Uso de radioterapia estereotáxica corporal para tratamento de câncer de próstata recorrente oligometastático : revisão sistemática

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, 2017.A hormonoterapia tem sido o principal tratamento para o câncer de próstata recorrente oligometastático. No entanto, adventos da medicina diagnóstica permitiram a detecção precoce da recidiva, encorajando a realização de novos estudos quanto ao tratamento direto das metástases. O objetivo da presente revisão sistemática é avaliar a efetividade e a segurança do uso de radioterapia estereotáxica corporal (SBRT) no manejo desses pacientes. O foco foi nas implicações clínicas do tratamento, como controle de doença a longo prazo, avaliação de toxicidade, potencial de prorrogar a hormonoterapia e controle local. Realizou-se busca em seis bases de dados: Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, LILACS, PubMed, Scopus e Web of Science. Adicionalmente, efetuou-se busca manual em listas de referências e literatura cinzenta. Os desfechos primários foram sobrevida livre de progressão (SLP) e taxas de toxicidade. Entre os desfechos secundários, tem-se sobrevida livre de hormonoterapia (SLH) e taxas de controle local. Riscos de viés e qualidade da evidência foram aferidos por meio de ferramentas validadas (Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Series e Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). Quatorze estudos foram identificados, com 661 pacientes e 899 lesões metastáticas. Não se encontrou estudos clínicos randomizados (ECR). Os artigos foram publicados de 2011 a 2017, sendo 9 deles a partir de 2016. Foram tratadas 561 lesões linfonodais, 336 ósseas e 2 hepáticas. 38,7% dos pacientes usaram hormonoterapia adjuvante à SBRT. As medianas de SLP e SLH foram de 1 a 3 anos. O controle local esteve entre 82% e 100% em estudos com baixo risco de viés. Taxas de toxicidade aguda e tardia, grau 2, foram de 2,4% e 1,1%, respectivamente. Registrou-se um caso de toxicidade aguda grau 3, e outros dois de efeito tardio grau 3. SBRT mostrou-se segura para o tratamento de metástases de câncer de próstata, com potencial de controlar a doença a longo prazo e prorrogar o uso de hormonoterapia. O controle local é excelente, principalmente quando empregadas altas doses de radiação. Apesar dos resultados promissores, recomenda-se investigações adicionais com ECR.Historically, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been the mainstay treatment for oligometastatic recurrent prostate cancer. Novel diagnostic methods, allowing early detection of recurrence, encouraged recent studies regarding the direct treatment of metastases. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the management of these patients. The focus was on clinical implications, as long-term disease control, toxicity profile assessment, the potential to postpone ADT administration, and local control. Six databases were searched: Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Hand-searching and gray literature search were also performed to find additional references. The main outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity rates. ADT-free survival (ADT-FS) and local control were among secondary endpoints. Risk of bias and quality of evidence were judged with aid of validated tools (Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Series and Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). Fourteen studies were identified, involving 661 patients and 899 metastatic lesions. No randomized controlled trials were found. The articles are from 2011 and 2017. Nine of them were published in 2016 or later. Were treated 561 nodal, 336 bone and 2 liver lesions with SBRT. 38.7% of patients used adjuvant ADT at time of intervention. The medians PFS and ADT-FS were around 1 and 3 years after SBRT. Local control rates varied from 82 to 100% among researches with low risk of bias. Acute and late grade 2 toxicity were observed in 2.4% and 1.1% of patients, respectively. One case of acute and two cases of late grade 3 toxicity were registered. SBRT is a safe approach to prostate cancer metastases. It has the potential to provide long-term disease control and to defer ADT. The local control is excellent, especially when higher radiation doses are employed. Despite promising results, further investigation with randomized controlled trials are required

Evidence on the use of mobile apps during the treatment of breast cancer : systematic review

Background: Cancer is a major cause of morbidity, disability, and mortality worldwide, and breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women. Different modalities of cancer treatment can have adverse effects that reduce the quality of life of patients and lead to treatment interruptions, if not managed properly. The use of mobile technologies has brought innovative possibilities for improving health care. Mobile apps can help individuals manage their own health and well-being and may also promote healthy lifestyles and information access. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify available evidence on the use of mobile apps to provide information and facilitate communication regarding self-care management related to the adverse effects of toxicities owing to breast cancer therapy. Methods: This systematic review includes studies which were identified using a search strategy adapted for each electronic database: CINAHL, Cochrane Library, LILACS, LIVIVO, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. In addition, a gray literature search was performed using Google Scholar. All the electronic database searches were conducted on April 17, 2019. Two investigators independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of the studies identified and then read the full text of all selected papers. The quality of the included studies was analyzed by the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool and the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies. Results: A total of 9 studies which met the eligibility criteria—3 randomized clinical trials and 6 nonrandomized studies published in English from 2010 to 2018—were considered for this systematic review; 396 patients with breast cancer, as well as 40 experts in the medical and nursing fields, and 3 software engineers were included. Conclusions: The evidence from the studies included in this systematic review is currently limited but suggests that mobile apps for women with breast cancer might be an acceptable information source that can improve patient well-being; they can also be used to report symptoms and adverse treatment-related effects and promote self-care. There is a need to test more evidence-based apps in future randomized clinical trials

