treatment decision for DCIS. A limitation of the study is the lower response rate to the post-tool survey. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that utilization of a DST by women diagnosed with DCIS may enable value-congruent decision making and potentially result in improved patient outcomes.

Citation Format: Thomas Lynch, Ann Partridge, E. Shelley Hwang, Alastair Thompson, Elizabeth Frank, Donna Pinto, Deborah Collyar, Desiree Basila, Terry Hyslop, Marc Ryser, Anna Weiss, Anna Rapperport, Rinaa Punglia, Elissa Ozanne. Effectiveness of an online decision support tool in communicating information about treatment options and related risks for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Rethinking DCIS: An Opportunity for Prevention?; 2022 Sep 8-11; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2022;15(12 Suppl_1): Abstract nr A011.

Abstract IA021: Challenges of conducting active surveillance for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)

The COMET (Comparing an Operation to Monitoring, with or without Endocrine Therapy) multicenter Phase III prospective trial randomizes women with low-risk DCIS to either standard of care (surgery +/- radiation therapy) or active surveillance (AS), a management approach in which mammograms and physical exams are used to monitor breast changes and determine when, or if, surgery is needed. It is currently open at 85 Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology sites and has accrued 905 patients as of 08/01/22.

Initial recruitment challenges related to standardizing pathology eligibility criteria, with re-evaluation regarding the merits of central versus second pathology review, and discordance among pathologists regarding DCIS grade and necrosis. These discussions resulted in evidence-based protocol amendments that subsequently increased accrual. Patients that express a specific treatment preference often decline the arm to which they are randomized (not uncommon in trials of surgery de-escalation). Two consultants were recruited to implement the Quintet Recruitment Intervention, an initiative that utilizes qualitative/quantitative strategies to better understand recruitment in trials with very different treatment arms; acceptance rates in each randomized arm stabilized following this intervention.

Patient and provider attitudes also presented a potential barrier to recruitment. Some surgeons lacked equipoise with the concept of AS and possess a “more is more” mentality; others express concern about younger patients undergoing AS; there are also financial implications of conducting AS rather than surgery for some surgeons. Radiologists often provide the initial diagnosis of DCIS to the patient; if the patient is told “DCIS is breast cancer”, they will expect to have surgery. Potential to consider AS may be limited if this preconceived notion about the need for surgery becomes established at the outset. DCIS has been disproportionately influenced by its terminology and classification, which may contribute to women feeling rushed into treatment decisions. Because of the way that DCIS is described to them, women considering AS may feel anxious knowing that the ‘threat’ of invasive breast cancer (IBC) has not been removed.

Specific challenges to conducting AS for patients include those with a family history of breast cancer who express a strong desire for surgery. Women who undergo AS may experience ‘anticipatory anxiety’ regarding ongoing surveillance for the disease. Insufficient research exists about how relevant the outcomes of undergoing AS are to women and how patient perception around the potential ‘risk’ of IBC may impact upon their acceptance of AS. Collection of patient-reported outcomes in currently enrolling studies enables the challenges of undergoing AS to be understood from a patient perspective.

Changing the treatment paradigm for DCIS requires multidisciplinary collaboration to drive change. However, providing more safe options for patients with low-risk DCIS will significantly reduce treatment-related harms.

Citation Format: Thomas Lynch. Challenges of conducting active surveillance for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Rethinking DCIS: An Opportunity for Prevention?; 2022 Sep 8-11; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2022;15(12 Suppl_1): Abstract nr IA021.

The benefits and challenges of established peer support programmes for patients, informal caregivers, and healthcare providers

PURPOSE

Peer support programmes that provide services for various health conditions have been in existence for many years; however, there is little study of their benefits and challenges. Our goal was to explore how existing peer support programmes help patients with a variety of health conditions, the challenges that these programmes meet, and how they are addressed.

METHODS

We partnered with 7 peer support programmes operating in healthcare and community settings and conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with key informants. Audiorecordings were transcribed and qualitative analysis was conducted using grounded theory methods.

RESULTS

Peer support programmes offer informational and psychosocial support, reduce social isolation, and connect patients and caregivers to others with similar health issues. These programmes provide a supportive community of persons who have personal experience with the same health condition and who can provide practical information about self-care and guidance in navigating the health system. Peer support is viewed as different from and complementary to professional healthcare services. Existing programmes experience challenges such as matching of peer supporter and peer recipient and maintaining relationship boundaries. They have gained experience in addressing some of these challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

Peer support programmes can help persons and caregivers manage health conditions but also face challenges that need to be addressed through organizational processes. Peer support programmes have relevance for improving healthcare systems, especially given the increased focus on becoming more patient-centred. Further study of peer programmes and their relevance to improving individuals' well-being is warranted.

Stem cells, cell therapies, and bioengineering in lung biology and disease 2021

The 9th biennial conference titled "Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases" was hosted virtually, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Alpha-1 Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy. The event was held from July 12th through 15th, 2021 with a pre-conference workshop held on July 9th. As in previous years, the objectives remained to review and discuss the status of active research areas involving stem cells (SCs), cellular therapeutics, and bioengineering as they relate to the human lung. Topics included 1) technological advancements in the in situ analysis of lung tissues, 2) new insights into stem cell signaling and plasticity in lung remodeling and regeneration, 3) the impact of extracellular matrix in stem cell regulation and airway engineering in lung regeneration, 4) differentiating and delivering stem cell therapeutics to the lung, 5) regeneration in response to viral infection, and 6) ethical development of cell-based treatments for lung diseases. This selection of topics represents some of the most dynamic and current research areas in lung biology. The virtual workshop included active discussion on state-of-the-art methods relating to the core features of the 2021 conference, including in situ proteomics, lung-on-chip, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-airway differentiation, and light sheet microscopy. The conference concluded with an open discussion to suggest funding priorities and recommendations for future research directions in basic and translational lung biology.

Prediction Models and Decision Aids for Women with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: A Systematic Literature Review

Simple Summary

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a potential precursor to invasive breast cancer (IBC). Although in many women DCIS will never become breast cancer, almost all women diagnosed with DCIS undergo surgery with/without radiotherapy. Several studies are ongoing to de-escalate treatment for DCIS. Multiple decision support tools have been developed to aid women with DCIS in selecting the best treatment option for their specific goals. The aim of this study was to identify these decision support tools and evaluate their quality and clinical utility. Thirty-three studies were reviewed, in which four decision aids and six prediction models were described. While some of these models might be promising, most lacked important qualities such as tools to help women discuss their options or good quality validation studies. Therefore, the need for good quality, well validated decision support tools remains unmet.

Abstract

Even though Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) can potentially be an invasive breast cancer (IBC) precursor, most DCIS lesions never will progress to IBC if left untreated. Because we cannot predict yet which DCIS lesions will and which will not progress, almost all women with DCIS are treated by breast-conserving surgery +/− radiotherapy, or even mastectomy. As a consequence, many women with non-progressive DCIS carry the burden of intensive treatment without any benefit. Multiple decision support tools have been developed to optimize DCIS management, aiming to find the balance between over- and undertreatment. In this systematic review, we evaluated the quality and added value of such tools. A systematic literature search was performed in Medline(ovid), Embase(ovid), Scopus and TRIP. Following the PRISMA guidelines, publications were selected. The CHARMS (prediction models) or IPDAS (decision aids) checklist were used to evaluate the tools’ methodological quality. Thirty-three publications describing four decision aids and six prediction models were included. The decision aids met at least 50% of the IPDAS criteria. However, most lacked tools to facilitate discussion of the information with healthcare providers. Five prediction models quantify the risk of an ipsilateral breast event after a primary DCIS, one estimates the risk of contralateral breast cancer, and none included active surveillance. Good quality and external validations were lacking for all prediction models. There remains an unmet clinical need for well-validated, good-quality DCIS risk prediction models and decision aids in which active surveillance is included as a management option for low-risk DCIS.

Abstract 686: Subsequent invasive breast cancer risk after DCIS treatment in multinational PRECISION consortium cohorts comprising 48,576 patients

Background: Although DCIS is a precursor of invasive breast cancer (IBC), most DCIS lesions never will progress. As we cannot distinguish reliably progressive from harmless DCIS yet, almost all women with DCIS are treated extensively with surgery and often adjuvant radiotherapy or endocrine treatment, implying overtreatment of many thousands of women with harmless DCIS. PRECISION aims to reduce such overtreatment by identifying factors associated with subsequent ipsilateral IBC. Many factors have been implicated in subsequent DCIS and IBC risk, but most studies relied on small series with limited prognostic power. To overcome this, we conducted pooled analyses of four large cohorts with DCIS from three different countries.

