Gastrostomy tubes: Fundamentals,periprocedural considerations,and best practices

Gastrostomy tube placement is a procedure that achieves enteral access for nutrition, decompression, and medication administration. Preprocedural evaluation and selection of patients is necessary to provide optimal benefit and reduce the risk of adverse events (AEs). Appropriate indications, contraindications, ethical considerations, and comorbidities of patients referred for gastrostomy placement should be weighed and balanced. Additionally, endoscopist should consider either a transoral or transabdominal approach is appropriate, and radiologic or surgical gastrostomy tube placement is needed. However, medical history, physical examination, and imaging prior to the procedure should be considered to tailor the appropriate approach and reduce the risk of AEs.     

Cribado de cáncer de pulmón: Supervivencia en un amplio programa de detección precoz en España (I-ELCAP)

IntroductionLung cancer (LC) is usually diagnosed at advanced stages with only a 12% 5-year survival. Trials as NLST and NELSON show a mortality decrease, which justifies implementation of lung cancer screening in risk population. Our objective was to show survival results of the largest LC screening program in Spain with low dosage computed tomography (LDCT).MethodsClinical records from International Early Lung Cancer Detection Program (IELCAP) at Valencia, Spain were analysed. This program recruited volunteers, ever-smokers aged 40-80 years, since 2008. Results are compared to those from other similar sizeable programs.ResultsA total of 8278 participants were screened with at least two-rounds until November 2020. A mean of 6 annual screening rounds were performed. We detected 239 tumours along 12-year follow-up. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histology, being 61.3% at stage I. The lung cancer prevalence and incidence proportion was 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively with an annual detection rate of 0.17. One-year survival and 10-year survival were 90% and 80.1%, respectively. Adherence was 96.84%.ConclusionLargest lung cancer screening in Spain shows that survival is improved when is performed in multidisciplinary team experienced in management of LC, and is comparable to similar screening programs.     

Incidence and risk factors for Chyle leak after pancreatic surgery for cancer: A comprehensive systematic review

BackgroundChyle leak (CL) is a clinically relevant complication after pancreatectomy. Its incidence and the associated risk factors are ill defined, and various treatments options have been described. There is no consensus, however, regarding optimal management. The present study aims to systematically review the literature on CL after pancreatectomy.MethodsA systematic review from PubMed, Scopus and Embase database was performed. Studies using a clear definition for CL and published from January 2000 to January 2021 were included. The PRISMA guidelines were followed during all stages of this systematic review. The MINORS score was used to assess methodological quality.ResultsLiterature search found 361 reports, 99 of which were duplicates. The titles and abstracts of 262 articles were finally screened. The references from the remaining 181 articles were manually assessed. After the exclusions, 43 articles were thoroughly assessed. A total of 23 articles were ultimately included for this review. The number of patients varied from 54 to 3532. Incidence of post pancreatectomy CL varied from 1.3% to 22.1%. Main risk factors were the extent of the surgery and early oral or enteral feeding. CL dried up spontaneously or after conservative management within 14 days in 53% to 100% of the cases.ConclusionsThe extent of surgery is the most common predictor of risk of CL. Conservative treatment has been shown to be effective in most cases and can be considered the treatment of choice. We propose a management algorithm based on the current available evidence.     

American Cancer Society nutrition and physical activity guideline for cancer survivors

The overall 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined is now 68%, and there are over 16.9 million survivors in the United States. Evidence from laboratory and observational studies suggests that factors such as diet, physical activity, and obesity may affect risk for recurrence and overall survival after a cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this American Cancer Society guideline is to provide evidence-based, cancer-specific recommendations for anthropometric parameters, physical activity, diet, and alcohol intake for reducing recurrence and cancer-specific and overall mortality. The audiences for this guideline are health care providers caring for cancer survivors as well as cancer survivors and their families. The guideline is intended to serve as a resource for informing American Cancer Society programs, health policy, and the media. Sources of evidence that form the basis of this guideline are systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, pooled analyses of cohort studies, and large randomized clinical trials published since 2012. Recommendations for nutrition and physical activity during cancer treatment, informed by current practice, large cancer care organizations, and reviews of other expert bodies, are also presented. To provide additional context for the guidelines, the authors also include information on the relationship between health-related behaviors and comorbidities, long-term sequelae and patient-reported outcomes, and health disparities, with attention to enabling survivors' ability to adhere to recommendations. Approaches to meet survivors' needs are addressed as well as clinical care coordination and resources for nutrition and physical activity counseling after a cancer diagnosis.     

