NBOCC News - April 2011 - National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC)

In this issue...

• National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre releases Reconciliation Action Plan
• Clinical practice guidelines for external review
• Promoting multidisciplinary care for all patients with cancer
• Shared care demonstration project update
• Virtual classrooms for rural health professionals caring for women with breast cancer
• NBOCC’s topic-specific clinical practice guidelines available in new online format
• Associate Professor John Buckingham
• New issue Clinical Update -Breast cancer: Issue 39

full free access: PROTECT study - Dalteparin versus Unfractionated Heparin in Critically Ill Patients — NEJM (venous thromboembolism-blood clots)

"Venous thromboembolism is an important complication of critical illness.....cont'd

The PROTECT Investigators for the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group

Methods - Study Design

The trial was conducted in 67 ICUs in academic and community hospitals in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Recruitment began in May 2006 and, as projected, was completed in 4 years. The trial protocol is available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.7

Cancer claims more in rural areas (references ovarian cancer survivour) - Sunshine Coast Health |- media

Groundbreaking Australian Study Examines Treatment For Women With Ovarian Cancer

full free access: The relative risk of second primary cancers in Queensland, Australia: a retrospective cohort study

Prima BioMed Receives Regulatory Scientific Advice on CVac Phase III Trial -- SYDNEY, Feb. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

"......The trial will be conducted on 750 patients in a double blind placebo controlled study randomized 1:1 of CVac vs. Standard of Care (currently there is no approved maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer), across multiple sites in Europe, the US and Australia....."

Australia: eMJA: Editorial - Managing patients with advanced cancer: the benefits of early referral for palliative care

If early referral for specialist palliative care were an expensive new drug, it would quite appropriately be marketed as a major advance in improving the care of patients with incurable cancer.

Cancer Awareness A Must For Women February is Ovarian Cancer month in Australia

Free Full-Text - IJMS ( Intl Jnl of Molecular Sciences) Exploring the Immunoproteome for Ovarian Cancer Biomarker Discovery

Published: 14 January 2011

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Molecules in Ovarian Cancer)

Download PDF Full-Text [1380 KB, uploaded 14 January 2011 15:39 CET]

Abstract:  

Most scientific efforts towards early detection of ovarian cancer are commonly focused on the discovery of tumour-associated antigens (TAA). Autologous antibodies against TAA, however, may serve as more sensitive diagnostic markers. They circulate in the blood before TAA and are usually more abundant than the TAAs themselves as a result of amplification through the humoral immune response. Accumulating evidence also suggests that a humoral response already exists during malignant transformation when aberrant gene expression is translated into premalignant cellular changes. This article reviews the current knowledge about autoantibodies against TAA in ovarian cancer and presents current immunoproteomic approaches for their detection.

full free access: eMJA: When do I know I am cured? Using conditional estimates to provide better information about cancer survival prospects

See also (abstract) reference #7:

Choi M, Fuller CD, Thomas CR Jr, et al. Conditional survival in ovarian cancer: results from the SEER dataset 1988–2001. Gynecol Oncol 2008; 109: 203-209. <PubMed>

Breasts 'monopolising' cancer spotlight - Australia media report

Note: quotes from a 'plain speaking' physician (and advocate)

abstract/full access: Cancer survival in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, 1995–2007 (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): an analysis of population-based cancer registry data : The Lancet

Note: Full access to article is free after registration (free)


"Background

Cancer survival is a key measure of the effectiveness of health-care systems. Persistent regional and international differences in survival represent many avoidable deaths. Differences in survival have prompted or guided cancer control strategies. This is the first study in a programme to investigate international survival disparities, with the aim of informing health policy to raise standards and reduce inequalities in survival.  

Methods Data from population-based cancer registries in 12 jurisdictions in six countries were provided for 2·4 million adults diagnosed with primary colorectal, lung, breast (women), or ovarian cancer during 1995—2007, with follow-up to Dec 31, 2007.

HealthLinx reports solid data from OvPlex study - ovarian cancer, medical diagnostics - Australian Life Scientist

Firm prepares for cancer patents hearing - The New Lawyer (BRCA patents) - Australia

press release: Australia - "FTY720" New treatment to overpower drug resistance in ovarian cancer

"Recent studies have also shown anti-tumour efficacy in several types of cancers but this is the first time it has been studied for the treatment of ovarian cancer."

Ovarian cancer drug shows promise with move to phase 3 trial (AMG 386) Clinical Oncological Society of Australia

full free access: eMJA: Pathways to the diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer in Australia

Note: excerpts below,  the tables included in the paper provide interesting information including patients with borderline tumours, 24% of patients in this study had a prior hysterectomy  etc...

Objective:

To describe the diagnostic pathways experienced by a large, representative group of Australian women with ovarian cancer, and to document the time between first presentation to a medical professional and clinical diagnosis.

Main outcome measures:

Number and type of doctors consulted, investigations performed, referral patterns and the time from first presentation to diagnosis.

Conclusions:

Despite anecdotal suggestions to the contrary, most women with ovarian cancer in Australia are investigated and diagnosed promptly. The diagnostic process is more protracted for a minority of women, and the factors we found to be associated with diagnostic delay warrant further investigation.

"........The numbers of symptoms reported, doctors seen and total doctor visits were all highly skewed. These variables were therefore summarised....."

News - August 2010 - National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC) Australia

Australian: ovarian cancer clinical practice guidelines (teal star)

Note: again with this update, the Australian ovarian cancer guidelines are in plain english and comprehensive; chapter 4 discusses briefly familial risks noting that HNPCC (hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer) is now more commonly known as Lynch Syndrome; it would have been preferable to include the actual Lynch Syndrome commonly screened mutations (MSH2/MSH6/MLH1 & PMS2)

 

Promoting clinical best practice in the treatment of ovarian cancer: 

NBOCC is currently reviewing and updating selected topics in its Clinical practice guidelines for the management of women with epithelial ovarian cancer, to provide Australian health professionals with timely, evidence-based information.....A evidence review has been completed to inform the development of updated recommendations about the follow-up care of women with ovarian cancer, including patient preferences

Second-line treatment of first relapse recurrent ovarian cancer - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology - abstract

Labor's e-health plan misses patient safety mark say doctors | The Australian