Methods: Cohorts were pooled with data of 48,804 women with DCIS: a population-based cohort (NL, n=18,996), prospective, a population-based, screening cohort (Sloane, UK, n=8,462), a single center cohort (MDACC, USA, n=2,363), and a representative DCIS patient series from the National Cancer Database Special Study (USA, n=18,983). Patients with missing data on treatment and follow-up or follow-up shorter than six months were excluded from analyses. Risk of a subsequent ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) was assessed in three DCIS lesion size groups (&lt;20mm, 20-50mm and ≥50mm) and in patients who had clear surgical margins (&lt;2mm) after final breast conserving surgery (BCS) versus patients who did not. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess differences in risk of IBC, with a focus on DCIS size and margin status.

Results: In final analyses, 48,576 patients, diagnosed between 1999 and 2017, were included. Median follow-up was 7.6 years (range 0.5-21.1). In multivariable analyses, patients with smaller size of DCIS (&lt;20mm) had a decreased risk of iIBC compared with women with larger lesion size (HR 0.81; 95% CI 0.68-0.97). In 33,091 BCS treated patients, patients with clear surgical margins had a decreased risk of iIBC (HR 0.68; 95% CI 0.52-0.90).

Conclusion: In our quest to reduce overtreatment for women with DCIS, we have identified free surgical margins and smaller lesion size as independent factors reducing the risk of subsequent ipsilateral invasive breast cancer, irrespective of the treatment received. Knowledge of these, and additional, factors could aid in selecting patients suitable for less invasive management strategies such as active surveillance or omitting radiotherapy. This work was supported by Cancer Research UK and by KWF Dutch Cancer Society (ref.C38317/A24043); Web site: https://cancergrandchallenges.org/teams/precision

Citation Format: Renee S. Schmitz, Alexandra W. van den Belt-Dusebout, Karen Clements, Yi Ren, Chiara Cresta, Jasmine Timbres, Yat-Hee Liu, Danalyn Byng, Thomas Lynch, Brian Menegaz, Deborah Collyar, Terry Hyslop, Michael Schaapveld, Elinor Sawyer, Shelley E. Hwang, Alastair Thompson, Marc D. Ryser, Jelle Wesseling, Esther H. Lips, Marjanka K. Schmidt, Grand Challenge PRECISION Consortium. Subsequent invasive breast cancer risk after DCIS treatment in multinational PRECISION consortium cohorts comprising 48,576 patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 686.

Comparing an operation to monitoring, with or without endocrine therapy (COMET), for low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)

TPS616

Background: Approximately 50,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) each year. Without treatment, it is estimated that only 20-30% of DCIS will lead to invasive breast cancer (IBC). However, over 97% of women are currently treated with surgery +/- radiation. An alternative to surgery is active monitoring (AM), a management approach in which mammograms/physical exams are used to monitor breast changes and determine when, or if, surgery is needed. The COMET Study will compare risks and benefits of AM versus surgery for low-risk DCIS in the setting of a Phase III multicenter prospective randomized trial. The study is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The COMET trial opened in the U.S. in June 2017 (Clinicaltrials.gov reference: NCT02926911). In November 2021, the Data Safety Monitoring Board reviewed the trial and suggested that it continue as planned. Patient accrual will continue until 12/31/2022. Methods: The primary objective is to assess whether the 2-year ipsilateral IBC rate for AM is non-inferior to that for surgery. Secondary objectives include determining whether AM is non-inferior to surgery for 2-year mastectomy rate; breast conservation rate; contralateral breast cancer rate; overall and breast cancer-specific survival. Patient reported outcomes will enable comparison of health-related quality of life and psychosocial outcomes between surgery and AM groups at baseline, 6-months, and years 1-5. Eligibility criteria include: age > 40 at diagnosis; pathologic confirmation of grade I/II DCIS or atypia verging on DCIS without invasion by two pathologists; ER and/or PR ≥ 10%; no mass on physical exam or imaging. The accrual goal is 1200 randomized patients across 100 Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology sites. Sample size is estimated using a 2-group test of non-inferiority of proportions, with the 2-year IBC rate in the surgery group assumed to be 0.10 based on published studies and non-inferiority margin of 0.05. Based on a 1-sided un-pooled z-test, with alpha = 0.05, a sample size of n = 446 per group will have 80% power to detect the specified non-inferiority margin. Final analysis plan will include a per protocol component as well as a pragmatic component for patients who are randomized and decline participation in their assigned arm. Primary analyses will adjust for dropout, non-compliance and contamination by utilizing instrumental variable methods. Clinical trial information: NCT02926911.

A multi-modal exploration of heterogeneous physico-chemical properties of DCIS breast microcalcifications

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is frequently associated with breast calcification. This study combines multiple analytical techniques to investigate the heterogeneity of these calcifications at the micrometre scale. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were used to determine the physicochemical and crystallographic properties of type II breast calcifications located in formalin fixed paraffin embedded DCIS breast tissue samples. Multiple calcium phosphate phases were identified across the calcifications, distributed in different patterns. Hydroxyapatite was the dominant mineral, with magnesium whitlockite found at the calcification edge. Amorphous calcium phosphate and octacalcium phosphate were also identified close to the calcification edge at the apparent mineral/matrix barrier. Crystallographic features of hydroxyapatite also varied across the calcifications, with higher crystallinity centrally, and highest carbonate substitution at the calcification edge. Protein was also differentially distributed across the calcification and the surrounding soft tissue, with collagen and β-pleated protein features present to differing extents. Combination of analytical techniques in this study was essential to understand the heterogeneity of breast calcifications and how this may link crystallographic and physicochemical properties of calcifications to the surrounding tissue microenvironment.

Supporting sAFE and GradUAl ReDuctIon of loNG-term BenzodiaZepine Receptor Agonist uSe: development of the SAFEGUARDING-BZRAs toolkit using a co-design approach

Introduction

Long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist (BZRA) use (&gt;3 months) persists worldwide and poses risks of harm. Effective interventions are needed to address this issue.

Aim

To develop an intervention to support discontinuation of long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist (BZRA) use.

Methods

The intervention development process built on previous qualitative work that used the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term BZRA use (1). A co-design approach was used whereby lay individuals and professionals worked as equals during the research process based on principles of authentic participation and collaboration (2). The co-design team included five ‘experts by lived experience’ with experience of long-term BZRA use who previously provided input on other related work as patient and public involvement representatives or responded to an expression of interest call on social media. Two online co-design team meetings were held. During the first meeting, a summary of previous findings was presented together with a long-list of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) generated using established mapping matrices in which BCTs were reliably allocated to the TDF. Each team member independently documented their decision as to whether each BCT should be included in a short-list for potential inclusion in the final intervention using online polling software. The a priori decision rule was that 70% of team members had to agree regarding the inclusion/exclusion of a BCT. All other BCTs were then discussed at a follow-up meeting. A finalised list of BCTs for inclusion in the intervention was agreed at the second meeting using a consensus-based approach involving the same decision rule. Potential ways in which BCTs could be operationalised were then discussed.

Results

Thirty BCTs were discussed and six BCTs were excluded. For example, team members recommended avoiding ‘Social comparison’ as individual circumstances and experiences of discontinuation and associated withdrawal symptoms are unique and not directly comparable. Given the number of included BCTs, the co-design team recommended presenting them as a toolkit. The SAFEGUARDING-BZRAs (Supporting sAFE and GradUAl ReDuctIon of loNG-term BenzodiaZepine Receptor Agonist uSe) toolkit comprises 24 BCTs: ‘Goal setting (behaviour)’, ‘Review behaviour goal(s)’, ‘Review outcome goal(s)’, ‘Feedback on behaviour’, ‘Self-monitoring of behaviour’, ‘Social support (practical)’, ‘Social support (emotional)’, ‘Information about health consequences’, ‘Monitoring of emotional consequences’, ‘Information about emotional consequences’, ‘Prompts/cues’, ‘Habit reversal’, ‘Graded tasks’, ‘Pros and cons’, ‘Comparative imagining of future outcomes’, ‘Social reward’, ‘Self-reward’, ‘Reduce negative emotions’, ‘Distraction’, ‘Adding objects to the environment’, ‘Body changes’, ‘Verbal persuasion about capability’, ‘Focus on past success’ and ‘Credible source’. The toolkit includes recommendations targeted at primary care-based clinicians for operationalising each BCT to support BZRA discontinuation.

