[Hemorrhagic Colon Cancer with Left Atrial Thrombus Formation after Anticoagulant Therapy Discontinuation-A Case Report].

The patient was a 72-year-old female. She had been taking rivaroxaban for chronic atrial fibrillation; however, she stopped taking it due to anemia and was hospitalized urgently. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CT)scan showed a 30 mm mass in the ascending colon, and a colonoscopy revealed ascending colon cancer(cT3, cN0, cM0, cStage Ⅱa). The tumor was hemorrhagic and was thought to have caused the anemia. On day 6 of hospitalization, another contrast- enhanced CT scan showed a poorly contrast-enhanced area in the left atrium, and transesophageal echocardiography revealed 2 left atrial thrombi(27 mm and 17 mm). Since early induction of anticoagulation therapy was considered, an emergency open right colectomy was performed to remove the cause of the bleeding. Intravenous heparin therapy was started the day after surgery and was switched to oral apixaban therapy on the fourth postoperative day. The postoperative course was good, and she was discharged home on the 17th postoperative day. This patient had conflicting clinical problems simultaneously; however, immediate decision-making and initiation of treatment were effective.

[Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Presenting with Perforation That Was Successfully Resected after Preoperative Chemotherapy with mFOLFOX6 plus Panitumumab].

We report a case of locally advanced rectal cancer presenting with perforation that was successfully resected after preoperative chemotherapy. A 66-year-old woman visited our emergency room complaining of lower abdominal pain. Abdominal CT showed a rectal tumor with fluid collection and free air in the pelvis. The patient was diagnosed with panperitonitis secondary to cancerous perforation and underwent sigmoid colostomy. A biopsy specimen of the rectal tumor showed well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma and wild-type RAS. After 8 courses of mFOLFOX6 plus panitumumab, the tumor shrank remarkably, and radical surgery(low anterior resection with D3 lymph node dissection)was performed. Microscopic examination of the resected specimen showed that almost half of the tumor cells were replaced by histiocytes and necrotic tissue. Preoperative chemotherapy with panitumumab may be an effective treatment for RAS wild-type locally advanced colon cancer, even if the primary tumor develops perforation.

[Nephrotic Syndrome Induced by Ramucirumab for Metastatic Rectal Cancer].

We report a case of nephrotic syndrome induced by ramucirumab for metastatic rectal cancer. A 48-year old woman who had received FOLFIRI plus ramucirumab for rectal cancer with liver, lung, and bone metastases presented to our hospital with edema and increased body weight. Laboratory studies showed hypoalbuminemia and severe proteinuria, and the patient was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome. After administration of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and thiazide diuretic, her symptoms disappeared and serum albumin level normalized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed report of nephrotic syndrome related to ramucirumab. This case serves to emphasize that the possibility of nephrotic syndrome should be considered during anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy.

Successful omental flap coverage repair of a rectovaginal fistula after low anterior resection: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Rectovaginal fistula (RVF) is a troublesome and refractory complication after low anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer. An omental flap repair was performed for the RVF caused due to Crohn's disease and childbirth trauma. However, there are few cases of an omental flap repair for RVF after LAR. Herein, we present a successfully repaired case of RVF by omental flap coverage after LAR for rectal cancer. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old female patient with advanced rectal cancer underwent laparoscopic LAR with double-stapling technique anastomosis and achieved curative resection. She complained of a stool from the vagina and was diagnosed with RVF on the postoperative day (POD) 18. Conservative therapy was ineffective. We performed laparoscopic fistula resection and direct closure of the vagina and rectum, designed the omentum that could reach the pelvis, repaired RVF by omental flap coverage, and performed transverse colostomy on POD 25. She was discharged on initial POD 48. Seven months after the initial operation, colostomy closure was administered. There was no recurrence of RVF found 1 year after the initial operation. CONCLUSIONS: The patient achieved an omental flap coverage for RVF. We successfully performed the omental flap coverage repair in patients with RVF after the leakage of LAR. An omental flap may become an alternative treatment for muscle flap or an effective treatment for RVF.

