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Background: The Catalan Cancer Plan (CCP) undertakes periodic audits of cancer treatment outcomes, including organ/space surgical site infections (O/S-SSI) rates, while the Catalan Healthcare-associated Infections Surveillance Programme (VINCat) carries out standardized prospective surveillance of surgical site infections (SSI) in colorectal surgery. This cohort study aimed to assess the concordance between these two monitoring systems for O/S-SSI following primary rectal cancer surgery. Methods: The study compared O/S-SSI incidence data from CCP clinical audits versus the VINCat Programme in patients undergoing surgery for primary rectal cancer, in 2011-12 and 2015-16, in publicly funded centres in Spain. The main outcome variable was the incidence of O/S-SSI in the first 30 days after surgery. Concordance between the two registers was analysed using Cohen's kappa. Discordant cases were reviewed by an expert, and the main reasons for discrepancies evaluated. Results: Pooling data from both databases generated a sample of 2867 patients. Of these, O/S-SSI was detected in 414 patients—235 were common to both registry systems, with satisfactory concordance (κ = 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.65–0.73). The rate of discordance from the CCP (positive cases in VINCat and negative in CCP) was 2.7%, and from VINCat (positive in CCP and negative in VINCat) was 3.6%. External review confirmed O/S-SSI in 66.2% of the cases in the CCP registry and 52.9% in VINCat. Conclusions: This type of synergy shows the potential of pooling data from two different information sources with a satisfactory level of agreement as a means to improving O/S-SSI detection. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06104579. Registered 30 November 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show how the use and interpretation of population-based cancer survival indicators can help oncologists talk with breast cancer (BC) patients about the relationship between their prognosis and their adherence to endocrine therapy (ET). The study population comprised a population-based cohort of estrogen receptor positive BC patients (N = 1268) diagnosed in Girona and Tarragona (Northeastern Spain) and classified according to HER2 status (+ / −), stage at diagnosis (I/II/III) and five-year cumulative adherence rate (adherent > 80%; non-adherent ≤ 80%). Cox regression analysis was performed to identify significant prognostic factors for overall survival, whereas relative survival (RS) was used to estimate the crude probability of death due to BC (PBC). Stage and adherence to ET were the significant factors for predicting all-cause mortality. Compared to stage I, risk of death increased in stage II (hazard ratio [HR] 2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51–3.30) and stage III (HR 5.11, 95% CI 3.46–7.51), and it decreased with adherence to ET (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.41–0.59). PBC differences were higher in non-adherent patients compared to adherent ones and increased across stages: stage I: 6.61% (95% CI 0.05–13.20); stage II: 9.77% (95% CI 0.59–19.01), and stage III: 22.31% (95% CI 6.34–38.45). The age-adjusted survival curves derived from this modeling were implemented in the web application BreCanSurvPred (https://pdocomputation.snpstats.net/BreCanSurvPred). Web applications like BreCanSurvPred can help oncologists discuss the consequences of non-adherence to prescribed ET with patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating incidence of rare cancers is challenging for exceptionally rare entities and in small populations. In a previous study, investigators in the Information Network on Rare Cancers (RARECARENet) provided Bayesian estimates of expected numbers of rare cancers and 95% credible intervals for 27 European countries, using data collected by population-based cancer registries. In that study, slightly different results were found by implementing a Poisson model in integrated nested Laplace approximation/WinBUGS platforms. In this study, we assessed the performance of a Poisson modeling approach for estimating rare cancer incidence rates, oscillating around an overall European average and using small-count data in different scenarios/computational platforms. First, we compared the performance of frequentist, empirical Bayes, and Bayesian approaches for providing 95% confidence/credible intervals for the expected rates in each country. Second, we carried out an empirical study using 190 rare cancers to assess different lower/upper bounds of a uniform prior distribution for the standard deviation of the random effects. For obtaining a reliable measure of variability for country-specific incidence rates, our results suggest the suitability of using 1 as the lower bound for that prior distribution and selecting the random-effects model through an averaged indicator derived from 2 Bayesian model selection criteria: the deviance information criterion and the Watanabe-Akaike information criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study assesses the effectiveness of face‐to‐face group positive psychotherapy for cancer survivors (PPC) compared to its online adaptation, online group positive psychotherapy for cancer survivors (OPPC), which is held via videoconference. A two‐arm, pragmatic randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of both interventions on emotional distress, post‐traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and post‐traumatic growth (PTG) among cancer survivors and analyze attrition to treatment. Methods: Adult women with a range of cancer diagnoses were invited to participate if they experienced emotional distress at the end of their primary oncological treatment. Emotional distress, PTSS, and PTG were assessed at baseline, immediately after treatment, and 3 months after treatment. Intention‐to‐treat analyses were carried out using general linear mixed models to test the effect of the interventions overtime. Logistic regressions were performed to test differential adherence to treatment and retention to follow‐up. Results: A total of 269 individuals participated. The observed treatment effect was significant in both modalities, PPC and OPPC. Emotional distress (b = −2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −3.15 to −1.33) and PTSS (b = −3.25, 95% CI = −4.97 to −1.53) decreased significantly over time, and PTG (b = 3.08, 95% CI = 0.38‐5.78) increased significantly. Treatment gains were sustained across outcomes and over time. Analyses revealed no significant differences between modalities of treatment, after adjusting for baseline differences, finding that OPPC is as effective and engaging as PPC. Conclusions: The OPPC treatment was found to be effective and engaging for female cancer early survivors. These results open the door for psycho‐oncology interventions via videoconference, which are likely to lead to greater accessibility and availability of psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: The time to first cigarette smoked after waking up appears to be a good predictor of plasma and urine cotinine levels; however, collection of blood and urine is difficult in population-based studies and may influence participation. We aimed to test whether time to first cigarette is associated with salivary cotinine. Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional study on a representative sample of the general population of Barcelona, Spain. We gathered information on smoking by means of a questionnaire and collected saliva for cotinine analysis. Of 1,245 participants, 22.9% were daily smokers, and the final sample for analysis consisted of 210 daily smokers. Results: There were significant associations between salivary cotinine and time to first cigarette, between cigarette consumption and time to first cigarette, and between salivary cotinine and cigarette consumption. Salivary cotinine had decreased as time to first cigarette increased. After adjusting for cigarette consumption and sex, there were significant differences in mean salivary cotinine according to time to first cigarette (≤5 min: 219.2 ng/ml; 6–30 min: 175.8 ng/ml; 31–60 min: 168.5 ng/ml; >60 min: 137.2 ng/ml). All paired comparisons were significant (p < .001) except in the 6- to 30-min group versus the 31- to 60-min group (p = .701). Conclusions: After adjustment for the number of cigarettes smoked in the last 24 hr, time to first cigarette is associated with salivary cotinine concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The Spanish National Health System recognised multidisciplinary care as a health priority in 2006, when a national strategy for promoting quality in cancer care was first published. This institutional effort is being implemented on a co-operative basis within the context of Spain's decentralised health care system, so a high degree of variability is to be expected. This study was aimed to explore the views of professionals working with multidisciplinary cancer teams and identify which barriers to effective team work should be considered to ensure implementation of health policy. Methods: Qualitative interview study with semi-structured, one-to-one interviews. Data were examined inductively, using content analysis to generate categories and an explanatory framework. 39 professionals performing their tasks, wholly or in part, in different multidisciplinary cancer teams were interviewed. The breakdown of participants' medical specialisations was as follows: medical oncologists (n = 10); radiation oncologists (n = 8); surgeons (n = 7); pathologists or radiologists (n = 6); oncology nurses (n = 5); and others (n = 3). Results: Teams could be classified into three models of professional co-operation in multidisciplinary cancer care, namely, advisory committee, formal co-adaptation and integrated care process. The following barriers to implementation were posed: existence of different gateways for the same patient profile; variability in development and use of clinical protocols and guidelines; role of the hospital executive