Individualized surgical strategies for cancer of the esophagogastric junction

Due to their borderline location between the stomach and esophagus the optimal surgical strategy for patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction is controversial. Irrespective of the surgical approach a complete removal of the primary tumor and its lymphatic drainage has to be the primary goal of surgical treatment of such tumors. Based on the experience with surgical resection of more than 1000 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction we recommend an individualized surgical strategy guided by tumor stage and topographic location of the tumor center or tumor mass. This requires detailed preoperative staging and classification of tumors arising in the vicinity of the esophagogastric junction into adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus (AEG Type I Tumors), true carcinoma of the gastric cardia (AEG Type II Tumors) and subcardial gastric carcinoma infiltrating the esophagogastric junction (AEG Type III Tumors). In patients with Type I Tumors transthoracic esophagectomy offers no survival benefit over radical transmediastinal esophagectomy, but is associated with higher morbidity. In patients with Type II or Type III tumors an extended total gastrectomy results in equal or superior survival and less postoperative mortality than a more extended esophagogastrectomy. In patients with early tumors, staged as uT1 on preoperative endosonography, a limited resection of the proximal stomach, cardia and distal esophagus with interposition of a pedicled isoperistaltic jejunal segment allows a complete tumor removal with adequate lymphadenectomy and offers excellent functional results. Multimodal treatment protocols with neoadjuvant chemotherapy or combined radiochemotherapy followed by surgical resection appear to markedly improve the prognosis in patients with locally advanced tumors who respond to preoperative treatment. With this tailored approach extensive preoperative staging becomes mandatory for an adequate selection of the appropriate therapeutic concept.     

Multimodality treatment for esophageal cancer: the role of surgery and neoadjuvant therapy

Treatment of esophageal cancer has traditionally included surgery as the initial modality. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy has been introduced with the goal of downstaging tumors before surgical resection; however, its role in esophageal cancer remains controversial. We report 116 patients who underwent esophagogastrectomy with reconstruction for carcinoma of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction over a 10-year period (January 1, 1990 to June 1, 2001). Forty patients underwent neoadjuvant radiation and chemotherapy followed by surgery. Hospital mortality in this group was 7.5 per cent, complete pathologic response (CPR) was 37.5 per cent, and overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 47 and 38 per cent. Five-year survival in the 15 patients with CPR was 85 per cent. Five patients underwent neoadjuvant single-agent therapy (four chemotherapy and one radiation) followed by surgery, and none survived to 3 years. Seventy-one patients underwent surgery without neoadjuvant therapy. Hospital mortality in this group was 1.4 per cent, with 3- and 5-year survival of 21 and 17 per cent--a decreased long-term survival compared with the neoadjuvant therapy group despite the observation that patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy had a larger tumor size on presentation (5.5 +/- 0.4 cm vs 3.8 +/- 0.2 cm; P = 0.002). Squamous cell carcinomas seemed to be more responsive to neoadjuvant radiation and chemotherapy followed by surgery than were adenocarcinomas, with a CPR of 44.4 versus 35.5 per cent; however, 5-year survival rates in these complete responders were not significantly different (100% and 78%, respectively; P = 0.97). We report that esophagogastrectomy in conjunction with neoadjuvant therapy results in increased survival compared with surgery without neoadjuvant therapy (P < 0.01), although there may be an increased perioperative mortality associated with neoadjuvant therapy. Further studies are needed to evaluate the role of preoperative chemoradiation and to better identify the pretreatment characteristics of patients with a complete pathological response.     

