Purpose Scientific research originating from Brazil appears to be rising in several medical fields. Research results are often presented at scientific meetings before publication in peer-reviewed journals. We investigated the publication rate of Brazilian studies presented in American Urological Association (AUA) meetings and compared with the rate of publication of Brazilian oncological studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meetings. Materials and Methods a hand search of 12,454 abstracts presented at aua meetings 2001-2007 was conducted. abstracts for which at least two-thirds of institutions were from brazil were considered as brazilian. final publication was searched in pubmed and lilacs databases. oncological abstracts were also hand searched in the asco meetings proceedings in the same years. Results There was no significant temporal trend in the proportion of AUA studies originating from Brazil along those 7 years. A total of 195 abstracts (1.57%) were from Brazil. One hundred (51.3%) abstracts were published in full, and the estimated 5-year publication rate was 48.2%. There was a progressive increase in publication rates for studies categorized as video, poster, and podium presentations. Considering abstracts presented in years 2001-2005, urologic publication rate was significantly higher than for abstracts presented at the ASCO meeting. Conclusions Our results suggest that the Brazilian contribution to AUA meetings is at a plateau and that the Brazilian literature contribution is greater in urology than in oncology. Efforts must be invested towards raising this plateau and understanding qualitative aspects of the urology scientific output from Brazil.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the progress achieved in the fight against cancer over the past several years, assessing the needs, goals and preferences of patients with cancer is of the utmost importance for the delivery of health care. We sought to assess priorities regarding quantity versus quality of life among Brazilian patients, comparing them with individuals without cancer. METHODS: Using a questionnaire presenting four hypothetical cancer cases, we interviewed cancer patients, oncology health-care professionals and laypersons, most of whom had administrative functions in our hospital. RESULTS: A total of 214 individuals participated: 101 patients, 44 health-care professionals and 69 laypersons. The mean ages in the three groups were 56, 34 and 31 years old, respectively (p<0.001). The patients had gastrointestinal (25%), breast (22%), hematologic (10%), lung (8%) or other tumors (36%) and the tumor-node- metastasis (TNM) stage was I, II, III or IV in 22%, 13%, 34% and 31% of cases, respectively. Treatment priorities differed significantly among the three groups (p = 0.005), with survival time being a higher priority for patients than for the other two groups and with opposite trends regarding quality of life. In multivariate analysis, the age and sex distributions were not associated with the choice to maximize quality of life. In this limited sample of cancer patients, there were no associations between treatment priorities and disease stages. CONCLUSIONS: Both survival time and quality of life appeared to be important to cancer patients, oncology health-care professionals and laypersons, but survival time seemed to have higher priority for people diagnosed with cancer than for healthy people. Additionally, survival seemed to be more important than quality of life for all three groups assessed.

OBJETIVO: O índice de recorrência (IR), também conhecido como painel de 21 genes, pode apoiar decisões com relação ao uso de quimioterapia (QT) no câncer de mama precoce. Procuramos investigar o impacto potencial da incorporação do IR na prática privada no Brasil, a partir da perspectiva das fontes pagadoras. MÉTODOS: Conduzimos uma pesquisa com 30 oncologistas brasileiros (de um total de aproximadamente 700), que foram estratificados por Estado de acordo com a proporção de pacientes com câncer de mama e com cobertura pelo sistema de saúde suplementar. Avaliamos o tratamento de primeira escolha para pacientes com câncer de mama com axila negativa e expressão positiva do receptor de estrógeno, independente do estado menopausal. Os entrevistados não estavam cientes do objetivo do estudo. As respostas permitiram uma avaliação quantitativa dos padrões de cuidado, considerando o uso de diferentes regimes de QT, o tipo de pré-medicações, o uso de fatores de crescimento e o tratamento hospitalar da neutropenia febril. Calculamos o custo dos medicamentos usando o Brasíndice, e o custo do IR foi fixado em R$ 3.900,00 (MammaGene®). Outras despesas médicas diretas, custos médicos indiretos e custos não-médicos não foram considerados. RESULTADOS: Numa corte hipotética de 100 pacientes sem acesso ao teste de IR, 84 iriam receber quimioterapia. Reclassificando a elegibilidade das pacientes para QT de acordo com o IR, esse número cairia para 49. Para uma coorte hipotética de 100 pacientes com acesso ao IR, seriam economizados R$ 134.915,00 em despesas médicas diretas. CONCLUSÃO: Considerando o preço atual para avaliação do IR no Brasil, nossa análise econômica sugere que este teste economizaria custos, pela perspectiva das fontes pagadoras do setor privado. Além disso, o uso otimizado de recursos poderia requerer o emprego do painel de 21 genes de forma racional.