board; outcomes assessment; and the recording and documenting of clinical decisions in a multidisciplinary team setting. All these play a key role in the development of cancer teams and their ability to improve quality of care. Conclusion: Cancer team development results from an specific adaptation to the hospital environment. Nevertheless, health policy plays an important role in promoting an organisational approach that changes the way in which professionals develop their clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Analysing the observed differences for incidence or mortality of a particular disease between two different situations (such as time points, geographical areas, gender or other social characteristics) can be useful both for scientific or administrative purposes. From an epidemiological and public health point of view, it is of great interest to assess the effect of demographic factors in these observed differences in order to elucidate the effect of the risk of developing a disease or dying from it. The method proposed by Bashir and Estève, which splits the observed variation into three components: risk, population structure and population size is a common choice at practice. Results: A web-based application, called RiskDiff has been implemented (available at http:// rht.iconcologia.net/riskdiff.htm), to perform this kind of statistical analyses, providing text and graphical summaries. Code from the implemented functions in R is also provided. An application to cancer mortality data from Catalonia is used for illustration. Conclusions: Combining epidemiological with demographical factors is crucial for analysing incidence or mortality from a disease, especially if the population pyramids show substantial differences. The tool implemented may serve to promote and divulgate the use of this method to give advice for epidemiologic interpretation and decision making in public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Characterizing and comparing the determinant of cotinine concentrations in different populations should facilitate a better understanding of smoking patterns and addiction. This study describes and characterizes determinants of salivary cotinine concentration in a sample of Spanish adult daily smoker men and women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between March 2004 and December 2005 in a representative sample of 1245 people from the general population of Barcelona, Spain. A standard questionnaire was used to gather information on active tobacco smoking and passive exposure, and a saliva specimen was obtained to determine salivary cotinine concentration. Two hundred and eleven adult smokers (>16 years old) with complete data were included in the analysis. Determinants of cotinine concentrations were assessed using linear regression models. Results: Salivary cotinine concentration was associated with the reported number of cigarettes smoked in the previous 24 hours (R² = 0.339; p < 0.05). The inclusion of a quadratic component for number of cigarettes smoked in the regression analyses resulted in an improvement of the fit (R² = 0.386; p < 0.05). Cotinine concentration differed significantly by sex, with men having higher levels. Conclusion: This study shows that salivary cotinine concentration is significantly associated with the number of cigarettes smoked and sex, but not with other smoking-related variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study objective: To assess the feasibility of a colorectal cancer population-based screening programme in Catalonia (Spain). Design and setting: A pilot colorectal cancer screening programme based on faecal occult blood (FOB) test was introduced in February 2000 in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain), a city of 239,000 inhabitants. Participants: All the residents from the selected area, aged 50–69 years old, were invited by mail to participate in the screening programme. Overall, 63,880 persons were invited to the first screening round and 66,534, to the second round. Colonoscopy was the first choice of procedure for the positive FOB test. Results: The participation rate was 17.2% in the first screening round and 22.3% in the second round. The overall rate of positive FOBT was 3.4% in the first round and 0.8% in the second round. In the first round, the prevalence of screen-detected cancer was 2.1 per 1000 screened people, 7.2 for high-risk adenomas (HRA) and 11.3 for neoplasm (cancer and/or adenoma). The positive predictive value (PPV) was 6.2% for cancer, 21.2% for HRA and 33.3% for advanced neoplasm. In the second round, the prevalence of screen-detected cancer was 0.9 per 1000 people screened, 2.8 per 1000 for HRA and 4.2 per 1000 for neoplasm. The PPV was 10.6% for cancer, 34.1% for HRA and 50.4% for any neoplasm. Conclusions: Regardless of the moderate participation rate, population-based colorectal cancer screening would be feasible in Catalonia, with good results in terms of prevalence of screen-detected neoplasms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]