Conclusion

The SAFEGUARDING-BZRAs toolkit has been developed using a systematic, theory-based approach that addresses identified limitations of previous research (e.g. lack of detailed intervention description). In terms of limitations, it is possible that a different group of individuals may have developed a different type of intervention. To overcome this, a priori decision rules were used for decision making. Further research is needed to assess the toolkit’s usability and acceptability by service users and clinicians.

References

(1) Lynch et al. Health Expect. [in press] DOI: 10.1111/hex.13392.

(2) O’Donnell et al. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019;19(1):797

"Is it cancer or not?" A qualitative exploration of survivor concerns surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ

BACKGROUND

Of the nearly 50,000 women in the United States who undergo treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) annually, many may not benefit from treatment. To better understand the impact of a DCIS diagnosis, patients self-identified as having had DCIS were engaged regarding their experience.

METHODS

In July 2014, a web-based survey was administered through the Susan Love Army of Women breast cancer listserv. The survey included open-ended questions designed to assess patients' perspectives about DCIS diagnosis and treatment. Deductive and inductive codes were applied to the responses; common themes were summarized.

RESULTS

Among the 1832 women included in the analytic sample, the median age at diagnosis was 60 years. Four primary themes were identified: 1) uncertainty surrounding a DCIS diagnosis, 2) uncertainty about DCIS treatment, 3) concern about treatment side effects, and 4) concern about recurrence and/or developing invasive breast cancer. When diagnosed, participants were often uncertain about whether they had cancer or not and whether they should be considered a "survivor." Uncertainty about treatment manifested as questioning the appropriateness of the amount of treatment received. Participants expressed concern about the "cancer spreading" or becoming invasive and that they were not necessarily "doing enough" to prevent recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

In a large, national sample, participants with a history of DCIS reported confusion and concern about the diagnosis and treatment, which caused worry and significant uncertainty. Developing strategies to improve patient and provider communications regarding the nature of DCIS and acknowledging gaps in the current knowledge of management options should be a priority.

Abstract P2-08-07: Predicting DCIS prognosis using infrared and raman spectroscopy of breast calcifications and soft-tissue microstructure

Introduction: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a potential precursor of invasive breast cancer. The uncertain trajectory of DCIS, to progress to invasive disease or to remain in situ, currently drives treatment, despite lack of proven benefit. Therefore, understanding the molecular features of the DCIS trajectory may prevent overtreatment of this disease. Breast calcifications are a common feature in DCIS and are seen mammographically in over 80% of cases. Calcifications have been largely characterised based only on x-ray morphology; their chemical composition, their association with the surrounding soft tissue and role in DCIS and invasive breast cancer biology is largely unexplored. In this regard, a bio-photonic approach, based on infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy in combination with machine learning, was used to study DCIS by probing the chemical composition of calcifications and the surrounding soft tissue in breast lesions. The main aim of the work is to identify molecular compositional changes in calcifications and in soft tissue that potentially accompany or drive the progression of DCIS to invasive breast cancer, or indicates a stable DCIS phenotype. Methods: Serial tissue sections from 303 patients with (i) ‘pure DCIS’ (DCIS without recurrence) (n=158), (ii) ‘DCIS with invasive recurrence’ (DCIS from a patient who subsequently was known to develop invasive disease) (n=123) and (iii) ‘DCIS plus invasive cancer contemporaneously’ (n=22), were measured using mid-IR imaging and Raman mapping. The same calcifications and soft tissue regions from specific DCIS ducts were targeted across the techniques on the serial sections. Spectral images were analysed using cluster analysis followed by unsupervised and supervised machine learning classification models to identify spectral features associated with the progression of DCIS to invasive breast cancer. Results: Segmentation of IR and Raman spectral images based on cluster analysis identified important histopathological features including calcifications, epithelium, necrotic areas, connective tissue and stroma based on the spectral heterogeneity. Based on analysis of Raman calcification data from 145 patients with (i) ‘pure DCIS’ (n=90) and (ii) ‘DCIS with invasive recurrence’ (n=55), an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) mean value of 85% was obtained in distinguish pure DCIS from DCIS that later recurred as invasive cancer. The calcification features appeared to indicate pathology specific changes in phosphate and carbonate content and appearance of magnesium whitlockite. Similar analysis of the surrounding soft tissue spectral features showed an AUROC mean value of 76%, which showed changes in protein secondary structure and content, particularly in the necrotic regions surrounding calcifications. In addition, classification models are being developed and refined from the IR spectral data, the initial results of which have shown an AUROC value of only 54% from the same patients’ data. Perspectives: It is anticipated that the current novel approaches allowing label-free measurement of calcifications and soft tissue will provide important cues in understanding DCIS prognosis and could be a promising way forward in determining DCIS management. Current and future efforts include identification of specific discriminatory spectral features for molecular and pathological correlation. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Cancer Research UK and by KWF Kankerbestrijding (ref. C38317/A24043).

Citation Format: Jayakrupakar Nallala, Doriana Calabrese, Sarah Gosling, Allison Hall, Sarah Pinder, Ihssane Bouybayoune, Lorraine King, Jeffrey Marks, Esther Lips, Thomas Lynch, Donna Pinto, Jelle Wesseling, Shelley Hwang, Keith Rogers, Nick Stone, on behalf of the Grand Challenge PRECISION consortium. Predicting DCIS prognosis using infrared and raman spectroscopy of breast calcifications and soft-tissue microstructure [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-08-07.

Abstract P1-22-02: Subsequent risk of ipsilateral breast events in a multinational DCIS cohort of 48.619 patients: A meta-analysis within the PRECISION consortium

Background: The PRECISION (PREvent ductal Carcinoma In Situ Invasive Overtreatment Now) CRUK Grand Challenge project focusses on discriminating hazardous from indolent ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Aim of these analyses is to identify factors associated with a lower or higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer after an initial DCIS diagnosis. Knowledge of these factors is crucial in our quest to reducing overtreatment for women with DCIS. Many clinicopathological features are hypothesized to be important factors affecting the risk of a subsequent breast lesion. Most studies performed so far are from trial or single country studies, we now present an integrated analysis of four different cohorts from three countries.Methods: Four cohorts from the three countries participating in PRECISION were identified. A population based cohort from the Netherlands cancer registry (Dutch cohort); a population based, prospective, screening cohort from the United Kingdom (Sloane cohort); a single center cohort from MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and a subset of DCIS patients abstracted from a population based National Cancer Database Special Study cohort (NCDB subset) in the United States. Patient-level data from these cohorts were combined for this analysis. Subsequent ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) and subsequent ipsilateral DCIS (iDCIS) were assessed at five and ten years by Kaplan Meier analysis. The cumulative incidence of iIBC was assessed in three treatment groups: breast conserving surgery only (BCS), breast conserving surgery with radiotherapy (BCS+RT) and mastectomy (MST). Cumulative incidence of iDCIS was assessed in patients receiving BCS or BCS+RT. Additionally, cumulative incidences were calculated for iIBC and IDCIS in patients who received endocrine treatment (ET) after BCS or BCS+RT versus patients who did not receive ET. All cumulative incidences were calculated with death as competing risk. Results: The joint PRECISION cohort consisted of 48,619 patients, diagnosed between 1999 and 2017. Median follow-up was 7.4 years (0.6-17.9). In preliminary analyses, Kaplan Meier curves showed broadly similar risks in iIBC and iDCIS between the four different cohorts. The cumulative incidence of iIBC was 1.6% at five years and 3.5% at 10 years. Five-year cumulative incidence of iIBC was highest in patients receiving BCS (3.4%) compared with patients receiving BCS+RT or MST (1.3%). The cumulative incidence of iDCIS was 1.7% at 5 years and 2.4% at 10 years. Five-year cumulative incidence of iDCIS was higher in patients receiving BCS (3.5%) compared to patients receiving BCS+RT (1.9%). In univariate analyses, the effect of ET on cumulative incidence of both iIBC and iDCIS was modest, especially with respect to radiotherapy. Conclusion: Overall, 5- and 10-year incidence of an ipsilateral in situ or invasive breast lesion was low and similar between the four different cohorts. The incidence of iIBC and iDCIS was higher in patients receiving BCS, compared to women receiving BCS+RT or MST.

