Age- and sex-stratified detection rates and associated factors of colorectal neoplasia in the Tianjin colorectal cancer screening program from 2012 to 2020.

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening has been implemented in Tianjin, China since 2012. The objective was to estimate the neoplasia detection rate in a high-risk population by age and sex and to investigate the potential factors associated with colorectal neoplasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study is based on data of the Tianjin CRC screening program from 2012 to 2020. Residents with a positive high-risk factors questionnaire (HRFQ) or a positive faecal immunochemical test (FIT) were identified as high-risk participants and were subsequently recommended for a free colonoscopy. RESULTS: A total of 4,117,897 eligible participants aged 40-74 years completed both a HRFQ and FIT, and 217,164 (5.3%) of them were identified as high-risk participants. Positive rates of preliminary screening increased with age and were higher in females than in males. For 57,971 participants undertaking colonoscopy, the detection rates of nonadvanced adenoma, advanced adenoma and CRC were 37.8%, 5.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Detection rates of advanced neoplasia increased from the age of 50 and were higher in males. For nonadvanced neoplasia, a strong increase was observed in males from the age of 40 and in females from the age of 50. Male sex had a greater impact on individuals aged 40-49 than on older individuals. Several factors including current smoking, drinking, and higher body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with the presence of neoplasia, whereas, these associations were mainly restricted to individuals aged above 50 but not those aged 40-49 years. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support that age-specific risk stratification and sex-specific initiating ages for CRC screening should be recommended to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of current screening strategy.

Survival outcomes in locally advanced dMMR rectal cancer: surgery plus adjunctive treatment vs. surgery alone.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) rectal cancer may be related to treatment resistance, resulting in a worse prognosis than proficient MMR (pMMR) rectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore whether surgery plus other treatments (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) can bring more benefits to these patients than surgery alone. METHODS: A retrospective study of 168 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent total mesorectal excision was conducted using immunohistochemical methods to determine MMR status and a propensity score matching model to minimize potential confounding factors between subgroups of patients with different treatment regimens. Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank tests, and Cox regression models were used to assess overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patient subgroups. RESULTS: Only 6.9% (n = 168) of patients in the total cohort had dMMR rectal adenocarcinoma, and the most common cause of dMMR was a PMS2 deletion (103, 61.3%). The median DFS of the surgery alone group was 45.7 months (IQR, 40.9 to 77.8), and the median DFS of the surgery plus other treatment group was 43.9 months (IQR, 14.2 to 80.1). The surgery alone group was superior to the surgery plus other treatment group (HR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.38; p = 0.005). There was no significant difference in OS (45.8 (IQR, 41.0 to 79.8) vs. 45.9 (IQR, 38.5 to 80.3)) between the two groups (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.23 to 1.40; p = 0.263). CONCLUSIONS: For patients with locally advanced dMMR rectal adenocarcinoma, compared with surgery alone, surgery plus other treatment options (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) do not grant long-term survival benefits but rather shorten DFS.

Stage III deficient mismatch repair colon patients get greater benefit from earlier starting oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy regimen.

We evaluate the prognostic value of chemotherapy and other prognostic factors on overall survival among colon patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR), and determine the optimum time to start chemotherapy after surgery. Data of 306 colon cancer patients with dMMR who received radical surgery were collected from three Chinese centers between August 2012 and January 2018. Overall survival (OS) was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank. Cox regression analysis were used to assess influencing prognosis factors. The median follow-up time for all patients was 45.0 months (range, 1.0-100). There was a nonsignificant OS benefit from chemotherapy for patients with stage I and stage II disease, including high-risk stage II disease (log-rank p: 0.386, 0.779, 0.921), and a significant OS benefit for patients with stage III and stage IV disease for receiving post-operation chemotherapy (log-rank p = 0.002, 0.019). Stage III patients benefitted from chemotherapy regimens that contained oxaliplatin (log-rank p = 0.004), and Starting chemotherapy with oxaliplatin treatment earlier resulted in better outcomes (95% CI 0.013-0.857; p = 0.035). Chemotherapy regimens containing oxaliplatin can prolong the survival time of stage III and IV dMMR colon cancer patients. This beneficial manifestation was more pronounced after starting chemotherapy treatment early post operation. High risk stage II dMMR colon patients including T4N0M0 cannot benefit from chemotherapy.