Are We Overtreating Patients With T1a HER2+ Breast Cancer? An Analysis of the National Cancer Database

IntroductionThe potential benefit of systemic therapy in patients with T1a HER2+ cancers is not well understood, and no consensus guidelines exist. We sought to investigate practice patterns of chemotherapy use in this population.MethodsFrom the National Cancer Database (2013-2018), we identified female patients with HER2+ cancers staged as cT1aN0 or pT1aN0 and stratified by receipt of chemotherapy. Using univariate and multivariable analyses we assessed the clinicopathologic features associated with the receipt of chemotherapy. We also compared rates of overall survival (OS).ResultsOf 5176 women with cT1aN0 HER2+ cancers, 88 (2%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Younger age and hormone-receptor (HR) negative tumors were factors independently associated with receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (all P < .001). Of 11,688 women with pT1aN0 HER2+ cancers, 5,588 (48%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. Rates of use increased over the analysis period from 39% in 2013 to 53% in 2018 (P < .001). Factors independently associated with receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy included younger age, having a poorly differentiated tumor, exhibiting lymphovascular invasion, undergoing adjuvant radiation (all P < .001). There were no differences in OS when comparing those who did and did not receive chemotherapy in either group.ConclusionsThe use of chemotherapy in patients with HER2+ T1a cancers is increasing over time and is, as expected, more common among patients with unfavorable clinicopathologic features. Since no prognostic algorithm currently exists, more prospective data is needed to understand which of these patients may derive benefit from systemic therapy and which may safely avoid the morbidity of chemotherapy.     

Biomolecular alterations in the early life stages of four food fish following acute exposure of Triclosan

We investigated the effect of acute concentrations of triclosan (TCS; 96 h exposure and 10d post exposure) on the free amino acid, primary (SDS-PAGE) and secondary (FT-IR) structure of proteins in the embryos/larvae of Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala. A concentration dependent increase in free amino acids, upregulation of polypeptides (100 and 70 kDa in C. carpio, C. idella and L. rohita, 55, 45, 36 kda in C. idella and L. rohita and 22 kDa in all the fish) and a decline in percent area of all the selected peaks of the FT-IR spectra was observed after exposure and recovery period. The decline in percent area was greatest for L. rohita at peak 1080 – 1088 cm⁻¹ (−75.99%) after exposure and at peak 2854 – 2855 cm⁻¹ (−53.59%) after recovery. Curve fitting analysis revealed a decrease in α-helices and increase in β-sheets in all fish after exposure and recovery period. The results suggest that TCS elicits alterations in biomolecules of fish embryos.     