Table 1.Cohort and patient characteristicsDutch Cohort Sloane MDACCNCDB subsetTotal CohortN=18,995N=8,425N=1,820N=19,379N=48,619Cohort descriptionProspectiveNoYesNoNoPopulation basedYesYesNo, single centerYesScreening and non-screeningYesScreening onlyYesYesMean (min - max)Mean (min - max)Mean (min - max)Mean (min-max)Mean (min-max)Age diagnosis DCIS58.3 (21-94)59.8 (46-88)55.6 (20-90)59.7 (20-98)59.0 (20-98)Year of diagnosis (range)1999-20152003-20121999-20172007-20151999-2017Follow-up in years10.4 (0.5-21.1)5.3 (0.5-9.7)8.7 (0.25-17.8)5.8 (0.5-10.7)7.6 (0.25-2.1)N (%)N (%)N (%)N (%)N (%)GradeGrade 12,844 (15.0)784 (9.3)141 (7.8)3,158 (16.3)6,927 (14.3)Grade 25,952 (31.3)2,328 (27.6)737 (40.5)6,844 (35.3)15,861 (32.6)Grade 38,944 (47.1)5,305 (62.9)933 (51.3)7,848 (40.5)23,030 (47.3)Unknown grade1,255 (6.6)8 (0.1)9 (0.5)1,529 (7.9)2,801 (5.8)Type of surgeryBreast conserving surgery (BCS)11,790 (62.1)5,830 (69.2)1,031 (56.7)14,504 (74.8)33,155 (68.2)Mastectomy (MST)7,205 (37.9)2,595 (30.8)789 (43.4)4,875 (25.2)15,464 (31.8)Adjuvant treatmentRadiotherapy (RT)9,650 (50.8)3,418 (40.6)762 (41.9)10,620 (54.8)24,450 (50.3)Endocrine treatmentNA1,151 (13.6)999 (54.9)8,849 (45.7)10,999 (37.0)5 years Cumulative IncidencesiIBC1.4%2.3%1.6%1.7%1.6%iDCIS1.5%2.0%1.6%1.7%1.7%Vital statusAlive16,472 (86.7)8,147 (96.7)1,668 (91.7)18,161 (93.7)44,448 (91.4)Deceased2,523 (13.3)278 (3.3)152 (8.4)1,218 (6.3)4,171 (8.6)This work was supported by Cancer Research UK and by KWF Dutch Cancer Society (ref.C38317/A24043)

Citation Format: Renée SJM Schmitz, Sandra W van den Belt-Dusebout, Chiara Cresta, Yat-Hee Liu, Michael Schaapveld, Karen Clements, Jasmine Timbres, Danalyn T Byng, Marc D Ryser, Yi Ren, Thomas Lynch, Terry Hyslop, Brian Menegaz, Deborah Collyar, Shelley Hwang, Alastair Thompson, Elinor Sawyer, Jelle Wesseling, Esther H Lips, Marjanka K Schmidt, Grand Challenge PRECISION consortium. Subsequent risk of ipsilateral breast events in a multinational DCIS cohort of 48.619 patients: A meta-analysis within the PRECISION consortium [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-22-02.

Abstract P1-22-04: Decision aids and risk prediction models to support decision making about DCIS treatment: A systematic literature review

Background: Although most low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions will not progress to invasive breast cancer if left untreated, clinical guidelines advise surgery with/without radiotherapy for all women diagnosed with DCIS. There is therefore increasing concern about the possible overtreatment of DCIS. Currently, clinical trials are being conducted to investigate the safety of active surveillance in low-risk DCIS patients. It is hypothesized that, in future, both surgery and active surveillance will be accepted treatment strategies. Active surveillance is offered to women in the ongoing trials and is expected to become a standard DCIS management option in the future. Choosing whether to undergo surgery for DCIS or to opt for active surveillance can be a difficult decision fraught with uncertainty for both patients and oncologists. Good quality decision support tools such as prediction models and patient decision aids to guide decision making about DCIS management, including the option of active surveillance, are therefore urgently needed. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the quality of published decision aids and prediction models aiming to support decision making about DCIS treatment. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement criteria. The databases Medline(ovid), Embase (ovid), Scopus, and TRIP were searched to identify published manuscripts describing the development and/or evaluation of DCIS decision aids and prediction models. The protocol was published in the PROSPERO database (ID CRD42020212297). The CHARMS (Critical Appraisal and Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modelling Studies) checklist was used to evaluate the methodological quality of prediction models and the IPDAS (International Patient Decision Aid Standards) checklist was used to evaluate the quality of decision aids. Data extraction was performed by two researchers with discrepancies resolved through consensus. Results: The review identified 10,636 publications, 33 describing the development and/or validation of four decision aids and seven clinical prediction models were selected (Table 1). The decision aids identified met at least 50% of the IPDAS quality criteria. However, most decision aids lacked tools to help patients reflect on the information received and to facilitate discussion of the information with their family and healthcare providers. Most prediction models were designed to predict the risk of a subsequent ipsilateral breast event after a primary DCIS. No models included the option of active surveillance. Sufficient, good quality, external validation was lacking for all prediction models identified. Conclusions: There are only a few decision aids available that can be used to support patients diagnosed with DCIS. These decision aids could be improved to facilitate the processing of information by patients and enhance communication between patients and their support system and healthcare providers. There is no prediction model that considers active surveillance as a management option for DCIS, and based on the available evidence, there is no prediction model that can be recommended for use in clinical practice. More and qualitatively better validations are required in the future.

Table 1.Overview of DCIS decision aids and prediction models identifiedDCIS DECISION AIDSDecision aid by Berger-Hoger et al.(2014)Communication aid by De Morgan et al.(2009)onlineDeCISion.org by Ozanne et al.(2016)DCISoptions.org by COMET trial team(SABCS 2020)Target audience:Women with DCISCliniciansClinicians and women with DCISWomen with DCISLanguage:GermanEnglishEnglishEnglishEvaluation study conducted:YesYesNot reportedNot reportedDesign evaluation study:RCTInterviewNot applicableNot applicableSample size evaluation study:6425Not applicableNot applicableMain finding evaluation study:More active patient involvementCommunication tool assists shared decision makingNot applicableNot applicableImplementation study conducted:None retrievedNone retrievedNone retrievedNone retrieved% IPDAS criteria met regarding:Content87%57%65%78%Development process71%59%67%42%Effectiveness100%50%75%75%DCIS PREDICTION MODELSOncotype DCIS(Solin et al. (2013))DCISionRT/PreludeDX(Bremer et al. (2018))Van Nuysprognostic index(Silverstein et al. (1995))MSKCC DCIS nomogram(Rudlof et al. (2010))Patient prognostic score(Sagara et al. (2016))PredictCBC(Giardello et al. (2019))CBC Risk model(Chowdhury et al. (2017))Predicted outcome:Ipsilateral breast eventIpsilateral breast eventIpsilateral breast eventIpsilateral breast eventIpsilateral breast eventContralateral breast cancerContralateral breast cancerTool based on:Multigene assayBiomarkers + clinico-pathological factorsClinicopatho-logical factors onlyClinicopatho-logical factors onlyClinicopatho-logical factors onlyClinicopatho-logical factors onlyClinicopatho-logical factors onlyIntended to support decision making about:Need for adjuvant radiotherapyNeed for adjuvant radiotherapyType of surgery and need for radiotherapyNeed for adjuvant radiotherapyNeed for adjuvant radiotherapyScreening or prophylactic mastectomyScreening or prophylactic mastectomyRisk of bias based on CHARMS:ModerateModerateModerate/HighModerateLowLowLowNumber (external) validations:3193001Reported C-index/AUC0.68None reportedNone reported0.61-0.68None reported0.52None reportedThis work was supported by Cancer Research UK and by KWF Dutch Cancer Society (ref.C38317/A24043)

Citation Format: Renée SJM Schmitz, Erica Wilthagen, Frederieke van Duijnhoven, Marja van Oirsouw, Ellen Verschuur, Thomas Lynch, Rinaa S Punglia, Shelley Hwang, Jelle Wesseling, Marjanka K Schmidt, Eveline Bleiker, Ellen G Engelhardt, Grand Challenge PRECISION consortium. Decision aids and risk prediction models to support decision making about DCIS treatment: A systematic literature review [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-22-04.

Inflammatory Arthritis Post Covid-19 Infection

Presentation A 63-year-old man developed polyarthritis two months post recovery from COVID-19 infection. Diagnosis We concluded that the diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis based upon raised inflammatory markers, positive rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies. Treatment His symptoms improved with naproxen, corticosteroids, and methotrexate. Discussion We describe a patient with late onset rheumatoid arthritis possibly triggered or unmasked by COVID-19.