The stool syndecan2 methylation test is more robust than blood tests for methylated septin9, CEA, CA19-9 and CA724: a diagnostic test for the early detection of colorectal neoplasms.

Background: Methylated syndecan2 (mSDC2) in stool samples has been found to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and precancerous lesions. However, the available data are limited, and no previous studies have compared the analysis of mSDC2 with other diagnostic tests. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the clinical performance of a stool mSDC2 test and compare its performance with that of blood-based tests for methylated septin9 (mSEPT9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carbohydrate antigen 724 (CA724) in detecting colorectal neoplasms. Methods: The gold standard diagnostic technique that was used was colonoscopy combined with a pathological analysis of biopsied tissue. Stool DNA was extracted from 1,002 stool samples (445 from CRCs, 115 from adenomas, and 442 from controls) and then bisulfite-converted, followed by real-time quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Blood mSEPT9 levels were quantified by the Epi proColon 2.0 assay, and serum CEA, CA19-9 and CA724 levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence. The main indexes used during the evaluation were sensitivity, specificity and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: Stool mSDC2 detected 69.7% of CRCs, which was significantly higher than 53.8% by plasma mSEPT9, 37.2% by CEA, 13.1% by CA19-9 and 17.5% by CA724; for adenoma, the detection rates were 31.3%, 11.1%, 2.3% and 11.9%, respectively. The AUC of mSDC2 in detecting CRC was 0.83, compared to 0.72, 0.75, 0.63 and 0.54 for mSEPT9, CEA, CA19-9 and CA724, respectively. mSDC2 identified patients with stage I-III CRC with a sensitivity of 71.6%, which was significantly higher than that of mSEPT9, CEA, CA19-9 and CA724 (54.2%, 35.5%, 11.9%, and 15.0%, respectively); for stage IV CRC, the sensitivities of mSDC2, mSEPT9, CEA, CA19-9 and CA724 were 75.9%, 82.6%, 79.3%, 36.0% and 56.5%, respectively. SDC2 and CEA had a significantly higher sensitivity for distal CRC than for proximal CRC. Conclusions: The stool SDC2 methylation test had a better performance in detecting nonmetastatic CRC and adenoma than evaluations of mSEPT9, CEA, CA19-9 and CA724 in blood. Our findings could be used to modify approaches for CRC prevention and early detection.

Case report: Camrelizumab associated with central retinal vein occlusion.

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment and become one of the five pillars of cancer therapy. The clinical applications of immunotherapy have been adapted to range from the management of melanoma to most tumor types. As the clinical applications of cancer immunotherapies expand, understanding the treatment-related adverse events of these drugs becomes critical in clinical practice. We report a rare case of ocular immune-related side effects associated with camrelizumab that resulted in vision loss. A 56-year-old male patient was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. The tumor involved the porta pulmonis and mediastinum upon initial diagnosis; therefore, surgery was not possible. Upon receiving the 10th immunotherapy session with camrelizumab 200 mg, the patient's visual acuity began to decrease in his right eye and a central retinal vein occlusion. Optical coherence tomography revealed significant cystoid exudation in the macular area and vitreous hemorrhage. The patient underwent vitrectomy, phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation after symptom onset. Following surgery, the patient's vision was limitedly restored. This is the first clinical report in China of central retinal vein occlusion and vitreous hemorrhage associated with anti-PD-1 therapy, ultimately leading to blindness. Although rare, clinical practitioners should be concerned about ocular adverse events associated with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and develop a high index of suspicion for this possibility since ophthalmic manifestations that are rapidly detected, closely monitored, and appropriately managed are treatable.

Young Patients With Colorectal Cancer Have Higher Early Mortality but Better Long-Term Survival.