OBJECTIVE: The 21-gene expression assay may support the decision regarding use of chemotherapy in early breast cancer. We sought to investigate the potential impact of incorporating the 21-gene expression assay into private practice in Brazil, from the perspective of third party payers. METHODS: We conducted a web-based survey with 30 (of a total of approximately 700) Brazilian medical oncologists, who were stratified by State according to the proportion of patients with breast cancer and private health insurance. We evaluated the possible treatment of first choice for patients with lymph-node-negative, estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, regardless of menopausal status. Interviewees were not aware of the objective of the study. Responses permitted a quantitative assessment of the care patterns regarding use of different chemotherapy regimens, type of premedication, use of growth factors, and use of intravenous antibiotics for febrile neutropenia. We calculated medication costs using the manufacturer's recommended prices. Other direct medical expenses, indirect medical costs, and non-medical costs were not included. RESULTS: Considering a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients without access to the 21-gene expression assay, the survey showed that 84 patients would receive chemotherapy. Reclassifying patient eligibility for chemotherapy according to the 21-gene expression assay would lower this number to 49. For a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients with access to the test, US$ 79,361.43 would be saved in main direct medical costs. Such results, however, would greatly vary according to tumor size: the 21-gene expression assay could increase direct medical costs in T1 tumors, and decrease costs in cases with T >2 cm. CONCLUSION: Considering the current price for the 21-gene expression assay in Brazil, our economic analysis suggests that such testing is an overall cost-saving, from the perspective of third party payers. Further, optimal use of resources would entail targeted use of the 21-gene expression assay.

OBJETIVO: Estudos anteriores pelo nosso grupo e por outros autores sugerem que o nível pré-tratamento do marcador tumoral CA 19-9 se correlaciona com a sobrevida global (SG) em pacientes com câncer de pâncreas avançado tratados com gencitabina. Nosso objetivo foi o de confirmar o papel prognóstico do nível pré-tratamento do CA 19-9 em pacientes com câncer de pâncreas avançado tratados com regimes variados de quimioterapia. MÉTODOS: Identificamos retrospectivamente 50 pacientes com câncer de pâncreas localmente avançado ou metastático tratados em primeira linha com gencitabina ou combinações contendo esse agente. Os pacientes poderiam ter recebido ainda tratamento em segunda linha com outros agentes. As estimativas de SG pelo método de Kaplan-Meier foram comparadas pelo teste log-rank, e a análise multivariada foi feita usando-se o modelo de Cox. RESULTADOS: Vinte e sete pacientes eram do sexo feminino, a idade média foi de 64,3 anos, e 82% tinham doença metastática ao diagnóstico. A mediana de SG para a amostra como um todo foi de 11 meses, e o nível mediano de CA 19-9 foi de 542 U/mL. Fatores preditivos de SG em análises univariadas foram o uso de quimioterapia combinada em primeira linha (p=0,006) e o uso de erlotinibe (p=0,002), com nível de significância limítrofe para nível pré-tratamento de CA 19-9 (p=0,052). Na análise multivariada, apenas o uso de erlotinibe (p=0,003) e o nível pré-tratamento de CA 19-9 (p=0,026) estiveram associados com SG de maneira significativa. CONCLUSÃO: Nosso estudo fornece evidência adicional para o uso do nível pré-tratamento de CA 19-9 como indicador prognóstico e como fator de estratificação em ensaios clínicos. A associação entre uso de erlotinibe e SG pode ter sido devida à seleção de pacientes, não obstante o resultado de um estudo randomizado recente mostrando o benefício desse tratamento.

