Classification of follicular cell tumors of the thyroid gland: Analysis involving Japanese patients from one institute

Prognostic analyses of thyroid carcinomas of follicular cell origin were carried out on patients treated at Kuma Hospital, Kobe, Japan. A new histopathological classification based on the prognostic evidence is proposed in this study, and it is applicable to the patients treated curatively. Major histological types of papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma and poorly differentiated carcinoma were combined into one single entity of follicular cell adenocarcinoma because (i) they have the same cell origin (follicular cell); (ii) clear-cut separation of papillary and follicular carcinoma is not always possible, and 10 year cause-specific survival was essentially similar when the patients were treated curatively; and (iii) poorly differentiated carcinoma usually has a background of either papillary or follicular carcinoma. This adenocarcinoma together with undifferentiated carcinoma was stratified into four prognostic groups using pure morphological criteria of the degree of cellular differentiation and histological grade. They are termed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, poorly differentiated carcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma of the thyroid. The 10 year disease-free survival rates were 86.3–93.1%, 65.4–78.7%, and 43.0–53.8%, and 0%, respectively. The 10 year cause-specific survival rates were 97.2–100%, 91.5–97.4%, and 71.2–80.0%, and 0%, respectively.     

Rethinking TNM: A Breast Cancer Classification to Guide to Treatment and Facilitate Research

Abstract:  The TNM_UICC classification of breast cancer categorizes tumor size, regional lymph node involvement, and distant metastases. Treatment is influenced by these characteristics, but requires knowledge of several other factors. In fact, effective treatment is dependent on disease extent, hormone receptor status, and other biologic characteristics of the cancer. We propose a new classification [tumor node metastasis (TNM)] that not only includes relevant biologic characteristics and can expand to include others as they are validated but also specifies tumor size exactly (T2.3 indicates a cancer of maximum diameter 2.3 cm), provides more information on regional lymph node involvement, and specifies the site(s) of distant metastases. We also propose abolishing the term "carcinoma" for non-invasive neoplastic conditions and the term "infiltrating" for carcinomas. The new classification is sufficiently similar to the TNM_UICC classification to permit valid comparison of patients classified by both systems, but is more logical, provides information useful for guiding therapy, and is flexible enough to satisfy present and future clinical and research needs.     

Preoperative evaluation of patients with liver cirrhosis undergoing open heart surgery

Objective  Clinical outcomes after open heart surgery in patients with liver cirrhosis are not satisfactory. For evaluating hepatic function, the Child-Pugh classification has been widely used. It has been reported that open heart surgery can be performed safely in patients with mild liver cirrhosis. In this study, we examined the clinical outcomes after open heart surgery in patients with liver cirrhosis and evaluated the usefulness of the Child-Pugh classification. Methods  There were 12 liver cirrhosis patients who underwent open heart surgery between January 2002 and December 2006 at our institution. The severity of cirrhosis was graded according to the Child-Pugh classification. We reviewed clinical outcomes, such as postoperative mortality and morbidity, and tried to determine the risk factors. Finally, we assessed the usefulness of the Child-Pugh classification. Results  Six patients were classified as having Child class A, and the other six patients were classified as B. The overall mortality of group A was 50%, and that of group B was 17%. Postoperative major morbidities occurred in half of the patients of Child class A and in all of the patients of Child class B. Patients who experienced major morbidities had markedly lower levels of serum cholinesterase (106 ± 46 vs. 199 ± 72 IU/l; P = 0.02) and lower platelet level (7.5 ± 2.9 vs. 11.9 ± 3.6 × 104/μl; P = 0.04). Conclusion  The mortality and morbidity rates were high even in the Child class A patients. The Child classification may be an insufficient method for evaluating hepatic function. We have to assess other factors, such as the serum cholinesterase level or the platelet count.     

Predictive value of RIFLE classification on prognosis of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury treated with continuous renal replacement therapy

Background The optimal timing to start continuous renal replacement therapy （CRRT） for acute kidney injury （AKI） patients has not been accurately established. The recently proposed risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage kidney disease （RIFLE） criteria for diagnosis and classification of AKI may provide a method for clinicians to decide the ＂optimal timing＂ for starting CRRT under uniform guidelines. The present study aimed： （1） to analyze the correlation between RIFLE stage at the start of CRRT and 90-day survival rate after CRRT start, （2） to further investigate the correlation of RIFLE stage with the malignant kidney outcome in the 90-day survivors, and （3） to determine the influence of the timing of CRRT defined by RIFLE classification on the 90-day survival and malignant kidney outcome in 90-day survivors.
Methods A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on the data of 106 critically ill patients with AKI, treated with CRRT during a 6-year period in a university affiliated surgical intensive care unit （SICU）. Information such as sex, age, RIFLE stage, sepsis, sepsis-related organ failure assessment （SOFA） score, number of organ failures before CRRT, CRRT time during SICU, survival, and kidney outcome conditions at 90 days after CRRT start was collected. According to their baseline severity of AKI at the start of CRRT, the patients were assigned to three groups according to the increasing severity of RIFLE stages： RIFLE-R （risk of renal dysfunction, R）, RIFLE-I （injury to the kidney, I） and RIFLE-F （failure of kidney function, F） using RIFLE criteria. The malignant kidney outcome was classified as RIFLE-L （loss of kidney function L） or RIFLE-E （end-stage kidney disease, E） using RIFLE criteria. The correlation between RIFLE stage and 90-day survival rate was analyzed among these three RIFLE-categorized groups. Additionally, the association between RIFLE stage and the malignant kidney outcome （RIFLE-L＋RIFLF-E） in the 90-day survivors was analyzed.Results Fifty-three of the overall 106 patients survived to 90 days after the start of CRRT. There were 16, 22 and 68 patients in RIFLE-R, RIFLE-I and RIFLE-F groups respectively with corresponding 90-day survival rate of 75.0% （12/16）, 63.6% （14/22） and 39.7% （27/68） （P 〈0.01, compared among groups）. The percentage of the malignant kidney outcome of 90-day survivors in the RIFLE-R, RIFLE-I, and RIFLE-F groups was 16.7% （2/12）, 21.4% （3/14） and 55.6% （15/27）,respectively （P for trend 〈0.01）. After adjustment for other baseline risk factors, the relative risk （RR） for the 90-day mortality significantly increased with baseline RIFLE stage. Patients in RIFLE-F had a higher RR of 1.96 （95% confidence interval （C/）： 1.06-3.62） than patients in RIFLE-I （RR： 1.09, 95% CI： 0.55-2.15） compared with patients in RIFLE-R （P for trend 〈0.01）. Similarly, baseline RIFLE stage also significantly correlated with the odds ratio （OR） for the malignant kidney outcome in 90-day survivors （P for trend 〈0.05）. Ninety-day survivors in the RIFLE-F group had a borderline significantly highest OR of 6.88 （95% CI： 0.85-55.67）.
Conclusions The RIFLE classification may be used to predict 90-day survival after starting CRRT and the malignant kidney outcome of 90-day survivors in the critically ill patients with AKI treated with CRRT. Starting CRRT prior to RIFLE-F stage may be the optimal timing. Prospective, multi-center, randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm its predictive value in these patients.