What is the impact of zinc deficiency for pancreatectomies in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?

Backgroundand purpose: Zinc is an essential element for human health and plays an important role in metabolic, immunological and other biological processes. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between zinc deficiency (ZD) and the perioperative clinical course in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).MethodsOf 216 patients with PDAC who underwent elective pancreatectomy between 2013 and 2017 at our institution, 206 patients with sufficient clinical data were retrospectively reviewed. The perioperative variables were compared and the risk factors associated with infectious complications were identified.ResultsZD was preoperatively present in 36 (17.5%) of 206 patients with PDAC. In the patients of the ZD group, a higher proportion of males, higher preoperative modified Glasgow prognostic scores, a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and a higher occurrence of postoperative infectious complications after pancreatectomy were observed, compared to the non-ZD group. By a univariate analysis, three risk factors were significantly associated with infectious complications after pancreatectomy: ZD (vs non-ZD: p = 0.002), serum albumin <3.5 g/dl (vs ≥ 3.5 g/dl: p = 0.005), and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (vs others: p = 0.013). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the occurrence of infectious complications was significantly associated with ZD (OR 3.430, 95%CI 1.570 to 7.490, p = 0.002) and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (OR 2.030, 95%CI 1.090 to 3.770, p = 0.025).ConclusionsThe current study newly demonstrated that ZD could serve as a preoperative predictor of infectious complications after pancreatectomies in the patients with PDAC.     

基于基因表达谱相似性的四物汤重定位及抗乳腺癌有效成分群辨识＊

目的 发现四物汤的新药理作用并辨识其有效成分群。方法 于GEO和Cmap数据库获取四物汤和1309个小分子药物的基因表达谱，计算差异表达基因及四物汤与1309个小分子药物的基因表达谱间的相似性，相似性较高的小分子药物的药理作用为四物汤的新药理作用。相似性较高的小分子药物的靶点作为四物汤发挥新药理作用的靶标，利用分子对接技术辨识四物汤的有效成分群。结果 四物汤具有抗乳腺癌的作用，其有效成分群为荭草苷、芍药苷和半乳糖醛酸等，并通过文献调研验证了辨识结果的可靠性。结论 本研究将为扩大四物汤的临床应用范围及质量控制奠定基础，为乳腺癌的治疗提供新方法。     

A Predictive Model for Reactive Tube Feeding in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Definitive (Chemo) Radiotherapy

AimsCareful management of a patient's nutritional status during and after treatment for head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC) is crucial for optimal outcomes. The aim of this study was to develop a model for stratifying a patient's risk of requiring reactive enteral feeding through a nasogastric tube during radiotherapy for HNSCC, based on clinical and treatment-related factors.Materials and methodsA cohort of consecutive patients treated with definitive (chemo)radiotherapy for HNSCC between January 2016 and January 2018 was identified in the institutional electronic database for retrospective analysis. Patients requiring enteral feeding pretreatment were excluded. Clinical and treatment data were obtained from prospectively recorded electronic clinical notes and planning software.ResultsBaseline patient characteristics and tumour-related parameters were captured for 225 patients. Based on the results of the univariate analysis and using a stepwise backwards selection process, clinical and dosimetric variables were selected to optimise a clinically predictive multivariate model, fitted using logistic regression. The parameters found to affect the probability, P, of requiring a nasogastric feeding tube for >4 weeks in our clinical multivariate model were: tumour site, tumour stage (early T0/1/2 stage versus advanced T3/T4 stage), chemotherapy drug (none versus any drug) and mean dose to the contralateral parotid gland. A scoring model using the regression coefficients of the selected variables in the clinical multivariate model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.745 (95% confidence interval 0.678–0.812), indicating good discriminative performance. Internal validation of the model involved splitting the dataset 80:20 into training and test datasets 10 times and assessing differences in AUC of the model fitted to these.ConclusionsWe developed an easy-to-use prediction model based on both clinical and dosimetric parameters, which, once externally validated, can lead to more personalised treatment planning and inform clinical decision-making on the appropriateness of prophylactic versus reactive enteral feeding.     

Effects of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of postoperative patients with esophageal cancer: A protocol of randomized controlled trial

Background:Gastrointestinal complications and malnutrition are common problems that affect postoperative rehabilitation and survival of patients with esophageal cancer. Evidence has shown that probiotics have a positive effect on improving gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of patients with esophageal cancer after surgery, but there is a lack of prospective studies on this topic. We designed this prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status in patients with postoperative esophageal cancer.Methods:This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. It was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of our hospital. 192 patients will be randomly divided into probiotics group and the placebo group in a 1:1 ratio. After operation, probiotics and placebo will be given orally for 8 weeks. The indexes of nutritional status and incidence of digestive tract complications will be recorded and the data will be analyzed by SPSS 18.0 software.Discussion:This study will evaluate the effect of probiotics on gastrointestinal complications and nutritional status of postoperative patients with esophageal cancer. The results of this study will provide clinical basis for the use of probiotics in postoperative treatment of esophageal cancer.Trial registration:OSF Registration number: D DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QHW86     

Postoperative development of sarcopenia is a strong predictor of a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and upper gastric cancer

Background

There were few studies assessed the postoperative sarcopenia in patients with cancers. The objective of present study was to assess whether postoperative development of sarcopenia could predict a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction, (AEG) and upper gastric cancer (UGC).

疗前预后营养指数对老年食管鳞癌放疗预后预测价值

目的 评价预后营养指数(PNI)在老年食管鳞癌放疗中的作用。方法 回顾性分析接受根治性放疗的初治老年(>65岁)食管鳞癌患者共108 例。计算出每位患者PNI值,通过建立受试者工作特征曲线(ROC曲线)确定治疗前 PNI最佳cutoff值,并按该值分为低PNI组和高PNI组。Kaplan-Meier法计算总生存率,并Logrank检验和单因素预后分析,Cox模型多因素预后分析。结果 ROC曲线显示PNI最佳cutoff值为50.1(高PNI组52例,低PNI组56例)。两组在年龄、性别、治疗方式均相近,在TNM分期不同(P=0.022)。高PNI组有效率明显优于低PNI组(96%︰73%,P=0.001)。高PNI组1、2、3年总生存率分别为94%、69%、62%,低PNI组分别为70%、32%、27%(P<0.001)。单因素分析显示PNⅠ、T分期、N分期、TNM分期均与总生存密切相关(均P<0.01)。多因素分析结果显示N分期(RR=1.94,95%CI为1.29~2.94,P=0.002)和PNI (RR=0.83,95%CI为0.77~0.90,P<0.001)为影响总生存因素。结论 疗前PNI与患者放疗疗效及预后均有很好相关性,可作为预测老年食管鳞癌放疗获益的重要指标。