Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine increases after spinal instrumentation surgery

We investigated the effects of instrumentation on postoperative inflammatory reaction and identified standard changes in serum cytokine concentrations after spinal surgery. Pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8] and anti-inflammatory cytokines [IL-10, IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra), and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors (sTNF-R) I and II] were assayed in serum from seven patients with lumbar spinal posterior decompression, six with spinal decompression and posterolateral fusion without instrumentation and seven with spinal decompression and posterolateral fusion with instrumentation. All cytokines after spinal instrumentation increased significantly more than in other groups on postoperative days 0 and 1. Seven days after SI, IL-6, -8, and -10 had normalized, but IL-1ra and sTNF-RI and sTNF-RII remained elevated. Both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were enhanced by implants in the acute phase, whereas only anti-inflammatory cytokines were enhanced by instruments in the subacute phase.     

Preoperative concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed by surgery for esophageal cancer.

Currently, the most promising strategy to improve the prognosis of advanced esophageal cancer is preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) followed by surgery. The superiority of CRT over radiation therapy alone has been demonstrated by several randomized studies. Many phase II studies of CRT followed by surgery have shown that the pathologic complete response (CR) rate ranges from 17 to 40%, and the median survival time (MST) is 12 to 31.3 months. Five randomized trials have compared preoperative CRT followed by surgery with surgery alone for resectable esophageal cancer, and four of them did not find any significant survival benefit for the combined treatment group. There are several issues in interpreting these findings, such as the quality of the surgery, the accuracy of the preoperative staging, the statistical power and design of the trials. Until comprehensive evaluation can be done, the standard therapy for resectable esophageal cancer should be considered to be surgery alone. The histological response in the resected specimen correlates well with the prognosis. Patients with pathologic CR display significantly better survival than those with microscopic residual cancer cells in the resected specimens. These findings suggest that more potent regimens leading to higher pathologic CR rates should improve the prognosis. Chemotherapy or radiation therapy sensitivity testing needs to be established. If accurate prediction of the response is possible prior to therapy, non-responders can be excluded. Cell cycle-related genes, apoptosis-related genes, and drug metabolizing genes have been investigated in many pilot studies and need to be evaluated by large-scale clinical studies. At present, pathologic CR can not be accurately diagnosed before surgery. Endoscopic biopsy is also unreliable for the diagnosis. In the future, new diagnostic tools such as positron emission tomography scanning, a sensitivity test or molecular markers may enable accurate diagnosis of pathologic CR to guide the choice of treatment strategies for individual patients.     

Preoperative chemotherapy for lung cancer does not increase surgical morbidity

BACKGROUND: Preoperative chemotherapy (C+S) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has increased in an attempt to improve survival. Patients receiving C+S potentially may have an increase in postoperative morbidity and mortality compared with surgery alone (S). We reviewed our experience with C+S and S in a tertiary referral center. METHODS: Three hundred eighty consecutive patients underwent lobectomy or greater resection for NSCLC between August 1, 1996, and April 30, 1999: 335 patients (259 S; 76 C+S) were analyzed; 45 additional patients were excluded for prior NSCLC, other chemotherapy for other malignancy, or radiation. We compared morbidity and mortality overall, and by subset analysis (clinical stage, pathological stage, procedure, and by protocol use) for both C+S and S patients. RESULTS: Demographics, comorbidities, and spirometry were similar. We noted no significant difference in overall or subset mortality or morbidity including pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, reintubation, tracheostomy, wound complications, or length of hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: C+S did not significantly affect morbidity or mortality overall, based on clinical stage, postoperative stage, or extent of resection. The potential for enhanced survival in resectable NSCLC justifies continued study of C+S.     

