Background: Delays in diagnosis and treatment have been reported for many cancers, with resultant stage migration and worse survival; however, few data exist in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). These data are of particular importance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused disruptions in healthcare processes and may continue to impact cancer care for the foreseeable future. The aim of our study was to characterize the prevalence and clinical significance of diagnostic and treatment delays in patients with HCC. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients diagnosed with HCC between January 2008 and July 2017 at 2 US health systems. Diagnostic and treatment delays were defined as >90 days between presentation and HCC diagnosis and between diagnosis and treatment, respectively. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with diagnostic and treatment delays and Cox proportional hazard models to identify correlates of overall survival. Results: Of 925 patients with HCC, 39.0% were diagnosed via screening, 33.1% incidentally, and 27.9% symptomatically. Median time from presentation to diagnosis was 37 days (interquartile range, 18–94 days), with 120 patients (13.0%) experiencing diagnostic delays. Median time from HCC diagnosis to treatment was 46 days (interquartile range, 29–74 days), with 17.2% of patients experiencing treatment delays. Most (72.5%) diagnostic delays were related to provider-level factors (eg, monitoring indeterminate nodules), whereas nearly half (46.2%) of treatment delays were related to patient-related factors (eg, missed appointments). In multivariable analyses, treatment delays were not associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.60–1.35); these results were consistent across subgroup analyses by Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage and treatment modality. Conclusions: Diagnostic and therapeutic delays exceeding 3 months are common in patients with HCC; however, observed treatment delays do not seem to significantly impact overall survival.
Along with clinical stability, the proportion of CD8 and CD45RO cells in skin biopsies might help to determine the stability of the disease and thereby predict the success of transplantation.
India imposed one of the world's strictest population-wide lockdowns on March 25, 2020 for COVID-19. We estimated epidemiological parameters, evaluated the effect of control measures on the epidemic in India, and explored strategies to exit lockdown.We obtained patient-level data to estimate the delay from onset to confirmation and the asymptomatic proportion. We estimated the basic and time-varying reproduction number (R 0 and R t ) after adjusting for imported cases and delay to confirmation using incidence data from March 4 to April 25, 2020. Using a SEIR-QDPA model, we simulated lockdown relaxation scenarios and increased testing to evaluate lockdown exit strategies. R 0 for India was estimated to be 2Á08, and the R t decreased from 1Á67 on March 30 to 1Á16 on April 22. We observed that the delay from the date of lockdown relaxation to the start of the second wave increases as lockdown is extended farther after the first wave peak-this delay is longer if lockdown is relaxed gradually.Aggressive measures such as lockdowns may be inherently enough to suppress an outbreak; however, other measures need to be scaled up as lockdowns are relaxed. Lower levels of social distancing when coupled with a testing ramp-up could achieve similar outbreak control as an aggressive social distancing regime where testing was not increased.
Acquired lymphangiectasia (AL) is a significant and rare complication of surgery and radiotherapy. We report lymphangiectasia in a 40-year-old woman who had undergone radical mastectomy and radiotherapy. After 4 years of combined therapy, she developed multiple vesicles and bullae. Skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of lymphangiectasia. The case is unique as it is not associated with lymphedema, which is a usual accompaniment of lymphangiectasia following surgery and radiotherapy. AL is usually asymptomatic, but trauma may cause recurrent cellulitis. Treatment modalities include electrodessication, surgical excision, sclerotherapy and carbon dioxide laser ablation.
Leukemia cutis is the infiltration of neoplastic leukocytes or their precursors into the epidermis, the dermis, or the subcutis, resulting in clinically identifiable cutaneous lesions. Leukemia cutis may follow, precede or occur concomitantly with the diagnosis of systemic leukemia. A 50-year-old woman presented with asymptomatic multiple cutaneous nodules all over the body of 4 months duration. Cutaneous examination showed multiple hyperpigmented nodules and plaques involving face, trunk, and extremities. Peripheral smear showed abnormally elevated leucocyte count (TLC-70,000) with abnormal cells: myeloblasts 40%, promyelocytes 8% and myelocytes 39%. Auer rods were present in few myeloblasts. Bone marrow aspiration showed increased cellularity, erythroid hyperplasia with megaloblastic change, increased myeloblasts with maturation arrest. Immunohistochemistry showed strongly positive myeloperoxidase infiltrating cells and negative for CD20 and CD3 consistent with the diagnosis of AML–M 2 with leukemia cutis. This case is reported for its rarity.
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