What are the views of hospital-based generalist palliative care professionals on what facilitates or hinders collaboration with in-patient specialist palliative care teams?:a systematically constructed narrative synthesis

Background: Hospital-based specialist palliative care services are common, yet existing evidence of inpatient generalist providers’ perceptions of collaborating with hospital-based specialist palliative care teams has never been systematically assessed. Aim: To assess the existing evidence of inpatient generalist palliative care providers’ perceptions of what facilitates or hinders collaboration with hospital-based specialist palliative care teams. Design: Narrative literature synthesis with systematically constructed search. Data sources: PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and ProQuest Social Services databases were searched up to December 2014. Individual journal, citation and reference searching were also conducted. Papers with the views of generalist inpatient professional caregivers who utilised hospital-based specialist palliative care team services were included in the narrative synthesis. Hawker’s criteria were used to assess the quality of the included studies. Results: Studies included (n = 23) represented a variety of inpatient generalist palliative care professionals’ experiences of collaborating with specialist palliative care. Effective collaboration is experienced by many generalist professionals. Five themes were identified as improving or decreasing effective collaboration: model of care (integrated vs linear), professional onus, expertise and trust, skill building versus deskilling and specialist palliative care operations. Collaboration is fostered when specialist palliative care teams practice proactive communication, role negotiation and shared problem-solving and recognise generalists’ expertise. Conclusion: Fuller integration of specialist palliative care services, timely sharing of information and mutual respect increase generalists’ perceptions of effective collaboration. Further research is needed regarding the experiences of non-physician and non-nursing professionals as their views were either not included or not explicitly reported

Ward social workers’ views of what facilitates or hinders collaboration with specialist palliative care team social workers:a grounded theory

Background Inpatient, generalist social workers in discharge planning roles work alongside specialist palliative care social workers to care for patients, often resulting in two social workers being concurrently involved in the same patient’s care. Previous studies identifying components of effective collaboration, which impacts patient outcomes, care efficiency, professional job satisfaction, and healthcare costs, were conducted with nurses and physicians but not social workers. This study explores ward social workers’ perceptions of what facilitates or hinders collaboration with palliative care social workers. Methods Grounded theory was used to explore the research aim. In-depth qualitative interviews with masters trained ward social workers (n = 14) working in six hospitals located in the Midwest, United States were conducted between February 2014 and January 2015. A theoretical model of ward social workers’ collaboration with palliative care social workers was developed. Results The emerging model of collaboration consists of: 1) trust, which is comprised of a) ability, b) benevolence, and c) integrity, 2) information sharing, and 3) role negotiation. Effective collaboration occurs when all elements of the model are present. Conclusion Collaboration is facilitated when ward social workers’ perceptions of trust are high, pertinent information is communicated in a time-sensitive manner, and a flexible approach to roles is taken. The theoretical model of collaboration can inform organisational policy and social work clinical practice guidelines, and may be of use to other healthcare professionals, as improvements in collaboration among healthcare providers may have a positive impact on patient outcomes

Retrospective observational study of HER2 immunohistochemistry in borderline breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy, with an emphasis on Group 2 (HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥2.0, HER2 copy number <4.0 signals/cell) cases.

BACKGROUND: The ASCO/CAP guidance on HER2 testing in breast cancer (BC) has recently changed. Group 2 tumours with immunohistochemistry score 2+ and HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥2.0 and HER2 copy number <4.0 signals/cell were re-classified as HER2 negative. This study aims to examine the response of Group 2 tumours to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). METHODS: 749 BC cases were identified from 11 institutions. The association between HER2 groups and pathological complete response (pCR) was assessed. RESULTS: 54% of immunohistochemistry HER2 positive (score 3+) BCs showed pCR, compared to 19% of immunohistochemistry 2+ FISH amplified cases. 27% of Group 2 treated with HER2 targeted therapy achieved pCR, compared to 19 and 11% in the combined Groups 1 + 3 and Groups 4 + 5, respectively. No difference in pCR rates was identified between Group 2 and Group 1 or combined Groups 1 + 3. However, Group 2 response rate was higher than Groups 4 + 5 (p = 0.017). CONCLUSION: No difference in pCR was detected in tumours with a HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥2.0 and a HER2 score 2+ by IHC when stratified by HER2 gene copy number. Our data suggest that ASCO/CAP HER2 Group 2 carcinomas should be evaluated further with respect to eligibility for HER2 targeted therapy

Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes journaltitle: Cell articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.046 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Inc

Efficacy and safety of palbociclib in patients with estrogen receptor–positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative advanced breast cancer with preexisting conditions: A post hoc analysis of PALOMA-2

