Application of uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for segmentectomy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: A narrative review.

Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (UVATS) segmentectomy has emerged as an effective approach for managing early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to conventional open and thoracoscopic surgeries, this minimally invasive surgical technique offers multiple benefits, including reduced postoperative discomfort, shorter hospital stays, expedited recovery, fewer complications, and superior cosmetic outcomes. Particularly advantageous in preserving lung function, UVATS segmentectomy is a compelling option for patients with compromised lung capabilities or limited pulmonary reserve. Notably, it demonstrates promising oncological results in early-stage NSCLC, with long-term survival rates comparable to those of lobectomies. Skilled thoracic surgeons can ensure a safe and effective execution of UVATS despite the potential technical challenges posed by complex tumor locations that may hinder visibility and maneuverability within the thoracic cavity. This study provided a comprehensive review of the literature and existing studies on UVATS segmentectomies. It delves into the evolution of the technique, its current applications, and the balance between its benefits and limitations. This discussion extends the technical considerations, challenges, and prospects of UVATS segmentectomy. Furthermore, it aimed to update advancements in segmentectomy for treating early-stage NSCLC, offering in-depth insights to thoracic surgeons to inform more scientifically grounded and patient-specific surgical decisions.

Comparison of microwave ablation and partial nephrectomy for T1a small renal masses.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the oncological and renal function outcomes of microwave ablation (MWA) compared to partial nephrectomy (PN) in two small renal mass (SRM) tumor size cohorts, <3 cm and 3-4 cm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included retrospective data from 2009 to 2015 and prospective data since 2015 from a single-institution database. Patient demographics, renal mass characteristics, and treatment outcomes were collected. Survival curves and hazard analysis were used to assess oncological outcomes. Changes in eGFR and CKD stage following surgery were used to assess renal function outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 80 PN and 126 MWA patients were analyzed. Median age and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of MWA patients were greater than PN for each tumor size cohort. Cumulative progression free survival at 36-months was 91% for MWA and 90% for PN. Preoperative renal function was significantly lower in patients undergoing MWA for both tumor sizes, however there was no significant difference in the postoperative change in renal function between MWA and PN for tumors up to 4 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Oncological outcomes and renal preservation were comparable between MWA and PN cohorts for SRMs <3cm and 3-4cm despite the MWA cohort being older and having more comorbidities. Our findings suggest that MWA can be used as a safe and effective alternative to PN for T1a renal tumors up to 4 cm.

Microwave ablation of the T1a small renal mass: expanding beyond 3 cm.

PURPOSE: To compare the oncological and renal function outcomes for patients receiving microwave ablation (MWA) in tumors < 3 and 3-4 cm. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database identified patients with < 3 or 3-4 cm renal cancers undergoing MWA. Radiographic follow-up occurred at approximately 6 months post-procedure and annually thereafter. Serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were calculated before and 6-months post-MWA. Local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Tumor size was evaluated as a prognostic factor using Cox proportional-hazards regression. Predictors for change in eGFR and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage were modeled using linear and ordinal logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 126 patients fit the inclusion criteria. Overall recurrences were 2/62 (3.2%) and 6/64 (9.4%) for < 3 versus 3-4 cm. Both recurrences in the < 3 cm group were local, 4/6 in the 3-4 cm group were local and 2/6 were metastatic without local progression. For < 3 versus 3-4 cm, cumulative LRFS at 36 months was 94.6% versus 91.4%. Tumor size was not a significant prognostic factor for LRFS. Renal function did not change significantly after MWA. Patient comorbidities and RENAL nephrometry score significantly affected change in CKD. CONCLUSION: With comparable oncological outcomes, complication rates, and renal function preservation, MWA is a promising management strategy for renal masses of 3-4 cm in select patients. Our findings suggest that current AUA guidelines, which recommend thermal ablation for tumors < 3 cm, may need review to include T1a tumors for MWA, regardless of size.