Escalonamento de dose em radioterapia para tratamento neoadjuvante de câncer de reto:: revisão integrativa da literatura

Objetivo: identificar as evidências científicas disponíveis na literatura acerca do escalonamento de dose de radioterapia no tratamento neoadjuvante de pacientes com câncer de reto localmente avançado (CRLA). Método: revisão integrativa, cuja questão norteadora da pesquisa foi: “Quais são as evidências disponíveis na literatura acerca do escalonamento de dose em radioterapia no tratamento neoadjuvante de pacientes com CRLA?”. Foram utilizadas as bases eletrônicas de dados Cochrane Library, Lilacs, PubMed e Web of Science, por meio de combinação de descritores controlados. Resultados: após análise de 957 publicações inicialmente encontradas, foram selecionados 15 estudos que abordavam a utilização de dose física de radiação ≥ 60 Gy para tratamento de CRLA. Os artigos incluídos na amostra possuem caráter prospectivo, três dos quais são ensaios controlados randomizados e com resultados a longo prazo. A taxa de resposta patológica completa mediana foi de 21%, com amplitude de 0-44%. As taxas de toxicidade aguda grave variam de 0-43%. Conclusão: o uso de doses de radiação ≥ 60 Gy no tratamento neoadjuvante de CRLA mostra-se viável, levando a aceitáveis níveis de toxicidade aguda e promissoras taxas de resposta patológica completa. Maiores ensaios clínicos controlados  randomizados devem ser realizados para esclarecimento do tema

Associacao entre tabagismo e o uso de crack com a descontinuidade da terapia antirretroviral combinada em Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil

Apesar da eficácia da terapêutica antirretroviral combinada para o tratamento de pessoas vivendo com HIV/Aids, a não adesão aos medicamentos tem se tornado uma das maiores ameaças à efetividade dessa terapêutica. O objetivo desse estudo foi estimar a prevalência de uso irregular autorreferido da terapia antirretroviral e os fatores associados com essa irregularidade em pessoas vivendo com HIV. Foi realizado um estudo seccional de pessoas vivendo com HIV/Aids atendidas em dois centros de referência no Recife, Nordeste do Brasil, entre junho 2007 e outubro de 2009. Foram analisados os fatores socioeconômicos, de apoio social e de hábitos do indivíduo, ajustados através de análise de regressão logística multivariada. A prevalência de pessoas vivendo com HIV/Aids que relataram o uso irregular da terapia antirretroviral combinada (TARC) foi de 25,7%. No modelo multivariado final, o uso irregular da TARC esteve associado às seguintes variáveis: ter menos de 40 anos (OR = 1,66, IC95%: 1,29-2,13), fumantes (OR = 1,76, IC95%: 1,31-2,37) ou ex-fumantes (OR = 1,43, IC95%: 1,05-1,95) e ser usuário de crack (OR = 2,79, IC95%: 1,24-6,32). Medidas especiais devem ser direcionadas para cada um dos seguintes grupos: adultos com menos de 40 anos, fumantes, ex-fumantes e usuários de crack. Ações voltadas para a cessação do tabagismo e do crack devem ser incorporadas ao programa de controle dos infectados pelo HIV, visando promover a maior adesão aos antirretrovirais e, consequentemente, aumentar a expectativa e a qualidade de vida.Despite the effectiveness of combination antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), nonadherence to medication has become a major threat to its effectiveness. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-reported irregular use of antiretroviral therapy and the factors associated with such an irregularity in PLWHA. A cross-sectional study of PLWHA who attended two referral centers in the city of Recife, in Northeastern Brazil, between June 2007 and October 2009 was carried out. The study analyzed socioeconomic factors, social service support and personal habits associated with nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy, adjusted by multivariable logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of PLWHA who reported irregular use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) was 25.7%. In the final multivariate model, the irregular use of cART was associated with the following variables: being aged less than 40 years (OR = 1.66, 95%-CI: 1.29-2.13), current smokers (OR = 1.76, 95%-CI: 1.31-2.37) or former smokers (OR = 1.43, 95%-CI: 1.05-1.95), and crack cocaine users (OR = 2.79, 95%-CI: 1.24-6.32). Special measures should be directed towards each of the following groups: individuals aged less than 40 years, smokers, former smokers and crack cocaine users. Measures for giving up smoking and crack cocaine should be incorporated into HIV-control programs in order to promote greater adherence to antiretroviral drugs and thus improve the quality of life and prolong life expectancy

Validating a scoring system for the diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected adults.

