Functional Outcomes of Limb Salvage Surgery in Patients with Giant Cell Tumor of Bone of the Lower Extremities: A Retrospective Study

Giant cell tumor of the bone (GCTB) is a benign, locally aggressive neoplasm that is relatively rare, with a propensity to result in progressive bone destruction, and is associated with a high risk of recurrence. There is no widely held consensus regarding its ideal treatment. Worldwide, there are varying techniques ranging from intralesional curettage to resection of the lesion, supplemented with combinations of numerous adjuncts and fillers, depending on the resected amount and integrity of bone, as well as the preference of the surgeon. This was a cross-sectional study that included 20 patients who underwent limb salvage surgery for giant cell tumor of the bone of the lower extremities from January 2009 to February 2020 at two tertiary hospitals. The mean follow-up period was 37.3 months (SD=2.84). The extended curettage (EC) group had a mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Rating Scale (MSTS) score of 28.18 (SD=7.51) which is considered as an excellent outcome, while the resection (RS) group had an mean MSTS score of 19.67 (SD=11.02), which is considered as a good outcome. EC resulted to a total of eight complications (47%), while RS had one complication (33%). Prevalence of recurrence was noted to be 11.75% among those who underwent EC, while no recurrence was noted among those in the RS group. Use of bone cement as a filler was noted to have less recurrence as compared with the use of bone grafts, however were both were noted to result in excellent functional outcomes. Despite the prevalence of complications and recurrence of GCTB of the salvaged extremity in those who underwent EC, there is still report of excellent functionality. It is hence important to disclose all these possible outcomes and to stress the importance of compliance to follow-up for monitoring of these events

Evolution of Physical Therapy Scholarship in the Philippines: A Scientometric Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Publications

ABSTRACT Introduction. The Philippine Journal of Physical Therapy began publication in 2021. The editorial board identified as a high-priority project to undertake a detailed analysis of current publishing practice among physical therapy researchers in the Philippines. Methods. This study systematically mined publications from Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed using the keywords “physical therapy” OR “physiotherapy” OR “physical therapist” OR “physiotherapist.” Results were further refined to only include English publications by authors from the Philippines. Publication, citation, collaboration, and text-co-occurrence network analysis were done using RStudio and VOSViewer. Results. A total of 122 publications from 1987 to 2022 were identified. Majority of the literature was primary studies (70.49%), secondary or review articles (13.93%) and proceedings of national and/or international conferences (10.65%). The most common and earliest collaborators of Filipino authors were from Australia, United States of America and Hong Kong. Five clusters of co-occurring keywords were identified: (1) case report, validity, function, mobility; (2) meta-analysis, systematic review, database, search; (3) perception, qualitative, barrier, value; (4) Evidence-based practice, attitude, need, confidence; and (5) COVID-19, pandemic, filipino, cross-sectional. Discussion. This study provides an overview and valuable guidance for physical therapy researchers, practitioners, educators, and policymakers to plan for the future direction of physical therapy research in the country. Stakeholders should consider the results of the study in identifying future projects to build capacity, develop research agendas and policy guidelines, and create collaborative opportunities to further improve physical therapy research productivity in the country

A Prospective Observational Registry Evaluating Clinical Outcomes of Radium-223 Treatment in a Non-study Population

The ALSYMPCA study established a 3.6 month Overall Survival (OS) benefit in metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with Radium-223 dichloride (Ra-223) over placebo. Here we report clinical outcomes of Ra-223 treatment in a nonstudy population. In this prospective registry, patients from 20 Dutch hospitals were included prior to Ra-223 treatment. Clinical parameters collected included previous treatments and Adverse Events. Primary outcome was 6 months Symptomatic Skeletal Event (SSE)-free survival, while secondary outcomes included Progression-Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS). Of the 305 patients included, 300 were evaluable. The mean age was 73.6 years, 90% had ≥6 bone metastases and 74.1% were pretreated with Docetaxel, 19.5% with Cabazitaxel and 80.5% with Abiraterone and/or Enzalutamide. Of all patients, 96.7% were treated with Ra-223 and received a median of 5 cycles. After a median follow-up of 13.2 months, 6 months SSE-free survival rate was 83%, median PFS was 5.1 months and median OS was 15.2 months. Six months SSE-free survival rate and OS were comparable with those reported in ALSYMPCA. "Previous Cabazitaxel treatment" and "bone-only metastases" were independent predictors of a shorter and longer PFS, respectively, while above-median LDH and "bone-only metastases" were independent predictors of shorter and longer OS, respectively. Toxicity was similar as reported in the ALSYMPCA trial. These results suggest that in a nonstudy population, Ra-223 treatment is well-tolerated, equally effective as in the ALSYMPCA population and that patients not previously treated with Cabazitaxel benefit most from Ra-223