Prediction of Upstaging in Ductal Carcinoma in Situ Based on Mammographic Radiomic Features

Background Improving diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) before surgery is important in choosing optimal patient management strategies. However, patients may harbor occult invasive disease not detected until definitive surgery. Purpose To assess the performance and clinical utility of mammographic radiomic features in the prediction of occult invasive cancer among women diagnosed with DCIS on the basis of core biopsy findings. Materials and Methods In this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study, digital magnification mammographic images were collected from women who underwent breast core-needle biopsy for calcifications that was performed at a single institution between September 2008 and April 2017 and yielded a diagnosis of DCIS. The database query was directed at asymptomatic women with calcifications without a mass, architectural distortion, asymmetric density, or palpable disease. Logistic regression with regularization was used. Differences across training and internal test set by upstaging rate, age, lesion size, and estrogen and progesterone receptor status were assessed by using the Kruskal-Wallis or χ² test. Results The study consisted of 700 women with DCIS (age range, 40-89 years; mean age, 59 years ± 10 [standard deviation]), including 114 with lesions (16.3%) upstaged to invasive cancer at subsequent surgery. The sample was split randomly into 400 women for the training set and 300 for the testing set (mean ages: training set, 59 years ± 10; test set, 59 years ± 10; P = .85). A total of 109 radiomic and four clinical features were extracted. The best model on the test set by using all radiomic and clinical features helped predict upstaging with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.71 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.79). For a fixed high sensitivity (90%), the model yielded a specificity of 22%, a negative predictive value of 92%, and an odds ratio of 2.4 (95% CI: 1.8, 3.2). High specificity (90%) corresponded to a sensitivity of 37%, positive predictive value of 41%, and odds ratio of 5.0 (95% CI: 2.8, 9.0). Conclusion Machine learning models that use radiomic features applied to mammographic calcifications may help predict upstaging of ductal carcinoma in situ, which can refine clinical decision making and treatment planning. © RSNA, 2022.

Efficacy of Withania somnifera supplementation on adult's cognition and mood

The present study examined the effects of a proprietary Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root and leaf extract (NooGandha® Specnova LLC, USA) supplement for improving cognitive abilities, cortisol levels, and self-reported mood, stress, food cravings, and anxiety with adults who have perceived stress. Healthy adults (n = 43 women and n = 17 men; mean age = 34.41 years) who reported experiencing perceived stress were randomized to the following groups: Ashwagandha (400 mg/d), Ashwagandha (225 mg/d), and placebo for 30 days. The following outcomes were assessed at Day 0, Day 15, and Day 30: saliva cortisol levels, cognitive performance (i.e., CNS vital signs), and the self-reported measures of Trait Anxiety Inventory, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Food Cravings Questionnaire-15. For the self-report assessments, significant main effects for time were evidenced for anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and food cravings, p's < 0.01. The main effect for group and the interactions were non-significant. For the CNS vital signs, significant differences were observed in cognitive flexibility, visual memory, reaction time, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning, p's < 0.05, with the Ashwagandha groups often out-performing the placebo group. Both Ashwagandha groups had reductions in cortisol levels over time, with significant reductions evidenced for the Ashwagandha 225 mg/d group from Day 0 to Day 15 to Day 30. The placebo group had a non-significant increase in cortisol levels from Day 0 to Day 15–30. No adverse events were reported. In conclusion, Ashwagandha supplementation may improve the physiological, cognitive, and psychological effects of stress.

Abstract MP219: Hnrnpa2b1-dependent Selective Sorting Of Mir-486a-5p Into Msc-derived Exosomes Contributes To Cardioprotection

Exosomes (Exo) are a class of extracellular vesicles and involvement of stem cell-derived Exo in cardiac repair and cardioprotection is thought to be an important in the heart. Our HYPOTHESIS Is that specific microRNAs (miRs) from mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes are actively and selectively sorted into Exo by RNA binding proteins and motifs on the miR, to serve specific functions of the Exo, including Cardioprotection.

Methods: We characterized the miR populations of parental MSCs and their Exo via RNA Seq and confirmed by QRT-PCR the subpopulation of miRs that is increased in Exo vs . MSC cells. We then used Multiple Em for Motif Elicitation (MEME) Version 5.3.3 and determined the predicted conserved motifs. From these, we predicted RNA binding protein sites from the literature. In parallel, we performed mass spectrometry and western blot analyses to determine RNA binding proteins in MSC and Exo. Predicting that hnRNPA2B1 was a likely RNA binding protein for the new motif, we knocked out the cognate gene (CRISPR) in MSC and evaluated the KO Exo vs. the WT Exo by RNA Seq and QRT-PCR. We performed protein and RNA pulldowns, and EMSA to validate binding of hnRNPA2B1 to several of the miRs, and investigated the effects of these miRs on cell survival after simIR and in an in vivo mouse model of MI.

Results: We found a set of eight miRs that are selectively concentrated in the MSC Exo. MEME software predicted a conserved binding motif of gAGu, which is close to canonical sites for binding of hnRNPA2B1 and hnRNPA1. We determined hnRNPA2B1 was in MSC and Exo and showed KO hnRNPA2B1 cells and Exo had no compensatory perturbation of other RNA binding proteins. The KO MSC Exo show reduction of the selective sorting of the miRs of interest. Pulldowns and binding assay results verify binding of hnRNPA2B1 to both miR-486a-5p and miR-122a. Finally, we showed that miR-486a-5p is protective in H9C2 cells submitted to simIR and results in significant 68% reduction of infarct size (n=7, P=0.0175) in vivo in association with repression of PDCD4 expression and apoptosis.

Conclusions: We determined that a set of miRs is selectively concentrated in MSC Exo and demonstrated the necessity of hnRNPA2B1 in that process. This appears to involve a conserved RNA sequence motif (mutational analysis underway). A major miR affected is miR-486a-5p, which is strongly cardioprotective. Our results support that miR-486a-5p is selectively concentrated in MSC Exo and contributes to cardioprotection by reducing PDCD4 activity in apoptosis.

Integrating Serum Biomarkers into Prediction Models for Biochemical Recurrence Following Radical Prostatectomy

This study undertook to predict biochemical recurrence (BCR) in prostate cancer patients after radical prostatectomy using serum biomarkers and clinical features. Three radical prostatectomy cohorts were used to build and validate a model of clinical variables and serum biomarkers to predict BCR. The Cox proportional hazard model with stepwise selection technique was used to develop the model. Model evaluation was quantified by the AUC, calibration, and decision curve analysis. Cross-validation techniques were used to prevent overfitting in the Irish training cohort, and the Austrian and Norwegian independent cohorts were used as validation cohorts. The integration of serum biomarkers with the clinical variables (AUC = 0.695) improved significantly the predictive ability of BCR compared to the clinical variables (AUC = 0.604) or biomarkers alone (AUC = 0.573). This model was well calibrated and demonstrated a significant improvement in the predictive ability in the Austrian and Norwegian validation cohorts (AUC of 0.724 and 0.606), compared to the clinical model (AUC of 0.665 and 0.511). This study shows that the pre-operative biomarker PEDF can improve the accuracy of the clinical factors to predict BCR. This model can be employed prior to treatment and could improve clinical decision making, impacting on patients' outcomes and quality of life.

Disparities in surveillance imaging after breast conserving surgery for primary DCIS

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Background: Due to the elevated risk of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) after diagnosis with primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), professional guidelines recommend surveillance screening within 6-12 months (mo) after completion of initial local treatment and annually thereafter. To characterize adherence to these guidelines, we explored longitudinal patterns of utilization and factors associated with the use of surveillance imaging (mammography, MRI, ultrasound) for women with primary DCIS treated with breast conserving surgery (BCS) ± radiotherapy (RT) within 6 mo of diagnosis. Methods: A treatment-stratified random sample of patients diagnosed with screen-detected and biopsy-confirmed DCIS in 2008-15 was selected from 1,330 Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities (up to 20/site) in the US. All imaging exams coded as asymptomatic were collected from 6 mo up to 10 years (yr) post-diagnosis. Time was defined according to 12-mo long surveillance periods. To be included in a given surveillance period, women had to be alive and free of a new breast cancer diagnosis through the end of the period. Women were classified as “consistent” screeners if they had at least one surveillance screen during each period, for the first 5 yr post-treatment or until censoring, whichever occurred first. Repeated measures multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used to model receipt of surveillance breast imaging over time. The model included clinical and socioeconomic features. Results: The final analytic cohort contained 12,559 women; 8,989 (71.6%) received RT after BCS. Median age was 60 yr (interquartile range: 52-69) and median follow-up was 5.6 yr (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6-5.7). Among women who received BCS (instead of BCS+RT), 62.5% (79.7%) underwent surveillance imaging within 6-18 mo after diagnosis. 38.7% (54.0%) were categorized as “consistent” screeners. Compared to white women, Black women were less likely to receive surveillance screening after treatment for primary DCIS (odds ratio [OR] 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.94). Hispanic ethnicity had a similar association (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-0.99) compared to non-Hispanic ethnicity. Women with private insurance, compared to government insurance, were more likely to receive screening (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.11-1.30). Prognostic tumor features indicative of a higher risk of subsequent iIBC, including higher grade, presence of comedonecrosis, and hormone receptor-negative DCIS, were not associated with screening uptake. Conclusions: Despite guidelines recommending annual surveillance imaging, many women with primary DCIS do not undergo regular imaging after BCS. The findings from this US-based study suggest that disparities in screening uptake are associated with race/ethnicity and insurance status rather than prognostic tumor features.

Barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists: a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Introduction

Long-term use (&gt;3 months) of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs) persists in healthcare settings worldwide despite guidelines recommending short-term use (≤4 weeks). Potential harms of long-term BZRA use include dependence and withdrawal symptoms. A systematic review highlighted that brief interventions targeting long-term BZRA use lacked theoretical underpinning and were often poorly described (1). It is advocated that interventions should be systematically developed and reported, use an appropriate theory-base and involve key stakeholders in their development. Semi-structured interviews based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) can be used to identify patient-level barriers and facilitators that should be targeted by interventions (2).

Aim

The aim of this study was to explore the views and experiences of individuals who had previously used BZRAs on a long-term basis through semi-structured interviews and to identify key theoretical domains that acted as barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term BZRA use.

Methods

A multi-strand convenience sampling method was used to recruit participants through community pharmacies, general practices and social media (e.g. Twitter, Instagram). Individuals who had successfully discontinued long-term BZRA use were eligible to participate if they were ≥18 years of age, community dwelling and resident in the Republic of Ireland. Individuals with a: cognitive impairment, history of epilepsy, serious mental illness (e.g. prescribed anti-psychotics) or receiving opioid substitution treatment were excluded. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using a TDF-based topic guide (2). Questions covering each TDF domain were used to explore participants’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term BZRA use. Data were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were independently checked for accuracy. Data were analysed using the framework method. Interviews continued until data saturation was achieved. Ethical approval was granted by the RCSI Research Ethics Committee.

Results

Thirteen patients were interviewed (seven female; median age: 43 years; median duration of use: six years). Key barriers to discontinuing BZRA use were identified under the ‘Emotions’ and ‘Reinforcement’ domains. These included participants’ first-hand experience of withdrawal symptoms and resultant fear towards discontinuation of the medication. ‘Intentions’ and ‘Social influences’ were identified as key theoretical domains that facilitated participants in discontinuing BZRA use. For example, participants described having strong intentions to discontinue BZRA use and discussed the positive influence of healthcare professionals such as community pharmacists in supporting them.

Conclusion

The study findings indicate that individuals who have successfully discontinued long-term BZRA use often have strong intentions to do so, as well as the support of healthcare professionals. However, challenges to discontinuing BZRA use include withdrawal symptoms and negative emotions towards the discontinuation process. The main strength of this study is that it used the TDF to examine barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long-term BZRA use. A notable limitation was that none of the participants were aged ≥65 years which limits the transferability of the findings. Future work will look to examine the views and experiences of current long-term BZRA users, integrate the findings with this study and map key domains to behaviour change techniques to inform the development of an intervention to reduce long-term BZRA use.

References

1. Lynch T, Ryan C, Hughes CM, Presseau J, van Allen ZM, Bradley CP, et al. Brief interventions targeting long-term benzodiazepine and Z-drug use in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 2020;115(9):1618–39.

2. Cane J, O’Connor D, Michie S. Validation of the theoretical domains framework for use in behaviour change and implementation research. Implementation Science. 2012;7(1):37.

Abstract PD5-06: Impact of an online ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) decision support tool on awareness of treatment options and knowledge of breast cancer risks

Background An interactive decision support tool (DST) was adapted to support patients diagnosed with DCIS who are making treatment decisions. The DST provides the following risk estimates over 10 years: 1) future DCIS or invasive breast cancer in the same breast, 2) the risk of dying from causes other than breast cancer, and 3) the risk of dying from invasive breast cancer. Estimates are personalized based on patient age and DCIS grade (low/intermediate versus high grade or “don’t know”) and were based on a model incorporating data from clinical trials and life tables. Methods The DST was implemented in collaboration with the COMET study on the website DCISoptions.org (www.dcisoptions.org). On the DST, personalized results are displayed separately using a 100-woman icon array and percentages with each outcome (future DCIS/invasive breast cancer, death due to breast cancer, death due to other causes) in a different color for each treatment selected by the patient (lumpectomy only, lumpectomy + radiation therapy, lumpectomy + endocrine therapy, lumpectomy + radiation and endocrine therapy, mastectomy with or without reconstruction, bilateral mastectomy with or without reconstruction). In addition, information regarding active monitoring was provided in descriptive terms without icon array display of personalized outcomes. DST users were defined as those who navigated to the website and entered age and DCIS grade allowing them to access the information about expected outcomes. Users were asked to complete an optional survey both prior to use of the DST and after to assess the impact of the DST on: 1) their awareness of options for DCIS treatment, 2) their willingness to consider these options, 3) their knowledge of mortality risks associated with DCIS, and 4) how helpful the DST was to them (after use only). Results As of June 1, 2020, there were 420 users of the DST (total) with 362 completing the pre-tool survey and 58 of whom completed the post-tool survey. Among all DST users, mean age was 54.0 (9.6 years SD) and DCIS was low/intermediate for 72.0%, high for 18.5% and unknown for the remaining 9.5%. Among users who submitted both the pre- and post-tool survey, median time spent on the tool was 10.4 minutes. Awareness of each treatment option was high and did not change with the tool: 90% among both pre-survey and post-survey users except for bilateral mastectomy which remained at 82.9% among pre-survey and post-survey responders. Among those users who completed the pre- and post-tool surveys, the DST increased the percentage of patients who believed the chance of dying from DCIS is very low from 60.3% at baseline to 74.1% (p&lt;0.0001) and reduced the median estimated numerical risk of dying from DCIS in 10 years from 9.0% at baseline to 3.0% (p&lt;0.0001). A large majority of DST users found the tool very helpful or helpful (79.3% of those who responded) in making a treatment decision for DCIS. Discussion DCIS patients have been shown to greatly overestimate the risks of dying from breast cancer and this has been associated with increased anxiety and potential overtreatment. Our personalized online DST significantly improved knowledge about DCIS risks. Future studies of the DST should assess patient characteristics associated with knowledge gains and whether improved knowledge translates to improved patient outcomes including more patient preference and values-based treatment decisions.

Citation Format: Rinaa Sujata Punglia, Ann Partridge, Shelley Hwang, Alastair Thompson, Elizabeth Frank, Donna Pinto, Deborah Collyar, Desiree Basila, Thomas Lynch, Terry Hyslop, Marc Ryser, Elissa Ozanne. Impact of an online ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) decision support tool on awareness of treatment options and knowledge of breast cancer risks [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD5-06.

