Gender differences in how physicians access and process information

There is an absence of information on how physicians make surgical decisions, and on the effect of gender on the processing of information. A novel web based decision-matrix software was designed to trace experimentally the process of decision making in medical situations. The scenarios included a crisis and non-crisis simulation for endometrial cancer surgery. Gynecologic oncologists, fellows, and residents (42 male and 42 female) in Canada participated in this experiment. Overall, male physicians used more heuristics, whereas female physicians were more comprehensive in accessing clinical information (p < 0.03), utilized alternative-based acquisition processes in the non-crisis scenario (p = 0.01), were less likely to consider procedure-related costs (p = 0.04), and overall allocated more time to evaluate the information (p < 0.01). Further experiments leading to a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in medical decision making could influence education and training and impact on patient outcome. Keywords: Decision-making, Simulation, Gender, Cognitive analysi

Advanced primary peritoneal carcinoma: clinicopathological and prognostic factor analyses

Objective: To investigate the factors favoring a positive prognosis for advanced primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC). Methods: Twenty-four cases meeting the criteria for PPC were analyzed retrospectively for the clinicopathologic profiles. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expressions of p53, Top2α, Ki-67 and Her-2/neu. Then all these clinicopathological factors and molecular markers were correlated with the prognosis. Results: There were 15 cases of primary peritoneal serous papillary carcinoma (PPSPC), 6 cases of mixed epithelial carcinoma (MEC) and 3 cases of malignant mixed Mullerian tumor (MMMT). All patients underwent cytoreductive surgery with optimal debulking achieved in 3 cases. Among those receiving first-line chemotherapy, 13 patients received the TP regimen (paclitaxel-cisplatin or carboplatin) and 7 patients received the PAC regimen (cisplatin-doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide). The median overall survival of all patients was 42 months, while the breakdown for survival time for patients with PPSPC, MMT and MEC was 44, 13 and 19 months, respectively. The expressions of p53, Top2α and Ki-67 were all demonstrated in 11 cases respectively. None showed the expression of Her-2/neu. There were significant differences in the median survival between patients with PPSPC and those with MMMT (44 months vs 13 months, P<0.05), also between patients receiving TP combination and those receiving the PAC regimen (75 months vs 28 months, P<0.05). Another significant difference in the median progression-free survival (PFS) was identified between patients with positive p53 immunostaining and those with negative p53 immunostaining (15 months vs 47 months, P<0.05), whereas age, menopausal status, residual tumor size and the other molecular factors did not significantly impact survival. Conclusion: Patients with PPC should be treated with a comprehensive management plan including appropriate cytoreductive surgery and responsive chemotherapy. Overestimating an optimal debulking surgery may not benefit survival. The pathologic subtype, chemotherapy regimen and p53 overexpression were significant prognostic factors