OBJECTIVE: We and others have previously suggested that pretreatment levels of CA 19-9 correlate with overall survival (OS) among patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with gemcitabine. We sought to confirm the prognostic role of the pretreatment level of CA 19-9 in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with chemotherapy. METHODS: We retrospectively identified 50 patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer treated in the first-line with single-agent gemcitabine or combinations. Patients could also have received second-line treatment. Kaplan-Meier estimates of OS were compared with the log-rank test, and multivariate analysis was done using the Cox model. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients were female with a mean age of 64.3 years, and 82% were metastatic upon diagnosis. The median OS for the entire sample was 11 months, and the median CA 19-9 level was 542 U/mL. Significant predictors of OS in univariate analyses were the first-line use of combined chemotherapy (p=0.006) and use of erlotinib in any line (p=0.002), with borderline significance for pretreatment levels of CA 19-9 (p=0.052). In multivariate analysis, only use of erlotinib (p=0.003) and pretreatment CA 19-9 level (p=0.026) were significantly associated with OS. CONCLUSION: Our study lends further support to use of the pre-chemotherapy level of CA 19-9 as a prognostic indicator in clinical practice and as a stratification factor in clinical trials. The association between erlotinib use and OS may have been biased by patient selection, notwithstanding the positive results from a previous randomized trial.

RESUMO OBJETIVO: O câncer de mama, o mais comum em vários países desenvolvidos, é o tumor não cutâneo mais frequente no Brasil. A terapia hormonal é o tratamento adjuvante padrão para os estágios precoces, em doença com receptor hormonal positivo, e o tamoxifeno e os inibidores da aromatase de terceira geração são opções para mulheres na pós-menopausa. A comparação do custo-efetividade dos diferentes tratamentos é de grande interesse nas sociedades com limitações de recursos. MÉTODOS: Para comparar a custo-efetividade dos tratamentos com tamoxifeno ou anastrozol, foram analisados os resultados médicos e econômicos em uma coorte hipotética de mulheres com 64 anos de idade, considerando o sistema de saúde Brasileiro em 2005, sob a perspectiva do setor privado e o horizonte de tempo de uma vida. Usamos dados do Estudo ATAC, um modelo de Markov, um painel de Delphi modificado, e micro-costing (em reais R$) para estimar os custos e a efetividade das duas estratégias. RESULTADOS: O modelo estimou um ganho de 0.55 anos de vida descontados para pacientes recebendo anastrozol em relação àquelas tratadas com tamoxifeno. Com um custo marginal de R$ 15.141,15, o modelo estimou que o custoefetividade do anastrozol em relação ao tamoxifeno era de R$ 27.326,80. As simulações de Monte Carlo mostraram que aproximadamente 50% dos casos estavam abaixo do limite de R$ 29.229,00 por ano-vida ganho, que é o recomendado pela Organização Mundial da Saúde para o Brasil. CONCLUSÃO: Nós concluímos que o anastrozol é uma opção custo-efetivo comparado ao tamoxifeno no tratamento adjuvante de câncer de mama precoce em mulheres na pós-menopausa com receptor de hormônio positivo.

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer, a leading type of cancer in many developing countries, is the most frequent non-cutaneous tumor in Brazil. Hormone therapy is the standard of care in the adjuvant treatment of early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive disease, and both tamoxifen and third-generation aromatase inhibitors are options in postmenopausal women. The comparative cost-effectiveness of different treatment strategies is of considerable interest in societies facing limited resources. METHODS: In an attempt to compare cost-effectiveness of upfront treatment with tamoxifen or anastrozole, the medical and economic results in a hypothetical cohort of 64-year-old postmenopausal women, was analyzed considering the Brazilian healthcare system in 2005, the primary perspective of the private sector, and a lifetime horizon. Data from the ATAC Trial, Markov modeling, a modified Delphi panel, and microcosting (in Brazilian R$) were used to estimate costs and effectiveness of the two upfront strategies. RESULTS: The model estimated a gain of 0.55 discounted life-years for patients receiving anastrozole, relative to those treated with tamoxifen. With an incremental cost of R$ 15,141.15, the model estimated that the cost-effectiveness of anastrozole, in relation to tamoxifen, was R$ 27,326.80. Monte Carlo simulations showed that approximately 50% of the cases fell below the threshold of R$ 29,229.00 per life-year gained, which is recommended by the World Health Organization for Brazil. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that upfront anastrozole is a cost-effective option compared with tamoxifen in the adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive early breast cancer.