BACKGROUND: The challenge of diagnosing smear-negative pulmonary TB (tuberculosis) in people living with HIV justifies the use of instruments other than the smear test for diagnosing the disease. Considering the clinical-radiological similarities of TB amongst HIV-infected adults and children, the proposal of this study was to assess the accuracy of a scoring system used to diagnose smear-negative pulmonary TB in children and adolescents, in HIV-infected adults suspected of having smear-negative pulmonary TB. METHODS: A Phase III validation study aiming to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a scoring system for diagnosing smear-negative pulmonary TB in HIV-infected adults. The study assessed sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and positive and negative predictive values of the scoring system. Three versions of the scoring system were tested. RESULTS: From a cohort of 2,382 (HIV-infected adults), 1276 were investigated and 128 were diagnosed with pulmonary TB. Variables associated with the diagnosis of TB were: coughing, weight loss, fever, malnutrition, chest X-ray, and positive tuberculin test. The best diagnostic performance occurred with the scoring system with new scores, with sensitivity = 81.2% (95%-CI 74.5% -88%), specificity = 78% (75.6% -80.4%), PPV = 29.2% (24.5% -33.9%) and NPV = 97.4% (96.4% -98.4%), LR+ = 3.7 (3.4-4.0) and LR- = 0.24 (0.2-0.4). CONCLUSION: The proposed scoring system (with new scores) presented a good capacity for discriminating patients who did not have pulmonary TB, in the studied population. Further studies are necessary in order to validate it, thus permitting the assessment of its use in diagnosing smear-negative pulmonary TB in HIV-infected adults

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Associated factors for treatment delay in pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected individuals: a nested case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The delay in initiating treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-infected individuals may lead to the development of a more severe form of the disease, with higher rates of morbidity, mortality and transmissibility. The aim of the present study was to estimate the time interval between the onset of symptoms and initiating treatment for TB in HIV-infected individuals, and to identify the factors associated to this delay. METHODS: A nested case-control study was undertaken within a cohort of HIV-infected individuals, attended at two HIV referral centers, in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Delay in initiating treatment for TB was defined as the period of time, in days, which was greater than the median value between the onset of cough and initiating treatment for TB. The study analyzed biological, clinical, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors as well as those related to HIV and TB infection, potentially associated to delay. The odds ratios were estimated with the respective confidence intervals and p-values. RESULTS: From a cohort of 2365 HIV-infected adults, 274 presented pulmonary TB and of these, 242 participated in the study. Patients were already attending 2 health services at the time they developed a cough (period range: 1 - 552 days), with a median value of 41 days. Factors associated to delay were: systemic symptoms asthenia, chest pain, use of illicit drugs and sputum smear-negative. CONCLUSION: The present study indirectly showed the difficulty of diagnosing TB in HIV-infected individuals and indicated the need for a better assessment of asthenia and chest pain as factors that may be present in co-infected patients. It is also necessary to discuss the role played by negative sputum smear results in diagnosing TB/HIV co-infection as well as the need to assess the best approach for drug users with TB/HIV

Escalonamento de dose em radioterapia para tratamento neoadjuvante de câncer de reto: revisão integrativa da literatura

Objetivo: identificar as evidências científicas disponíveis na literatura acerca do escalonamento de dose de radioterapia no tratamento neoadjuvante de pacientes com câncer de reto localmente avançado (CRLA). Método: revisão integrativa, cuja questão norteadora da pesquisa foi: “Quais são as evidências disponíveis na literatura acerca do escalonamento de dose em radioterapia no tratamento neoadjuvante de pacientes com CRLA?”. Foram utilizadas as bases eletrônicas de dados Cochrane Library, Lilacs, PubMed e Web of Science, por meio de combinação de descritores controlados. Resultados: após análise de 957 publicações inicialmente encontradas, foram selecionados 15 estudos que abordavam a utilização de dose física de radiação ≥ 60 Gy para tratamento de CRLA. Os artigos incluídos na amostra possuem caráter prospectivo, três dos quais são ensaios controlados randomizados e com resultados a longo prazo. A taxa de resposta patológica completa mediana foi de 21%, com amplitude de 0-44%. As taxas de toxicidade aguda grave variam de 0-43%. Conclusão: o uso de doses de radiação ≥ 60 Gy no tratamento neoadjuvante de CRLA mostra-se viável, levando a aceitáveis níveis de toxicidade aguda e promissoras taxas de resposta patológica completa. Maiores ensaios clínicos controlados  randomizados devem ser realizados para esclarecimento do tema