Analysis of efficacy of different treatment modalities and prognostic factors in patients with locally advanced Masaoka-Koga stage Ⅲ thymoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To analyze the clinical efficacy of different treatment modalities and prognostic factors of patients with Masaoka-Koga stage Ⅲ thymoma.Methods:Clinical data of patients diagnosed with Masaoka-Koga stage Ⅲ thymoma admitted to Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2000 to December 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 133 patients had complete treatment and follow-up data. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the cumulative survival rate, log-rank method was used to compare the survival between two groups, and Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis.Results:The median follow-up time was 50 months (3-221 months). The median overall survival (OS) was 51 (3-221) months, and the median disease-free survival (DFS) was 45 (2-221) months. The survival rate in the radical surgery group was better than that in the palliative surgery group. The 5- and 10-year OS rates in radical surgery group were 88.2% and 74.4% respectively, while in palliative surgery group were 51.8% and 32.4% respectively ( P<0.001). The 5- and 10-year DFS rates in radical surgery group were 72.2% and 45.5%, respectively, while in palliative surgery group were 32.3% and 16.1% respectively ( P=0.001). The OS in the surgery combined with radiotherapy group was better than that in the surgery alone group. The 5- and 10-year OS rates in the radical surgery group were 82.8% and 64.2% respectively, while in the palliative surgery group were 55.8% and 50.2% ( P=0.033). There was no significant difference in DFS between two groups ( P=0.176). Multivariate analysis showed that age < 50 years old ( HR=0.264, P=0.001), radical resection ( HR=0.134, P<0.001), surgery combined with radiotherapy ( HR=2.778, P=0.009) were independently associated with better OS. Age < 50 years old ( HR=0.550, P=0.046), radical resection ( HR=0.555, P=0.042), and invasion of single organ ( HR=0.111, P=0.003) were independently associated with better DFS. Conclusions:OS and DFS in patients undergoing radical surgery are significantly better than those in their counterparts treated with palliative surgery, which is the most important factor affecting prognosis. Surgery combined with radiotherapy yields better OS. It is necessary to design a rigorous and reasonable multicenter prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of various treatment modalities and prognostic factors.

Efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy and prognosis in patients with completely resected stage Ⅲ(pN 2) lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR wild-type receiving adjuvant chemotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the value and identify the prognosic factors of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in completely resected stage Ⅲ(pN 2) lung adenocarcinoma patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild-type who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods:Clinical data of 172 patients with stage Ⅲ(pN 2) EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma who underwent radical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy from 2009 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy combining two drugs for>4 cycles, and divided into the PORT group and the non-PORT group. The survival rate was calculated by Kaplan- Meier method and log-rank test, and multivariate prognostic analysis was performed by Cox’s regression model. Results:Among 172 patients, the median overall survival (OS), 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 40 months, 55.9% and 28.3%, respectively. The median disease-free survival (DFS), 3-year and 5-year DFS rates were 17 months, 24.5% and 13.0%, respectively. DFS was significantly improved in the PORT group (29 months vs. 13 months, P=0.001), whereas OS did not significantly differ between two groups (51 months vs. 38 months, P=0.151). In subgroup analysis, DFS of patients with multistation N 2 or the number of N 2 metastases of≥3 or skip N 2 in the PORT group was significantly longer ( P<0.05), whereas PORT exerted no significant effect on OS ( P>0.05). Conclusions:For patients with completely resected stage Ⅲ(N 2) EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, PORT might increase DFS and have a trend toward longer OS. However, these findings remain to be validated by large sample size investigations.

Impact of postoperative pathological features of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma on the prognosis / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Esophageal cancer is located in the 8th position of the incidence of malignant tumors and the 6th most common cause of cancer-related mortality in the world, while China has the highest incidence and mortality of esophageal cancer. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), the predominant histologic type of esophageal cancer in China, accounts for about 90%. Despite recent improvement of surgical techniques and philosophy, however, the prognosis of ESCC patients treated with surgery is still poor, and 5-year survival remains unsatisfactorily low. So far, the pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is still unclear, and effective prevention is also out of the question. To find the main factors affecting the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and to improve the survival of patients, are the main directions of all scholars. Postoperative pathology of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is considered to be one of the most important predictors of prognosis. Currently, the evaluation of postoperative esophageal prognosis mainly depends on TNM staging, but some criteria of its specific content and staging remains controversial. In this paper recent domestic and foreign related researches and clinical trials reports are collected, and the postoperative pathological features affecting esophageal squamous cell carcinoma prognosis were reviewed.