Preoperative and adjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

The continued favorable results with surgery in early stage lung cancer have led many investigators to use radiation and chemotherapy to reduce the size of unresectable tumors either before or after definitive surgery. Although earlier results with both radiation and chemotherapy have been poor, the newer cisplatin-containing combination chemotherapy regimens have yielded decreased local recurrence rates when used postoperatively following a complete resection and have produced increased complete resection rates when given preoperatively to patients with locally advanced and unresectable non-small cell lung cancer at diagnosis.     

Preoperative chemotherapy and irradiation for stage III non-small cell lung cancer

Surgical therapy for stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not resulted in substantial long-term survival. Neoadjuvant treatment programs that could down-stage the tumor and achieve increased long-term survival would be of obvious benefit. We have used preoperative simultaneous chemotherapy and irradiation in 85 patients with clinical stage III non-small cell lung cancer considered candidates for surgical resection. One group of 56 patients was treated with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and simultaneous irradiation for five days every other week for a total of four cycles. After treatment, 39 patients underwent resection, and the operative mortality was 2 (5%) of 39. A second trial was undertaken in which etoposide (VP-16) was added because of its synergism with cisplatin. In this group, 29 patients were considered to have potentially resectable disease, and 23 underwent thoracotomy with 1 operative death (4%). Of the total of 62 patients having thoracotomy, 60 underwent resection (97%). Complications were major, and there were four bronchopleural fistulas. For the 85 patients eligible for surgical intervention in these two groups of patients, the Kaplan-Meier median survival estimate is 40% at 3 years. The median survival of the 62 patients having thoracotomy is 36.6 months. Combination preoperative chemotherapy and irradiation is feasible with acceptable toxicity and operative mortality in patients with clinical stage III non-small cell lung cancer. Prospective randomized studies are suggested for further evaluation of this treatment program.     

Preoperative hepatic and regional arterial chemotherapy in the prevention of liver metastasis after colorectal cancer surgery

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether preoperative hepatic and regional arterial chemotherapy is able to prevent liver metastasis and improve overall survival in patients receiving curative colorectal cancer resection. METHODS: Patients with stage II or stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) were randomly assigned to receive preoperative hepatic and regional arterial chemotherapy (PHRAC group, n = 110) or surgery alone (control group, n = 112). The primary endpoint was disease-free survival, whereas the secondary endpoints included liver metastasis-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in overall morbidity between PHRAC and Control groups. During the follow-up period (median, 36 months), the median liver metastasis time for patients with stage III CRC was significantly longer in the PHRAC group (16 +/- 3 months vs. 8 +/- 1 months, P = 0.01). In stage III patients, there was also significant difference between the 2 groups with regard to the incidence of liver metastasis (20.6% vs. 28.3%, P = 0.03), 3-year disease-free survival (74.6% vs. 58.1%, P = 0.0096), 3-year overall survival (87.7% vs. 75.7%, P = 0.020), and the median survival time (40.1 +/- 4.6 months vs. 36.3 +/- 3.2 months, P = 0.03). In the PHRAC arm, the risk ratio of recurrence was 0.61 (95% CI, 0.51-0.79, P = 0.0002), of death was 0.51 (95% CI, 0.32-0.67; P = 0.009), and of liver metastasis was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.52-0.86; P = 0.02). In contrast, PHRAC seemed to be no benefit for stage II patients. Toxicities, such as hepatic toxicity and leukocyte decreasing, were mild and could be cured with medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative hepatic and regional arterial chemotherapy, in combination with surgical resection, could be able to reduce and delay the occurrence of liver metastasis and therefore improve survival rate in patients with stage III colorectal cancer.     

