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M R Guilfoyle,
R A Weerakkody,
A Oswal,
I Oberg,
C Jeffery,
K Haynes,
P J Kullar,
D Greenberg,
S J Jefferies,
F Harris,
S J Price,
S Thomson,
C Watts
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ABSTRACT: Brain tumours account for <2% of all primary neoplasms but are responsible for 7% of the years of life lost from cancer before age 70 years. The latest survival trends for patients with CNS malignancies have remained largely static. The objective of this study was to evaluate the change in practice as a result of implementing the Improving Outcomes Guidance from the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Patients were identified from the local cancer registry and hospital databases. We compared time from diagnosis to treatment, proportion of patients discussed at multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings, treatment received, length of inpatient stay and survival. Inpatient and imaging costs were also estimated.
Service reconfiguration and implementation of NICE guidance resulted in significantly more patients being discussed by the MDT--increased from 66 to 87%, reduced emergency admission in favour of elective surgery, reduced median hospital stay from 8 to 4.5 days, increased use of post-operative MRI from 17 to 91% facilitating early discharge and treatment planning, and reduced cost of inpatient stay from £2096 in 2006 to £1316 in 2009. Patients treated with optimal surgery followed by radiotherapy with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide achieved outcomes comparable to those reported in clinical trials: median overall survival 18 months (2-year survival 35%).
Advancing the management of neuro-oncology patients by moving from an emergency-based system of patient referral and management to a more planned elective outpatient-based pattern of care improves patient experience and has the potential to deliver better outcomes and research opportunities.
British Journal of Cancer 06/2011; 104(12):1810-5.
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ABSTRACT: Acquiring clinically annotated, spatially stratified tissue samples from human glioblastoma (GBM) is compromised by haemorrhage, brain shift and subjective identification of 'normal' brain. We tested the use of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) fluorescence to objective tissue sampling and to derive tumour-initiating cells (TICs) from mass and margin.
The 5-ALA was administered to 30 GBM patients. Samples were taken from the non-fluorescent necrotic core, fluorescent tumour mass and non-fluorescent margin. We compared the efficiency of isolating TICs from these areas in 5-ALA versus control patients. HRMAS (1)H NMR was used to reveal metabolic alterations due to 5-ALA. We then characterised TICs for self-renewal in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo.
The derivation of TICs was not compromised by 5-ALA and the metabolic profile was similar between tumours from 5-ALA patients and controls. The TICs from the fluorescent mass were self-renewing in vitro and tumour-forming in vivo, whereas TICs from non-fluorescent margin did not self-renew in vitro but did form tumours in vivo.
Our data show that 5-ALA does not compromise the derivation of TICs. It also reveals that the margin contains TICs, which are phenotypically different from those isolated from the corresponding mass.
British Journal of Cancer 06/2012; 107(3):462-8.
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ABSTRACT: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) working in oncology aims to improve outcomes for patients with cancer. One role is to ensure the implementation of best practice and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance. In this study, we have assessed the role of MDT in implementing the TA121 appraisal of the use of carmustine wafers in high grade gliomas.
296 patients with high-grade glioma suitable for maximal resection were recruited from 17 Neurosurgical Centres. The number of patients treated with carmustine wafers and reasons for not using this were recorded. Complications at 48 hours post-operatively and at 6 weeks post-radiotherapy were recorded.
94/296 (32%) of suitable patients received carmustine wafers. In 55% of cases carmustine was not used due to either surgeon preference or a lack of an MDT decision. There was no increased complication rate with carmustine use at either 48 hours post-surgery or at 6 weeks post radiotherapy. Use of carmustine wafers did not decrease access to and use of chemoradiotherapy.
One third of patients suitable for carmustine wafers received them. Their use was neither associated with more frequent complications, nor decreased use of chemoradiotherapy. Implementation of NICE TA121 Guidance is extremely variable in different MDTs across the United Kingdom.
British Journal of Neurosurgery 04/2012; 26(3):331-5.
