With the advances in miniature instruments, office hysteroscopy on conscious patients has been the standard to explore the intrauterine pathology, with the ability to perform some minor procedures concomitantly. Patients usually appreciate the efficient "see and treat" procedures with such minimal discomfort that exempt from the inconvenience of going into the operating room and the need for anesthesia. However, controversies exist in the appropriateness of its application in some clinical situations. Concerns include (1) the criteria for hysteroscopy applied in the vast number of patients suffering from abnormal uterine bleeding or subfertility, and (2) the frequency for repeated hysteroscopy on some kinds of patients, such as those of endometrial cancer with fertility-sparing treatment for monitoring the disease, or those of severe intrauterine adhesion who need adhesiolysis for subsequent conception, in whom the appropriate protocol of repeatedly applying hysteroscopy lacks consensus. This article reviews the literature to find the best available evidence on the effectiveness of office hysteroscopy in comparison with other clinical diagnostic tools, as well as the current opinions on such controversies in its application.

Under-utilization of Papanicolaou (Pap) smear causes a gap in the prevention of cervical neoplasms. A prospective population-based study was conducted investigating whether a self-sampling human papillomavirus (HPV) test was feasible for under-users of Pap smear and factors associated with under-screening in Taiwan. Women not having Pap smear screening for > 5 years were invited to participate in this study. Invitation letters and educational brochures were mailed to 4% of randomly selected eligible women from Taoyuan City, Taiwan, and responders received an HPV self-sampling kit. Those with HPV-positive results were recalled for a Pap smear and colposcopy. Between March 2010 and June 2012, 10,693 women were invited, 354 responded (3.3%), and 282 (2.6%) gave valid informed consent, answered the questionnaire, and submitted HPV samples. The median age of enrolled women was 48.1 years. Forty-seven women (16.7%) had a positive HPV test, and 14 women accepted further survey to find two CIN2+. Another two cases of CIN2+ were identified from a national registry database. The cost of direct mailing self-samplers was less than that done on request (from NT$434,866 to NT$164,229, response rate of 5% to 15%, respectively, versus NT$683,957 for detecting 1 CIN2+). Reasons for not attending screening included lack of time, embarrassment, assumed low risk, fear of positive results, and perceived potential pain. Among the responders, 90.8% found the method acceptable. Our study indicated that different approaches (e.g., direct mailing self-samplers to under-users and/or various educational interventions) must be explored to improve coverage in populations with culture characteristics similar to Taiwan.

Kobayashi Y, et al. J Gynecol Oncol. 2024 Apr;35:e87. https://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2024.35.e87

To investigate outcomes and morbidity of patients undergoing secondary cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in recurrent ovarian cancer. Between April 2014 and January 2019, a total of 51 recurrent ovarian cancer patients receiving secondary CRS and HIPEC were retrospectively reviewed. Among the 51 patients, median peritoneal cancer index score was 13 (range 3–34), and completeness of cytoreduction (CC) score of 0/1 was achieved in 41 patients (78.8%). Regimen of HIPEC included cisplatin and paclitaxel in 39 (75%) cases. The median follow-up duration of survivors was 20.2 months. Sixteen (30.8%) patients remained free of recurrence after HIPEC. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 11.8 months and 34.5 months respectively. Multivariate analysis showed previous chemotherapy <2 lines (HR 0.24, 0.11–0.52; p = 0.001), chemotherapy-free interval ≥6 months (HR 0.19, 0.09–0.37; p < 0.001) and CA125 < 35 U/mL before HIPEC (HR 0.133, 0.021–0.0832; p = 0.031) were good prognostic factors for PFS. CC0/1 was not significant in multivariate analysis. The most common grade 3/4 toxicity was anemia (17.3%), pleural effusion (11.5%) and renal insufficiency (5.7%). Patients with age ≥50, peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) ≥ 11, operation time ≥10 h and diaphragm surgery had significantly higher incidence of pleural effusion. The current study showed adding HIPEC to secondary CRS might prolong PFS especially in patients with previous chemotherapy <2 lines, chemotherapy-free interval ≥6 months and CA125 < 35 U/mL before HIPEC.

Background: Cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS–HIPEC) is a therapeutic approach used to achieve curative treatment in intra-abdominal malignancy with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). However, it is a complicated procedure with high post-operative complication rates. Thus, we analyzed our preliminary data to establish whether multidisciplinary teamwork (MDT) implementation is beneficial for CRS–HIPEC outcomes. Method: A series of 132 consecutive patients with synchronous or recurrent PC secondary to gastrointestinal or gynecologic cancer who received CRS–HIPEC operation between May 2015 and September 2017 were included. Ninety-nine patients were categorized into the MDT group, with the 33 other patients into the non-MDT group. Results: The mean PCI score was 16.3 ± 8.8. Patients in the MDT group more often presented a higher PCI score (p value = 0.038). Regarding CRS completeness (CCR 0–1), it was distributed 81.8% and 57.6% in the MDT and the non-MDT group, respectively (p value = 0.005). Although post-operative complications were common (n = 62, 47.0%), post-operative complication rates did not differ between the two groups. The cumulative OS survival rate at the first year was 75.5%. Older age (p = 0.030, HR = 4.58, 95% CI = 1.16–18.10), ECOG 2 (p = 0.030, HR = 6.41, 95% CI = 1.20–34.14), and incomplete cytoreduction (p = 0.048, HR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.04–8.27) were independent prognostic factors for survival. Conclusions: Our experience suggests that the CRS–HIPEC performed under MDT cooperation may result in higher complete cytoreduction rates without increasing post-operative complications and hospital mortalities.