Prognostic significance of telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase expression in ampullary carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) have been reported as markers of tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis in several digestive cancers. In the present study, we examined telomerase activity and TERT expression in ampullary carcinoma to determine whether these parameters could be used as indicators of aggressiveness and prognosis. METHODS: Telomerase activity was analyzed by using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay, and TERT was examined by immunohistochemistry in ampullary carcinoma tissue samples resected from 46 patients. RESULTS: Telomerase activity was detected in 42 (91.3%) ampullary carcinomas and 27 (58.7%) showed high activity, whereas TERT expression was detected in 35 (76.1%), including 21 with weak expression and 14 with strong expression. Univariate analysis revealed that histological grade (P = 0.029), tumor depth (P < 0.001), nodal status (P = 0.013), UICC stage (P = 0.009), perineural invasion (P < 0.001), and telomerase activity (P = 0.031) were significantly associated with disease-specific survival. In multivariate analysis, only telomerase activity remained an independent predictor of prognosis (P = 0.043). There was no statistical significance for survival among the three grades of TERT expression (P = 0.054); however, in subgroup analysis, patients with strong TERT expression showed significantly poorer prognosis than those without TERT expression (P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that high telomerase activity and strong TERT expression may serve as new prognostic markers for evaluating the prognosis of patients with resected ampullary carcinoma.

Prognostic factors after surgical resection for intrahepatic, hilar, and distal cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of patients with cholangiocarcinoma is unsatisfactory. Therefore, evaluation of prognostic factors and establishment of new therapeutic strategies are needed to improve their long-term survival. The aim of this study was to identify useful prognostic factors for patients with intrahepatic, hilar, and distal cholangiocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of 127 patients with cholangiocarcinoma (21 with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 50 with hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and 56 with distal cholangiocarcinoma) who underwent surgical resection were reviewed retrospectively. Relationships between survival and clinicopathological factors including patient demographics and tumor characteristics were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: For all 127 patients, overall 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 80, 51, and 40%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that adjuvant chemotherapy (P = .049), tumor differentiation (P = .014), lymph node metastasis (P < .001), surgical margin status (P < .001), UICC pT factor (P < .001), and UICC stage (P < .001) were associated significantly with survival. UICC pT factor (P = .007), adjuvant chemotherapy (P = .009), surgical margin status (P = .012), and lymph node metastasis (P = .014) remained independently associated with long-term survival by multivariate analysis. The 5-year survival rates of patients with or without positive surgical margins were 13 and 49%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates of patients treated with or without adjuvant chemotherapy were 47 and 36%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: R0 resection and adjuvant chemotherapy may be mandatory to achieve long-term survival for patients with cholangiocarcinoma.

Is para-aortic lymph node metastasis a contraindication for radical resection in biliary carcinoma?

BACKGROUND: Para-aortic nodal dissection in patients with biliary carcinoma has not been performed routinely worldwide. Therefore, the prognostic impact of para-aortic lymph node metastasis in biliary carcinoma has not yet been evaluated. The aim of this study was to clarify the prognostic impact of para-aortic lymph node metastasis in biliary carcinoma. METHODS: Of 113 patients with biliary adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection with regional and para-aortic lymph node dissection, para-aortic lymph node metastasis was found in 17 patients (15%) by final pathological examination. Relationships between clinicopathological factors, including para-aortic lymph node metastasis, and survival were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Overall survival rates for the 113 patients were 82% at 1 year, 65% at 2 years, 58% at 3 years, and 52% at 5 years. Univariate analysis revealed that better tumor differentiation (P=0.044), negative lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), negative para-aortic lymph node metastasis (P=0.007), negative surgical margin status (P<0.001), lower UICC pT factor (P=0.009), and earlier UICC stage (P<0.001) were associated significantly with longer survival. Lymph node metastasis (P=0.004) but not para-aortic lymph node metastasis (P=0.323) remained associated independently with longer survival by multivariate analysis. Five-year survival rates for node-negative patients, node-positive patients without para-aortic lymph node metastasis, and node-positive patients with para-aortic lymph node metastasis were 72, 31, and 24%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Radical resection should not be abandoned for patients with para-aortic lymph node metastasis in biliary adenocarcinoma.

