Medscape: Providers to Test Power of Apology in Malpractice Claims

Blogger's Note: of particular interest to PAHO/patient safety communities/risk management

Providers to Test Power of Apology in Malpractice Claims

Rivkin Center (Seattle) awards grant for cognitive study (ovarian cancer/chemobrain)

 Blogger's Note: many ovarian cancer survivors who have gone before us would be happy with this news (Shirley Inveen, Sheryl Eisenbarth.....)

Rivkin Center awards grant for cognitive study:

CONGRATULATIONS DR. GRAY!

Heidi Gray, MD

University of Washington

Behavioral and neural indices of cognitive rehabilitation in ovarian cancer

Millions of ovarian cancer survivors live with residual symptoms of impaired thinking and impaired memory severe enough to interfere with basic activities of daily living and work. However, very little is known about how to treat problems in cognition. Pharmacologic interventions have only been modestly helpful, if at all, and not all patients desire or are able to take medications. Dr. Gray will examine the ability of a 7-week cognitive rehabilitation intervention to improve memory and thinking abilities in ovarian cancer survivors. In addition, the project will measure changes in brain activity patterns from the treatment using neuroimaging.

The Rivkin Center is delighted to announce the recipients of its 2012 Scientific Grants.

press release: Moffitt Cancer Center researchers: Quality of life as important as quantity of life

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers: Quality of life as important as quantity of life

"The question of how well people are surviving cancer is as important as how long they survive cancer," .....


Prolonged fatigue after treatment


In a recent study published in Cancer, researchers from Moffitt found that when patients treated with chemotherapy or chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer were compared to a control group who had not had cancer, the patients who had experienced chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy had more fatigue. These patients also had fatigue that lasted years after their therapy.
"This finding was contrary to our expectations," Jacobsen said. "Conventional thinking is that patients receiving chemotherapy would, over time, experience less fatigue and would eventually see their fatigue diminish to the levels of controls who had not had cancer, or to the level of fatigue they had prior to their chemotherapy.".......

Reply to W.R. Robinson from Chi: re: “Is the Easier Way Ever the Better Way? (ovarian cancer/neoadjuvant therapy/surgery/references...)

 Blogger's Note: follows to prior posting/correspondence/dialogue; worthwhile reading this discussion/debate, note the common denominator in references
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reply to W.R. Robinson

Reply to W.R. Robinson

1. Dennis S. Chi⇓

1. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

1. Corresponding author: Dennis S. Chi, MD, Gynecology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY 10065; e-mail: gynbreast@mskcc.org.

1. Robert E. Bristow

1. University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA

1. Deborah K. Armstrong

1. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD

1. Beth Y. Karlan

+ Author Affiliations

1. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

We thank Robinson¹ for his comments on our editorial, “Is the Easier Way Ever the Better Way?”² Robinson disagreed with our article on two points. First, he stated that it is “both disingenuous and unrealistic to… suggest that fellowship-trained, Board-certified gynecologic oncologists are not capable of operating on women with advanced ovarian cancer.” Robinson also expressed concern that we were suggesting that neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) “somehow represents a failure on the part of the physicians who are taking ‘the easy way out.'”

To the first point, we did not say that fellowship-trained, Board-certified gynecologic oncologists are not capable of operating on women with advanced ovarian cancer. Rather, we wanted to highlight that the number of patients who receive suboptimal debulking could be reduced by collaboration with other surgical colleagues. Many gynecologic oncologists partner with urologists for complex continent urinary conduits after pelvic exenteration and with plastic surgeons for a myocutaneous flap after radical pelvic surgery, for example, and we believe that patients with ovarian cancer should also be offered the potential benefit of subspecialty surgical consultation if it will improve their overall survival. The complexity of preplanning surgical consultations for advanced ovarian cancer debulking surgery should not be any different than for these other surgical collaborations.

It is incumbent on the gynecologic oncologist to ensure that pressures to minimize operating room and intensive care unit usage do not compromise the surgical outcome for our patients.........

The author(s) indicated no potential conflicts of interest.

Previous Section

 

REFERENCES

1. ↵
   1. Robinson WR

   (2012) Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is rarely the easy way out. J Clin Oncol 30:1563.

   FREE Full Text
2. ↵
   1. Chi DS,
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   3. Armstrong DK,
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   (2011) Is the easier way ever the better way? J Clin Oncol 29:4073–4075.

   FREE Full Text
3. ↵
   1. Chi DS,
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   4. et al.

   (2012) An analysis of patients with bulky advanced stage ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal carcinoma treated with primary debulking surgery (PDS) during an identical time period as the randomized EORTC-NCIC trial of PDS vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) Gynecol Oncol 124:10–14.

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   (2010) Neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary surgery in stage IIIC or IV ovarian cancer. N Engl J Med 363:943–953.

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   3. Smith HO,
   4. et al.

   (2009) Phase II evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and debulking followed by intraperitoneal chemotherapy in women with stage III and IV epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer: Southwest Oncology Group Study S0009. Gynecol Oncol 112:444–449.

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   1. Chi DS,
   2. Eisenhauer EL,
   3. Zivanovic O,
   4. et al.

   (2009) Improved progression-free and overall survival in advanced ovarian cancer as a result of a change in surgical paradigm. Gynecol Oncol 114:26–31.

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