A meta-analysis on salvage surgery as a potentially curative procedure in patients with isolated local recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer after chemoradiotherapy

BackgroundIsolated local recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer (EC) after curative intended definitive (dCRT) or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) with initially omitted surgery, is a potential indication for salvage surgery. We aimed to evaluate safety and efficacy of salvage surgery in these patients.Material and methodsA systematic literature search following PRISMA guidelines was performed using databases of PubMed/Medline. All included studies were performed in patients with persistent or recurrent EC after initial treatment with dCRT or nCRT, between 2007 and 2017. Survival analysis was performed with an inverse-variance weighting method.ResultsOf the 278 identified studies, 28 were eligible, including a total of 1076 patients. Postoperative complications after salvage esophagectomy were significantly more common among patients with isolated persistent than in those with locoregional recurrent EC, including respiratory (36.6% versus 22.7%; difference in proportion 10.9 with 95% confidence interval (CI) [3.1; 18.7]) and cardiovascular complications (10.4% versus 4.5%; difference in proportion 5.9 with 95% CI [1.5; 10.2]). The pooled estimated 30- and 90-day mortality was 2.6% [1.6; 3.6] and 8.0% [6.3; 9.8], respectively. The pooled estimated 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) were 39.0% (95% CI: [35.8; 42.2]) and 19.4% [95% CI:16.5; 22.4], respectively. Patients with isolated persistent or recurrent EC after initial CRT had similar 5-year OS (14.0% versus 19.7%, difference in proportion −5.7, 95% CI [-13.7; 2.3]).ConclusionsSalvage surgery is a potentially curative procedure in patients with locally recurrent or persistent esophageal cancer and can be performed safely after definitive or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy when surgery was initially omitted.     

The impact of circumferential tumour location on the clinical outcome of rectal cancer patients managed with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by total mesorectal excision

AimTo investigate the impact of circumferential tumour location on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) response and its prognostic value for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients after CRT and surgery.MethodsA retrospective study was performed on 486 patients with LARC who received neoadjuvant CRT and surgical treatment. The rate of pathological complete response (pCR) and survival among patients with anteriorly, laterally, and posteriorly located tumours were compared. Logistic regression was performed to identify pCR predictors.ResultsThe anterior tumours exhibited the highest pCR rate of 26.7%, which was slightly higher than the 20.0% and 12.3% for lateral and posterior tumours, respectively (P = 0.006). The 5-year Overall survival (OS) rates after CRT were similar among the anterior, lateral, and posterior groups (anterior vs lateral vs posterior: 81.1% vs 89.9% vs 84.1%, P = 0.6368). Multivariate analysis revealed that the circumferential tumour location, post-CRT serum CEA and post-CRT tumour thickness measured by MRI were independently correlated with achieving pCR.ConclusionThis study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to show that anterior LARC exhibited the highest pCR rate after neoadjuvant CRT. Patients with anterior rectal cancers do not have different prognoses from those with non-anterior cancers if they undergo neoadjuvant CRT.     

Referral patterns and outcomes of a highly specialised pelvic exenteration multidisciplinary team meeting: A retrospective cohort study

IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to review recommendations made from a specialist pelvic exenteration (PE) multidisciplinary team (MDT) and to provide insights as to the impact of the MDT on patient selection and clinical decision making.Materials & methodsA retrospective review was conducted at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's PE MDT between June 2014 and December 2015. Data was collected from the recorded minutes of MDT meetings. Referral information and clinical data was extracted from individual patient files. Additional data including operative dates and surgical resection margins were collected from electronic medical records.ResultsOf the 183 patients considered for PE during the MDT meeting, 104 (57%) were recommended for surgery. Factors that influenced the recommendation in favour of surgery were referral by a surgeon (P = 0.004), referral from a rural location (P = 0.05) and having locally advanced primary cancer (P < 0.001). Patients who were seen by the unit's surgeon prior to the MDT did not impact on the MDT recommendation nor the decision for or against surgery (P = 0.771). The most common reason for recommendation against PE was unresectable distant metastatic disease (43%).ConclusionsThe PE MDT meeting is a critical step in the patient care pathway and facilitates critical decision making. Anatomically-based contraindications to surgery (i.e. involvement of adjacent organs, bone and neurovascular structures) do not appear to influence MDT decision making regarding resectability.     