In the PALOMA-2 trial, palbociclib in combination with letrozole prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and exhibited an acceptable safety profile in patients with estrogen receptor–positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative advanced breast cancer (ABC). This post hoc analysis of PALOMA-2 evaluated the efficacy and safety of palbociclib plus letrozole in patients with preexisting conditions grouped by Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) System Organ Class (SOC). Postmenopausal patients without prior treatment for ABC were randomized 2:1 to receive palbociclib (125 mg/d on a 3 weeks on/1 week off schedule) plus letrozole (2.5 mg/d, continuous) or placebo plus letrozole. Patients were grouped by the following MedDRA SOC preexisting conditions: gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, metabolic, and vascular/cardiac. Median PFS was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and treatment emergent adverse events (AEs) were compared between treatment arms within each preexisting condition subgroup. At baseline, 276 (41.4 %) patients had preexisting gastrointestinal disorders, 390 (58.6 %) had musculoskeletal disorders, 259 (38.9 %) had metabolic disorders, and 382 (57.4 %) had vascular/cardiac disorders. Baseline characteristics were similar between subgroups and between each arm within subgroups. Regardless of baseline preexisting condition, palbociclib plus letrozole prolonged PFS compared with placebo plus letrozole. Treatment-emergent AEs associated with palbociclib plus letrozole and dose modifications due to AEs were similar across preexisting condition subgroups. This post hoc analysis of PALOMA-2 demonstrated a favorable effect of palbociclib on PFS and a safety profile consistent with previous observations, regardless of underlying preexisting condition. Pfizer Inc (NCT01740427). •Preexisting conditions can affect the safety and efficacy of breast cancer therapies.•This is a post hoc analysis of patients with preexisting conditions from PALOMA-2.•Palbociclib prolonged median PFS, regardless of preexisting condition.•Within each treatment arm, AEs were similar regardless of preexisting condition

Abstract PS10-14: Efficacy and safety of palbociclib (PAL) in patients (pts) with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) with preexisting conditions: A post hoc analysis of PALOMA-2

Abstract Background: In the PALOMA-2 trial, PAL + letrozole (LET) significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) vs placebo (PBO) + LET in pts with ER+/HER2– ABC. This post hoc analysis assessed efficacy and safety of PAL + LET in pts from PALOMA-2 with baseline preexisting conditions grouped by Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) System Organ Class (SOC). Methods: Postmenopausal pts with ER+/HER2– ABC received PAL (125 mg/d, 3/1 schedule) + LET (2.5 mg/d, continuous) or PBO + LET. Pts were grouped by the following MedDRA SOC preexisting conditions: Gastrointestinal, Musculoskeletal, Metabolism, and Vascular/Cardiac. Baseline characteristics, PFS, and safety were assessed. Results: At baseline, 41.4% of pts had preexisting gastrointestinal disorders, 58.6% musculoskeletal disorders, 38.9% metabolism disorders, and 57.4% vascular/cardiac disorders. Baseline characteristics were similar between treatment arms within each subgroup and also between subgroups. Within each subgroup, ≥40% of pts also had ≥1 of the other coexisting conditions. Median PFS (mPFS) was significantly longer with PAL + LET vs PBO + LET regardless of preexisting condition (Table). In general, adverse events (AEs) were more frequent with PAL + LET in all subgroups; neutropenia was most common. Within each treatment arm, AEs and dose modifications due to AEs were similar regardless of preexisting condition. Conclusion: PAL + LET showed prolonged PFS and a consistent safety profile regardless of baseline preexisting condition in pts with ER+/HER2– ABC. Clinical trial identification: Pfizer Inc (NCT01740427) TablePreexisting ConditionPAL + LETPBO + LETPAL + LET vs PBO + LETnmPFS (95% CI)nmPFS (95% CI)HR (95% CI)P ValueGastrointestinal17627.6 (17.5–33.1)10013.6 (11.0–18.5)0.57 (0.42–0.78)<0.001Musculoskeletal25227.6 (21.4–33.1)13816.3 (11.2–19.1)0.53 (0.41–0.69)<0.001Metabolism18627.6 (19.3–30.6)7313.8 (8.3–27.4)0.62 (0.44–0.87)0.003Vascular/Cardiac25430.4 (25.1–36.2)12814.5 (11.0–18.5)0.51 (0.39–0.66)<0.001 Citation Format: Karen Gelmon, Janice M Walshe, Reshma Mahtani, Anil A Joy, Meghan Karuturi, Patrick Neven, Dongrui Ray Lu, Sindy Kim, Patrick Schnell, Eustratios Bananis, Lee Schwartzberg. Efficacy and safety of palbociclib (PAL) in patients (pts) with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) with preexisting conditions: A post hoc analysis of PALOMA-2 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS10-14