Effects of Neoadjuvant Therapy on Perioperative Morbidity in Elderly Patients Undergoing Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer

Background The use of cytoreductive therapy followed by surgery is preferred by many centers dealing with locally advanced esophageal cancer. However, the potential for increase in mortality and morbidity rates has raised concerns on the use of chemoradiation therapy, especially in elderly patients. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of induction therapy on postoperative mortality and morbidity in elderly patients undergoing esophagectomy for locally advanced esophageal cancer at a single institution. Methods Postoperative mortality and morbidity of patients ≥70 years old undergoing esophagectomy after neoadjuvant therapy, between January 1992 and October 2005 for cancer of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction, were compared with findings in younger patients also receiving preoperative cytoreductive treatments. Results 818 patients underwent esophagectomy during the study period. The study population included 238 patients <70 years and 31 ≥70 years old undergoing esophageal resection after neoadjuvant treatment. Despite a significant difference in comorbidities (pulmonary, cardiological and vascular), postoperative mortality and morbidity were similar irrespective of age. Conclusions Elderly patients receiving neoadjuvant therapies for cancer of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction do not have a significantly increased prevalence of mortality and major postoperative complications, although cardiovascular complications are more likely to occur. Advanced age should no longer be considered a contraindication to preoperative chemoradiation therapy preceding esophageal resection in carefully selected fit patients.     

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食管胃结合部腺癌(AEG)的首要治疗方式是手术切除,但根治性切除病例中5年内复发率或病死率均超过50%,提示AEG围手术期放化疗的多学科综合治疗的必要性。近年来AEG的新辅助治疗受到较多关注,当前认为术前新辅助放疗能够提高术后5年总体存活率。而且欧洲癌症研究与治疗组织亦制定了AEG术前新辅助放疗的共识性指南,其对临床实践有很好的指导意义。术前新辅助化疗对提高R0切除率有重要意义,但需与术后辅助化疗序贯应用以提高总体存活率。术后辅助化疗和胃癌相同,NCCN推荐的多药方案为经典的ECF或改良ECF方案,而单药S1的试验结果也有不错的远期存活率。目前术中和术后放疗的证据令人遗憾,并不能提高远期存活率。因此,目前来说术前同步新辅助放化疗联合术后序贯辅助化疗应该是较为理想的方式。     

Cancer of esophagus and esophagogastric junction: analysis of results of 1,025 resections after 5 to 20 years

Resection was carried out in 1,025 of 1,654 patients with cancer of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction at the Peking Medical College Hospitals in China from 1953 through 1973. All cancers of the esophagus were squamous cell carcinomas except for five adenocarcinomas. A lesion localized within the esophageal wall was found in 55% and lymph node metastasis in 41.3% of the patients undergoing resection. All cancers of the esophagogastric junction were adenocarcinomas. The tumor had invaded beyond the boundaries of the stomach in 76.7% of these patients, and positive nodes were found in 61% of the patients. The rate of resectability was 81.2% for esophageal cancer and 74% for cancer of the esophagogastric junction. Surgical mortality after resection was 4.9% (50/1,025). The 5-year survival after resection was 20.9% (214/1,025). Better results were found following complete resection: 24% (210/875) for all patients, 28.2% (162/575) for patients with cancer of the esophagus, and 16% (48/300) for patients with cancer of the esophagogastric junction. Late survival at 10, 15, and 20 years after resection of esophageal cancer was 20%, 12%, and 7.4%, respectively. The favorable prognostic factors after resection of esophageal cancer were tumor of the lower third of the esophagus, the absence of lymph node involvement, and the presence of a localized lesion. The 5-year survival for patients with cancer of the lower third of the esophagus was 32.7%. It was 64.2% for patients with a localized lesion with negative nodes in this subgroup.     

Stomach carcinoma. Optimizing therapy by neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy?]

Despite the decreasing frequency of gastric cancer in most Western countries prognosis could not be improved by surgery alone in the past. Advanced tumor stage due to late diagnosis is one of the reasons for this observation. Contrary to breast and colorectal cancer, postoperative chemotherapy failed to improve prognosis in gastric cancer. Small number of patients in Western studies, insufficient surgical procedures and the high frequency of locoregional relapse may be attributed for this observation. Intraperitoneal, adjuvant chemotherapy showed a positive impact on survival in Asian studies only, but was also used successfully as a part of a multimodality approach in Western phase II trials. Since neoadjuvant therapy proved to create downstaging of tumor size in some patients with advanced gastric cancer some working groups tried to influence prognosis of potentially resectable tumors by preoperative chemotherapy, surgical resection and postoperative, adjuvant therapy in the recent past. However, the efficacy of this therapeutic approach has to be reconfirmed in a controlled, phase III fashion.     

