OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to describe the early signs and symptoms of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma, identify symptoms that could be used to help differentiate the two types of tumors, and determine the time elapsed between the onset of signs and symptoms and the definitive diagnosis in our service, providing information and imputus for earlier diagnosis of these tumors. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the medical dossiers of 365 patients under 30 years of age diagnosed with osteosarcoma or Ewing's sarcoma was performed, and the aspects of the clinical diagnosis were statistically analyzed and compared. RESULTS: The time between the onset of signs and the symptoms was 5.25 months for osteosarcoma and 8.1 months for Ewing's sarcoma, and the most frequent (89.5%) early symptom of osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma was local pain. Symptoms that might aid diagnosis included early local volume increase and the presence of fever. CONCLUSION: The time until diagnosis of both neoplasias was higher than that reported for North America and Europe. Education of the lay public and medical professionals regarding suspicious early signs and symptoms might shorten the delay of diagnosis.

Lung cancer accounts for an alarming human and economic burden in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Recent landmark trials from high-income countries (HICs) by demonstrating that low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening effectively reduces lung cancer mortality have engendered enthusiasm for this approach. Here we examine the effectiveness and affordability of LDCT screening from the viewpoint of LMICs. We consider resource-restricted perspectives and discuss implementation challenges and strategies to enhance the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening in LMICs.

SummaryObjectivesSpirituality is related to the care and the quality of life of cancer patients. Thus, it is very important to assess their needs. The objective of this study was the translation and cultural adjustment of the Spiritual Needs Assessment for Patients (SNAP) questionnaire to the Brazilian Portuguese language.MethodologyThe translation and cultural adjustment of the SNAP questionnaire involved six stages: backtranslation, revision of backtranslation, translation to the original language and adjustments, pre-test on ten patients, and test and retest with 30 patients after three weeks. Adult patients, with a solid tumour and literate with a minimum of four years schooling were included. For analysis and consistency we used the calculation of the Cronbach alpha coefficient and the Pearson linear correlation.ResultsThe final questionnaire had some language and content adjustments compared to the original version in English. The correlation analysis of each item with the total score of the questionnaire showed coefficients above 0.99. The calculation of the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.9. The calculation of the Pearson linear correlation with the test and retest of the questionnaire was equal to 0.95.ConclusionThe SNAP questionnaire translated into Brazilian Portuguese is adequately reliable and consistent. This instrument allows adequate access to spiritual needs and can help patient care.

9561 Background: Palliative chemotherapy (PC) is a treatment option in pts with metastatic cancer. Although pts with ECOG-PS > 1 are underrepresented in clinical trials, they are often treated with PC in daily practice. We aimed to identify factors associated with poorer survival and lack of benefit of PC in this subset of pts. Methods: We conducted a case-control retrospective analysis of 301 consecutive pts with solid tumors and ECOG-PS > 1 when initiated PC, selected from 2514 pts who died between Aug/2011 and Jul/2012 in a tertiary cancer care institution or its hospice. Cases were defined as those pts who survived < 90d after the first cycle of first line PC, and controls were those who had a longer survival. Frequencies were compared by chi-square test or Fisher exact test. Risks were estimated by odds ratios (OR) and logistic regression analysis. Overall survival (OS) was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and curves was compared using log-rank test. Results: 142 cases/159 controls were included: median age 58/63 y.o. (p=0.09; t-test) and 49%/50% female (p=0.941; chi-square). Gastrointestinal and lung cancers were the most frequent primaries (31 and 17%, respectively). Factors associated with poorer OS were age > 60 y.o. (OR 1.7; 95%CI 1.0–2.6), ECOG-PS > 2 (1.9; 1.2–3.1), weight loss > 10% (1.8; 1.1-2.8), hemoglobin < 10 g/dL (2.6; 1.6-4.2), albumin < 3 g/dL (2.7; 1.5-5.1), serum creatinine (sCr) > 1 mg/dL (2.8; 1.6-5.0), C-reactive protein ≥ 5 mg/L (8.6; 1.0-72.9), altered mental status (4.2; 1.4-13.2) and in-hospital PC (3.2; 1.9-5.2). Cases were more likely to experience grade ≥ 3 toxicity (43 vs. 28%; p=0.005), die of toxicity (16 vs. 6%; p = 0.0007) and not be offered palliative care only (47 vs. 71%; p<0.0001). mOS was 204 and 34d among controls and cases, respectively (HR 0.177; 95%CI 0.015-0.033, p<0.0001). Median time to death was 39.5d (0-1103). Logistic regression analysis identified ECOG-PS > 2 (OR 2.3, p=0.044) and sCr > 1 mg/dL (OR 11.2, p=0.0002) as independent predictors of 3-mo fatality. Conclusions: ECOG-PS > 2 and elevated sCr were identified as independent predictors of poor OS in these pts. PC needs to be prescribed with caution in ECOG-PS > 1 pts, since it seems to offer no benefit in OS and could lead to abbreviation of life.

Abstract:This report describes the case of a patient with dysarthria during the administration of the third cycle of Folfiri for the treatment of metastatic colon cancer. After a thorough neurological examination and neuroimaging, structural causes were excluded and thus the dysarthria was attributed to the irinotecan infusion. A slowing down of the infusion rate to 180 min during the 15 subsequent cycles led to the cessation of the episodes of dysarthria. In 2016, it was estimated there will be 134,490 new cases of colorectal cancer with a five-year survival rate of 21% among patients with metastatic disease. As Irinotecan is often part of the therapeutic regimen in such cases, both in the first and second-line setting, there is a need to report rare adverse outcomes in order to find out ways to better manage of these events. The mechanism by which Irinotecan causes dysarthria is unknown and further research in this area is warranted.