Opportunistic upper endoscopy during colonoscopy as a screening strategy for countries with intermediate gastric cancer risk.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Screening upper endoscopy can detect esophagogastric (OG) cancers early with improved outcomes. Recent cost-utility studies suggest that opportunistic upper endoscopy at the same setting of colonoscopy might be a useful strategy for screening of OG cancers, and it may be more acceptable to the patients due to cost-saving and convenience. We aim to study the diagnostic performance of this screening strategy in a country with intermediate gastric cancer risk. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using a prospective endoscopy database from 2015 to 2017 was performed. Patients included were individuals age > 40 who underwent opportunistic upper endoscopy at the same setting of colonoscopy without any OG symptoms. Neoplastic OG lesions are defined as cancer and high-grade dysplasia. Pre-neoplastic lesions include Barrett's esophagus (BE), intestinal metaplasia (IM), and atrophic gastritis (AG). RESULTS: The study population involved 1414 patients. Neoplastic OG lesions were detected in five patients (0.35%). Pre-neoplastic lesions were identified in 174 (12.3%) patients. IM was found in 146 (10.3%) patients with 21 (1.4%) having extensive IM. The number needed to scope to detect a neoplastic OG lesion is 282.8 with an estimated cost of USD$141 400 per lesion detected. On multivariate regression, age ≥ 60 (RR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.29-2.63) and first-degree relatives with gastric cancer (RR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.06-2.55) were independent risk factors for neoplastic or pre-neoplastic OG lesion. CONCLUSION: For countries with intermediate gastric cancer risk, opportunistic upper endoscopy may be an alternative screening strategy in a selected patient population. Prospective trials are warranted to validate its performance.

Development and validation of a serum microRNA biomarker panel for detecting gastric cancer in a high-risk population.

OBJECTIVE: An unmet need exists for a non-invasive biomarker assay to aid gastric cancer diagnosis. We aimed to develop a serum microRNA (miRNA) panel for identifying patients with all stages of gastric cancer from a high-risk population. DESIGN: We conducted a three-phase, multicentre study comprising 5248 subjects from Singapore and Korea. Biomarker discovery and verification phases were done through comprehensive serum miRNA profiling and multivariant analysis of 578 miRNA candidates in retrospective cohorts of 682 subjects. A clinical assay was developed and validated in a prospective cohort of 4566 symptomatic subjects who underwent endoscopy. Assay performance was confirmed with histological diagnosis and compared with Helicobacter pylori (HP) serology, serum pepsinogens (PGs), 'ABC' method, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Cost-effectiveness was analysed using a Markov decision model. RESULTS: We developed a clinical assay for detection of gastric cancer based on a 12-miRNA biomarker panel. The 12-miRNA panel had area under the curve (AUC)=0.93 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.95) and AUC=0.92 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.96) in the discovery and verification cohorts, respectively. In the prospective study, overall sensitivity was 87.0% (95% CI 79.4% to 92.5%) at specificity of 68.4% (95% CI 67.0% to 69.8%). AUC was 0.848 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.88), higher than HP serology (0.635), PG 1/2 ratio (0.641), PG index (0.576), ABC method (0.647), CEA (0.576) and CA19-9 (0.595). The number needed to screen is 489 annually. It is cost-effective for mass screening relative to current practice (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio=US$44 531/quality-of-life year). CONCLUSION: We developed and validated a serum 12-miRNA biomarker assay, which may be a cost-effective risk assessment for gastric cancer. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Registration number: NCT04329299).

A Multimodal Analgesic Protocol Reduces Opioid-Related Adverse Events and Improves Patient Outcomes in Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most commonly performed procedures for the treatment of obesity. Patients with obesity are more prone to experience opioid-related adverse events (ORAE). OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine if a multimodal analgesia protocol (MAP) reduces ORAE and provides effective pain relief for patients after LSG. SETTING: This study was conducted at University Hospital, Singapore. METHODS: The MAP consists of mandatory pre-operative etoricoxib, intra-operative acetaminophen, and post-operative acetaminophen with optional post-operative tramadol. We identified and collected data for patients who underwent LSG between May 2010 and November 2015 and compared patients before and after the implementation of the MAP. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-eight patients were included and 68 patients were treated with the MAP. There were no differences in age, gender, body mass index, ethnicity, or comorbidities between the two groups except for the incidence of hypertension (p = 0.015). There was a significant reduction in the incidence of ORAE from 33.3 to 8.8% (p < 0.001) after the implementation of the MAP. There was also a significant reduction in the use of opioids intra-operatively from 58.2 to 43.6 mg (p < 0.001) and post-operatively from 23.7 to 0.7 mg (p < 0.001). Pain scores were similar at 1, 6, and 48 post-operatively, while pain scores were significantly reduced at 12 (p = 0.033) and 24 h (p = 0.02) post-operatively. Multivariate analysis showed that these results remained significant. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that a MAP reduces ORAE and provides effective pain relief for patients undergoing LSG.

Is laparoscopic colectomy as cost beneficial as open colectomy?

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic colectomy has yet to gain widespread acceptance in cost-conscious health-care institutions. The aim of the present study was to define the cost-benefit relationship of laparoscopic versus open colectomy. METHODS: Thirty-two consecutive patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colectomy (LC) by a single colorectal surgeon between August 2004 and September 2005 were reviewed. Cases were matched with a historical cohort undergoing elective open colectomy (OC) between June 2003 and July 2004. Demography, perioperative data, histopathology and cost were compared. RESULTS: Both groups had similar demographics. Most resections (90.6%) were for cancer. Operative time was significantly longer for LC compared to OC (180 min vs 110 min, P < 0.001). Four patients (12.5%) in the LC group required conversion. LC patients, however, had lower median pain scores (3, 2 and 1 vs 6, 4 and 2 at 24, 48 and 72 h postoperatively, P < 0.001), faster resolution of ileus (3 vs 4 days, P < 0.001) and earlier discharge (6 vs 9 days, P < 0.001) compared to the OC group. As a result, overall hospital cost for both procedures was not significantly different (US$7943 vs US$7253, P = 0.41). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic colectomy is as cost-beneficial in the short term as open colectomy.