• Duelund Porterfield posted an update 6 days, 9 hours ago

    The Canadian Cancer Society estimated that 220,400 new cases of cancer would be diagnosed in 2019. Of the affected patients, more than 60% will survive for 5 years or longer after their cancer diagnosis. Furthermore, nearly 40% will receive at least 1 course of radiotherapy (rt). Radiotherapy is used with both curative and palliative intent to treat early-stage or locally advanced tumours (curative) and for symptom management in advanced disease (palliative). check details It can be delivered systemically (external-beam rt) or internally (brachytherapy). Although technique improvements have drastically reduced the occurrence of rt-related toxicity, most patients still experience burdensome rt side effects (seffs). Radiotherapy seffs are local or locoregional, and manifest in tissues or organs that were irradiated. Side effects manifesting within weeks after rt completion are termed “early seffs,” and those occurring months or years after treatment are termed “late seffs.” In addition to radiation oncologists, general practitioners in oncology and primary care providers are involved in survivorship care and management of rt seffs. Here, we present an overview of common seffs and their respective management anxiety, depression, fatigue, and effects related to the head-and-neck, thoracic, and pelvic treatment sites.Background Most people can think of important attributes that they believe physicians should have. The canmeds framework defines domains of attributes in medical training (Leader, Medical Expert, Scholar, Communicator, Advocate, Collaborator, and Professional). Whether some are more valued by various stakeholders is unknown. Previous research has shown that patients can receive suboptimal care if physician and patient expectations of a health care encounter differ. In the present study, we sought to identify what various stakeholders identified as the single most important attribute for a physician to possess. Methods A simple survey asked the question “What is the single most important attribute a physician should have?” at a single academic teaching hospital and affiliated medical school. The survey was administered to medical students, doctors, nurses, patients, and caregivers. Age and sex were also collected. Responses were assigned to domains and analyzed to identify trends. The primary outcome is a descriptive analysis of the findings. Results From 362 individuals who responded, 109 different responses were obtained. The single most common answer was “compassion” (n = 86). Responses were categorized into these 5 domains Caring, n = 209; Professional or Collaborator, n = 58; Medical Expert, n = 54; Communicator, n = 32; and Other, n = 9. Compared with men, women chose attributes in the Caring domain more frequently (64% vs. 49%), although that domain was the most popular for both sexes. Medical students were less likely to highly value Communicator attributes. Conclusions All stakeholder group identified attributes in the Caring domain as being most important. Although all canmeds roles are important, our research highlights the priorities of stakeholders.Background Patient-reported outcomes (pros) are essential to capture the patient’s perspective and to influence care. Although pros and pro measures are known to have many important benefits, they are not consistently being used and there is there no Canadian pros oversight. The Position Statement presented here is the first step toward supporting the implementation of pros in the Canadian health care setting. Methods The Canadian pros National Steering Committee drafted position statements, which were submitted for stakeholder feedback before, during, and after the first National Canadian Patient Reported Outcomes (canpros) scientific conference, 14-15 November 2019 in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to the stakeholder feedback cycle, a patient advocate group submitted a section to capture the patient voice. Results The canpros Position Statement is an outcome of the 2019 canpros scientific conference, with an oncology focus. The Position Statement is categorized into 6 sections covering 4 theme areas Patient and Families, Health Policy, Clinical Implementation, and Research. The patient voice perfectly mirrors the recommendations that the experts reached by consensus and provides an overriding impetus for the use of pros in health care. Conclusions Although our vision of pros transforming the health care system to be more patient-centred is still aspirational, the Position Statement presented here takes a first step toward providing recommendations in key areas to align Canadian efforts. The Position Statement is directed toward a health policy audience; future iterations will target other audiences, including researchers, clinicians, and patients. Our intent is that future versions will broaden the focus to include chronic diseases beyond cancer.Background Although the pathogenesis and epidemiology of endemic Burkitt lymphoma (bl) have been extensively studied, the epidemiologic landscape of sporadic and immunodeficiency-associated bl in North America remains poorly understood. Methods We used 3 distinct population-based cancer registries to retrospectively study bl incidence and mortality in Canada. Data for patient sex; age at the time of diagnosis; and reporting province, city, and forward sortation area (fsa, the first three characters of a postal code) were analyzed. Results During 1992-2010, 1420 patients with bl in Canada were identified (incidence rate 2.40 cases per million patient-years), of which 71.1% were male patients. Mean age at diagnosis was 55.5 ± 20.8 years. A bimodal incidence by age distribution was seen in both sexes, with pediatric- and adult-onset peaks. An analysis based on fsas identified select communities with statistically higher rates of adult bl. Several of those fsas were located within the 3 major metropolitan areas (Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto) and within self-identified lgbtq communities. The fsas with a higher socioeconomic status score were associated with lower rates of bl. Conclusions Current results highlight the geographic and historic pattern of bl in Canada. The human immunodeficiency virus remains an important risk factor for adult bl.