Improving adherence to surveillance and screening recommendations for people with colorectal cancer and their first degree relatives: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the leading causes of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite clinical practice guidelines to guide surveillance care for those who have completed treatment for this disease as well as screening for first degree relatives of people with CRC, the level of uptake of these recommendations remains uncertain. If outcomes for both patients and their families are to be improved, it is important to establish systematic and cost-effective interventions to improve adherence to guideline recommendations for CRC surveillance and screening.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A randomized controlled trial will be used to test the effectiveness of a print-based intervention to improve adherence to colonoscopy surveillance among people with CRC and adherence to CRC screening recommendations among their first degree relatives (FDRs). People diagnosed with CRC in the past 10 months will be recruited through a population-based cancer registry. Consenting participants will be asked if their first degree relatives might also be willing to participate in the trial. Information on family history of CRC will be obtained from patients at baseline. Patients and their families will be randomized to either minimal ethical care or the print-based intervention. The print-based intervention for FDRs will be tailored to the participant's level of risk of CRC as determined by the self-reported family history assessment. Follow up data on surveillance and screening participation will be collected from patients and their FDRs respectively at 12, 24 and 36 months' post recruitment. The primary analyses will relate to comparing levels of guideline adherence in usual care group versus print-based group in the patient sample and the FDR sample respectively.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Results of this study will provide contribute to the evidence base about effective strategies to a) improve adherence to surveillance recommendation for people with CRC; and b) improve adherence to screening recommendation for FDRs of people with CRC. The use of a population-based cancer registry to access the target population may have significant advantages in increasing the reach of the intervention.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>This trial is registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Registration Number (ACTRN): <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12609000628246">ACTRN12609000628246</a>.</p

Randomized controlled trial of postoperative exercise rehabilitation program after lumbar spine fusion: study protocol

Abstract Background Lumbar spine fusion (LSF) effectively decreases pain and disability in specific spinal disorders; however, the disability rate following surgery remains high. This, combined with the fact that in Western countries the number of LSF surgeries is increasing rapidly it is important to develop rehabilitation interventions that improve outcomes. Methods/design In the present RCT-study we aim to assess the effectiveness of a combined back-specific and aerobic exercise intervention for patients after LSF surgery. One hundred patients will be randomly allocated to a 12-month exercise intervention arm or a usual care arm. The exercise intervention will start three months after surgery and consist of six individual guidance sessions with a physiotherapist and a home-based exercise program. The primary outcome measures are low back pain, lower extremity pain, disability and quality of life. Secondary outcomes are back function and kinesiophobia. Exercise adherence will also be evaluated. The outcome measurements will be assessed at baseline (3&#8201;months postoperatively), at the end of the exercise intervention period (15&#8201;months postoperatively), and after a 1-year follow-up. Discussion The present RCT will evaluate the effectiveness of a long-term rehabilitation program after LSF. To our knowledge this will be the first study to evaluate a combination of strength training, control of the neutral lumbar spine position and aerobic training principles in rehabilitation after LSF. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00834015peerReviewe

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

The InSiGHT database: utilizing 100 years of insights into Lynch Syndrome

This article provides a historical overview of the online database (www.insight-group.org/mutations) maintained by the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours. The focus is on the mismatch repair genes which are mutated in Lynch Syndrome. APC, MUTYH and other genes are also an important part of the database, but are not covered here. Over time, as the understanding of the genetics of Lynch Syndrome increased, databases were created to centralise and share the variants which were being detected in ever greater numbers. These databases were eventually merged into the InSiGHT database, a comprehensive repository of gene variant and disease phenotype information, serving as a starting point for important endeavours including variant interpretation, research, diagnostics and enhanced global collection. Pivotal to its success has been the collaborative spirit in which it has been developed, its association with the Human Variome Project, the appointment of a full time curator and its governance stemming from the well established organizational structure of InSiGHT

Estudo da validade e confiabilidade intra e interobservador da versão modificada do teste de Schöber modificado em indivíduos com lombalgia Study of validity and intra and inter-observer reliability of modified-modified Schöber test in subjects with low-back pain

Em pacientes com lombalgia, mensura-se a amplitude de movimento (ADM) da coluna lombar por meio da versão modificada do teste de Schöber modificado (MTSM), mas suas propriedades psicométricas não são comprovadas para uso clínico. Este estudo verificou a validade e confiabilidade intra e interobservador do MTSM em indivíduos com lombalgia, comparando as medidas da ADM com as obtidas por meio de radiografia, método considerado padrão-ouro. Participaram 20 voluntários com lombalgia, de ambos os sexos, funcionários de um Hospital Universitário. O MTSM foi aplicado duas vezes por dois avaliadores. As medidas obtidas pelo teste e por radiografia foram comparadas usando o coeficiente de correlação de Pearson, obtendo-se r=0,14, ou seja, correlação fraca. O coeficiente de correlação intraclasse (CCI) dos MTSM intra-observador foi 0,96 (IC 95% 0,91;0,98) e interobservador 0,93 (IC 95% 0,84;0,97), indicando alta confiabilidade; o teste de Bland & Altman mostrou alta concordância intra e interobservador, com valores de -0,21 e -0,28, respectivamente. Embora tenha sido encontrada alta confiabilidade intra e interobservador na aplicação da versão modificada do teste de Schöber modificado, este apresentou baixa validade para medir a ADM da coluna lombar, quando comparado ao padrão-ouro.<br>In patients with low-back pain the lumbar spine range of motion (ROM) is often measured by the modified version of the modified Schöber test (MMST), but its psychometric properties have not been ascertained for clinical use. The purpose here was to verify intra and inter-observer validity and reliability of the MMST in subjects with low-back pain, and to compare obtained ROM measures to those obtained by radiography, taken as gold standard. The study involved 20 subjects with chronic low-back pain, of both sexes, employees at a university hospital. The MMST was applied twice by two examiners each. The Pearson correlation coefficient found when comparing measures obtained via MMST and radiography was r=0.14, showing a poor correlation between the tests. The intra-observer intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) found was 0.96 (CI 95% 0.91;0.98), and the inter-observer ICC was 0.93 (IC 95% 0.84;0.97), showing high reliability; the Bland & Altman agreement test showed high agreement intra (-0.21) and inter-observer (-0.21). Although a high reliability both intra and inter-observer was found for the modified-modified Schöber test, the latter showed low validity in assessing lumbar spine range of motion, when compared to the gold standard