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Background: Understanding occurrence and timing of second events (recurrence and second primary cancer) is essential for cancer specific survival analysis. However, this information is not readily available in administrative data., Methods: Alberta Cancer Registry, physician claims, and other administrative data were used. Timing of second event was estimated based on our developed algorithm. For validation, the difference, in days between the algorithm estimated and the chart-reviewed timing of second event. Further, the result of Cox-regression modeling cancer-free survival was compared to chart review data., Results: Majority (74.3%) of the patients had a difference between the chart-reviewed and algorithm-estimated timing of second event falling within the 0-60 days window. Kaplan-Meier curves generated from the estimated data and chart review data were comparable with a 5-year second-event-free survival rate of 75.4% versus 72.5%., Conclusion: The algorithm provided an estimated timing of second event similar to that of the chart review., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Second event (recurrence or second primary cancer)-free survival is an important indicator for assessing treatment efficacy. However, second events are not explicitly documented in administrative data such as cancer registries. Thus, validated algorithms using administrative data are needed to identify second events of oropharyngeal cancers., Methods: The algorithms were developed using classification and regression tree models. Data from chart review served as the reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated., Results: The high-sensitivity algorithm achieved 87.9% (95% confidence interval: 82.2%-93.6%) sensitivity, 84.5% (81.1%-87.8%) specificity, 61.2% (54.1%-68.4%) PPV, 96.2% (94.2%-98.1%) NPV, and 85.2% (82.3%-88.1%) accuracy. The high-PPV algorithm obtained 52.4% (43.6%-61.2%) sensitivity, 99.1% (98.2%-100.0%) specificity, 94.2% (88.7%-99.7%) PPV, 88.2% (85.3%-91.0%) NPV, and 88.9% (86.3%-91.5%) accuracy., Conclusion: The validity of the algorithms for identifying second events following primary treatment of oropharyngeal cancers was acceptable., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing in incidence despite a decline in traditional risk factors. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), specifically subtypes 16, 18, 31 and 35, has been implicated as the high-risk etiologic agent. HPV positive cancers have a significantly better prognosis than HPV negative cancers of comparable stage, and may benefit from different treatment regimens. Currently, HPV related carcinogenesis is established indirectly through Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for p16, a tumour suppressor gene, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that directly tests for HPV DNA in biopsied tissue. Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is more accurate than IHC, more rapid than PCR and is significantly less costly. In previous work we showed that a subtype specific HPV LAMP assay performed similar to PCR on purified DNA. In this study we examined the performance of this LAMP assay without DNA purification., Methods: We used LAMP assays using established primers for HPV 16 and 18, and new primers for HPV 31 and 35. LAMP reaction conditions were tested on serial dilutions of plasmid HPV DNA to confirm minimum viral copy number detection thresholds. LAMP was then performed directly on different human cell line samples without DNA purification., Results: Our LAMP assays could detect 10 5 , 10 3 , 10 4 , and 10 5 copies of plasmid DNA for HPV 16, 18, 31, and 35, respectively. All primer sets were subtype specific, with no cross-amplification. Our LAMP assays also reliably amplified subtype specific HPV DNA from samples without requiring DNA isolation and purification., Conclusions: The high risk OPSCC HPV subtype specific LAMP primer sets demonstrated, excellent clinically relevant, minimum copy number detection thresholds with an easy readout system. Amplification directly from samples without purification illustrated the robust nature of the assay, and the primers used. This lends further support HPV type specific LAMP assays, and these specific primer sets and assays can be further developed to test for HPV in OPSCC in resource and lab limited settings, or even bedside testing.

Background: Long operating time and high blood loss contribute to post-surgical morbidity. Therefore, strategies to reduce these factors should to be tested using robust methods. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of using the harmonic scalpel on operating time and blood loss in patients undergoing resection for advanced oral cancer (OSCC)., Methods: Thirty-six adult head and neck cancer patients with advanced OSCC requiring primary tumor resection with uni- or bi- lateral selective neck dissection from July 2012 to September 2014 were randomized to either the control group (traditional surgery) or the experimental group (harmonic surgery). Patients older than 18 years who were able to provide informed consent were eligible. Primary outcomes of interest were: intraoperative blood loss (mL) and operative time (minutes) for the ablative part of the surgery., Results: Mean blood loss in the experimental group was 260 mL versus 403 mL in the control group (p = 0.08). Mean operative time was 140 min in the experimental group and 159 min in the control group (p = 0.2)., Conclusions: In this randomized controlled trial, use of the harmonic scalpel did not effect intraoperative blood loss or OR time in patients undergoing surgery for advanced OSCC., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02017834 .

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is a growing problem that presents a significant challenge to Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeons. Knowledge of HPV status yields critical prognostic information, with potential for treatment selection based on tumour HPV status. The current gold standard of diagnosis, PCR, is expensive, demanding and time consuming. Alternatives such as p16 immunohistochemistry are subjective and potentially inaccurate. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a rapid, robust and inexpensive molecular diagnostic technique., Objectives: Our aim was to verify LAMP as a potential bedside diagnostic assay for subtyping of HPV in OPSCC., Study Design: DNA from 72 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) OPSCC patient samples was tested. PCR and LAMP were then performed to specifically identify HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 and 35., Results and Conclusions: For these high-risk subtypes, LAMP had an overall sensitivity of 99.4% and specificity of 93.2% relative to PCR. LAMP is a promising technology that can accurately diagnose high-risk HPV infection., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)