Patterns of lymphatic spread in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a study of 313 cases / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>We analyzed the lymph node (MLNs) metastasis of thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) to explore the patterns of lymphatic spread and the rational surgical procedure and extent of lymph node dissection for ESCC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively evaluated 313 consecutive patients treated in our hospital between January 2010 and May 2014 who underwent minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) for ESCC. The information of lymph node status was obtained and the features of lymph node metastasis were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 313 cases, 122 (39.0%) were found to have lymph node metastasis. In the 4461 dissected lymph nodes, metastasis was identified in 294 (6.6%) lymph nodes. The recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes were the most frequent metastatic nodes with a metastasis rate of 25.2%, followed by the paracardiac and left gastric artery lymph nodes (18.2%). Chi-square test showed that the lymph node metastasis is associated with tumor invasion and tumor differentiation (P<0.001 for both). Metastases were more frequently found in the recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes in patients with tumors in the upper third esophagus and with histologically poor differentiation (P<0.05 for both). The metastasis rate of para-cardiac and left gastric artery lymph nodes was associated with tumor in the lower third of esophagus, T stage and differentiation (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor differentiation and location are independent factors affecting the metastasis of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes (P<0.05 for all). T stage, tumor differentiation and location were independent factors associated with metastasis of para-cardiac and left gastric artery lymph nodes (P<0.05 for all).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>(1) Metastases of thoracic esophageal carcinoma are often found in the recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes, para-cardiac and left gastric artery lymph nodes. (2) Extensive lymph node dissection should be performed for ESCC with poor differentiation and deep tumor invasion.</p>

Clinical application of enhanced recovery after surgery in thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the application value and feasibility of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.Methods The clinical data of 304 patients with esophageal cancer who were admitted to the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from December 2013 and July 2014 were retrospectively analyzed.All the patients underwent esophagogastric partial resection, esophagogastric cervical anastomosis and 2-field lymph node dissection under general anesthesia.The management of 195 patients guided by ERAS were allocated to the ERAS group and 109 patients receiving perioperative traditional treatments were allocated to the control group.Observing indicators included : (1) enteral and parenteral nutritional support treatments;(2) nutrient indexs: levels of serum albumin (Alb) and prealbumin;(3) the recovery of gastrointestinal function: time to anal exsufflation and defecation;(4) postoperative complications and the grading according to Clavien standard;(5) duration of postoperative hospital stay and treatment expenses;(6) risk factors affecting postoperative complications by multivariate analysis;(7) independent risk factors affecting occurrence rate of postoperative complications by univariate analysis.Measurement data with normal distribution were presented as (x) ± s and analyzed using the t test.Nonnormal distribution data were analyzed by the Wilcoxon rank sum test.Comparison of repeated data was analyzed by the repeated measures ANOVA.Categorical variables were analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher's exact probability.The multiple linear regression analysis and Logistic regression were used to measure the multivariate analysis of continuous variables and binary variable, respectively.Results (1) During the enteral and parenteral nutritional support treatments, 11 patients with surgery-related complications in the ERAS group didn't receive oral intake at postoperative day 1,26 proceeded the intravenous rehydration at postoperative day 4 due to calorie intake less than 80％ of calorie requirement, and enteral nutritional support treatment was well-tolerated in the control group.(2) Comparison of nutrient indexs : the levels of serum Alb and prealbumin at postoperative day 1, 3 and 5 were (37.2±3.9)g/L, (39.1 ±3.5)g/L, (38.5 ±3.0)g/L and (0.20 ±0.06)g/L, (0.13 ±0.04)g/L, (0.13 ±0.04)g/L in the ERAS group, (37.7 ±2.8)g/L, (39.0 ±3.6)g/L, (38.4 ±3.8)g/L and (0.18 ± 0.06) g/L, (0.13 ± 0.04) g/L, (0.13 ± 0.04) g/L in the control group, respectively, showing no significant difference in the postoperative changing trends between the 2 groups (F =0.357, 0.453, P ＞ 0.05).(3) The recovery of gastrointestinal function : time to first anal exsufflation and first defecation were (2.1 ± 0.8) days and (3.4 ± 1.2) days in the ERAS group, (3.2 ± 0.9) days and (5.5 ± 1.5) days in the control group, respectively,showing significant differences between the 2 groups (t =-10.505,-13.174, P ＜0.05).(4) There was no death in the perioperative period.The overall incidences of postoperative complications and number of patients with severe complications were 26.15％ (51/195) and 8 in the ERAS group, 30.28％ (33/109) and 8 in the control group, with no significant difference between the 2 groups (x2=0.594, 1.469, P ＞ 0.05).Eight and 10 patients in the ERAS and control groups underwent gastrointestinal decompression, 6 and 8 patients in the ERAS and control groups underwent retreatment in the intensive care unit (ICU), 3 and 2 patients in the ERAS and control groups were readmitted to the hospital at 3 weeks after discharge, with no significant difference in the above indexes (x2=0.185, 2.892, P ＞0.05).(5)The duration of postoperative hospital stay and treatment expenses were (6.8 ±2.4)days and (25 088 ±10 336)yuan in the ERAS group, (11.1 ±3.4)days and (38 819± 14 854)yuan in the control group, showing significant differences between the 2 groups (t =-12.782,-9.452,P ＜ 0.05).(6) The age, gender, preoperative weight loss ＞ 10％, tumor staging, tumor differentiation,neoadjuvant chemotherapy and time of food intake were risk factors affecting incidence of postoperative complication in patients with esophageal cancer by the univariate analysis (x2=2.484, 2.333, 0.061, 8.553,2.459, 0.163, 3.462, P ＜ 0.05).(7) The age, preoperative weight loss ＞ 10％, tumor staging and neoadjuvant chemotherapy were independent risk factors affecting incidence of postoperative complication in patients with esophageal cancer by the multivariate analysis (OR =0.365, 10.761,0.290, 8.140, 95％ confidence interval :0.198-0.671, 4.122-28.095, 0.130-0.645, 3.946-16.791, P ＜0.05), but time of food intake was not an independent risk factor (OR =0.540, 95％ CI: 0.280-1.041, P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions ERAS in the esophageal minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer is safe and feasible, with the advantages of shorter recovery time of gastrointestinal function and duration of hospital stay, lower treatment expenses and a better application value compared with traditional treatment.

