Brazilian law requires that treatment for breast cancer begin within 60 days of diagnosis. This waiting time is an indicator of accessibility to health services. The aim of this study was to analyze which factors are associated with waiting times between diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in women in Brazil between 1998 and 2012. Information from Brazilian women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1998 and 2012 was collected through the Hospital Registry of Cancer (HRC), developed by the National Cancer Institute (INCA). We performed a secondary data analysis, and found that the majority of women (81.3%) waited for ≤60 days to start treatment after being diagnosed. Those referred by the public health system, aged ≥50 years, of nonwhite race, diagnosed at stage I or II, and with low levels of education waited longer for treatment to start. We observed that only 18.7% experienced a delay in starting treatment, which is a positive reflection of the quality of the care network for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. We also observed inequalities in access to health services related to age, region of residence, stage of the disease, race, and origin of referral to the health service.

Fatigue is frequent among oncologic patients. Unpurified Paullinia cupana dry extract showed encouraging results for chemotherapy-induced fatigue in our previous studies. We report two randomized, double-blind studies with a standardized dry purified Paullinia cupana extract named PC-18. For both studies, we recruited early breast cancer patients who had an increase in their fatigue scores after their first cycle of adjuvant chemotherapy. In the first study, we compared an oral dose of 37.5 mg of PC-18 twice daily with placebo. In the second study, we examined PC-18 at either 7.5 or 12.5 mg orally twice daily versus placebo. In both studies, PC-18 was not superior to placebo as assessed by both Chalder and Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) fatigue questionnaires, probably reflecting unexpectedly good placebo antifatigue activity. Since all capsules employed in both studies contained about 100 mg of magnesium silicate as an excipient, we retrospectively evaluated frozen serum samples from the second study and found a significant increase in magnesium levels after patients received placebo. By multivariate analysis, higher prerandomization magnesium levels and higher BFI scores together with the use of a 12.5 mg dose of PC-18 all correlated significantly with higher posttreatment BFI scores. We observed no significant toxicities in any of the trials. We conclude that the absence of differences between PC-18 and placebo may be due to the unexpectedly high antifatigue activity of the placebo in these studies. Further studies evaluating the role of magnesium supplementation for chemotherapy-induced fatigue are needed.

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION Structural disparities between different Brazilian regions in public health system cause patients to migrate in search of better conditions to treat their diseases. Besides patient’s discomfort, there is a concentration of care in large centres, causing overload to current capacity. OBJECTIVE To evaluate migratory flow and associated factors in a reference service in oncology. METHODS Cross-sectional study conducted at a referral oncology service in Great ABC region of São Paulo. Patients were interviewed, and clinical and demographic data collected. RESULTS Between March-July 2016, 217 patients were included. Analysis showed a divergence between the postal code registered in the medical record and that recorded during the interview in approximately 10% of cases. Of these, 42.9% were residents of other states. Search for treatment motivated most patients to seek service outside their city. CONCLUSION Results reflect the informal search for medical care outside the home area. Besides the direct impact on patients’ quality of life, migratory flow has an economic-social impact because these patients place a burden and impose costs on services of cities where they do not perform their responsibilities as citizens. Confirmation of the existence of a significant migratory flow demonstrates the need to discuss restructuring public health policies.

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: Drug interaction is an important cause of global morbidity. It is of particular importance in cancer patients since they are often in use of polypharmacy, related to interactions between the drugs and the chemotherapeutics used. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the drug interaction between chemotherapy and other drugs in cancer patients. METHODS: a cross-sectional study carried out in the outpatient oncology department of a public tertiary hospital. Two hundred thirty-five patients were included, and the drugs they were using were identified. Using the MedScape and Epocrates database, we evaluated the interactions between medications and chemotherapy by defining their frequency and dividing their severity from interaction into mild, close monitoring necessity and severe. RESULTS: 161 patients had some drug interaction. We identified 9 types of mild interactions, 23 types of interactions with close monitoring necessity, and 2 types of serious interactions. The most frequent interactions were between fluorouracil and leucovorin (32 cases) and cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin (19 cases). Serious interactions were between aspirin and pemetrexed; and leucovorin and Bactrim. CONCLUSION: In the present study, drug interactions were frequent, including serious interactions with a potential increase in morbidity and mortality. Thus, it is necessary for oncologists to draw up a therapeutic plan considering potential interactions between prescribed chemotherapy and current medications in use by patients.

Male Breast Cancer (MBC) is rare, which makes its understanding and treatment be extrapolated from what is known about the occurrence in women, with few epidemiological studies. Therefore, the aim of the present paper was to study breast cancer mortality in adult males in Brazil and its administrative regions between 2005 and 2015. Ecological study with data on MBC mortality in adults between 2005 and 2015. Data were obtained from the Mortality Information System of the Department of Informatics of SUS (the Unified Health System of the country). Descriptive statistics were used for MBC mortality and linear regression to analyze the relationship between mortality and the country’s administrative regions. Percentage Change (PC) and Annual Percentage Change (APC) were the trend measures used for MBC mortality for the period. Between 2005 and 2015, there were 1521 deaths due to MBC in adults in Brazil. Regarding mortality by region, there was great oscillation in the rates of the country as a whole (PC = 113,87; β = 0,009 (IC95% 0,000 – 0,018); r2 = 0,381; P = 0,043). The highest increase in MBC mortality occurred in patients aged 80 years or older (PC = 161,04; β = 0,201 (IC95% 0,640 - 0,339); r2 = 0,550; P = 0,009) and there was significant increase in deaths for the 50–54-year age group (PC = 224,01; β = 0,135 (CI95% 0,052; 0,218); r2 = 0,601; P = 0,005). Mortality in adults due to MBC increased in Brazil during the study period with the highest percentage increase occurring for individuals aged 80 years or older.

The present study analyzed the temporal trend of stroke mortality according to sex in individuals aged 15–49 years in the different regions of Brazil between 1997 and 2012. There was progressive reduction in mortality rate due to stroke in Brazil. The reduction trend was the same for both sexes, although mortality remained slightly higher among men. There was a difference in mortality rates according to the administrative region of the country.