Abstract OT-08-02: Comparing an operation to monitoring, with or without endocrine therapy (COMET): A prospective randomized trial for low-risk DCIS (AFT-25)

Background: Approximately 50,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) annually. Without treatment, it is estimated that 20-30% of DCIS will lead to invasive breast cancer. Currently, more than 97% of women undergo surgery, with many also undergoing radiation. An alternative to surgery for low-risk DCIS is active monitoring (AM), an approach in which regularly scheduled mammography and physical exams are used to monitor breast changes and determine if, or when, surgery is needed. Trial design: COMET, a multicenter phase III prospective randomized trial, opened in the U.S. in June 2017 (clinicaltrials.gov reference: NCT02926911). The hypothesis is that management of low-risk DCIS using an AM approach does not yield inferior invasive breast cancer and/or quality of life outcomes compared to surgery. Eligibility criteria: Patients with a new diagnosis of unilateral, bilateral, unifocal, multifocal, or multicentric DCIS, or atypia verging on DCIS are eligible. Patients must be ≥40 years of age, have no contraindication for surgery, and pathologic confirmation of grade I/II DCIS. DCIS must be ER and/or PR≥ 10% and HER2-negative without invasion, diagnosed within 120 days of registration. Breast tissue, blood and imaging are collected at trial entry and if invasive cancer subsequently occurs, and are stored in central repositories. Specific aims: The primary aim is to assess whether the 2-yr ipsilateral invasive breast cancer rate for AM is non-inferior to surgery. Secondary aims include comparison of 2-, 5-, and 10-yr mastectomy rate, contralateral invasive breast cancer rate, overall survival and invasive breast cancer-specific survival, as well as 5- and 10-yr ipsilateral invasive breast cancer rate between groups. Patient reported outcomes (PRO) using validated tools are critical secondary endpoints, and will enable comparison of health-related quality of life and psychosocial outcomes between surgery and AM groups at prespecified time points over a period of 5 years. Statistical methods: An accrual goal of 1200 was estimated using a 2-group test of noninferiority of proportions, with the 2-yr invasive breast cancer rate in the surgery group assumed to be 0.10, including accounting for upstaging. The projected drop-out rate is 25%, for a total of 900 patients treated per allocation arm. The non-inferiority boundary was set at 0.05. Based on a 1-sided un-pooled z-test, with alpha=0.05, a sample size of n=446 per group will have 80% power to detect the specified noninferiority margin. Intention-to-treat analysis of the 2-yr invasive breast cancer rate will be conducted using all patients as randomized, and will be completed using Kaplan-Meier estimates, stratified by group, combined with Greenwood’s confidence interval. Several sensitivity analyses (per protocol, as-treated, and instrumental variable) are also planned to account for loss of follow-up, rejection of randomization allocation and withdrawals. Present and target accrual: Trial accrual as of 7/1/20 is 540 randomized patients from 84 activated Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology sites. Despite logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis, patients continue to be recruited to the COMET trial. Over 80% of patients have sample sets/images stored in the tissue and image repositories. This trial will provide definitive clinical, quality of life and biomarker evidence regarding the trade-offs of surgery vs AM in patients with low-risk DCIS. Support: CER-1503-29572; https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org Contact: Thomas Lynch (Project Manager) - thomas.lynch2@duke.edu

Citation Format: Thomas Lynch, Ann Partridge, Alastair Thompson, Elizabeth Frank, Donna Pinto, Deborah Collyar, Desiree Basila, Louise Davies, Jenny Donovan, Terry Hyslop, Linda McCall, Marc Ryser, Taylor O' Donnell, Anna Weiss, Shelley Hwang. Comparing an operation to monitoring, with or without endocrine therapy (COMET): A prospective randomized trial for low-risk DCIS (AFT-25) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT-08-02.

Abstract PD5-03: Ipsilateral invasive cancer risk after diagnosis with ductal carcinoma in situ in patients with and without index surgery: The effects of endocrine therapy and radiation treatment

Background. Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating active surveillance as a potential alternative to immediate surgery in patients diagnosed with low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Among women undergoing lumpectomy, the risk of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) after a diagnosis of DCIS can be reduced with adjuvant therapy, including endocrine therapy (ET) and radiation treatment (RT). Here we characterize the effects of ET and RT on iIBC risk after diagnosis with DCIS in a national cohort, in patients who received breast conserving surgery (BCS) within 6 months of diagnosis (BCS group) compared to patients who did not receive any locoregional treatment within 6 months of diagnosis (surveillance [SV] group). Methods. A treatment-stratified random sample of patients diagnosed with biopsy-confirmed DCIS in 2008-14 was selected from 1,330 Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities (20/site). Patients who received a mastectomy within 6 months of diagnosis were excluded. Subsequent breast events were abstracted up to 10 years after diagnosis. Primary outcomes were the population-averaged 8-year absolute risks of iIBC for the following five treatment modalities: BCS alone, SV alone, BCS + ET, SV+ET, BCS+RT, and BCS+ET+RT (where ET was defined as ≥5 years of continuous treatment). Secondary outcomes were the average treatment effects (ATE) of SV+ET vs SV, BCS+RT vs SV+ET, and BCS+RT+ET vs SV+ET. A propensity score (PS) model for treatment choice BCS vs SV was fitted with sampling design (SD) weighting and random effects for patients within facilities. Relative treatment effects (hazard ratios [HR]) for the five treatment groups were obtained using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for tumor and patient characteristics. The models were weighted by SD and PS and included a robust sandwich covariance estimator to account for clustering of patients within facilities. Population-averaged risks and ATEs were derived from the marginal outcome probabilities: assuming that the entire population received the treatment of interest, each patient’s counterfactual probability of an iIBC event by 8 years was predicted, and then averaged across the weighted population. 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained by bootstrapping. Results. The final analytic cohort contained 14,245 (88.2%) BCS and 1,914 (11.8%) SV patients. Overall, median age at diagnosis was 61 years (IQR: 52-69) and median follow-up was 5.8 years (95% CI 5.7-6.1). The majority of patients were Caucasian (81.9%), with hormone receptor-positive (79.9%), and nuclear grade I/II (54.5%) DCIS. Uptake of any ET was 48.5% and 23.7% in BCS and SV patients, respectively. The relative treatment effects (HR) for the receipt of BCS, RT and ≥5 years of ET were 1.65 (95% CI: 1.14-2.39), 0.40 (95% CI: 0.27-0.61) and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.17-1.72) respectively. The 8-year population-averaged iIBC risks and corresponding ATEs are shown Table 1. Conclusion. The 8-year risk of iIBC was below 7% for all six management options. Relative and absolute treatment effects of ET and RT were comparable to previously reported estimates. In SV patients, receipt of ≥5 years of ET nearly halved the 8-year risk, indicating a substantial risk reduction potential for ET in patients who do not receive immediate surgery after diagnosis.

Table 1: Population-averaged 8-year iIBC risk and ATEs.TreatmentiIBC risk (%)95% CISurveillance6.906.79-7.01Surveillance + ET3.903.83-3.96BCS4.264.21-4.31BCS + RT1.761.73-1.79BCS + ET2.392.35-2.43BCS + ET + RT0.980.96-0.99Treatment comparisonATE (%)95% CISV+ET vs SV3.02.95-3.04BCS+RT vs SV+ET2.142.11-2.17BCS+RT+ET vs SV+ET2.922.78-2.97

Citation Format: Marc D Ryser, Christel N Rushing, Samantha M Thomas, Thomas Lynch, Anne McCarthy, Zahed A Mohammed, Amanda B Francescatti, Elizabeth S Frank, Anne H Partridge, Alastair M Thompson, Terry Hyslop, E. Shelley Hwang. Ipsilateral invasive cancer risk after diagnosis with ductal carcinoma in situ in patients with and without index surgery: The effects of endocrine therapy and radiation treatment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD5-03.

Platelet cloaking of circulating tumour cells in patients with metastatic prostate cancer: Results from ExPeCT, a randomised controlled trial

Background

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) represent a morphologically distinct subset of cancer cells, which aid the metastatic spread. The ExPeCT trial aimed to examine the effectiveness of a structured exercise programme in modulating levels of CTCs and platelet cloaking in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Methods

Participants (n = 61) were randomised into either standard care (control) or exercise arms. Whole blood was collected for all participants at baseline (T0), three months (T3) and six months (T6), and analysed for the presence of CTCs, CTC clusters and platelet cloaking. CTC data was correlated with clinico-pathological information.

Results

Changes in CTC number were observed within group over time, however no significant difference in CTC number was observed between groups over time. Platelet cloaking was identified in 29.5% of participants. A positive correlation between CTC number and white cell count (WCC) was observed (p = 0.0001), in addition to a positive relationship between CTC clusters and PSA levels (p = 0.0393).

Conclusion

The presence of platelet cloaking has been observed in this patient population for the first time, in addition to a significant correlation between CTC number and WCC.

Trial registration

ClincalTrials.gov identifier NCT02453139.

A risk calculator to inform the need for a prostate biopsy: a rapid access clinic cohort

BACKGROUND

Prostate cancer (PCa) represents a significant healthcare problem. The critical clinical question is the need for a biopsy. Accurate risk stratification of patients before a biopsy can allow for individualised risk stratification thus improving clinical decision making. This study aims to build a risk calculator to inform the need for a prostate biopsy.

