SUMMARY The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brasil was reported on February 25th, 2020, and by April 3rd, 8076 were confirmed in the country. As COVID-19 disease incidence escalates in Brasil, management of cancer patients requires immediate action and oncology clinics are urged to establish a contingency plan. We have installed a COVID-19 Management Committee to elaborate and implement best practices to assist cancer outpatients as well as to provide a safe environment for clinical staff and other employees at the outpatient clinics. The challenges of cancer treatment in the midst of COVID-19 global pandemic highlight the importance of a rapid response by institutions, where organizational structure, strategic planning, agility in guidelines implementation and alternative ways to protect and support clinical staff, employees and patients may be the key to mitigate pandemic effects.

Objective: To evaluate the applicability of the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) as an instrument to measure health-related quality of life in a sample of patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) through the analysis of its reproducibility and its correlation with functional and clinical parameters. Methods: A test-retest reproducibility study for the comparative analysis of the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of the SF-12 and the SF-36. A total of 46 patients diagnosed with PSS were studied, regardless of the presence of respiratory symptoms. Results: The physical component summary 12 (PCS-12) score had an ICC of 0.47 (95%CI: 0.05-0.71; p < 0.02), whereas the mental component summary (MCS-12) score had an ICC of 0.72 (95%CI: 0.49-0.84; p < 0.001). The PCS-36 score had an ICC of 0.88 (95%CI: 0.78-0.93; p < 0.001), and the MCS-36 score also had an ICC of 0.88 (95%CI: 0.78-0.93; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The SF-12 is a reliable instrument for measuring health-related quality of life in patients with PSS, since it has been proven to be reproducible. However, this version of the SF-12 should only be used in clinical research settings.

OBJETIVO: Estimar a freqüência de doença intersticial pulmonar em um grupo de indivíduos com esclerose sistêmica progressiva e descrever suas características clínicas, funcionais e radiológicas. MÉTODOS: Após confirmação diagnóstica, 58 pacientes com esclerose sistêmica progressiva foram estudados com tomografia computadorizada de alta resolução, provas de função pulmonar, bem como pesquisa do anti-Scl 70. Foram feitas comparações entre os pacientes com e sem comprometimento intersticial pulmonar e pesquisados possíveis fatores preditivos deste acometimento através de análise multivariada. RESULTADOS: Do total, 51,7% apresentaram evidências de doença intersticial pulmonar na tomografia computadorizada de alta resolução. Dispnéia e tosse foram os sintomas mais relatados, (65,5% e 39,7%, respectivamente). Bronquiolectasias e faveolamento foram as anormalidades tomográficas mais comuns (83,3% e 80,0% respectivamente). Quando comparados com os indivíduos sem doença intersticial pulmonar, os pacientes com este acometimento apresentaram freqüência semelhante de sintomas pulmonares e extrapulmonares, porém apresentaram esclerose sistêmica progressiva de maior duração, estertores crepitantes mais freqüentes, maior positividade de anti-Scl 70, e capacidade vital forçada e pulmonar total reduzidas. Somente uma capacidade vital forçada < 80% apresentou tendência a predizer presença de doença intersticial pulmonar. CONCLUSÃO: Doença intersticial pulmonar foi freqüente neste grupo com esclerose sistêmica progressiva. Não ocorreu associação com sintomas. Houve associação entre doença intersticial pulmonar e presença de estertores crepitantes e anti-Scl 70. Contudo, somente redução da capacidade vital forçada foi preditora de doença intersticial pulmonar.

Munchhausen syndrome results from a psychiatric disorder in which patients attempt to demonstrate signs and symptoms of serious organic diseases. In a review of the literature, we found 23 cases of Munchhausen syndrome accompanied by factitious hemoptysis, 2 presenting the same mechanism described herein. We report the case of a 23-year-old male with a recent history of multiple hospital admissions for investigation of bloody sputum, although no conclusive diagnosis had been made. Upon insistent questioning the patient admitted to aspirating his own blood with a syringe, holding it in his mouth and eliminating it in order to simulate hemoptysis. Munchhausen syndrome should be considered in patients presenting hemoptysis of obscure etiology.

