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Hysterectomy-Corrected Cervical Cancer Mortality Rates and Racial Variation

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are known to vary across racial groups in the United States but can be underestimated if data are not adjusted for prior hysterectomy. In a population-based study that corrected for the prevalence of hysterectomy, cervical cancer mortality in black women was more than twice that of white women from 2000 to 2012 (10.1 versus 4.7 per 100,000). These data add to the body of evidence showing a racial disparity in cervical cancer mortality and support the need for research to identify and overcome the factors that account for this disparity.

Assessing Response to Chemoradiotherapy in Anal Cancer

An analysis of data from the ACT II trial supports the view that anal squamous cell cancers (SCCs) continue to regress for up to 26 weeks after the completion of chemoradiotherapy and that the decision to pursue surgery for persisting disease is best deferred until then. The complete clinical response (cCR) rate increased over time, and 72 percent of those not in a cCR at 11 weeks achieved it at 26 weeks. Furthermore, the greatest separation in long-term outcomes between responders and nonresponders occurred when the assessment was delayed until 26 weeks. Based upon these results, we agree with updated guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommending that patients can be watched for up to six months following completion of chemoradiotherapy as long as there is no progressive disease during this period of follow-up.

Palliative Care During Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

For patients with serious life-threatening illness, comprehensive palliative care can be successfully integrated with disease-modifying treatment. The benefits of delivering palliative care alongside potentially curative treatment were shown in a randomized trial of inpatient palliative care consultation versus usual transplant care in 160 adults with hematologic malignancies undergoing autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. At two weeks posttransplant, the increase in depression, anxiety, and overall symptom burden was less in the intervention group, and the decrease in quality of life (QOL) was also smaller. Depression and QOL benefits persisted at three months.

Retreatment With BRAF and MEK Inhibition in Advanced Melanoma

Targeted therapy with a combination of BRAF and MEK inhibition is an important treatment option for tumors that contain a driver mutation in BRAF. However, most patients eventually develop progressive disease. Results from a prospective phase II study provide evidence that retreatment with the combination of a BRAF and MEK inhibitor may be of value in patients who have acquired resistance to both mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Ceritinib in ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

For patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), inhibition of ALK is the preferred frontline approach. A randomized trial compared ceritinib, an ALK inhibitor, with pemetrexed and a platinum agent in such patients and found improved progression-free survival (17 versus 8 months) and, for those with brain metastasis, a higher intracranial objective response rate (73 versus 27 percent). Although we use ceritinib only for patients with ALK-positive NSCLC who are intolerant of or who have progressed on the ALK inhibitor crizotinib, these data support further study of ceritinib in the frontline setting.

Antipsychotics for Delirium in Terminally Ill Patients

The benefit of antipsychotics for management of delirium in terminally ill patients has been called into question by a randomized trial in which 247 inpatients of a hospice or palliative care service with mild to moderately severe delirium were assigned to oral risperidone, haloperidol, or placebo every 12 hours for 72 hours. All patients received individualized supportive care. Patients who received antipsychotics had more severe delirium, worse delirium-associated distress scores, more use of midazolam, more extrapyramidal effects, and worse short-term survival. In our view, this study does not justify abandoning the use of antipsychotics for severely agitated delirious patients but points to the importance of reversing precipitating causes, providing best supportive care for symptomatic distress associated with delirium, and the need for additional research on the use of antipsychotics.