Multicentre study of the risk of invasive cancer and use of sentinel node biopsy in women with a preoperative diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ

Overview

Featured Article

Munck F, Clausen E.W., Balslev E, Kroman N, Tvedskov T.F., Holm-Rasmussen E.V. Multicentre study of the risk of invasive cancer and use of sentinel node biopsy in women with a preoperative diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ. BJS 2020; 107: 96-102.

Expert Reviews

Methodological Reviewer:  Angel Arnaout, MD MSc FRCSC FACS,  Breast Surgical Oncologist, General Surgery, Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa

Clinical Reviewer: Heather Neuman, MD MS FACS, Associate Professor, Division of Surgical Oncology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Clinical Reviewer: Sarah Knowles, MD Breast Surgical Oncologist and General Surgeon, St. Joseph’s Health Care, Western University

Supplementary Articles

Jaeschke R, Guyatt G, Sackett D. L. How to Use an Article About a Diagnostic Test: A. Are the Results of the Study Valid? JAMA; 1994; 271(5):389

Jaeschke R, Guyatt G, Sackett D. L. Users’ guides to the medical literature: III. How to Use an Article About a Diagnostic Test. B. What Are the Results and Will They Help Me in Caring for My Patients? JAMA; 1994; 271(5):703

Questions

Please read the above articles and be prepared to discuss the following:

  1. What is the clinical question being addressed?
  2. What is the rationale for the study?
  3. What is the study design?
  4. Was the assignment of patients to treatment randomized?
  5. Were all the patients who entered into the trial properly accounted for and attributed at its conclusion?
  6. Did the sample include an appropriate spectrum of patients and were groups similar at baseline?
  7. Were the methods for performing the test described in sufficient detail to permit replication?
  8. Aside from the experimental intervention, were the groups treated equally?
  9. Were all clinically important outcomes considered?
  10. How large and precise was the treatment effect?
  11. Are the likely benefits worth the potential harm and costs?
  12. Will the reproducibility of the test result and its interpretations be satisfactory in my setting?
  13. State the conclusion. Have the authors addressed the clinical question posed?
  14. Does the evidence support the conclusion?