Survival and failure types after radiation therapy of vulvar cancer

Background and purpose: Describe the survival rates and distribution of events on competing failure types in vulvar carcinoma after treatment with chemoradiation (CRT) or radiation (RT) alone. Material and methods: We included patients with vulvar carcinoma treated with CRT or RT between 2009 and 2014. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. We performed a competing risk analysis and included five competing events: loco-regional failure (LRF), distant metastasis, LRF plus distant metastasis, and death without evidence of disease, with the remaining patients denoted alive without evidence of disease. Results: 87 patients were treated. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) at 3 years were 40% and 57%, respectively. 41.3% of patients relapsed, most often loco-regionally. We saw significantly worse PFS and OS for patients older than 68 (p = 0.011/p = 0.010) and for patients treated with definitive RT (p = 0.004/p = 0.005). Competing risk analysis showed increased risk of LRF, and that death was most often related to vulvar cancer. Death without disease recurrence was less frequent, even in the elderly. Conclusions: LRF was the most common event. PFS and OS were inferior for elderly patients and patients treated definitively. A better understanding of these differences may be used to define risk adapted treatment strategies

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe