An international multicenter retrospective analysis of patients with extranodal marginal zone lymphoma and histologically confirmed central nervous system and dural involvement

Marginal zone lymphoma of the central nervous system (CNS MZL) is rare. The clinical features, treatment, and prognosis are not well characterized. We performed a multicenter retrospective study of CNS MZL. Twenty-six patients were identified: half with primary and half with secondary CNS involvement. The median age was 59 years (range 26-78), 62% female and 79% with ECOG performance status ≤ 1. The most common disease site was the dura (50%). Treatment was determined by the treating physician and varied substantially. After a median follow up of 1.9 years, the estimated 2-year progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 59% and 80%, respectively. Secondary CNS MZL was associated with 2-year OS of 58%. CNS MZL is rare, but relative to other forms of CNS lymphoma, outcomes appear favorable, particularly among the subset of patients with dural presentation and primary CNS presentation

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Systematic Review Evidence Methodology: Providing Quality Family Planning Services

From 2010 to 2014, CDC and the Office of Population Affairs at the USDHHS collaborated on the development of clinical recommendations for providing quality family planning services. A high priority was placed on the use of existing scientific evidence in developing the recommendations, in accordance with IOM guidelines for how to develop "trustworthy" clinical practice guidelines. Consequently, a series of systematic reviews were developed using a transparent and reproducible methodology aimed at ensuring that the clinical practice guidelines would be based on evidence collected in the most unbiased manner possible. This article describes the methodology used in conducting these systematic reviews, which occurred from mid-2011 through 2012

Client and Provider Perspectives on Quality of Care: A Systematic Review

A central premise of the literature on healthcare quality is that improving the quality of care will lead to improvements in health outcomes. A systematic review was conducted to better inform quality improvement efforts in the area of family planning. The objective of this systematic review is to update a previous review focused on the quality of family planning services, namely, the impact of quality improvement efforts and client perspectives about what constitutes quality family planning services. In addition, this review includes new literature examining provider perspectives. Multiple databases from January 1985 through January 2015 were searched within the peer-reviewed literature that described the quality of family planning services. The retrieval and inclusion criteria included full-length articles published in English, which described studies occurring in a clinic-based setting to include family planning services. Search strategies identified 16,145 articles, 16 of which met the inclusion criteria. No new intervention studies addressing the impact of quality improvement efforts on family planning outcomes were identified. Sixteen articles provided information relevant to client or provider perspectives about what constitutes quality family planning services. Clients and providers mostly identified the need for services that were accessible, client-centered, and equitable. Themes related to effectiveness, efficiency, and safety were mentioned less frequently. Family planning services that account for both patient and provider perspectives may be more effective. Further research is needed to examine the impact of improved quality on provider practices, client behavior, and health outcomes

Update: Providing Quality Family Planning Services - Recommendations From CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs, 2017

In April 2014, CDC published Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations of CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs (QFP), which describes the scope of services that should be offered in a family planning visit and how to provide those services (e.g., periodicity of screening, which persons are in need of services, etc.) (1). The sections in QFP include the following: Determining the Client\u27s Need for Services; Contraceptive Services; Pregnancy Testing and Counseling; Clients Who Want to Become Pregnant; Basic Infertility Services; Preconception Health Services; Sexually Transmitted Disease Services; and Related Preventive Health Services. In addition, the QFP includes an appendix entitled Screening Services for Which Evidence Does Not Support Screening

Programs to Strengthen Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review

