Fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) are widely used in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, but hemoglobin degradation, due to exposure of the collected sample to high temperatures, could reduce test ...sensitivity. We examined the relation of ambient temperature exposure with FIT positivity rate and sensitivity.
This was a retrospective cohort study of patients 50 to 75 years in Kaiser Permanente Northern California's CRC screening program, which began mailing FIT kits annually to screen-eligible members in 2007. Primary outcomes were FIT positivity rate and sensitivity to detect CRC. Predictors were month, season, and daily ambient temperatures of test result dates based on US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
Patients (n = 472,542) completed 1,141,162 FITs. Weekly test positivity rate ranged from 2.6% to 8.0% (median, 4.4%) and varied significantly by month (June/July vs December/January rate ratio RR = 0.79, 95% confidence interval CI, 0.76 to 0.83) and season. FIT sensitivity was lower in June/July (74.5%; 95% CI, 72.5 to 76.6) than January/December (78.9%; 95% CI, 77.0 to 80.7).
FITs completed during high ambient temperatures had lower positivity rates and lower sensitivity. Changing kit design, specimen transportation practices, or avoiding periods of high ambient temperatures may help optimize FIT performance, but may also increase testing complexity and reduce patient adherence, requiring careful study.
Background/AimsThere are approximately 150,000 new hormone-sensitive breast cancer cases in the U.S. each year. Numerous studies have shown that adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) dramatically reduces ...breast cancer recurrence and mortality. Daily treatment for 5 years is the recommended therapy among ER+ women. Yet, reports of under-utilization are alarming, ranging from 30% to more than 50%.MethodsWe examined under-utilization of AHT among members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), a nonprofit prepaid managed care organization dedicated to providing evidence-based medicine. KPSC serves 3.3 million socioeconomically diverse members broadly representative of the racial/ethnic groups living in southern California. Subjects were members of the health plan for one or more years and had comprehensive medical and pharmacy benefits. We identified 10,827 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2000 and 2007 from the health plan's SEER-affiliated cancer registry who were eligible for AHT. We used automated pharmacy prescription records to describe uptake and utilization of AHT (primarily tamoxifen (Tam) and aromatase inhibitors (AI)) over the 5 years of recommended therapy.ResultsIn this insured population, we found 14% of eligible breast cancer survivors did not begin AHT (1516/10,827). Of those who started AHT, over 30% had sub-optimal adherence defined as a medication possession ratio <80%. Discontinuation of AHT, defined as greater than 90 days without medication, began in year 1 (7%) and reached 22% and 25% by the end of years 4 and 5, respectively.DiscussionMonitoring and intervention for improving adherence to AHT needs to begin by one year after breast cancer diagnosis and continue across the 5 years of recommended therapy in order to ensure women receive optimal benefit from this lifesaving treatment.
BACKGROUND: Almost 200,000 U.S. women are diagnosed each year with breast cancer and over 40,000 women will die of the disease. In addition to the medical and functional consequences of the diagnosis ...and treatment, women experience worry, persistent anxiety, fear and depressive disorders. Overall, 30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer suffer significant distress at some point in their illness trajectory. National health organizations including the Institute of Medicine and National Cancer Institute call for treatment of common symptoms among breast cancer patients such as depression and anxiety. To date, there are only limited reports on the prevalence of treatment, and even fewer studies have examined potential differences by race/ethnicity, age, or tumor characteristics. Aim: To describe the prevalence of pharmacotherapy for depressive symptoms/anxiety among patients diagnosed with breast cancer in a large HMO. METHODS: We identified all women diagnosed with primary breast cancer between 2000-2006 (n=10,408) who had been members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) for 1+ years prior to diagnosis. KPSC is a nonprofit comprehensive prepaid health plan serving 3.2 million socioeconomically diverse members. Data was obtained from the KPSC SEER-affiliated cancer registry and automated clinical, pharmacy, and membership databases. We examined patient and tumor characteristics associated with new use of pharmacotherapy for depression/anxiety. Univariate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression. RESULTS: We found 35% of women (3,611 of 10,408) were newly prescribed either anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications within a year of breast cancer diagnosis. Younger women (e.g., OR=1.44, CI=1.28-1.63 for 40-49 year olds v. 60-69) and women with higher stage (e.g., OR=3.40, CI=2.87-4.04 for Stage 3 v. Stage 0) were more likely to be prescribed these medications, while African-American (OR=0.81, CI=0.72-0.92) and Asian-Pacific Islander (0.73, CI=0.64-0.84 women were less likely compared to non-Hispanic white women. CONCLUSIONS: While future research needs to determine the number of breast cancer survivors screened and diagnosed with depression/anxiety, results of pharmacotherapy utilization in this insured population are consistent with national reports of the prevalence of psychosocial distress experienced after breast cancer diagnosis. Potential age and race/ethnicity disparities are of concern and need further study.