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy best predicts survival after curative resection of gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE: In Western populations, long-term survival rates after curative resection of gastric cancer remain extremely poor. The lack of effective adjuvant therapy has prompted the evaluation of neoadjuvant approaches. Since 1988, we have conducted three separate phase II trials using neoadjuvant chemotherapy to treat patients with potentially resectable gastric cancer. The present study was conducted to evaluate whether response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is predictive of survival in patients with resectable gastric cancer. METHODS: Eighty-three patients with pathologically confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy before planned surgical resection. Response was assessed by upper gastrointestinal series, endoscopy, computed tomography scan, and pathologic examination. RESULTS: For the three phase II trials, clinical response rates ranged from 24% to 38%. Three patients (4%) had a complete pathologic response. Sixty-one patients (73%) underwent a curative resection. Median follow-up was 26 months. Univariate analysis revealed T stage, number of positive nodes, and response to chemotherapy to be significant predictors of overall survival. However, on multivariate analysis, response to chemotherapy was found to be the only independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS: Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the single most important predictor of overall survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer. These findings support further evaluation of neoadjuvant approaches in the treatment of this disease.     

Adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction: results of surgical therapy based on anatomical/topographic classification in 1,002 consecutive patients

OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcome of surgical therapy based on a topographic/anatomical classification of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Because of its borderline location between the stomach and esophagus, the choice of surgical strategy for patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction is controversial. METHODS: In a large single-center series of 1,002 consecutive patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction, the choice of surgical approach was based on the location of the tumor center or tumor mass. Treatment of choice was esophagectomy for type I tumors (adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus) and extended gastrectomy for type II tumors (true carcinoma of the cardia) and type III tumors (subcardial gastric cancer infiltrating the distal esophagus). Demographic data, morphologic and histopathologic tumor characteristics, and long-term survival rates were compared among the three tumor types, focusing on the pattern of lymphatic spread, the outcome of surgery, and prognostic factors in patients with type II tumors. RESULTS: There were marked differences in sex distribution, associated intestinal metaplasia in the esophagus, tumor grading, tumor growth pattern, and stage distribution between the three tumor types. The postoperative death rate was higher after esophagectomy than extended total gastrectomy. On multivariate analysis, a complete tumor resection (R0 resection) and the lymph node status (pN0) were the dominating independent prognostic factors for the entire patient population and in the three tumor types, irrespective of the surgical approach. In patients with type II tumors, the pattern of lymphatic spread was primarily directed toward the paracardial, lesser curvature, and left gastric artery nodes; esophagectomy offered no survival benefit over extended gastrectomy in these patients. CONCLUSION: The classification of adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction into type I, II, and III tumors shows marked differences between the tumor types and provides a useful tool for selecting the surgical approach. For patients with type II tumors, esophagectomy offers no advantage over extended gastrectomy if a complete tumor resection can be achieved.     

Ist neoadjuvante Therapie für lokal fortgeschrittene Magenkarzinome Standard?

Despite surgical efforts and encouraging data of a few postoperative therapy trials, locally advanced gastric cancer is in need of the development of effective multimodal therapeutic concepts. Regarding preoperative therapy the goal is to raise the number of complete tumor resections (R0-resections) leading to an improved prognosis of the disease. Neoadjuvant therapy has the theoretical advantage of early destruction of distant micrometastasis with a consecutive reduction of tumor relapse outside the resection margins. The likelyhood of R0-resections should be increased with the response of the primary tumor to neoadjuvant therapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using platinum based regimens in gastric cancer has shown its activity in a number of phase II studies. Especially after response to chemotherapy the survival was significantly better after complete surgical tumor resection. The neoadjuvant use of a sequence of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy before gastrectomy did result in a complete histopathological response in 20–25% of gastric cancer patients. This regimen seems to be promising, but there are still no long term results available. Parallel to the expected data from the first phase III studies the main impact of research in this field has to be focused on to the development of new and effective therapeutic agents and with accompanying identification of factors which are able to predict the response to neoadjuvant treatment.     

