This Week in JAMA FREE

A JAMA THEME ISSUE

Edited by Robert M. Golub, MD, and Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, MBA

Bevacizumab-carboplatin-paclitaxel has been an approved treatment regimen for advanced non–small cell lung cancer since 2006. In a retrospective cohort study of 4168 Medicare beneficiaries with advanced non–small cell lung cancer, Zhu and colleagues found that the addition of bevacizumab to carboplatin-paclitaxel therapy was not associated with improved survival.

In an analysis of data from 223 475 adults with major trauma admitted to level I or level II trauma centers, Galvagno and colleagues found that survival to hospital discharge was improved among patients transported by helicopter emergency medical services (EMS) compared with ground EMS transport.

Article AND AUTHOR VIDEO INTERVIEW

In a population-based cohort of 12 976 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer who received radiation therapy, Sheets and colleagues found that compared with conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was associated with less gastrointestinal morbidity, hip fractures, and additional cancer therapy but more erectile dysfunction. Proton therapy was associated with more gastrointestinal morbidity than IMRT.

Jackson and colleagues assessed outcomes after open vs endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in an analysis of data from 4529 Medicare beneficiaries. The authors report increased risks of all-cause mortality and AAA-related mortality associated with use of open compared with endovascular repair during 5 years' follow-up.

Tan and colleagues compared survival after partial vs radical nephrectomy in a cohort of 7138 Medicare beneficiaries with early-stage (T1a) kidney cancer treated between 1992 and 2007. During a median follow-up of 62 months, the authors found that partial nephrectomy was associated with improved overall survival and equivalent cancer-specific survival.

Many countries seek to use comparative effectiveness research to guide medical practice, but approaches are not universal.

Setting PCORI's priorities

Risk models; patient-centered evidence

Involving patients in CER

Changes to research regulations

“My surgeon would come in, and I didn't see him wash his hands. Not once.” From “Ask Me If I Cleaned My Hands.”

Methodological standards and patient-centeredness in CER

Is it time for medicine-based evidence?

CER relative successes

Drs Golub and Fontanarosa summarize this week's issue. Go to http://traffic.libsyn.com/jamaeditorsaudiosummary/pcast_041812.mp3.

How would you help Mr J, a 52-year-old whose depressive symptoms impede his life? Submit your response to www.jama.com by April 29.