结直肠癌术前经肝动脉联合区域动脉灌注化疗的安全性评价

目的 评价术前肝动脉联合区域动脉灌注化疗预防结直肠癌根治术后肝转移的安全性.方法 2001-2007年收治的Ⅱ期和Ⅲ期结直肠癌患者随机分成术前肝动脉联合区域动脉灌注化疗组(介入组,n=256)和对照组(n=253).对两组围手术期的血常规、肝功能、免疫指标、并发症情况等进行评价.结果 介入组介入术后7天(手术前)Ⅲ级肝功能异常、白细胞减少、贫血和血小板减少发生率分别为3.1%(8/256)、5.5%(14/256)、7.4%(19/256)、6.6%(17/256),无Ⅳ级毒副反应,全组均顺利接受手术.介入组和对照组手术后并发症发生率分别为9.8%(25/256)及8.3%(21/253)(X2=1.86,P＞0.05).截至2007年10月,所有患者均接受了随访,平均随访时间42±14个月.介入组和对照组Ⅲ期患者5年总生存率分别为81.0%:60.4%(X2=5.15,P＜0.05)、5年肝转移率分别为18.9%(28/148):27.3%(41/150)(X2=5.41,P＜0.05),Ⅱ期患者肝功能异常、白细胞减少、贫血和血小板减少和免疫指标、并发症情况等两组无差异.结论 术前肝动脉联合区域动脉灌注化疗对结直肠癌手术影响较小,不增加术后并发症的发生,而且可显著降低Ⅲ期结直肠癌术后肝转移发生率,延长患者生存期.     

Preoperative chemotherapy for cStage III-pN0 patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Objectives: Survival benefits with preoperative chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain controversial. Preoperative chemotherapy may act on micrometastasis but not lymph node metastasis. To clarify the role of induction chemotherapy for control of micrometastasis, we reviewed and compared 5-year follow-ups of clinical stage III but pathologically-proven node-negative NSCLC patients after complete resection with or without preoperative chemotherapy. Methods: We reviewed 148 consecutive patients who underwent anatomical lung resection and mediastinal nodal dissection for pathologically-proven node-negative NSCLC at our hospital between 1994 and 1999. Fifty-six patients were preoperatively diagnosed as stage III: 26 received platinum-based chemotherapy prior to surgery (PCT group) and 30 underwent surgery without any prior chemotherapy (PRS group). Results: The 5-year survival rate for clinical stage I/II and pathological node-negative patients was 74.9%; for clinical stage III, but for pathological node-negative patients it was 92.3% in the PCT and 63.3% in the PRS groups. The survival benefit of preoperative chemotherapy was significant for clinical stage III patients without node involvement. Conclusion: Preoperative chemotherapy may provide survival benefits for node-negative NSCLC patients.     

应用5A护理模式提高肺癌术后化疗患者自我效能

目的探讨应用5A护理模式提高肺癌术后化疗患者自我效能的作用。方法选取肺癌术后进行化疗的112例患者为研究对象,随机分为对照组和干预组各56例,对照组采用常规治疗和护理方法,干预组在常规治疗和护理的基础上,应用5A护理模式对患者进行干预,运用一般自我效能感量表比较两组患者自我效能的情况。结果采用5A护理模式干预3个月和6个月的肺癌术后化疗患者自我效能得分显著高于采用常规护理方法的患者(均P0.05)。结论基于5A护理模式的护理干预方法能提高肺癌术后化疗患者的自我效能。     

Systemic cytokine response after major surgery.

The systemic cytokine response to major surgical trauma was studied in 20 patients undergoing elective aortic surgery and five patients after inguinal hernia repair. Tumour necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma were not detected in these patients. An early and short-lived interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) response to major surgery was detected only by intensive sampling in the perioperative period. The IL-1 beta peak preceded a more marked interleukin 6 (IL-6) response that peaked 4-48 h after surgery. IL-6 levels had fallen sharply by 48-72 h in all patients who had an uneventful postoperative course. The IL-6 peaks were significantly lower after hernia surgery than after major aortic operations (P < 0.001); IL-1 beta was not detected in any samples. Three patients undergoing aortic surgery developed unexpected major postoperative complications. IL-6 levels in this group were significantly higher than those of the other patients undergoing aortic surgery within 6-8 h of skin incision, and remained elevated for longer. These rises in plasma IL-6 levels preceded the clinical onset of major complications by 12-48 h. The systemic IL-1 beta and IL-6 response to surgical trauma increased with the severity of the surgical insult. An early, exaggerated IL-6 response was associated with the subsequent clinical development of major complications.     