METHODS

Using the clinical information of 4801 patients an Irish Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator (IPRC) for diagnosis of PCa and high grade (Gleason ≥7) was created using a binary regression model including age, digital rectal examination, family history of PCa, negative prior biopsy and Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level as risk factors. The discrimination ability of the risk calculator is internally validated using cross validation to reduce overfitting, and its performance compared with PSA and the American risk calculator (PCPT), Prostate Biopsy Collaborative Group (PBCG) and European risk calculator (ERSPC) using various performance outcome summaries. In a subgroup of 2970 patients, prostate volume was included. Separate risk calculators including the prostate volume (IPRCv) for the diagnosis of PCa (and high-grade PCa) was created.

RESULTS

IPRC area under the curve (AUC) for the prediction of PCa and high-grade PCa was 0.6741 (95% CI, 0.6591 to 0.6890) and 0.7214 (95% CI, 0.7018 to 0.7409) respectively. This significantly outperforms the predictive ability of cancer detection for PSA (0.5948), PCPT (0.6304), PBCG (0.6528) and ERSPC (0.6502) risk calculators; and also, for detecting high-grade cancer for PSA (0.6623) and PCPT (0.6804) but there was no significant improvement for PBCG (0.7185) and ERSPC (0.7140). The inclusion of prostate volume into the risk calculator significantly improved the AUC for cancer detection (AUC = 0.7298; 95% CI, 0.7119 to 0.7478), but not for high-grade cancer (AUC = 0.7256; 95% CI, 0.7017 to 0.7495). The risk calculator also demonstrated an increased net benefit on decision curve analysis.

CONCLUSION

The risk calculator developed has advantages over prior risk stratification of prostate cancer patients before the biopsy. It will reduce the number of men requiring a biopsy and their exposure to its side effects. The interactive tools developed are beneficial to translate the risk calculator into practice and allows for clarity in the clinical recommendations.

Ipsilateral invasive cancer risk after diagnosis with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): Comparison of patients with and without index surgery

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Background: Most women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) undergo surgical resection, potentially leading to overtreatment of patients who would not develop clinically significant breast cancer in the absence of locoregional treatment. We compared the risk of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) between DCIS patients who received breast conserving surgery (BCS) for their index diagnosis of DCIS (BCS group) and patients who did not receive any locoregional treatment within 6 months of diagnosis (surveillance [SV] group). Methods: A treatment-stratified random sample of patients diagnosed with screen-detected and biopsy-confirmed DCIS in 2008-14 was selected from 1,330 Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities (20/site). Excluding patients who received a mastectomy ≤6 months, the final analytic cohort contained 14,245 (88.2%) BCS and 1,914 (11.8%) SV patients. Subsequent breast events were abstracted up to 10 years after diagnosis. Primary outcome was the 8-year absolute difference in iIBC risk between BCS and SV; a subgroup analysis was performed for grade I/II patients. A propensity score (PS) model for treatment was fitted with sampling design (SD) weighting and random effects for patients within facilities. Absolute risk differences were estimated using PS-SD-weighted Kaplan Meier estimators. Results: Overall, median age at diagnosis was 61 years (IQR: 52-69) and median follow-up was 5.8 years (95% CI 5.7-6.1). The majority of patients were Caucasian (81.9%), with estrogen receptor-positive (80.6%), and nuclear grade I/II (54.5%) DCIS. The fraction of patients with a Charlson comorbidity score of ≥2 was higher in SV (14.2%) compared to BCS (6.4%, p < 0.001). The 8-year risk of iIBC was 3.0% (95% CI: 2.4%-3.6%) for BCS and 7.7% (95% CI: 4.9%-10.5%) for SV, with an absolute risk difference of 4.7% (95% CI: 4.5%-4.9%; log-rank p < 0.001). Among patients with grade I/II tumors, the 8-year risk of iIBC was 3.1% (95% CI: 2.3%-4.0%) for BCS and 6.1% (95% CI: 2.5%-9.8%) for SV; difference: 3.0% (95% CI: 2.7%-3.2%; p = 0.005). Conclusions: Despite an increased risk of iIBC in SV patients compared to BCS patients, the 8-year risk did not exceed 10% in either group. The risk of recurrence in BCS patients was comparable to previously reported estimates. These data demonstrate a considerable degree of overtreatment among patients with non-high grade DCIS. Prospective clinical trials will help determine the tradeoffs between universally directed as opposed to selectively applied surgery for low risk DCIS.

Abstract P1-21-07: The Patient-reported Outcomes after Routine Treatment of Atypical Lesions (PORTAL) study: Pain, psychosocial wellbeing, and quality of life among women undergoing guideline concordant care for DCIS vs. active surveillance for in situ and atypical lesions

Background: Guideline-concordant care (GCC) for DCIS includes surgery, radiation, and endocrine treatment. Active surveillance (AS) is a strategy under study for management of low risk DCIS. The PORTAL Study was designed to evaluate patient reported outcomes (PROs) after GCC for DCIS compared to women who received AS for DCIS combined with women with a history of other atypical lesions (atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), or atypical lobular hyperplasia/lobular carcinoma in situ (LN), as proxies for AS-managed DCIS. Methods: The PORTAL Study invited women age≥ 18, diagnosed with DCIS, ADH, or LN between 2012-2017 from 4 academic centers to complete a one-time, cross-sectional survey. Clinical, pathological, and treatment information was obtained from medical record review. The primary outcome was breast/chest wall pain assessed with the Breast Cancer Pain Questionnaire (BCPQ) including severity (10-point scale, ≥3=clinically relevant), a Pain Burden Index (PBI), which is a composite of severity, frequency, and location (breast, arm, side, axilla) and assessments of sensory disturbances, and impact of pain on emotional and physical functioning. Additional PROs included measures of generalized pain (Brief Pain Inventory), anxiety (STAI-Short Form), depression (CES-D), and QOL (Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors). Pain, psychosocial, and QOL outcomes were compared between the GCC vs. AS groups using Wilcoxon Rank Sum and Chi-Square tests. Results: Of 1565 patients invited and sent a survey, 927 (59%) responded to the survey with evaluable pain outcome data. Median time from diagnosis was 3.8 years. Median age at survey completion was 58 (range: 26-94) years; 13% identified as non-White; 4% Hispanic. Among those with DCIS (n=554), 97% had GCC (62%, lumpectomy, 38%, mastectomy; 48%, radiation), representing 58% of participants vs 42% representing AS. The prevalence of clinically relevant pain was higher in the GCC vs. AS group (16.5% vs 9%, p=.0009). Median BCPQ-PBI, sensory disturbance, physical, and emotional impact scores were all higher (p&lt;.0001) in the GCC vs. AS group (Table); BPI scores for pain severity and interference were similar between groups. QOL, anxiety and depressive symptoms were similar among women who had GCC compared to the AS group. Conclusion: Women with DCIS who have undergone GCC experience more breast/chest wall pain and report greater impact of pain on physical and emotional functioning in long term follow-up, compared to women who have undergone AS for DCIS or are managed for other atypical lesions. Given that many women with low risk DCIS may be unlikely to develop invasive cancer, improved understanding of the potential trade-offs of GCC vs AS can help support informed decision making in women with DCIS who are considering their treatment options. Ongoing prospective trials will provide further information regarding risks and benefits of AS vs GCC for women with low risk DCIS.

BCPQ Scores, GCC vs. ASGCCASMean (range)Median (IQR)Mean (range)Median (IQR)p*PBI6.4 (0-80)0 (0-9)2.9 (0-64)0 (0-0)&lt;.0001Sensory disturbance1.4 (0-9)0 (0-2)0.6 (0-9)0 (0-0)&lt;.0001Physical impact9.6 (0-67)0 (0-19)4.4 (0-56)0 (0-0)&lt;.0001Emotional impact1.4 (0-33)0 (0-1)0.6 (0-38)0 (0-0)&lt;.0001*Wilcoxon rank sum test comparing median scores

Citation Format: Shoshana M Rosenberg, Laura H Hendrix, Kristin L Schreiber, Alastair M Thompson, Isabelle Bedrosian, Kevin S Hughes, Thomas Lynch, Desiree Basila, Deborah E Collyar, Elizabeth S Frank, Sonja Darai, Conor Lanahan, Jeffrey R Marks, Jennifer K Plichta, Terry Hyslop, Ann H Partridge, E. Shelley Hwang. The Patient-reported Outcomes after Routine Treatment of Atypical Lesions (PORTAL) study: Pain, psychosocial wellbeing, and quality of life among women undergoing guideline concordant care for DCIS vs. active surveillance for in situ and atypical lesions [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-21-07.