Prognostic impact of perioperative serum CA 19-9 levels in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers, and serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) level has been reported to be a useful prognostic marker in pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine which prognostic factor (preoperative or postoperative serum CA19-9 level) is more useful. METHODS: Pre- and postoperative serum CA19-9 levels were measured in 109 patients who underwent surgical resection for pancreatic cancer between 1998 and 2009, and their relationships to clinicopathological factors and overall survival were analyzed with univariate and multivariate methods. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, tumor location (P = 0.019), postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (P < 0.001), residual tumor factor status (P < 0.001), UICC pT stage (P = 0.004), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.015), and UICC final stage (P = 0.015) were significantly associated with overall survival. Differences in overall survival were significant between groups divided on the basis of four postoperative CA19-9 cutoff values (37, 100, 200, and 500 U/ml) but not significant between groups divided on the basis of the same four preoperative CA19-9 cutoff values. Pre- to postoperative increase in CA19-9 level also was significantly associated with poor prognosis. In multivariate analysis, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 1.59; P = 0.004) and postoperative CA19-9 cutoff value of 37 U/ml (HR, 1.64; P = 0.004) remained independent predictors of prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative CA19-9 level is a better prognostic factor than preoperative CA19-9 level, and curative surgery for resectable pancreatic cancer should be tried regardless of the preoperative CA19-9 level.

Adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and S-1 after surgical resection for advanced biliary carcinoma: outcomes and prognostic factors.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to evaluate long-term outcomes and to determine prognostic factors for survival in patients with resected biliary carcinoma who received adjuvant gemcitabine plus S-1 chemotherapy. METHODS: Seventy patients with International Union Against Cancer (UICC) stage II, III, or IV biliary carcinoma received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of intravenous gemcitabine 700 mg/m(2) on day 1 and oral S-1 60-100 mg/body for seven consecutive days, followed by a 1-week pause of chemotherapy. Patients received up to ten 2-week cycles. Long-term outcomes and predictors of survival with this adjuvant chemotherapy regimen were analyzed. RESULTS: The median duration of follow-up was 47 months. Fifty-six percent of patients had node-positive disease, and 80% of patients underwent R0 resection. Overall and disease-free survival rates were 91 and 81% at 1 year, 56 and 55% at 3 years, and 40 and 46% at 5 years, respectively. Lymph node status (p = 0.025) and surgical margin status (p = 0.033) were independently associated with long-term survival by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant gemcitabine plus S-1 chemotherapy may be a promising strategy for patients with resected biliary carcinoma, and nodal status and surgical margin status may be predictors of survival with this treatment strategy.

Prognostic factors of patients with advanced gallbladder carcinoma following aggressive surgical resection.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for patients with advanced gallbladder carcinoma is dismal despite aggressive surgical resection. The aim of this study is to determine useful prognostic factors for patients with gallbladder carcinoma following aggressive surgical resection. METHODS: Medical records of 62 patients with gallbladder carcinoma who underwent surgical resection were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate and multivariate models were used to analyze the effect of clinicopathological factors on long-term survival. RESULTS: According to the UICC staging system, ten (16%), 11 (18%), eight (13%), 16 (25%), nine (15%), and eight patients (13%) were diagnosed with stages I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IVA, and IVB disease, respectively. Partial hepatectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy were performed for 43 (69%) and 11 (18%) patients, respectively. Overall survival rates of all 62 and 41 patients with UICC stages III and IV disease were 71% and 56% at 1 year, 48% and 23% at 3 years, and 48% and 23% at 5 years, respectively (median survival time, 15.8 and 12.7 months, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that independent prognostic factors included tumor differentiation (p = 0.006), hepatic invasion (p = 0.002), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.009), and surgical margin status (p = 0.002) for all patients, and adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.005), tumor differentiation (p = 0.008), hepatic invasion (p = 0.001), and surgical margin status (p = 0.022) for patients with UICC stages III and IV disease. CONCLUSIONS: R0 resection and adjuvant chemotherapy are significant prognostic factors in advanced gallbladder carcinoma and should be performed to improve survival.