INTRODUCTION: To define the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) in young patients and to compare their postoperative treatment with that of older patients. METHODS: This multicenter study enrolled 5,457 patients with primary CRC who underwent surgical resection. The overall survival (OS), clinicopathologic characteristics, and postoperative treatment of 253 young patients aged 18-44 years and 5,204 older patients aged 44-80 years were analyzed. RESULTS: The OS rate was 77.1% for young and 74.2% for older patients (P = 0.348). Landmark analysis showed a significant difference in survival between young and older patients, with 63.8% of deaths among young patients being within 25 months of surgery compared with 42.4% among older patients (P = 0.002). Among those who survived more than 25 months, young patients had significantly better survival than older patients (P = 0.009). Multivariable analysis of young patients revealed that the tumor location, perineural invasion, and stage were associated with poor survival within 25 months; after this period, stage was the only prognostic marker. Young patients were more likely to receive chemotherapy, particularly multiagent regimens. For young patients, no significant difference in OS was found based on the chemotherapy regimen, regardless of disease stage (II, III, or IV, all P > 0.05). In addition, unlike in older patients, no difference in OS was found in young patients regardless of the drug regimen administered (all P > 0.05). DISCUSSION: Young-onset CRC may have a unique disease biology that warrants further research and therapy development.

A risk scoring system for advanced colorectal neoplasia in high-risk participants to improve current colorectal cancer screening in Tianjin, China.

BACKGROUND: Given the limited effectiveness of the current Chinese colorectal cancer (CRC) screening procedure, adherence to colonoscopy remains low. We aim to develop and validate a scoring system based on individuals who were identified as having a high risk in initial CRC screening to achieve more efficient risk stratification and improve adherence to colonoscopy. METHODS: A total of 29,504 screening participants with positive High-Risk Factor Questionnaire (HRFQ) or faecal immunochemical test (FIT) who underwent colonoscopy in Tianjin from 2012-2020 were enrolled in this study. Binary regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between risk factors and advanced colorectal neoplasia. Internal validation was also used to assess the performance of the scoring system. RESULTS: Male sex, older age (age ≥ 50 years), high body mass index (BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2), current or past smoking and weekly alcohol intake were identified as risk factors for advanced colorectal neoplasm. The odds ratios (ORs) for significant variables were applied to construct the risk score ranging from 0-11: LR, low risk (score 0-3); MR, moderate risk (score 4-6); and HR, high risk (score 7-11). Compared with subjects with LR, those with MR and HR had ORs of 2.47 (95% confidence interval, 2.09-2.93) and 4.59 (95% confidence interval, 3.86-5.44), respectively. The scoring model showed an outstanding discriminatory capacity with a c-statistic of 0.64 (95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the established scoring system could identify very high-risk populations with colorectal neoplasia. Combining this risk score with current Chinese screening methods may improve the effectiveness of CRC screening and adherence to colonoscopy.

Effects of deficient mismatch repair on the prognosis of patients with stage II and stage III colon cancer during different postoperative periods.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the prognostic role of deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) systems in stage II and stage III colon cancer patients during different postoperative periods. We also assessed whether patients aged ≥75 could benefit from chemotherapy. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted across three medical centers in China. Kaplan-Meier survival methods and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the differences in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates. Propensity score matching was performed to reduce imbalances in the baseline characteristics of the patients. Landmark analysis was performed to evaluate the role of dMMR during different postoperative periods. RESULTS: The median follow-up time for all patients was 45.0 months (25-75 IQR: 38.0-82.5). There was no significant OS (p = 0.350) or DFS (p = 0.752) benefit associated with dMMR for stage II and III patients during the first postoperative year. However, significant OS (p < 0.001) and DFS (p < 0.001) benefits were observed from the second postoperative year until the end of follow-up. These differences remained after propensity score matching. Moreover, chemotherapy produced no OS (HR = 0.761, 95% CI: 0.43-1.34, p = 0.341) or DFS (HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.51-1.88, p = 0.961) benefit for patients aged ≥75 years. CONCLUSION: The benefits of dMMR in stage III patients were observed from the second postoperative year until the end of follow-up. However, the prognosis of patients with dMMR is not different from that of patients with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) during the first postoperative year. In addition, elderly patients aged ≥75 years obtained no significant survival benefits from postoperative chemotherapy.

Modifiable lifestyle factors have a larger contribution to colorectal neoplasms than family history.