Feasibility of "no tube no fasting" therapy in thoracolaparoscopic oesophagectomy for patients with oesophageal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the feasibility of no nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding at will after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 2013 and January 2014, the feasibility of no nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding at postoperative day(POD) 1 after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy was prospectively investigated in 156 patients (trial group) with esophageal cancer in the Henan Cancer Hospital. One hundred and sixty patients previously managed in the same unit who were treated routinely after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy were served as control group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 156 patients of trial group, 6(3.8%) patients could not take food early as planned because of postoperative complications. The overall complication rate in trial group was 19.2%(30/156), which was 25.0%(30/160) in control group (P=0.217). The anastomotic leakage in trial group and control group was 2.6%(4/156) and 4.3%(7/160) respectively (P=0.380). Compared with control group, time to first flatus [(2.1±0.9) d vs. (3.3±1.1) d, P<0.001], bowel movement [(4.4±1.3) d vs. (6.6±1.0) d, P<0.001] and postoperative hospital stay [(8.3±3.2) d vs. (10.4±3.6) d, P<0.001] were significantly shorter in trial group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>No nasogastric intubation and early oral feeding postoperatively in patients with thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy is feasible and safe. This management can shorten postoperative hospital stay and fasten postoperative bowel function recovery.</p>

Selection of nutrition routes for patients with esophageal cancer undergoing thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:To compare three different routes for nutritional support after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy. Meth-ods:The clinical data of 310 esophageal cancer patients undergoing thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy in Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2010 to October 2013 were analyzed (early oral feeding group:110, nasojejunal tube feeding group:102, and jejunostomy tube feeding group:98). The serum albumin and body weights were compared among the three groups be-fore operation and four days after operation. The postoperative recovery time of the first exhaust time and hospitalization days were al-so compared. The fistula of esophageal anastomosis, pulmonary infection, and complications from intubation such as throat inflamma-tion were also compared. Results:No postoperation mortality occurred in the three groups. In addition, no significant difference was ob-served between the nasojejunal tube group and jejunostomy group for the first exhaust time and hospitalization days. The recovery of the early oral feeding group was significantly faster than the other two groups. Postoperative acute dilatation of the stomach and func-tional delayed gastric emptying were not found in the three groups. The anastomotic leakage and pulmonary infection rate had no signif-icant difference. The throat inflammation from intubation in the nasojejunal tube feeding group was significantly more than that in the jejunostomy tube feeding group. Eleven percent of the patients removed the tube by themselves. In the jejunostomy tube feeding group, five patients suffered from postoperative fistula drainage, including one case with serious symptoms. Five patients had incomplete ileus. Conclusion:Early oral feeding is a suitable nutritional support route after thoracolapascopic esophagectomy and it is a good way to re-duce operation stress, improve patient compliance, induce fast recovery, and shorten hospitalization days.