Clinicopathological and therapeutic comparisons of esophageal cancer between China and the USA:a multicenter hospital-based study

Background:Esophageal cancer(EC)remains a global health challenge due to its poor prognosis.China and the United States of America(USA)represent two distinct epicenters of EC burden.Understanding the EC disparities in these two countries is vital for tailoring prevention strategies,optimizing treatment,and enhancing outcomes in both countries.Yet,there lacks a comprehensive comparison of EC characteristics between the two countries.Methods:In this multicenter,retrospective hospital-based study,we enrolled primary EC patients who received their initial treatment at one of 23 hospitals in China during 2016-2017.Using electronic medical records and cancer registration records,information on demographics,lifestyle,and clinicopathological characteristics(in-cluding tumor site,pathology,stage,metastases,differentiation,and treatment)were collected.Additionally,we compared these data with the clinicopathological information of invasive EC patients diagnosed in 2016-2017 from the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results(SEER)database in the USA.Results:A total of 6,658 EC patients in China and 8,555 EC patients in the USA were included finally.85.5%(n=5,694)of EC were esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)in China,while esophageal adenocarcinoma(EAC)was prominent in the USA(58.9%,n=5,041).Among EC patients with known staging,the proportion of early stage was higher in China compared to the USA(48.3%vs.30.5%).Among ESCC patients,early-stage cases were higher in China than in the USA(49.8%vs.31.8%),while among EAC patients,late-stage cases were higher in China than in the USA(77.3%vs.68.5%)(all P<0.001).In China,EC mainly occurred in the middle third(60.2%)of the esophagus,whereas in the USA,it was more common in the lower third(59.9%)of the organ.Compared with EC patients with known metastatic status in the USA,China had fewer cases of lymph node metastases(51.4%vs.57.7%)and distant metastases(7.9%vs.33.8%).Regarding treatment,China had more surgical therapy(53.7%vs.22.6%),less radiotherapy(35.6%vs.53.3%),and less chemotherapy(46.7%vs.59.7%)compared to the USA.Conclusions:This study reveals notable disparities in EC between China and the USA,encompassing epidemi-ological,clinicopathological,and treatment dimensions.These findings provide insight for tailored strategies addressing regional variations in clinicopathological and therapeutic characteristics.

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Cervical Cancer Screening Program in a Hospital-based Study

This study compared HPV testing and liquid-based cytology （LCT） as performance indicators for cervical cancer screening in a hospital-based study. A total of 61,193 outpatients were screened initially by LCT. Samples with screening results showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance （ASC-US） or worse were referred for colposcopy, and some samples were tested for high-risk HPV types with the Hybrid Capture II system （HC II）. Data on LCT （n=61,193） and HC II （n=1056） results were analysed. Overall test positivity for LCT was 2.53% using an ASC-US threshold, 3.11% using a low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion （LSIL） threshold, and 0.67% using a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion （HSIL） threshold. A total of 1839 women （84% of the 3893 patients with abnormal cytology） underwent colposcopy-directed biopsy. HPV was positive in 80.3% of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 （CIN1）, 88.3% of those with CIN2, 79.2% of women with CIN3 and 50% （2 of 4） of women with invasive cancer. There was a significant increase in the detection of CIN2 or worse with adjunct HPV testing of women with ASC-US and LSIL However, there were detection of CIN2＋ cases no differences in the with adjunct HPV testing of women with HSlI.. The results indicate that HPV testing for HSlL triage should not be recommended in cervical cancer screening.

Hospital-based health technology assessment:The next frontier for traditional Chinese medicine hospitals

Hospital-based health technology assessment(HB-HTA)is highly valuable in the application of hospital medical technology,cost control,improvement of medical quality,and protection of medical safety,and its use is increasing daily globally.However,in China,HB-HTA is still in its infancy,and it is yet to be adopted in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM).Therefore,this article introduces the application and development of HB-HTA,as well as discusses the current situation of TCM and related future development strategies to provide ideas and references for the development of HB-HTA in TCM.We conclude and recommend that all major stakeholders,including the state,health departments,and hospital leaders,support and promote the exploration and development of HB-HTA in TCM hospitals and integrative medicine hospitals.We also suggest the utilization of existing talents and introduction of other necessary talents to promote better and faster organizational development,as well as suggest the formation of a national and internationally recognized HB-HTA guidance manual and toolkit for TCM hospitals based on both the national HTA guidelines and the evaluation of TCM hospitals pilot projects.Moreover,we recommend that HB-HTA pilot study should be executed with Chinese patent medicine as the starting point to form the implementation process and framework in the TCM arena.

