Khanna, Sahil

Introduction: Neutropenic diets are commonly prescribed to cancer patients with neutropenia with the intention of reducing rates of infection. These diets are restrictive and are associated with lower patient satisfaction and possibly malnutrition. Further, it is unclear if these restrictive diets are effective in reducing infection. We performed a meta-analysis on the rates of infection reported in trials comparing the neutropenic diet to unrestricted diets in cancer patients with neutropenia. Methods and Materials: A comprehensive database search for all published randomized controlled trials comparing infection rates in cancer patients receiving a neutropenic diet versus an unrestricted diet was performed for all publications in English language from database’s inception until September 12, 2017. The search strategy, study selection, and subsequent analysis adhered to PRISMA guidelines. Random effects modeling was used to obtain pooled relative risks. The primary outcome measure was the rate of infection. Results: Five randomized controlled trials with a total of 388 patients were included in the final analysis. Patients mostly had acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), or sarcoma. Infection was noted in 53.7% patients in the neutropenic diet group, as compared with 50% in the unrestricted diet group. No significant difference in infection rate was observed between the neutropenic diet versus unrestricted diet groups, pooled risk ratio (RR) 1.13 (95% CI, 0.98-1.30; P=0.10). Conclusions: This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials suggests that the use of neutropenic diet was not associated with decreased risk of infection in neutropenic cancer patients. The continued use of neutropenic diets should be questioned.

240 Background: Colorectal and Pancreatic cancers have high mortality with about 50,000 patients dying from each annually. Cancer awareness months (CAMs) have been earmarked by cancer societies to change public attitudes towards prevention, screening and treatment of various cancers. Awareness campaigns lead by these societies have benefited significantly from readily available Internet access and growing social media. Internet search activity has been used as a surrogate tool to gauge public interest and awareness. We aimed to assess if cancer awareness months impact internet search activity for these cancers. Methods: Using Google Trends, a public web facility of Google Inc. based on Google Search, we compared the relative frequency of search of terms ‘Colon Cancer’ and ‘Pancreatic Cancer’ between 1st January 2004 and 31st December 2016 (n=156 months). The program assigns a reference value of 100 for the point of maximum popularity from among the search terms, and provides relative monthly scores for all terms, which we termed relative interest scores (RIS). Within each cancer, the median RIS was then compared for their respective awareness months (n=13; March for CRC and November for PC) to the to the remaining months (n=143). Results: The median (IQR) RIS for CRC was significantly higher for CRC during its CAM:54 (51-63) as compared to other months:47 (44-50); p=0.0001. However, there was no significant difference in the median RIS for PC during its CAM: 33 (27.5-35.5) as compared to other months: 31 (27-33); p=0.43. The point of maximum popularity during the study period (i.e. RIS 100), and other peaks in search volume for PC corresponded to significant news events associated with PC, and PC search volumes surpassed CRC in those months. Conclusions: Ongoing campaigns for CRC awareness appear to be effective in increasing internet search activity during its respective CAM. While differences could be due to established CRC screening guidelines, other reasons behind the success of CRC awareness campaigns should be adopted by PC as awareness campaigns for the two cancers are otherwise similar.

Increased amino acids in the dysbiotic gut influences susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile infection in mice and humans.

Abstract Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an independent risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), and CDI often precipitates IBD exacerbation. Because CDI cannot be distinguished clinically from an IBD exacerbation, management is difficult. We aimed to assess factors associated with adverse outcomes in IBD with CDI, including the role of escalating or de-escalating IBD therapy and CDI treatment. Methods Records for patients with IBD and CDI from 2008 to 2013 were abstracted for variables including IBD severity before CDI diagnosis, CDI management, subsequent IBD exacerbation, CDI recurrence, and colon surgery. Colon surgery was defined as resection of any colonic segment within 1 year after CDI diagnosis. Results We included 137 IBD patients (median age, 46 years; 55% women): 70 with ulcerative colitis (51%), 63 with Crohn’s disease (46%), and 4 with indeterminate colitis (3%). Overall, 70% of CDIs were mild-moderate, 14% were severe, and 15% were severe-complicated. Clostridium difficile infection treatment choice did not vary by infection severity (P = 0.27). Corticosteroid escalation (odds ratio [OR], 5.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.03–17.44) was a positive predictor of colon surgery within 1 year after CDI; older age (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01–0.44) was a negative predictor. Modifying the corticosteroid regimen did not affect CDI recurrence or risk of future IBD exacerbation. Adverse outcomes did not differ with CDI antibiotic regimens or biologic or immunomodulator regimen modification. Conclusions Corticosteroid escalation for IBD during CDI was associated with higher risk of colon surgery. Type of CDI treatment did not influence IBD outcomes. Prospective studies are needed to further elucidate optimal management in this high-risk population.