Current Status of Neoadjuvant Therapy for Adenocarcinoma of the Distal Esophagus

Prospective studies dealing with preoperative therapy in adenocarcinoma of the esophagus alone are rare. The interpretation of the preferential phase II trials and a few phase III trials is complicated, as most studies include adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (i.e., Barretts carcinoma), adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (including cardia carcinoma and subcardia carcinoma), or squamous cell carcinoma. Preoperative chemotherapy, generally well tolerated, cannot decrease the incidence of local failure beyond the level achieved with surgery alone, but it might delay systemic relapse. Preoperative radiotherapy can enhance local control, but it fails to improve overall survival. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation was demonstrated in only one randomized trail to have a survival benefit, but survival in the surgery-alone group was unusually low. Generally, survival was ameliorated in patients responding to neoadjuvant treatment. However, preoperative chemoradiation was often accompanied by a remarkable increase in postoperative morbidity and mortality. Nonresponding patients have, in this respect, a worse prognosis than responders after resection. The prediction of responding patients to neoadjuvant therapy as well as the early identification of patients who will not respond is of utmost clinical importance. Today, there is no absolute evidence that neoadjuvant treatment for patients with potentially resectable Barretts cancer prolongs survival. In patients with locally advanced, presumably not completely resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, preoperative treatment appears to increase the chance for a curative resection and enhance survival in responding patients. Neoadjuvant treatment of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, as a consequence, is currently not the standard treatment and should be performed only within controlled clinical trials.     

The management of locally advanced (pT4) esophageal carcinoma

Summary Background: The dismal prognosis of patients with an esophageal carcinoma can only be improved by R0 resection. However, this condition is very difficult to be achieved in cases with locally advanced (pT4)-tumors. Methods: This paper reviews the results of diagnostic and neoadjuvant therapeutic modalities in patients with esophageal carcinoma that invades adjacent organs. Results: Endosonography (7,5 and 12 MHz frequencies) is with an accuracy rate of approximately 86% actually the most accurate method for staging esophageal carcinoma. Randomized clinical trials indicate that neoadjuvant radiotherapy does not increase the resection rate or prolong survival (5-year survival rate 9.5 to 16%) compared to surgical resection alone. Data from several series suggest that preoperative cisplatin-based chemotherapy is effective, but it is associated with a high perioperative morbidity (>45%) and mortality (>15%) rate. Neoadjuvant radio-chemotherapy appears to improve the prognosis only in those patients with objective clinical or histopathologic response. Due to a high postoperative mortality, combined resection of the tracheobronchial tree and aorta is considered too invasive and therapeutically not worthwhile. When patients are appropriately selected, a combined pulmonary (including lobectomy), pericard and esophageal resection is a relatively safe procedure. The survival curve seems to be better in these patient groups. Conclusions: Patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma should undergo neoadjuvant treatment. This should be performed on appropriately selected cases and in experienced centers within the context of clinical trials. The available data on the role of neoadjuvant radio-chemotherapy are not conclusive and a recommendation can not yet be given. Multivisceral resection should be performed only if complete tumor resection can be anticipated and only in those patients who respond to neoadjuvant treatment modalities.      