Perioperative,short-, and long-term outcomes of gastric cancer surgery: Propensity score-matched analysis of patients with or without prior solid organ transplantation

BackgroundDetails of perioperative outcomes and survival after gastric cancer surgery in prior transplant recipients have received minimal research attention.MethodsWe performed an observational cohort study using the database of 20,147 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy at a single gastric cancer center in Korea. Forty-one solid organ recipients [kidney (n = 35), liver (n = 5), or heart (n = 1)] were matched with 205 controls using propensity score matching.ResultsOperation time, blood loss, and postoperative pain were similar between groups. Short-term complication rates were similar between transplantation and control groups (22.0% vs. 20.1%, P = 0.777). Transplantation group patients with stage 1 gastric cancer experienced no recurrence, while those with stage 2/3 cancer had significantly higher recurrence risk compared to the controls (P = 0.049). For patients with stage 1 cancer, the transplantation group had a significantly higher rate of non-gastric cancer-related deaths compared to the controls (19.2% vs. 1.4%, P = 0.001). For those with stage 2/3 cancer, significantly lower proportion of the transplantation group received adjuvant chemotherapy compared to the control group (26.7% vs. 80.3%, P < 0.001). The transplantation group had a higher (albeit not statistically significant) rate of gastric cancer-related deaths compared to the controls (40.0% vs. 18.0%, P = 0.087).ConclusionTransplant recipients and non-transplant recipients exhibited similar perioperative and short-term outcomes after gastric cancer surgery. From long-term outcome analyses, we suggest active surveillance for non-gastric cancer-related deaths in patients with early gastric cancer, as well as strict oncologic care in patients with advanced cancer, as effective strategies for transplant recipients.     

进展期胃癌的淋巴结转移特点及其临床意义

目的探讨进展期胃癌的淋巴结转移特点及临床意义。方法对2002年4月至2003年7月期间进行胃癌根治淋巴结清扫手术的91例患者的手术切除标本进行解剖，收集切除的淋巴结，逐枚进行病理组织学和免疫组织化学检查，判断淋巴结是否转移并计算淋巴结转移率。分析淋巴结转移率与肿瘤大小、TNM分期、Borrmann分型、肿瘤部位和淋巴结清扫范围等方面的关系。结果91例胃癌患者中淋巴结转移阳性63例（69．2％）。共收获3149枚淋巴结，平均每例34．6枚。肿瘤直径小于3cm者淋巴结转移率较3cm以上者低（P〈0．05）。TNM分期中Ⅲa和Ⅳ期患者淋巴结转移率均为100％，其转移度在30．3％～58．4％之间，较Ⅰ、Ⅱ期者高（P〈0．001）；Borrmann分型中Ⅲ型病例的淋巴结转移率（79．6％）较其他型患者高，而Ⅳ型患者淋巴结转移度（35．3％）最高（P〈0．05）。施行D3淋巴结清扫手术患者的淋巴结转移率和转移度（88．2％、38．0％）均高于D1、D2术患者（P〈0．05）。17例（18．7％）患者常规病理检查发现有183枚淋巴结微转移，肿瘤各部位与淋巴结微转移的关系差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。近端胃癌淋巴结转移主要在第1、2、3、5、7、8、9、12、13和16组，以8组转移度为最高（68．1％）；中部胃癌淋巴结转移主要在第1、3、7、12、13和16组，其中最高转移度为第3组（47．6％）；远侧胃癌淋巴结转移主要见于1、2．3、5、6、12、13和16组，其中第16组转移度为最高（83．3％）。结论淋巴结转移率和转移度与胃癌的恶性程度密切相关，因此D3淋巴结清扫手术对某些进展期胃癌患者值得考虑使用。