Preoperative assessment of myocardial ischemia in thoracic surgery for lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Morbidity of myocardial ischemia in the thoracic surgery for lung cancer has been reported in the literatures, although, the risk of myocardial ischemia is not well identified preoperatively. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of severe coronary stenosis in the thoracic surgery for lung cancer. METHODS: From January 2004 to December 2006, data were collected concerning 175 consecutive patients underwent lung resection for lung cancer. Prior to the surgery, we performed coronary angiography on the patients with either ischemic change in the exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) testing or comorbid conditions (current or previous smoking, hypertention, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia or history of chest pain). RESULTS: Fifty-eight (33%) patients underwent coronary angiography. Coronary stenosis was detected in 19 patients (10.9%), including 6 patients (3.4%) with severe stenosis. These 6 patients received percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting prior to the lung resection, which resulted in no incidence of perioperative myocardial ischemia. Three of 6 patients with severe stenosis were negative for ischemic changes in exercise ECG testing. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of severe coronary stenosis is 3.4%, which is supposed to indicate the risk of perioperative myocardial ischemia in the thoracic surgery for lung cancer.     

Preoperative chemotherapy and sentinel lymphadenectomy for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymphadenectomy (SL) for breast cancer is becoming the standard of care for selected patients treated by experienced surgeons. One of the few contraindications for performing SL alone is prior chemotherapy (PC). There are, however, no data to support that PC interferes with the ability of the sentinel node to predict the presence of disease in the remaining axillary lymph nodes. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of PC on patients undergoing SL for breast cancer. METHODS: A multicenter trial was organized in 1997 to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of SL in patients with breast cancer. Investigators were recruited after attending a course on the technique of SL. Technetium-99 and isosulfan blue were injected into the peritumor region and a gamma probe was used to aid identification of the sentinel nodes. The only exclusion criteria for entrance into the trial were palpable or suspicious axillary lymph nodes. A total of 968 patients were enrolled in the trial. Twenty-nine patients were treated with PC and compared with 939 patients not receiving PC. RESULTS: The overall, sentinel node identification rate for the PC patients was 93% (27 of 29) compared with 88% (822 of 939) for patients not treated with PC. There were no false negatives in those patients receiving PC compared with a 13% (25 of 193) false negative rate in those patients not receiving PC. The mean tumor size was 1.4 cm for the PC group and 0.6 cm for the remaining patients (P <0.005). The mean number of sentinel nodes found was 2.0 for the non-PC group and 2.5 for the PC group (not significant). As expected, a higher proportion of patients had positive axillary nodes in the PC group (52%, 15 of 29) compared with the remaining patients (21%, 200 of 939). CONCLUSION: In this small group of patients, PC did not adversely impact the false negative or identification rate. Most patients receiving chemotherapy have larger tumors and a higher chance of harboring metastatic disease but a significant group of these patients (48%) without metastases can potentially be spared an axillary node dissection.     

Preoperative lymphocyte subsets and infectious complications after colorectal cancer surgery

Peripheral lymphocytes, T cells, and T cell subsets of 141 consecutive patients with colorectal cancer were measured preoperatively to determine whether infectious complications could be predicted from derangements of T cell subsets. T cell subset abnormalities reportedly precede sepsis in patients with burn injuries. All patients received preoperative bowel preparation with laxatives, enemas, oral neomycin and erythromycin base, and intravenous cefazolin. Eighteen (13%) of the 141 patients had infectious complications and these complications accounted for two deaths. The variables of age, sex, tumor location, admission hematocrit, white blood count, lymphocytes, T cells (Leu-1), helper cells (Leu-3), suppressor cells (Leu-2), natural killer cells (Leu-7), operative blood loss, procedure, specimen length, duration of surgery, tumor size, tumor differentiation, nodal status, and Dukes' staging were not significantly (p greater than 0.05) related to the development of infectious complications. These results indicate that preoperative evaluation of T cell subsets in patients with colorectal cancer is not useful for predicting postoperative septic complications.     