BACKGROUND:  Screening recommendations for colorectal cancer (CRC) are mainly based on family history rather than lifestyle risk factors. We aimed to assess and compare risk factors for colorectal neoplasm (CRN) and evaluate trends in neoplasm detection rates during the three rounds of screening from 2012 to 2020 in Tianjin, China. METHODS: This study was based on 89,535 first-recorded colonoscopies in Tianjin CRC screening program, 2012-2020. Of these, 45,380 individuals with complete family history and lifestyle factors were included for population attributable fraction (PAF) estimation. RESULTS:  The overall detection rate of nonadvanced adenomas, advanced adenomas and CRC was 39.3%, 5.9% and 1.5%, respectively. The PAFs of current smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, higher BMI and family history of CRC, respectively, were 8.9%, 2.6%, 1.9%, 5.8%, and 1.1% for males with nonadvanced CRN; 12.3%, 7.3%, 4.9%, 7.2%, and 0.8% for males with advanced CRN; 3.4%, 0.4%, 2.1%, 7.8%, and 0.7% for females with nonadvanced CRN; and 4.3%, 0.2%, 8.2%, 8.5%, and -0.6% for females with advanced CRN. The PAFs of selected lifestyle factors were 19.9% for males with nonadvanced CRN, 29.0% for males with advanced CRN, 9.7% for females with nonadvanced CRN and 13.8% for females with advanced CRN. CONCLUSIONS:  Modifiable lifestyle factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and BMI, have a larger contribution to CRN than family history of CRC. Our findings will provide references for developing guidelines of CRC prevention and control in China.

The prognostic and clinical value of p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis expression in solid tumors: a meta-analysis and TCGA data review.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported the prognostic value of p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) in numerous human tumors, but the conclusions have not been consistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data analysis were performed to estimate the prognostic significance of PUMA in solid tumors. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and CNKI up to 21 July 2022. In total, 10 studies with 2,207 patients were included. We extracted the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) data. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were adopted for evaluating the association. RESULTS: Decreased PUMA expression was significantly associated with worse OS (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.38-0.78) and worse DFS (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.42-0.70). Subgroup analysis showed that the prognostic role of PUMA for OS was most significant in the digestive system (HR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.38-0.69). Furthermore, the expression of PUMA was not affected by tumor differentiation or clinical stage, and TCGA dataset analysis confirmed these results. CONCLUSIONS: We proved that expression of PUMA may serve as an independent prognostic factor for patients with solid tumors.

Circulating Methylated SEPT9 DNA Analyses to Predict Recurrence Risk and Adjuvant Chemotherapy Benefit in Stage II to III Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND We aimed to evaluate the ability of circulating cell-free methylated SETP9 DNA (mSEPT9) to identify recurrence and to determine its clinical utility in adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) regimen decisions. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study enrolled 426 patients with stage II-III CRC who received radical resection between January 8, 2018, and November 30, 2020. The median follow-up duration was 15.8 months (range, 8.1-43.4 months). The primary endpoint was recurrence-free survival (RFS). A propensity score matching model was used to minimize potential confounding covariates and to confirm our findings. RESULTS In stage II-III CRC patients, postoperative (within 1 month after surgery) mSEPT9 positivity was significantly correlated with worse RFS (HR=6.21, P<0.001), and it remained the strongest independent predictor in multivariate Cox regression analysis (HR=5.83, P<0.001), which was significantly superior to CEA, CA19-9, and CA242. During disease surveillance, mSEPT9 positivity preceded radiographic recurrence by a median of 5.0 months. The postoperative mSEPT9-positive patients benefited more from CAPEOX compared to FOLFOX (HR=3.97, P=0.017), while for mSEPT9-negative patients, CAPEOX and FOLFOX resulted in similar RFS (HR=1.70, P=0.322). Furthermore, 3 months of CAPEOX was more effective than 3 and 6 months of FOLFOX (HR=4.40, P=0.065; HR=1.56, P=0.073, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Our results revealed that mSEPT9 detection after radical resection could identify minimal residual disease (MRD) and could predict a high risk of recurrence in patients with stage II-III CRC. Furthermore, we show pioneering work that mSEPT9 detection could be used to guide the selection of an adjuvant chemotherapy regimen to improve RFS.

Clinicopathological and prognostic value of SIRT6 in patients with solid tumors: a meta-analysis and TCGA data review.