Antibody-drug conjugate monotherapy refines the oncological efficacy as compared to therapy of physicians' choices in advanced breast cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) is an emerging therapy that bestows advanced breast tumors with encouraging clinical activity and manageable toxicity; however, the outcomes of phase 2/3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are heterogeneous. Our study aims to assess the clinical utilities [i.e., objective response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS)], and treatment-related adverse events (AEs) of ADC monotherapy (defined as the study cohort) versus the therapy of physician's choice (TPC) (defined as the control cohort) in participants with advanced breast tumors. Methods: We conducted a computerized retrieval to identify RCTs from MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase databases, and ClinicalTrials.gov until April 4th, 2023. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed in duplicate. Results: A total of 10 RCTs were involved, with 5,089 unique patients. A binary random-effect model Mantel-Haenszel method was employed to pool data due to the considerable heterogeneity. The primary outcome measure was odds ratio (OR) with the corresponding 95% confidential interval (CI) of ORR and CBR. The secondary outcome measure represented hazard ratio (HR) of PFS and OS and OR of the frequency of any grade/grade ≥3 AEs. The pooled results showed an insignificant difference of ORR (OR =1.64; 95% CI: 0.86-3.13; P=0.136) and CBR (OR =1.43; 95% CI: 0.89-2.31; P=0.142) in the study cohort than the control cohort. The pooled effect on PFS (HR =0.62; 95% CI: 0.50-0.74; P<0.001) and on OS (HR =0.70; 95% CI: 0.57-0.83; P<0.001) both indicated a significant superiority of the study cohort. The frequency of any grade AEs (OR =1.03; 95% CI: 0.75-1.41; P=0.849) and that of grade ≥3 AEs (OR =0.83; 95% CI: 0.57-1.21; P=0.342) were both observed a nonsignificant difference between the cohorts. These domains, i.e., allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, and blinding of outcome assessment, had the high risk of bias over 50%. Conclusions: Compared to physician's choice, ADC monotherapy overall confirms a considerable refinement in survival benefits plus a similar safety profile in advanced breast tumors.

Surgical and oncological efficacy of laparoscopic-assisted total gastrectomy versus open total gastrectomy for gastric cancer by propensity score matching: a retrospective comparative study.

PURPOSE: The application of laparoscopic-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) for resectable gastric cancer (GC) remains controversial compared with open total gastrectomy (OTG), especially for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients according to the inconsistent results demonstrated in the previous studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term and long-term outcomes between LATG and OTG in a population with more than 80% AGC patients by applying propensity score matching (PSM) method. METHODS: The data of 365 clinical stage I-III GC cases who underwent total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy were retrospectively collected from January 2011 to April 2018 in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery IV of Peking University Cancer Hospital. Propensity scores were generated through taking all covariates into consideration and 131 pairs of patients receiving either LATG or OTG were matched. Intraoperative, postoperative, and survival parameters were compared in the matched groups accordingly. Risk factors for postoperative complications and overall survival were further analyzed. RESULTS: Patient characteristics in the LATG and OTG groups were well balanced after PSM. LATG showed advantages with respect to shorter time to ambulation, first flatus, and first whole liquid diet intake. No significant differences were found between the two groups with regard to postoperative complications as well as overall survival in terms of different pathological stage. Older age was found as an independent risk factor for postoperative complications, and pathological stage for overall survival as well. CONCLUSION: LATG appears to have comparable surgical and oncological safety with OTG by experienced surgeons.

Comparison of the Oncological Efficacy Between Intraoperative Radiotherapy With Whole-Breast Irradiation for Early Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) and whole-breast irradiation (WBI) are both effective radiotherapeutic interventions for early breast cancer patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery; however, an issue on whether which one can entail the better prognosis is still controversial. Our study aimed to investigate the 5-year oncological efficacy of the IORT cohort and the WBI cohort, respectively, and compare the oncological efficacy between the cohorts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a computerized retrieval to identify English published articles between 2000 and 2021 in the PubMed, the Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and APA PsycInfo databases. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed in duplicate. RESULTS: A total of 38 studies were eligible, with 30,225 analyzed participants. A non-comparative binary meta-analysis was performed to calculate the weighted average 5-year local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and overall survival (OS) in the two cohorts, respectively. The LRFS, DMFS, and OS (without restriction on the 5-year outcomes) between the two cohorts were further investigated by a comparative binary meta-analysis. The weighted average 5-year LRFS, DMFS, and OS in the IORT cohort were 96.3, 96.6, and 94.1%, respectively, and in the WBI cohort were 98.0, 94.9, and 94.9%, respectively. Our pooled results indicated that the LRFS in the IORT cohort was significantly lower than that in the WBI cohort (pooled odds ratio [OR] = 2.36; 95% confidential interval [CI], 1.66-3.36). Nevertheless, the comparisons of DMFS (pooled OR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.76-1.31), and OS (pooled OR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.79-1.14) between the IORT cohort with the WBI cohort were both not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the drastically high 5-year oncological efficacy in both cohorts, the LRFS in the IORT cohort is significantly poorer than that in the WBI cohort, and DMFS and OS do not differ between cohorts.