三级医疗机构医院卫生技术评估实施现况

目的分析三级医疗机构医院卫生技术(hospital-based health technology assessment,HB-HTA)评估开展现状,为完善医疗机构HB-HTA的应用提供参考和依据。方法运用便利抽样方法,对国家卫生健康委员会医疗管理服务指导中心HB-HTA工作试点医院和已开展HB-HTA的其他医院进行问卷调查和关键知情人访谈。结果共调查19家三级医疗机构,开展HB-HTA有利于促进医疗机构科学管理决策、保障医疗质量和安全、节约医院预算、提高HB-HTA认知水平。但目前HB-HTA还存在缺乏长期持续开展的激励机制、缺乏HB-HTA相关专业人才和部门、HB-HTA流程过于繁杂、卫生技术评估时效性较差、决策支持效率较低、研究结果推广率低等问题。结论建议加强政策、资金支持,注重加强医院内部卫生技术评估人才的引进和能力培训,积极鼓励和引导医院内部建立具体HB-HTA小组或者部门,探索开发HB-HTA支持决策流程的智能化工具或软件,通过多种方式促进评估成果和评估报告的传播共享,不断完善HB-HTA的开展。

Quality of colonoscopy performed by medical or surgical specialists and trainees in five Australian hospitals

BACKGROUND Ensuring colonoscopy procedure quality is vital to the success of screening and surveillance programmes for bowel cancer in Australia. However, the data on the performance of quality metrics, through adequate adenoma detection, bowel preparation, and procedure completion rates, in the Australian public sector is limited. Understanding these can inform quality improvement to further strengthen our capacity for prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer.AIM To determine the quality of colonoscopy in Australian teaching hospitals and their association with proceduralist specialty, trainee involvement, and location.METHODS We retrospectively evaluated 2443 consecutive colonoscopy procedure reports from 1 January to 1 April, 2018 from five public teaching tertiary hospitals in Australia(median 60 years old, 49% male). Data for bowel preparation quality,procedure completion rates, and detection rates of clinically significant adenomas, conventional adenomas, and serrated lesions was collected and compared to national criteria for quality in colonoscopy. Participating hospital, proceduralist specialty, and trainee involvement indicators were used for stratification. Data was analysed using Chi-squared tests of independence, MannWhitney U, One-way ANOVA, and multivariate binary logistic regression.RESULTS Fifty-two point two percent(n = 1276) and 43.3%(n = 1057) were performed by medical and surgical proceduralists respectively, whilst 29.8%(n = 728) involved a trainee. Inadequate bowel preparation affected 7.3% of all procedures. The procedure completion rate was 95.1%, which increased to 97.5% after adjustment for bowel preparation quality. The pooled cancer, adenoma, and serrated lesion detection rates for all five hospitals were 3.5%, 40%, and 5.9% respectively. Assessed hospitals varied significantly by patient age(P < 0.001), work-force composition(P < 0.001), adequacy of bowel preparation(P < 0.001), and adenoma detection rate(P < 0.001). Two hospitals(40%) did not meet all national criteria for quality, due to a procedure completion rate of 94.5% or serrated lesion detection rate of 2.6%. Although lower than the other hospitals, the difference was not significant. Compared with surgical specialists, procedures performed by medical specialists involved older patients [65 years(inter-quartile range, IQR 58-73) vs 64 years(IQR 56-71);P = 0.04] and were associated with a higher adenoma detection rate [odds ratio(OR) 1.53;confidence interval: 1.21-1.94;P < 0.001]. Procedures involving trainee proceduralists were not associated with differences in the detection of cancer, adenoma, or serrated lesions, compared with specialists, or according to their medical or surgical background. On multivariate analysis, cancer detection was positively associated with patient age(OR 1.04;P < 0.001) and negatively associated with medical compared to surgical proceduralists(OR 0.54;P = 0.04). Conventional adenoma detection rates were independently associated with increasing patient age(OR 1.04;P < 0.001), positively associated with medical compared to surgical proceduralists(OR 1.41;P = 0.002) and negatively associated with male gender(OR 0.53;P < 0.001).CONCLUSION Significant differences in the quality of colonoscopy in Australia exist, even when national benchmarks are achieved. The role of possible contributing factors, like procedural specialty and patient gender need further evaluation.

Large Disparity between Prevalence and Treatment Rates for Hepatitis C in Western China

Background and Aims:Recently,the World Health Organization adopted the first-ever global hepatitis strategy with the dream of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.However,the epidemiology and treatment rates of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in Western China are still unknown.Methods:A total of 111,916 adult individuals(15-96 years)who underwent the HCV-antibody(HCV-Ab)test in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between 2013 and 2015 were included in this study.We retrospectively analyzed the electronic medical records'data for each,and the positivity of HCV-Ab and the treatment of HCV RNA-positive patients were evaluated.Results:During 2013-2015,the crude prevalence of HCVAb was 1.4%(95%CI:1.4-1.5;1,611/111,916)and the adjusted prevalence of HCV-Ab was 1.7%(95%CI:1.6-1.8),which was higher than in the 2006 national study(0.43%).The prevalence was 2-times higher in males than females(2.0%vs.1.1%,p<0.01).Notably,only 46%(434/951)of the HCV RNA-positive patients received standard peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment,with 370(82%)that completed treatment,of whom 272(74%)achieved sustained virologic response(SVR).Particularly,11%(32/292)of HCV RNA-positive patients were HBsAg-positive,and the SVR rate for them was lower than for the HBsAg-negative patients,but no significant difference was observed.Conclusions:HCV infection may have increased since 2006 in Western China.The SVR rate of peg-interferon plus ribavirin treatment was high,but the proportion of untreated HCV patients was large.Thus,more efforts need to be made by the government to create a scientific-based policy for HCV treatment and prevention.