PURPOSES: In addition to its role in cellular progression and cancer, SIRT6, a member of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent class III deacylase sirtuin family, serves a variety of roles in the body's immune system. In this study, we sought to determine the relationship between the expression of SIRT6 and the clinicopathological outcomes of patients with solid tumours by conducting a meta-analysis of the available data. METHODS: The databases PubMed and ISI Web of Science were searched for relevant literature, and the results were presented here. Using Stata16.0, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the impact of SIRT6 on clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in malignancy patients. The results were published in the journal Cancer Research. The dataset from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was used to investigate the prognostic significance of SIRT6 in various types of tumors. RESULTS: The inclusion and exclusion criteria were met by 15 studies. In patients with solid tumours, reduced SIRT6 expression was found to be related with improved overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.45-0.97, P < 0.001) as well as improved disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.26-0.91, P < 0.001). Low SIRT6 expression was found to be associated with a better OS in breast cancer (HR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.27-0.89, P = 0.179), but was found to be associated with a worse OS in gastrointestinal cancer (gastric cancer and colon cancer) (HR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.20-2.79, P = 0.939) after subgroup analysis. In terms of clinicopathological characteristics, SIRT6 expression was found to be linked with distant metastasis (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.59-5.57, P = 0.694). When the data from the TCGA dataset was compared to normal tissue, it was discovered that SIRT6 expression was significantly different in 11 different types of cancers. Meanwhile, reduced SIRT6 expression was shown to be associated with improved OS (P < 0.05), which was consistent with the findings of the meta-analysis. Aside from that, the expression of SIRT6 was found to be associated with both gender and clinical stage. CONCLUSION: The overall data of the present meta-analysis indicated that low expression of SIRT6 may predict a favorable survival for patients with solid tumors.

Mismatch repair system deficiency is associated with chemoradiotherapy resistance in locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have concluded that colorectal cancer patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) usually have a good prognosis. However, some studies have suggested that the prognosis of rectal cancer patients with dMMR appears to be worse. Our aim was to investigate chemoradiotherapy resistance in dMMR rectal tumors. METHODS: A retrospective study of 217 patients with locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy and total mesorectal excision surgery was conducted using immunohistochemistry to determine MMR status and propensity score matching models to reduce potential confounders. Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test, and Cox regression models were used to assess overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patient subgroups. RESULTS: The 3-year DFS rates were 77.1% and 56.7% in the pMMR and dMMR groups, respectively. The pMMR group had significantly better DFS than the dMMR group (hazard ratio [HR], 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-3.91; p = 0.019). However, there was no significant difference in OS between the two groups (45.7 [interquartile range, IQR], 39.3-72.1] vs. 47.5 [IQR, 29.5-72.1]) (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.70-2.77; p = 0.35). Neither OS nor DFS was significantly different between the neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and postoperative chemoradiotherapy groups. CONCLUSION: Locally advanced dMMR rectal adenocarcinoma exhibits greater chemoradiotherapy resistance than pMMR.

Atmospheric fine particles in a typical coastal port of Yangtze River Delta.

In recent decades, coastal ports have experienced rapid development and become an important economic and ecological hub in China. Atmospheric particle is a research hotspot in atmospheric environmental sciences in inland regions. However, few studies on the atmospheric particle were conducted in coastal port areas in China, which indeed suffers atmospheric particle pollution. Lack of the physicochemical characteristics of fine particles serves as an obstacle toward the accurate control for air pollution in the coastal port area in China. Here, a field observation was conducted in an important coastal port city in Yangtze River Delta from March 6 to March 19, 2019. The average PM2.5 concentration was 63.7 ± 27.8 µg/m3 and NO3-, SO42-, NH4+, and organic matter accounted for ~60% of PM2.5. Fe was the most abundant trace metal element and V as the ship emission indicator was detected. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that SK-rich, soot, Fe, SK-soot and SK-Fe were the major individual particles in the coastal port. V and soluble Fe were detected in sulfate coating of SK-Fe particles. We found that anthropogenic emissions, marine sea salt, and secondary atmosphere process were the major sources of fine particles. Backward trajectory analysis indicated that the dominant air masses were marine air mass, inland air mass from northern Zhejiang and inland-marine mixed air mass from Shandong and Shanghai during the sampling period. The findings can help us better understand the physicochemical properties of atmospheric fine particles in the coastal port of Eastern China.