When caring for an adolescent client, providers of contraceptive services must consider whether and how to encourage parent/guardian-child communication about the adolescent's reproductive health. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of programs designed to increase parent-child communication about reproductive health. The review was used to inform national recommendations on quality family planning services. Data analysis occurred from mid-2011 through 2012. Several electronic bibliographic databases were used to identify relevant articles, including PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Popline, published from January 1985 through February 2011. Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria: all studies examined the impact on at least one medium- or short-term outcome, and two studies assessed the impact on teen pregnancy. One study examined the impact of a program conducted in a clinic setting; the remainder examined the impact of programs in community settings. All studies showed a positive impact on at least one short-term outcome, and 12 of 16 studies showed an increase in parent-child communication about reproductive health. Four of seven studies found an impact on sexual risk behavior. Most programs increased parent-child communication, and several resulted in reduced sexual risk behavior of adolescents. This suggests that delivering a clinic-based program that effectively helps parents/guardians talk to their adolescent child(ren) about reproductive health, or referring parents/guardians to an evidence-based program in the community, may be beneficial. However, further rigorous research on delivery of these programs in clinical settings is needed

Reducing Unintended Pregnancies as a Strategy to Avert Zika-Related Microcephaly Births in the United States: A Simulation Study

Introduction There is increasing evidence that infection with the Zika virus (ZIKV) during pregnancy can lead to severe brain abnormalities in infants exposed in utero. The objective of our analysis was to estimate the contribution of enhanced contraception access to averting ZIKV-related microcephaly births in the United States, alone and in combination with another possible strategy, anti-ZIKV vaccination. Methods We used Monte Carlo sampling techniques (n = 100,000 simulations) to estimate the number of microcephaly births expected under strategies of enhanced contraception only, vaccination only, both enhanced contraception and vaccination, and status quo (no intervention). Enhanced contraceptive access was assumed to reduce unintended pregnancy rates by 46% and anti-ZIKV vaccination was assumed to be 90% effective. Plausible values for effectiveness of enhanced contraceptive access, ZIKV cumulative incidence, ZIKV-related microcephaly risk, and anti-ZIKV vaccination parameters were derived from the literature or best available knowledge. Results Enhanced contraceptive access alone reduced the median number of ZIKV-related microcephaly births by 16% (95% simulation interval: 5, 23), while the anti-ZIKV vaccine alone reduced these births by 9% (95% SI: 0, 18), 45% (95% SI: 36, 54), and 81% (95% SI: 71, 91), under conservative (10% vaccine uptake), moderate (50% vaccine uptake), and optimistic (90% vaccine uptake) scenarios, respectively. The reduction in ZIKV-related microcephaly births was always greater if both interventions were employed. Discussion Enhanced contraceptive access alone has the ability to produce a meaningful reduction in microcephaly births, and could provide an important adjuvant prevention strategy even following the development of a highly-effective anti-ZIKV vaccine

Future Directions in Performance Measures for Contraceptive Care: A Proposed Framework

In the United States, almost half (45%) of the approximately 6 million pregnancies each year are unintended. These statistics indicate that many women experience barriers to achieving their desired reproductive outcomes, which has potential adverse consequences for women, children and society at large, such as higher rates of preterm birth, lower rates of breastfeeding and lower educational attainment. Contraceptive care is a highly effective clinical intervention that can substantially reduce those adverse outcomes, help individuals and couples achieve their desired number and spacing of children, and save money. However, many women at risk of unintended pregnancy do not use contraception or use it incorrectly or inconsistently, and there are documented barriers in access to and quality of contraceptive care services available

Receipt of Selected Preventive Health Services for Women and Men of Reproductive Age - United States, 2011-2013

Problem/condition: Receipt of key preventive health services among women and men of reproductive age (i.e., 15-44 years) can help them achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children and improve their overall health. The 2014 publication Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations of CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs (QFP) establishes standards for providing a core set of preventive services to promote these goals. These services include contraceptive care for persons seeking to prevent or delay pregnancy, pregnancy testing and counseling, basic infertility services for those seeking to achieve pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease (STD) services, and other preconception care and related preventive health services. QFP describes how to provide these services and recommends using family planning and other primary care visits to screen for and offer the full range of these services. This report presents baseline estimates of the use of these preventive services before the publication of QFP that can be used to monitor progress toward improving the quality of preventive care received by women and men of reproductive age. Period covered: 2011-2013