Surgery News - August 2007 - (Page 11)

AUGUST 2007 • SURGERY NEWS 11 NEWS FROM THE COLLEGE ACOSOG Still Recruiting for Rectal Cancer Trial P with the Z6041 enrolling sites showed that ACOSOG has engaged only 1% of the potential FA C S high-volume sites. This low percentage suggests the need for articipation in trial Z6041 more recruitment efforts to boost has exceeded expectations in trial participation. terms of the monthly accruPatient eligibility and study al rate since June 2006, when the schema can be found at American College of Surgeons Onwww.acosog.org. A list of IRB incology Group published a call for vestigators for Z6041 can be found participation in the Bulletin. That’s at clinicaltrials.gov by doing a good news, but ACOSOG hopes search with the trial code. that many more surgeons will join ACOSOG is grateful to those the ranks of their colleagues who surgeons who have enrolled have enrolled patients in this patients into Z6041 and who important trial. AS OF APRIL 2007, 35 PATIENTS have contributed to the success Z6041 is a phase II trial of of this trial thus far (see box). neoadjuvant chemoradiation HAD BEEN ENROLLED INTO THIS The number of participating and local excision for uT2uN0 TRIAL, WHICH HAS A TARGET surgeons may seem small on a rectal cancer. Patients receive national scale. However, the capecitabine and oxaliplatin ENROLLMENT OF 85 PATIENTS. contributions made by these concomitantly with 54 Gy exfew surgeons have shown that ternal-beam radiotherapy foldespite the low frequency of distal tients. The targeted accrual rate lowed by local excision of the pristage I rectal cancers, ACOSOG was three patients per month. mary tumor. surgeons can enroll patients and Four patients per month were enAlthough Z6041 has a neoadjucomplete a complex multisite trial vant chemoradiation therapy com- rolled in February and March that has the potential to establish a 2007; in April 2007, seven patients ponent, it is an example of a pronew treatment paradigm for pawere enrolled. cedure-oriented trial. Many T2 tients who are diagnosed with this On the basis of the current acdistal rectal cancers are treated eidisease. crual rate, it is anticipated that enther with a low anterior resection As Sir Winston Churchill once rollment could be completed by or coloanal resection and anastosaid, “Never…was so much owed April 2008. mosis or abdominoperineal resecA successor trial design based on by so many to so few.” tion. To learn about ACOSOG memthe pathologic response rate is alMore surgeons are performing bership, go to www.acosog.org or ready being discussed. excision for T2 rectal cancer folA review of the National Cancer contact Helen Harbett at lowed by radiation therapy (Ann. har011@dcri.duke.edu. Data Base found that there are Surg. 2007;245:726-33), but Z6041 ■ more than 400 high-volume sites describes the role of neoadjuvant for T2 rectal cancers. A comparichemoradiation therapy followed DR. OTA and DR. NELSON are son of the NCDB high-volume list ACOSOG co-chairs. by transanal local excision. B Y D A V I D O TA , M . D . , F A C S , A N D H E I D I N E L S O N , M . D. , Preservation of sphincter function is an important goal in the ACOSOG rectal cancer portfolio of trials. There are 51 surgeons with Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval who have been credentialed by Julio Garcia-Aguilar, M.D., FACS, chair of the study. For this trial, 19 surgeons have enrolled at least one patient. As of April 2007, 35 patients had been enrolled into this trial, which has a target enrollment of 85 pa- Trial Participants These surgeons have enrolled patients in Z6041: H. Randolph Bailey, M.D., FACS, Methodist Hospital Ronald Bleday, M.D., FACS, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Peter A. Cataldo, M.D., FACS, Fletcher Allen Healthcare Jacques Heppell, M.D., Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Alan J. Herline, M.D., FACS, Vanderbilt University Richard Hoefer, D.O., Surgical Oncology Associates Craig S. Johnson, M.D., FACS, Natalie W. Bryant Cancer Center Natalie E. Joseph, M.D., FACS, Fox Chase Cancer Center Kirk Allen Ludwig, M.D., FACS, Duke University Najjia N. Mahmoud, M.D., FACS, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center Jorge E. Marcet, M.D., FACS, Tampa General Hospital Michael S. McNevin, M.D., Holy Family Hospital David S. Medich, M.D., FACS, Allegheny Cancer Center Network Samuel C. Oommen, M.D., FACS, John Muir Medical Center Alessaio Pigazzi, M.D., City of Hope Roger K. Pons, M.D., FACS, United Hospital Center Miguel A. Rodriguez-Bigas, M.D., FACS, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Bruce G. Wolff, M.D., FACS, Mayo Clinic Rochester Earl Yeager, M.D., FACS, Saint Joseph’s Hospital tay abreast of The Joint Commission’s initiatives by frequenting its Web site. A complimentary monthly online newsletter, This Month for Physicians, provides updates about ongoing work at The Joint Commission, notification of upcoming free audio conferences, and updates on the work of the Physician Engagement Advisory Group. The newsletter also keeps readers informed of the dates of field review comment periods for proposed standards and provides details about how to submit comments. An archive of previous issues of the newsletter is posted on the Web site. Both current and archived issues may Joint Commission’s Web Site Has College Adds Accreditation For New Bariatric Centers News All Surgeons Can Use M S be accessed at www.jointcommission.org. Click on “Library” and then on “This Month for Physicians” in the left-hand column. To sign up for monthly email delivery of This Month for Physicians, simply send an e-mail to Caron Wong at cwong@jointcommission.org and type “This Month for Physicians” in the subject line. In the “For Physicians” section of the Web site, visitors will find IN Sight. This monthly publication includes developments and potential revisions that can affect accreditation and tracks proposed changes before they are implemented; a Sentinel Event Alert; and newsletters and periodicals from Joint Commission resources that are specifically directed toward physicians. In addition, this site includes a schedule of events and speaking engagements for William E. Jacott, M.D. Dr. Jacott, The Joint Commission’s special advisor for professional relations, will be addressing audiences at physician organizations, conferences, and other venues across the U.S. For information, go to www.jointcommission.org and click on “Information For…Physicians,” located near the lower center of the home page, or go to www.jointcomission.org/ physicians/. ■ any new bariatric centers are providing high-quality surgical care to their patients. In recognition of that, the ACS Bariatric Advisory Committee has approved an additional level of accreditation, Level 2 New, for more recently established centers. The new level joins the four levels of inpatient facilities (identified as Level 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b) and outpatient surgical facilities (identified as Outpatient) that have existed since the ACS Bariatric Surgery Center Network (ACS BSCN) Accreditation Program launched on May 20, 2005. A bariatric surgery center may apply for Level 2 New designation after 25 primary weight-loss operations have been performed at the facility. The center must qualify as a Level 2 center with the exception of volume and time requirements as indicated in the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program Manual. A site visit will be conducted immediately to verify the center’s infrastructure and to evaluate its data. Thereafter, the data will be monitored on a quarterly basis and will be under specific scrutiny by the ACS Bariatric Advisory Committee. Visit www.acsbscn.org for all ACS BSCN Program materials, including the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program Manual (Complete Standards document) and the ACS BSCN Accreditation Application for Enrollment (online version available). ■ http://www.acosog.org http://clinicaltrials.gov http://www.acosog.org http://www.jointcommission.org http://www.jointcommission.org http://www.acsbscn.org http://www.jointcommission.org http://www.jointcomission.org/physicians/ http://www.jointcomission.org/physicians/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Surgery News - August 2007

Contents Drug Developments News From the College Thoracic Surgery Head & Neck Surgery

Surgery News - August 2007

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