Utilization of multimodal therapy concepts in stomach carcinoma in Germany

INTRODUCTION: In view of disappointing results after surgery alone multimodal therapeutic regimes are used to improve long-term prognosis in locally advanced gastric carcinomas. In presence of many reports about encouraging results ("down staging", improved R0-resection rates) but simultaneously missing evidence of efficiency of neoadjuvant therapies in respect to long-term survival (large randomized multicenter trials do not exist until today) and the herewith related uncertainties, we started an inquiry among many surgical units with the intention to evaluate the clinical practice of multimodal treatment for gastric cancer patients in Germany today. METHODS: In a questionnaire (3/99) we asked among 97 surgical units (41 university hospitals, 56 big community hospitals) in Germany for the management of gastric cancer patients with special interest to practice and state of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapeutic strategies. Further we analyzed all resected gastric cancer patients (1986-1995) without neoadjuvant treatment in advanced stage of disease (pT3/4NxMx; stage III/IV (UICC'92) in respect to R0-resection rate and long-term prognosis (Kaplan-Meier). RESULTS: Overall feedback amounted to 78% (76/97) and was higher in university hospitals (90%) than in big community hospitals (70%). Today, neoadjuvant therapies are of more interest than adjuvant therapeutic regimes. But also neoadjuvant therapy is only used in 32% as a rule (in 16% with, in 16% without study conditions). 25% of all surgical units do not employ any neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced gastric cancer until today. In all other surgical units neoadjuvant treatment is performed more individually and sporadically (43%) only in some patients. Neoadjuvant therapies are practiced by haematooncologists in 50%, gastroenterologists in 32% and surgeons in 27%. The predominant neoadjuvant therapeutic strategy is chemotherapy alone (84%). Many surgical units in Germany are interested to participate in a multicenter trial with more interest in neoadjuvant than adjuvant therapy. 185 of 309 resected gastric cancer patients (60%) were classified as stage IIIa, stage IIIb or stage IV patients. R0-resection rate of these advanced gastric cancer patients amounted to 37%; only 24% of them survived 5 years or more. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the missing evidence that multimodal therapies are able to prolong long-term survival in advanced gastric cancer patients, its use without study conditions is questionable. Conclusions, taken from data of clinical trials regarding carcinomas of the esophagus and esophagealgastric junction, are inconsistent in respect to long-term prognosis and results are not transferable to gastric carcinomas. A prospective randomized multicenter trial in advanced gastric cancer patients is of great importance. Following our data, in Germany a high readiness to participate in the forthcoming EORTC-study is present.     

局部进展期胃癌围手术期治疗的现状与展望

在我国,每年新增的胃癌患者中,局部进展期胃癌（LAGC）占大宗。D 2根治性手术及其术后辅助化疗已取得了普遍的共识,该治疗策略明显改善了LAGC患者的预后,但是术后复发率仍然较高（50%~80%）,致使远期疗效难以进一步提高。围手术期治疗,特别是术前新辅助治疗（NAT）能否提高LAGC疗效,已受到越来越多的关...     

132例胃的胃肠间质瘤治疗及预后分析

目的 探讨胃的胃肠间质瘤（GIST）临床病理特点和治疗及影响预后的因素.方法 回顾性分析1998年1月至2008年12月天津医科大学附属肿瘤医院收治的经手术治疗的132例胃GIST患者的临床病理资料,并比较不同因素对预后的影响.结果 本组患者病变部位：胃底贲门50例（37.9%）,胃体62例（47.0%）,胃窦部13例（9.8%）,占据胃壁两个部位6例（4.5%）,胃弥漫肿物1例（0.8%）;肿瘤平均直径9.4（1.0～27.0）cm.全组患者均行肿瘤完整切除,有41例联合脏器切除,淋巴结清扫34例,未发现转移淋巴结.免疫组织化学染色,CD117阳性率93.2%（123/132）,CD34阳性率82.6%（109/132）.118例获随访患者的1、3、5年生存率分别为94.7%、80.2%和56.6%.单因素分析显示,Fletcher分级、肿瘤大小、肿瘤侵犯其他脏器、转移和口服甲磺酸伊马替尼对生存率有影响（P＜0.05,P＜0.01）;多因素分析显示,Fletcher分级、肿瘤转移、口服甲磺酸伊马替尼是预后的独立影响因素（P＜0.05）.结论 转移是影响胃GIST预后的独立危险因素,Fletcher分级是判断胃GIST生物学行为及预后简单有效的方法;手术是治疗胃GIST的主要方法,靶向治疗能进一步改善胃GIST患者的预后.     