RESUMO Objetivo Derivar valores de referência em adultos brancos para a difusão do monóxido de carbono (DCO) em uma amostra de diferentes locais do Brasil por um mesmo modelo de equipamento (Sensormedics) e comparar os resultados com os derivados pelas equações de Crapo, Miller e Neder, e da proposta pelo Global Lung Initiative (GLI). Métodos Os testes foram realizados de acordo com as normas sugeridas pela ATS/ERS, em 2005, em seis cidades brasileiras, em 120 voluntários adultos de cada sexo, não fumantes, sem anemia referida e sem doenças pulmonares ou cardíacas. Os previstos foram derivados por regressões lineares e as diferenças entre os valores previstos por alguns autores e os observados no estudo atual foram calculadas. Resultados Nos homens, a idade variou de 25 a 88 anos e a estatura, de 156 a 189 cm. Nas mulheres, a idade variou de 21 a 92 anos e a estatura, de 140 a 176 cm. A DCO se correlacionou de maneira significativa positivamente com a estatura e negativamente com a idade. Os valores previstos pelas equações de Crapo, Neder e Miller foram maiores em comparação aos obtidos pelo estudo atual (p<0,01) em ambos os sexos. Nos homens, os valores não diferiram quando comparados aos calculados pelo GLI (p=0,29); nas mulheres, os valores derivados pelo GLI foram levemente maiores: 0,99 mL/min/mmHg (p<0,01). Conclusões Novos valores previstos para a DCO foram derivados em uma amostra de adultos brancos no Brasil. Os valores previstos são semelhantes aos compilados pelas equações GLI e diferem de equações propostas anteriormente.

O carcinoma brônquico é, de todos, o de maior letalidade, responsabilizando-se, anualmente, por maior número de óbitos do que aqueles decorrentes do câncer do cólon, mama e próstata juntos. Seguindo seu curso natural, mais de 50% dos pacientes têm metástases a distância e somente 20 a 25% são potencialmente ressecáveis no momento do diagnóstico, com perspectiva de sobrevida em cinco anos de apenas 14%.

The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Latin America was reported on February 25th, 2020, in Brazil. As COVID19 disease incidence escalated in the country, management of cancer patients required immediate action and oncology clinics were urged to establish a contingency plan. We were the first oncology clinic in Brazil to install a COVID-19 Management Committee to elaborate and implement best practices to assist cancer outpatients as well as to provide a safe environment for clinical staff and other employees at the outpatient clinics. We started monitoring our staff and employees on March 13th, a day after we installed a contingency plan for COVID-19 management and WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. So far, out of 1,022 staff and employees of our group, we have registered 12.3% suspected and 3.8% confirmed COVID-19 cases, and only 1 case severe enough to require hospitalization. As COVID-19 testing is not widely available, not all patients were tested and/or we did not have access to results, as tests might have been conducted somewhere other than the clinic. Out of 98 patients with suspected COVID-19 being monitored by SCIA (ranging from 29 to 90yo), 68% were tested and 43% of these were positive. As for the monitored population (n=98), 62.6% were undergoing treatment, 31.8% tested positive, and 9.9% died due to COVID-19 (31% of the confirmed cases, matching literature data). All deaths by COVID-19 (n=9) occurred in patients above 68yo, and 77% (n=6) were undergoing cancer treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of COVID-19 incidence in cancer patients in Brazil. The challenges of cancer treatment in the midst of a global pandemic highlight the importance of a rapid response by institutions, where organizational structure, strategic planning, agility in guidelines implementation, and alternative ways to protect and support clinical staff, employees, and patients may be the keys to mitigate pandemic effects. Citation Format: Cinthya Sternberg, Bianca Vivas, Thamine Lessa Andrade, Ana Paula Vila Nova, Ana Paula Fernandes, Camila Alves, Adriana Alvez, Lise Hizumi, Simone Dias, Pablicio Nobre, Aknar Calabrich, Anelisa Coutinho, Alex Pimenta. Early impact of COVID-19 in cancer care: The experience of a Brazilian outpatient clinic [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2020 Jul 20-22. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(18_Suppl):Abstract nr PO-062.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the impact of using three predictive models of lung nodule malignancy in a population of patients at high-risk for neoplasia according to previous analysis by physicians, as well as evaluate the clinical and radiological malignancy-predictors of the images. Material and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study, with 135 patients, undergone surgical in the period from 01/07/2013 to 10/05/2016. The study included nodules with dimensions between 5mm and 30mm, excluding multiple nodules, alveolar consolidation, pleural effusion, and lymph node enlargement. The main variables analyzed were age, sex, smoking history, extrathoracic cancer, diameter, location, and presence of spiculation. The calculation of the area under the ROC curve assessed the accuracy of each prediction model. Results: The study analyzed 135 individuals, of which 96 (71.1%) had malignant nodules. The areas under the ROC curves for each prediction model were: Swensen 0.657; Brock 0.662; and Herder 0.633. The models Swensen, Brock, and Herder presented positive predictive values in high-risk patients, corresponding to 83.3%, 81.8%, and 82.9%, respectively. Patients with the intermediate and low-risk presented a high malignant nodule rate, ranging from 69.3-72.5% and 42.8-52.6%, respectively. Conclusion: None of the three quantitative models analyzed in this study was considered satisfactory (AUC> 0.7) and should be used with caution after specialized evaluation to avoid underestimation of the risk of neoplasia. The pretest calculations might not contemplate other factors than those predicted in the regressions, that could present a role in the clinical decision of resection.