European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Prediction of outcome in patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder following radical cystectomy using artificial neural networks.
The outcome of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) after radical cystectomy (RC) shows remarkable variability. We evaluated the ability of artificial neural networks (ANN) to perform risk stratification in UCB patients based on common parameters available at the time of RC. ⋯ ANN predicted tumour recurrence, CSM, and ACD in UCB patients after RC with reasonable accuracy. In this study, ANN significantly outperformed the Cox models regarding prediction of CSM and ACD using the same patients and variables. ANNs are a promising approach for individual risk stratification and may optimize individual treatment planning.
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To determine the effect of a 'no drains' policy on seroma formation and other complications in women undergoing breast cancer surgery. ⋯ This study suggests that MRM ± ALND/SLNB/ANS and ALND ± WLE can be performed without the use of suction drains without increasing seroma formation and other complication rates. Adopting a 'no-drains' policy may also contribute to earlier hospital discharge.