早期左侧乳腺癌保乳术后大分割放疗同期瘤床加量的安全性及心脏亚结构剂量评估的重要性研究

背景与目的： 早期乳腺癌保乳术后辅助大分割放疗已被指南推荐,但大分割放疗同期瘤床加量是否可行目前尚无定论。本随机对照研究对大分割同期瘤床加量和常规分割同期瘤床加量两种放疗计划的心脏剂量学参数和心超指标等进行比较,以评估前者在心脏毒性方面的安全性。方法： 纳入复旦大学附属中山医院2017年3月—2018年3月收治的符合入组标准的早期乳腺癌保乳术后左侧乳腺癌患者40例,随机分为两组,20例制定大分割同期瘤床加量放疗计划（全乳放疗剂量4 005 cGy/15次,同期瘤床加量至4 500 cGy/15次）,20例制定常规分割同期瘤床加量放疗计划（全乳放疗剂量5 000 cGy/25次,同期瘤床加量至6 000 cGy/25次）,比较两组患者的心脏剂量学参数和心脏超声检查指标,剂量学参数包括全心脏、左心室、右心室、右室游离壁、室间隔和冠状动脉左前降支（left anterior descending,LAD）的平均剂量（D_mean）以及各结构受到5~35 Gy照射的相对体积分数（V_{5 Gy}~V_{35 Gy}）。心超随访指标包括主动脉根部直径、左房内径、左室舒张末内径、左室收缩末内径、室间隔厚度、左室后壁厚度、肺动脉收缩压、左室射血分数、E峰、A峰、E峰减速时间（E-peak deceleration time,DT）、E、A、E/A和S波峰值。此外,对两组放疗后乳房的美容效果也进行评估。结果： 大分割组和常规分割组全心脏的D_mean分别为（471.86±170.54）和（733.07±79.11）cGy（P<0.05）,全心脏的V_{20 Gy}为（3.63±1.74）%和（8.43±0.74）%（P <0.05）,V_{30 Gy}为（1.55±1.15）%和（4.48±1.01）%（P<0.05）,LAD的D_mean分别为（1 250.17±600.33）和（1 847.20±933.23）cGy（P>0.05）,左心室的D_mean分别（908.64±865.60）和（946.93±116.13）cGy（P>0.05）,右心室的D_mean分别为（590.37±197.99）和（905.73±180.82）cGy（P<0.05）,右室游离壁的D_mean分别为（939.40±284.23）和（1 597.30±446.31）cGy（P <0.05）,室间隔的D_mean分别为（637.49±248.19）和（988.60±159.77）cGy（P<0.05）。随访1年,大分割组与常规分割组相比,心超指标均在正常区间,差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）。两组美容效果也无显著差异（P>0.05）。结论： 大分割同期瘤床加量放疗计划较常规分割计划可以显著降低全心脏和部分心脏亚结构的受照剂量,随访1年心超指标无异常,临床采用本研究所用的剂量分割方式是安全可行的。仅限制全心脏剂量无法有效保护LAD,建议勾画心脏亚结构并单独限制剂量以更好地保护心脏。     

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing for suspected infected pancreatic necrosis

BackgroundMetagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is increasingly used for the clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases, but there is a paucity of data regarding the application of mNGS in the early diagnosis of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN).ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical application value of mNGS in the pathogenic diagnosis of IPN.MethodsForty-two patients with suspected IPN were prospectively and consecutively enrolled from August 2019 to August 2021. Blood samples were collected for mNGS and microbial culture simultaneously during fever (T ≥ 38.5 °C). For patients who had indications of surgical interventions, peri-pancreatic specimens were collected for mNGS and microbial culture simultaneously during the first surgical intervention to confirm IPN. The clinical performance of mNGS and microbial culture were compared.ResultsA total of 21 patients (50.0%) were confirmed to have IPN during hospitalization. The sensitivity of blood mNGS was significantly higher than blood culture (95.2% vs. 23.8%, P < 0.001) in diagnosing IPN. The negative predictive value of blood mNGS was 90.0%. The turnaround time of mNGS was significantly shorter than that of microbial culture [(37.70 ± 1.44) vs. (115.23 ± 8.79) h, P < 0.01] and the average costs of mNGS accounted for 1.7% of the average total cost of hospitalization. The survival analysis demonstrates that the positive blood mNGS result was not associated with increased mortality (P = 0.119).ConclusionsWith more valuable diagnostic performance and shorter turnaround time, clinical mNGS represents a potential step forward in the early diagnosis of IPN.     

Exploring attributions of causality for child undernutrition: Qualitative analysis in Lusaka,Zambia

Child undernutrition is responsible for 45% of all under-five deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and numerous morbidities. Although progress has been made, high levels of child undernutrition persist in Zambia. Existing studies have explored primary caretakers' (PCs) explanatory models of child undernutrition in LMICs, without comparison with those of health care providers (HCPs). This paper examines and compares the perceived causes of child undernutrition among PCs and HCPs in Zambia. We conducted a qualitative study, using semistructured one-to-one and group interviews, with 38 PCs and 10 HCPs to explore their perceptions of child undernutrition and its perceived causes in Lusaka district, Zambia. Interview data were analysed with thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that PCs and HCPs in Lusaka district have divergent explanatory models of child undernutrition and perceive parental agency differently. In divergently framing how they conceptualise undernutrition and who is able to prevent it, these models underpin different attributions of causality and different opportunities for intervention. PCs highlighted factors such as child food preferences, child health, and household finances. Contrarily, HCPs stressed factors such as ‘improper feeding’, only highlighting factors such as wider economic conditions when these impacted specifically on health care services. One factor, identified by both groups, was ‘inadequate mothering’. To accelerate the reduction of child undernutrition, interventions must address divergences between PCs and HCPs' explanatory models. Additionally, attention needs to be paid to how wider socio-economic and cultural contexts not only impact childhood undernutrition but shape attributions of causality.