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<recommendedContent xmlns="http://api.mspoke.com">
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_406"
                     title="AAPM: Opioid Gains Long-Term Control of Neuropathic Cancer Pain (CME/CE)"
                     score="0.01"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAPM/tb/18316?impressionId=1265789382636"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;SAN ANTONIO  --  Patients with neuropathic cancer pain obtained consistent, long-term pain control with extended-release oxymorphone (Opana), according to results of a one-year, open-label extension study.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Patients reported pain in the mild range throughout most of the follow-up, and only 11% discontinued because of lack of efficacy, Errol Gould, PhD, of Endo Pharmaceuticals in Chadds Ford, Pa., reported here at the American Academy of Pain Medicine meeting. The company manufactures Opana.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;No unexpected adverse events occurred.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Current clinical guidelines recommend opioids as second- or third-line treatment for chronic neuropathic pain,&quot; Gould said in an interview. &quot;These results suggest that oxymorphone extended release may be a viable long-term option for patients with neuropathic pain.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The findings came from a one-year extension of a multicenter, open-label, noncontrolled short-term study of patients with cancer-related chronic pain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Of 44 patients who entered the extension phase, 27 had pain that was primarily neuropathic in origin. The diagnosis of neuropathic pain was based on clinician judgment, with no prespecified diagnostic criteria for guidance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Patients began treatment in the extension phase with their ending dose from the short-term study. Dose adjustments to improve pain control or tolerability were allowed throughout the 52-week extension phase.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ten of the 27 patients completed the extension study. Principal reasons for withdrawal were adverse events, patient request, loss of effectiveness, and nonadherence.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The median duration from initiation of long-term maintenance to final visit was 22 weeks. Baseline pain intensity averaged 32.9 on a 100-point scale and 32.6 at final visit. Mean least pain intensity was 13.8 at baseline and 16.2 at final visit, and worst pain intensity averaged 76.3 at baseline and 66.5 at final visit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Regression analysis showed that pain intensity changed very little throughout follow-up,&quot; Gould said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The median oxymorphone dose increased from 80 mg at baseline to 160 mg at 52 weeks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Eleven (41%) patients reported at least one treatment-related adverse event. The most common events were dry mouth, constipation, and fatigue. The only serious adverse event was an episode of depressed consciousness.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Patients required some gradual increases in dosage over time, but that&apos;s consistent with the nature of the disease,&quot; said Gould.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not long ago opioids were considered ineffective for neuropathic pain, he added. This study provided additional evidence in support of opioids&apos; effectiveness in controlling neuropathic pain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float:left;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:#8dabbc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;background-color:#DBE9F2;padding:5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The study was supported by Endo Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Opana.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gould and another co-author are employees of Endo Pharmaceuticals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_402"
                     title="Minimally Invasive Surgery Takes Toll on MDs, Poll Shows (CME/CE)"
                     score="0.01"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/GeneralSurgery/tb/18306?impressionId=1265789382636"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;Four out of five surgeons agree: Laparoscopic procedures cause substantial discomfort and pain for the surgeons who perform them.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;More than 80% of surgeons completing an online questionnaire reported pain or stiffness in the hands, neck, back, or legs after performing minimally invasive surgeries, according to Adrian Park, MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, and colleagues.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For most symptoms, the strongest predictor was high case volume, the researchers reported online in the &lt;em&gt;Journal of the American College of Surgeons&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Park and colleagues warned of &quot;an impending epidemic&quot; of occupational injuries among clinicians specializing in minimally invasive surgeries, as such procedures become more common.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Now, especially in the face of an impending shortage of general surgeons in the U.S., the last thing that we as a society can afford is surgical careers shortened by occupationally related symptoms and conditions,&quot; they asserted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The researchers recommended more research into the ergonomics of laparoscopic surgery, as well as better implementation of existing guidelines meant to reduce injuries associated with the awkward postures and long surgical times often required with these procedures.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;That research must more clearly and emphatically define the ergonomic impact of minimally invasive surgery on the practicing surgeon (then set about improving it) is now all too painfully clear,&quot; Park and colleagues concluded.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The researchers invited some 2,000 board-certified members of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (of which Park is currently secretary) to complete the online survey.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The response rate was 14.4%, with 317 surgeons identified as actively and regularly involved in laparoscopic practices participating.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Of these, 272 reported experiencing physical symptoms or discomfort that they believed were the result of performing minimally invasive procedures.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This rate of reported symptoms is markedly higher than that found in earlier studies and surveys, in which the prevalences were in the range of 15% to 60%, Park and colleagues noted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They speculated that the current survey, as the most recent, may better reflect the accumulation of injuries over time as surgeons&apos; careers doing minimally invasive surgery have grown longer.