Preoperative chemotherapy for unresectable gastric cancer

Even with extended surgery, including systematic lymphadenectomy of the lymph node compartment II, only half of the patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC), which comprises stages IIIA, IIIB, and IV, undergo a macroscopic and microscopic tumor-free resection (i.e., R0 resection, according to UICC 1987/AICC 1988). An improvement of this situation is best accomplished by preoperative treatment modalities to increase the R0 resection rate and by preoperative and postoperative treatment to reduce local recurrences and distant metastases. For LAGC, which includes approximately two-thirds of patients with locoregionally confined tumors, preoperative chemotherapy (CTx) represents a promising approach. Among a group of patients with surgically or clinically staged unresectable LAGC, approximately half underwent R0 resection after down-staging induced by active modern CTx. The long-term survival of these patients seems to be improved. Even in patients who had primarily unresectable tumors as defined by an explorative laparotomy, the long-term survival was about 20% after preoperative CTx and subsequent surgery. Based on these experiences, randomized trials investigating preoperative CTx versus surgery alone are clearly needed to define whether such an approach has an impact on R0 resection rates and survival of patients with LAGC. Preconditions for such trials are clinical staging procedures, including endoscopic ultrasonography (T category) and surgical laparoscopy plus lavage (excluding peritoneal carcinomatosis), and a standardized surgical procedure.

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Resumen Aun con cirugía extensa que incluya la linfadenectomía sistemática de los ganglios del compartimiento II, en sólo la mitad de los pacientes con cáncer gástrico localmente avanzado (CGLA) que comprende los estados IIIA/IIIB/IV, se logra una resección macrosópica y microscópica libre de tumor, o sea RO según la UICC 1987/AICC 1988. Lo anterior puede ser superado, en el mejor de los casos, mediante terapia preoperatoria orientada a incrementar la tasa de resección RO y mediante tratamiento preoperatorio/postoperatorio orientado a reducir las tasas de recurrencia local y de metástasis distantes. Para el CGLA, que incluye aproximadamente 2/3 partes de los pacientes con tumores confinados local-regionalmente, la quimioterapia preoperatoria (CTx) representa un aproche promisorio. En el CGLA definido clinica o quirúrgicamente como no resecable, aproximadamente la mitad de los pacientes pudieron ser sometidos a resección RO en virtud de su mejoría mediante moderna CTx. La sobrevida a largo plazo de estos pacientes parece ser mejor. Aun en los pacientes que tenían tumores primariamente no rescables según hallazgos en la laparotomía exploratoria, la sobrevida a largo plazo fue de alrededor de 20% después de CTx preoperatoria y cirugía subsiguiente. Con base en estas experiencias, los ensayos randomizados que investigan la CTx preoperatoria versus la cirugía sola aparecen como una clara necesidad para definir si tal aproche efectivamente logra un impacto sobre las tasas de resección R0 y sobre la sobrevida de los pacientes con CGLA. Las condiciones para realizar tales ensayos incluyen los procedimientos de estadificación como la ultrasonografia endoscópica (para categorizar T) y la laparoscópica quirúrgica — lavado (para excluir carcinomatosis peritoneal) y un procedimiento quirúrgico estandarizado.