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radical resection with intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT): improved treatment for gastric adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: Adenocarcinoma of the stomach and gastroesophageal junction results in substantial morbidity, locoregional recurrence, and death. Surgical procedures, even with adjuvant therapy, have not significantly improved survival. This study evaluated the toxicity, response rate, locoregional control, and survival of patients with locally advanced gastric cancer that was treated with neoadjuvant multimodality therapy. METHODS: Patients with stage IIIA or early stage IV gastric adenocarcinoma received neoadjuvant 5-fluorouracil, Leucovorin, Adriamycin, and Cisplatin and underwent gastrectomy or esophagogastrectomy with intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT; 1000 cGY) to the gastric bed and postoperative radiation therapy. RESULTS: Nine of 15 patients (60%) with transmural extension and/or nodal metastases received IORT. There were 2 pathologically complete responses at the primary site. Eleven of 15 patients (73%) had tumor in perigastric lymph nodes; however, 9 of 15 patients (60%) had mucin-filled nodes without tumor cells. Neoadjuvant treatment did not increase operative morbidity rates. Ten of 15 patients (67%) remain free of disease (median, 27 months; range, 6-60 months). Five patients died 13 to 41 months (median, 17 months) after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant multimodality therapy with neoadjuvant 5-fluorouracil, Leucovorin, Adriamycin, and Cisplatin, radical resection with IORT, and postoperative radiation therapy is safe, can downstage tumors, provides improved locoregional control, and appears to cause significant tumor regression that may result in long-term survival or cure.     

Magen- und Adenokarzinome des ?sophagogastralen ��bergangs

According to the current European and German S3 guidelines, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is now an integral part of the treatment of locally advanced gastric cancer and adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. Neoadjuvant therapy seeks to achieve downsizing of the primary tumor, lowering of the T and N categories and eradication of micrometastases. As the indications for neoadjuvant treatment are based on pretherapeutic information alone, a sophisticated clinical staging plays a central role. Despite all progress made in the field of diagnostic work-up, clinical staging often fails. Despite this fact, controlled randomized trials showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy enhances the rate of curative (R0) resections and reduces the likelihood of systemic relapse. Overall, survival can be improved by neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The current research is focused on the molecular prediction of response and early response monitoring with functional imaging. New targeted drugs are being integrated into the peri-operative treatment.     

Therapie beim Magenkarzinom

In two randomized trials it was demonstrated that preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy shows a statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement in progression-free and overall survival for adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and stomach when compared with the surgical control arm. The absolute benefit in overall survival was 13% and 14% after 5 years. This benefit is clearly shown for patients with locally advanced tumors but remains debatable in early disease stages. Postoperative mortality and the complication rate were not increased. Based on published study results perioperative chemotherapy has to be regarded as the new standard of care at least for patients staged as uT3/uT4 tumors as defined by endoscopic ultrasound. To date there are no indications for adjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiation after R0 resection and adequate surgery.     

Clinical aspects of multimodality therapy for resectable locoregional esophageal cancer.

Radical resection has been considered the only possible way to save the lives of patients with esophageal cancer. Therefore, tremendous efforts have been made in order to improve the surgical results for resectable locoregional esophageal cancer. Various surgical approaches have been developed. Combination therapies such as neoadjuvant, adjuvant chemotherapy, and neoadjuvant chemoradiation have been extensively investigated in numerous randomized clinical trials. Due to insufficient surgical results and high postoperative mortality rates, definitive chemoradiation has been studied as alternative treatment in selected patients, based on the concept that combined-modality therapy allows simultaneous treatment of locoregional disease and systemic micrometastases. Chemoradiation has shown survival rates equivalent to surgery in some non-randomized comparative studies. Presently, concerns appear to be shifting to the question of whether definitive chemoradiation could be an alternative to surgery in the primary treatment of resectable locoregional esophageal cancer. Recently, 2 randomized trials, comparing definitive chemoradiation with chemoradiation and surgery were published. These trials seem to show at first glance that definitive chemoradiation can achieve results comparable to surgery with neoadjuvant chemoradiation. More sophisticated trials should be conducted as treatment modalities used in these trials are far from routine.     