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, they found, symptoms were generally not persistent. Only 10.8% of respondents indicated that pain or discomfort continued beyond the immediate aftermath of surgery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The largest class of symptoms were those occurring during surgery, with 20.8% of surgeons saying they had symptoms only during procedures and 27.8% reporting symptoms both during and immediately after surgery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another 22.4% indicated that symptoms occurred only immediately after surgery and not persistently.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;About 15% chose &quot;nothing bothers me&quot; in the questionnaire.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Age appeared to be a factor in the incidence of some complaints, although the pattern was not what might be expected. In particular, hand pain was most common among surgeons younger than 40 and in those older than 60, whereas it was least frequent among surgeons in their 50s.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Park and colleagues did not report specific hazard ratios or correlation coefficients for case volume as a predictor of symptoms, but they indicated that it was associated with complaints more strongly than other factors such as age, career duration, gender, and height.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;About three-quarters of respondents attributed symptoms to instrument design. Some 40% indicated that operating room table setup and the display monitor location were also contributing factors.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, more than 180 respondents said they had slight or no awareness of published recommendations on surgical ergonomics, such as guidelines published last year in the journal &lt;em&gt;Surgical Endoscopy&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Among those reporting any level of knowledge about the guidelines, only 60% indicated that they had applied it in their practices, Park and colleagues indicated. But more than 90% of surgeons who said they had high awareness of ergonomic guidelines reported putting it to use.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The researchers said future studies should address other issues not covered adequately in the survey, such as the effects of different monitor positions and instrument designs, as well as whether surgeon discomfort during laparoscopic surgery leads to adverse patient outcomes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Park and colleagues also suggested that similar research be conducted on open surgery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float:left;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:#8dabbc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;background-color:#DBE9F2;padding:5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;No external funding for the study was reported.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No potential conflicts of interest were reported.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_196"
                     title="Adjuvant Therapy Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer (CME/CE)"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Oncology/OtherCancers/tb/18039?impressionId=1265789382636"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy significantly improves survival of patients with resectable pancreatic cancer, according to medical records of almost 3,000 patients.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Chemoradiotherapy extended median survival by more than 30% compared with surgical resection only, researchers reported in the January &lt;em&gt;Archives of Surgery&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;In a multivariate analysis, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy proved to be one of only three predictors of improved survival, the other two being treatment at high-volume and academic centers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;This analysis provides strong evidence in a real-world setting that postoperative chemoradiotherapy and possibly adjuvant radiotherapy alone improve clinical outcome in patients with pancreatic cancer,&quot; Relin Yang, MD, of the University of Miami, and colleagues wrote.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;We further substantiate that this benefit is independent of the improved clinical outcomes obtained at high-volume centers and teaching facilities,&quot; they added.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Nonetheless, this benefit remains modest, underscoring that further investigation is needed to establish a better adjuvant regimen after complete resection of pancreatic cancer.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Complete surgical resection remains the only curative option for patients with early-stage pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Fewer than 25% of patients have cancer amenable to resection. For that small subset of patients, the role of adjuvant therapy remains controversial, the authors wrote.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To address the issue, Yang and colleagues analyzed data from a population-based cancer registry. They augmented the data&apos;s predictive potential with information related to patient demographics, comorbidities, treatment, and type of facility.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The authors identified 2,877 patients whose pancreatic adenocarcinoma was diagnosed and treated surgically with curative intent from 1998 to 2002. About 60% of the patients were older than 65. Some 90% were white (86.7% non-Hispanic), and 90% had no history of alcohol abuse.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The authors reported that 51.9% of patients received neither chemotherapy nor chemoradiotherapy. About 25% received chemoradiotherapy, and another 10% received chemotherapy alone. Most patients were treated at low-volume centers (57.6%) and nonteaching facilities (72.8%).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Median overall survival was 15 months, and 90-day postsurgical survival was 88.8%. Patients younger than 40 had the best survival (25.7 months versus 13.4 months for patients older than 65, &lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Race, ethnicity, and abstention from alcohol and tobacco did not significantly influence survival. Survival decreased as a patient&apos;s poverty level increased. Localized disease, well-differentiated tumors, and smaller tumor size were associated with significantly better survival (&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Patients treated with surgery only had a significantly lower (&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001) median overall survival of 12.6 months compared with patients who received chemotherapy or radiation preoperatively (19.9 months) or postoperatively (17.0 months).