Influence of laparoscopic access in cancer-specific mortality of patients with pTa-2pN0R0 bladder cancer treated with radical cistectomy. / Influencia del acceso laparoscópico en la mortalidad cáncer-específica de los pacientes con cáncer de vejiga en un estadio pTa-2pN0R0 tratados con cistectomía radical.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive surgery represents an attractive surgical approach in radical cystectomy. However, its effect on the oncological results is still controversial due to the lack of definite analyses. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of the laparoscopic approach on cancer-specific mortality. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective cohort study of two groups of patients in a pT0-2pN0R0 stage, undergoing open radical cystectomy (ORC) (n=191) and laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) (n=74). Using Cox regression, an analysis has been carried out to identify the predictor variables in the first place, and consequently, the independent predictor variables related to survival. RESULTS: 90.9% were males with a median age of 65years and a median follow-up period of 65.5 (IQR27.75-122) months. Patients with laparoscopic access presented a significantly higher ASA index (P=.0001), a longer time between TUR and cystectomy (P=.04), a lower rate of intraoperative transfusion (P=.0001), a lower pT stage (P=.002) and a lower incidence of infection associated with surgical wounds (P=.04). When analyzing the different risk factors associated with cancer-specific mortality, we only found the ORC approach (versus LRC) as an independent predictor of cancer-specific mortality (P=.007). Open approach to cystectomy multiplied the risk of mortality by 3.27. CONCLUSIONS: In our series, the laparoscopic approach does not represent a risk factor compared to the open approach in pT0-2N0R0 patients.

[Oncological outcomes analysis of colorectal cancer with unfavorable histological features].

Objective: To explore the effect of unfavorable histological features on the clinical outcomes of patients receiving radical resection of colorectal cancer. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with colorectal cancer who received radical surgery between January 2013 and December 2015 at Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital was performed. The impact of unfavorable histological features on the oncological outcomes of patients with lymph node-negative colorectal cancer were analyzed.A total of 167 patients were enrolled, including 98 males and 69 females with age of (63.6±11.6) years. Observation indicators included age, T stage, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, tumor deposits, number of lymph node dissection, degree of differentiation, tissue type, and circumferential margin. Univariate analysis was performed with χ(2) test and multivariate analysis was performed with Cox regression model. Results: Univariate analysis showed that positive circumferential margins (CRM), tumor deposits and age were associated with disease free survival (DFS) rate; positive CRM, age, tumor deposits, and lymph nodes dissection less than 12 were significantly associated with overall survival (OS) rate (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that over 70 years of age (HR=1.053, 95% CI: 1.013 to 1.095, P=0.009), poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (HR=7.572, 95%CI: 1.815 to 31.587, P=0.005), tumor deposits (HR=4.711, 95% CI: 1.809 to 12.264, P=0.002), mucinous adenocarcinoma (HR=3.063, 95% CI: 1.003 to 9.354, P=0.049), lymphovascular invasion (HR=2.885, 95% CI: 1.062 to 7.832, P=0.038), and nerve infiltration (HR=6.610, 95% CI: 1.037 to 42.122, P=0.046) were adverse prognostic factors of DFS rate; poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (HR=12.200, 95% CI: 1.985 to 74.972, P=0.007), tumor nodules (HR=5.379, 95% CI: 1.636 to 17.685, P=0.006), over 70 years of age (HR=1.062, 95% CI: 1.013 to 1.114, P=0.013), and perineural invasion (HR=8.043, 95% CI: 1.026 to 63.055, P=0.047) were adverse prognostic factors of OS rate. There was no significant difference in the 3-year DFS rate and 3-year OS rate between T1-2 group and T3-4 group (P>0.05). Conclusion: Over 70 years of age, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, tumor nodules, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural invasion are independent adverse prognostic factors of lymph node-negative colorectal cancer.

Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma provides short-term oncologic outcomes and long-term overall survival rates similar to those for open pancreaticoduodenectomy.

BACKGROUND: The long-term efficacy of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) relative to open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) for pancreatic adenocarcinoma has not been well studied. METHODS: The National Cancer Data Base was used to compare patients undergoing LPD and OPD for stage I-II pancreatic adenocarcinoma between 2010 and 2013. RESULTS: 828 (10%) patients underwent LPD and 7385 (90%) OPD. There were no differences in tumor or demographic characteristics between groups. On multivariable analysis adjusted for hospital volume, LPD was associated with a lower rate of readmission (p < 0.01) and trends toward shorter initial length of stay (p = 0.14) and time to adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.11). There were no differences between patients undergoing LPD and those undergoing OP in rates of margin negative resection, number of lymph nodes examined, perioperative mortality and median overall survival (20.7 vs 20.9 months, p = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: For patients with localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma, LPD provides short-term oncologic and long-term overall survival outcomes identical to OPD and is associated with decreased rates of readmission and a trend towards accelerated recovery.