The suitability of Ortho Diagnostics one-stage prothrombin time (PT) reagent (Ortho Brain Thromboplastin) and activated partial thromboplastin (aPTT) reagent (Activated Thrombofax) has been evaluated ...for use in conjunction with the anion-exchange heparin removal maneuver. The PT/HR and aPTT/HR are tests used to follow the anticoagulant influence of coumarins when heparin also is being administered. After establishing a coumarin therapeutic range for Activated Thrombofax, a parallel trial was conducted with Ortho Brain Thromboplastin on coumarin-treated patient plasmas. Determinations also were made after heparin (0.2 mu/mL) was added and then removed by ECTEOLA microchromatography columns. Ortho Brain Thromboplastin was found to induce a shortening bias associated with a spurious improvement in the precision of tests run on anion-exchange treated plasmas that potentially could result in coumarin overdosage. The systematic error did not appear to result either from protracted incubation or the activation of prekallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen, Factor XI or XII. This reagent was found to perform appropriately with plasma not exposed to ECTEOLA. Activated Thrombofax gave reliable and reproducible results before and after heparin removal. This aPTT reagent could be used in the aPTT/HR anticoagulant surveillance scheme.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected clinical services globally, including colorectal cancer (CRC) screening and diagnostic testing. We investigated the pandemic’s impact on fecal immunochemical test ...(FIT) screening, colonoscopy utilization, and colorectal neoplasia detection across 21 medical centers in a large integrated health care organization.
We performed a retrospective cohort study in Kaiser Permanente Northern California patients ages 18 to 89 years in 2019 and 2020 and measured changes in the numbers of mailed, completed, and positive FITs; colonoscopies; and cases of colorectal neoplasia detected by colonoscopy in 2020 vs 2019.
FIT kit mailings ceased in mid-March through April 2020 but then rebounded and there was an 8.7% increase in kits mailed compared with 2019. With the later mailing of FIT kits, there were 9.0% fewer FITs completed and 10.1% fewer positive tests in 2020 vs 2019. Colonoscopy volumes declined 79.4% in April 2020 compared with April 2019 but recovered to near pre-pandemic volumes in September through December, resulting in a 26.9% decline in total colonoscopies performed in 2020. The number of patients diagnosed by colonoscopy with CRC and advanced adenoma declined by 8.7% and 26.9%, respectively, in 2020 vs 2019.
The pandemic led to fewer FIT screenings and colonoscopies in 2020 vs 2019; however, after the lifting of shelter-in-place orders, FIT screenings exceeded, and colonoscopy volumes nearly reached numbers from those same months in 2019. Overall, there was an 8.7% reduction in CRC cases diagnosed by colonoscopy in 2020. These data may help inform the development of strategies for CRC screening and diagnostic testing during future national emergencies.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to declines in colonoscopy volumes and the number of colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma cases detected in 2020 compared with 2019.
Screening colonoscopy's effectiveness in reducing colorectal cancer mortality risk in community populations is unclear, particularly for right-colon cancers, leading to recommendations against its ...use for screening in some countries. This study aimed to determine whether, among average-risk people, receipt of screening colonoscopy reduces the risk of dying from both right-colon and left-colon/rectal cancers.
We conducted a nested case-control study with incidence-density matching in screening-eligible Kaiser Permanente members. Patients who were 55-90 years old on their colorectal cancer death date during 2006-2012 were matched on diagnosis (reference) date to controls on age, sex, health plan enrolment duration and geographical region. We excluded patients at increased colorectal cancer risk, or with prior colorectal cancer diagnosis or colectomy. The association between screening colonoscopy receipt in the 10-year period before the reference date and colorectal cancer death risk was evaluated while accounting for other screening exposures.
We analysed 1747 patients who died from colorectal cancer and 3460 colorectal cancer-free controls. Compared with no endoscopic screening, receipt of a screening colonoscopy was associated with a 67% reduction in the risk of death from any colorectal cancer (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.33, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.52). By cancer location, screening colonoscopy was associated with a 65% reduction in risk of death for right-colon cancers (aOR=0.35, CI 0.18 to 0.65) and a 75% reduction for left-colon/rectal cancers (aOR=0.25, CI 0.12 to 0.53).
Screening colonoscopy was associated with a substantial and comparably decreased mortality risk for both right-sided and left-sided cancers within a large community-based population.
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