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Median survival was 18.2 months among patients treated at high-volume centers versus 13.1 months at low-volume centers (&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001). Treatment at a teaching facility was associated with a median survival of 19.8 months compared with 13.6 months for nonteaching facilities (&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Multivariate analysis correcting for comorbidities showed that postoperative chemoradiotherapy significantly reduced the mortality hazard ratio (HR 0.69, &lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;=0.04). The reduced hazard exceeded the benefit associated with treatment at a high-volume center (HR 0.85, &lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001) or at a teaching facility (HR 0.84, &lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.001) and was independent of facility type.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The authors confirmed findings from other studies showing a beneficial effect of treatment in high-volume and teaching facilities, and a benefit for all patients who receive adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, Nita Ahuja, MD, of Johns Hopkins, wrote in a commentary.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However, the study had several prominent weaknesses: missing information on cancer stage in more than 50% of patients, unknown margin status, and no information on the type or duration of adjuvant therapy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The study also did not address another major controversy involving adjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;At the end of the day, the present study will do little to quell the debate over the relative benefits of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone after surgical resection of pancreatic cancer,&quot; Ahuja wrote.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;North Americans have a bias toward adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, supported primarily by data from a single small randomized clinical trial and several retrospective studies, Ahuja continued. European clinicians favor adjuvant chemotherapy based on one large clinical trial showing a benefit for chemotherapy and another showing no survival advantage for chemoradiotherapy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;The present study will do little to change the minds of either camp,&quot; Ahuja concluded.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float:left;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:#8dabbc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;background-color:#DBE9F2;padding:5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Neither Yang and co-authors nor Ahuja had any disclosures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_192"
                     title="High Marks for Laparoscopic Liver Resection (CME/CE)"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Oncology/OtherCancers/tb/18031?impressionId=1265789382636"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;Laparoscopic liver resection compares favorably with laparotomy for removal of colorectal cancer metastases, data from a 10-year retrospective study suggest.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Laparoscopic resection was associated with intraoperative (&amp;lt;7%) and postoperative (&amp;lt;13%) complication rates comparable to those of a historical cohort whose liver metastases were treated by open surgery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The 30-day mortality was &amp;lt;1% with laparoscopic resection, also comparable to laparotomy, as was long-term survival, Norwegian investigators reported in the January issue of &lt;em&gt;Archives of Surgery&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Few cases required conversion to open surgery, and most of the cases involved recurrence following prior laparotomic resection.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Laparoscopic liver resection is a favorable alternative to open resection for benign and malignant liver lesions,&quot; Airazat M. Kazaryan, MD, of Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, and colleagues concluded. &quot;It is associated with low morbidity and mortality. Long-term survival after laparoscopic resection of colorectal metastases is comparable to that after open resections.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Laparoscopy has documented advantages of open surgery for a variety of abdominal procedures, the authors noted. Moreover, the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic liver resection have been documented in several reports. However, many centers continue to offer only open surgery because of surgeon training and learning curve issues.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Additionally, long-term oncologic outcomes with laparoscopic surgery have been poorly documented, the authors conceded.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To fill in some of these blanks, Kazaryan and colleagues reviewed their experience with laparoscopic liver resection from 1998 to 2008.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The analysis included 149 laparoscopic procedures and 177 liver resections for malignant and benign lesions. The total included 113 patients with malignant lesions, 96 of which were colorectal metastases.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Six patients had carcinoid tumors, one had pancreatic glucagonoma, two had melanoma, and one had pancreatic cancer. Additionally, seven patients had primary hepatic malignancies.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Five (3.4%) procedures were converted to open surgery and one to laparoscopic radiofrequency tumor ablation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Median operative time was 164 minutes and median blood loss was 350 mL. Of 143 procedures that did not require conversion to open surgery, blood loss &amp;gt;1000 mL occurred in 24 (16.8%) cases and blood loss &amp;gt;500 mL in 47 (32.9%) of cases.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Intraoperative complications occurred during 10 (6.7%) procedures, including seven perforations of adherent or adjacent organs. One patient died.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Postoperatively, 121 (84.6%) patients were discharged home and the remainder to local hospitals. Postoperative complications occurred in 18 (12.6%) procedures.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The oncologic resections resulted in tumor-free surgical margins in 94% of specimens. Patients undergoing procedures for colorectal metastases had a five-year survival of 46%.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;The training of surgeons is a major issue for general acceptance of this technique,&quot; the authors wrote. &quot;Healthcare managers should be encouraged to promote training in this advanced technique. The time has come to prove the observed benefits of laparoscopic approach by randomized prospective trials.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float:left;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:#8dabbc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;background-color:#DBE9F2;padding:5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The authors had no disclosures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;clear:both;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20090101_9_440"
                     title="AHA-OUTCOMES: DVT Prophylaxis Missing"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="