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Résumé Même lorsque l'on réalise une lymphadénecomie étendue systématique du compartiment II, seulement 50% des patients ayant un cancer gastrique local (CGL) de stades IIIA/IIIB/IV auront en fait une résection sans laisser de tumeur macroscopique ou microscopique (e'est à dire RO selon l'UICC 1987/AICC 1988). Une amélioration de cette situation est à espérer si l'on arrive à réaliser un traitement préopératoire capable d'augmenter le nombre de résections RO et à réaliser un traitement pré- et postopératoire efficace dans la réduction des réidives locales et à distance. En ce qui concerne les CGL, représentant environ deux-tiers des patients ayant des tumeurs sans invasion à distance, la chimiothérapie préopératoire semble pleine de promesses. Chez les patients ayant une tumeur évaluée comme non résécable soit chirurgicalement soit cliniquement, à peu près la moitié semblent pouvoir avoir une résection évaluée RO après une amélioration du stade grâce à une chimiothérapie active moderne. La survie à long terme de ces patients semble améliorée. Même chez les patients ayant une tumeur gastrique considérée comme non résecable par une laparotomie exploratrice en premier lieu, ont eu une survie de 20% après une telle chimiothérapie suivie de chirurgie. Basés sur ces données, on a besoin d'essais thérapeutiques randomisés comparant la chimiothérapie préopératoire et la chirurgie seule pour définir si une telle attitude a récllement un impact sur le taux de résection RO et la survie chez le patient ayant une CGL. Les conditions préalables d'un tel essai comportent un moyen valable de faire le bilan préopératoire exact avec notamment un bilan échoendoscopique pour la catégorie (T) et une laparoscopie avec lavage (pour exclure la carcinose) ainsi qu'un procédé chirurgical standardisé.

     

Smoking affects prognosis after lung cancer surgery

Purpose To study the effects of smoking on the postoperative outcome of lung cancer surgery. Methods The subjects were 571 patients who underwent surgery for primary lung cancer. The patients were divided into the following groups according to their smoking history: a nonsmoker group (n = 218), a former smoker group (n = 140), and a current smoker group (n = 213). Results The 5-year survival rates were 56.2%, 40.9%, and 34.0% in the nonsmoker, former smoker, and current smoker groups, respectively. These differences were significant. According to a multivariable analysis, smoking was a significant factor affecting the postoperative prognosis of patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer. In analyzing the causes of death, there were more deaths caused by other diseases such as multiple organ cancer, respiratory disorder, cardiovascular disease, and surgery-related events in the former smoker and current smoker groups than in the nonsmoker group. Conclusions Smoking was significantly predictive of a poor prognosis after lung cancer surgery.     

Preoperative chemotherapy with and without additional radiochemotherapy: benefit and risk for surgery of stage III non-small cell lung cancer

Objective: Multi-modality approaches are increasingly employed to improve prognosis in surgically treated stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Risk and benefit of the preoperative therapeutic chemotherapy or combined radiochemotherapy on surgical morbidity and mortality are still a matter of debate. Methods: In 1995, a national phase III trial was started to compare (arm A) preoperative chemotherapy followed by twice-daily chemoradiation and consecutive surgery, with (arm B) preoperative chemotherapy alone followed by surgery and consecutive radiotherapy. An interim analysis with 277 patients was performed to assess surgical risk and complication rates. Results: Of the 385 patients, 273 (71%) underwent thoracotomy, 130 (73%) in arm A and 143 (69%) in arm B. Of the 273 patients undergoing thoracotomy, 168 had stage IIIB disease. Complete resection (R0) was achieved in 212 patients (78%), 104 in arm A (80%) and 108 in arm B (76%) (P=n.s.). There was no difference in the proportion of complex resections between treatment arms (41% in arm A; 48% in arm B). Whilst bronchial stump insufficiency (3.8 vs 2.1%) and bleeding requiring re-thoracotomy (1.5 vs 0.7%) prevailed slightly in arm A, the occurrence of pneumonia divided similar on both treatment arms (4.6 vs 4.9%). Surgical mortality reached 6.1% in arm A (8/130) and 5.6% in arm B (6/143) (P=n.s.). Conclusions: In both treatment arms, a similar percentage of patients could be forwarded to surgery, even in stage IIIB disease. Bimodality induction seems to be superior with regard to resection rates (R0) (n.s.), but was associated with a higher complication rate, especially bronchial stump insufficiency.