DOX新辅助化疗方案对进展期食管胃交界部癌和远端胃癌的效果评价

目的探讨DOX方案新辅助化疗在进展期食管胃交界部癌（adenocarcinomaofesopha—gogastricjunction,AEG）及远端胃癌（distalgastriccancer,DGC）治疗中的作用。方法收集2008年10月至2011年3月间确诊的进展期胃癌患者58例,其中食管胃交界部腺癌18例（AEG组）,远端胃癌40例（DGC组）,术前行DOX方案化疗2周期,于化疗后14—21d行手术治疗。结果两组患者均完成术前新辅助化疗,化疗后AEG组CR3例,PR12例,SD3例,PD0例,总有效率为83．3％;DGC组CR2例,PR20例,SD17例,PD1例,总有效率55．0％,两组差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。AEG及GC的R0切除率分别为88．8％及87．5％,差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。两组化疗主要不良反应为粒细胞减少、胃肠道不良反应及外周神经毒性;术后并发症发生率差异无统计学意义（均P〉0．05）。两组1年生存率均为100％;AEG组2年生存率（77．8％）比DGC组（75．0％）亦无统计学差异（均P〉0．05）。结论DOX方案新辅助化疗对食管胃交界部癌较远端胃癌效果更好,缩小肿瘤、降低分期更明显,但远期疗效尚待进一步随访。     

Current Advances and Changes in Treatment Strategy May Improve Survival and Quality of Life in Patients With Potentially Curable Gastric Cancer

Background: The treatment strategy for gastric cancer is determined by the stage of disease. Advances in diagnostic techniques such as endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and in staging have increased the accuracy of pretreatment staging. Correct staging is a prerequisite for the optimal treatment of gastric cancer patients. Long-term expected survival and quality of life (QOL) are the major criteria determining the therapeutic strategy.Results: Surgical resection offers excellent survival rates for early gastric cancer (EGC) patients. D1 resection is sufficient for mucosal cancers (T1m) and for most submucosal cancers (T1sm); however, for the rest (about 5%) of these patients with N2 disease a D2 resection is required for complete tumor resection (R0). Considering QOL, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) or laparoscopic wedge resection is the best frontline therapy for several mucosal cancers. Prediction and selection of node-negative patients with the help of certain macroscopic and histologic criteria can eliminate the possibility for residual disease in perigastric lymph nodes. However, long-term survival data are needed before these new techniques become more generally accepted. In contrast, an aggressive approach is necessary for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Total gastrectomy, with the exception of distal tumors that can be treated by subtotal gastrectomy, is the procedure of choice. Splenectomy is indicated for proximal advanced tumors. Distal pancreatectomy should be avoided, however, because its adverse effect has been documented in all randomized trials. Although the survival benefit of extended (D2) lymphadenectomy is unproven in randomized trials, D2 resection increases the R0 resection rate and may improve survival in some selected nodepositive patients. D2 resection has little effect on preventing peritoneal tumor spread and liver metastasis, and the traditional late administration of chemotherapeutic drugs has been proven ineffective. Current data suggest a possible beneficial effect of combined treatment for patients with local advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). Ongoing phase III randomized trials will prove whether patients with LAGC treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus D2 resection versus surgery alone or surgery plus intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy derive any benefit from these combined treatment modalities.Conclusion: Evaluation of all information concerning tumor stage, location, histologic type, expected survival, and QOL after resection is of paramount importance for the surgeon planning the extent of surgery. The therapeutic approach should be stratified according to the stage of disease.