Combination of CDX2 H-score quantitative analysis with CD3 AI-guided analysis identifies patients with a good prognosis only in stage III colon cancer.

AIM: Stratification of colon cancer (CC) of patients with stage II and III for risk of relapse is still needed especially to drive adjuvant therapy administration. Our study evaluates the prognostic performance of two known biomarkers, CDX2 and CD3, standalone or their combined information in stage II and III CC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: CDX2 and CD3 expression was evaluated in Prodige-13 study gathering 443 stage II and 398 stage III primary CC on whole slide colectomy. We developed for this study an H-score to quantify CDX2 expression and used our artificial intelligence (AI)-guided tissue analysis ColoClass to detect CD3 in tumour core and invasive margin. Association between biomarkers and relapse-free survival was investigated. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that the combined variable CD3-TC and CD3-IM was associated with prognosis in both stage II and stage III. CDX2, on the contrary, was associated with prognosis only in stage III. We subsequently associated CDX2 and combined immune parameters only in stage III. This multivariate analysis allowed us to distinguish a proportion of stage III CC harbouring a high CDX2 expression and a high immune infiltration with a particularly good prognosis compared to their counterpart. CONCLUSION: This study validated the prognostic role of CDX2 and CD3 evaluated with immunohistochemistry procedures in stage III but not in stage II. This association would be conceivable in a routine pathology laboratory and could help oncologist to consider chemotherapy de-escalation for a part of stage III patients.

Complete endoscopic healing is associated with lower disability than partial endoscopic healing in Crohn's disease: A prospective multicenter study.

INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease (CD) has a significant impact on health status and quality of life, affecting physical and emotional well-being and impairing social and functional abilities. In the era of the treat-to-target concept, endoscopic healing has emerged as the goal to achieve to prevent intestinal damage and disability. It is not clear what level of endoscopic healing is associated with lower disability. We therefore aimed to compare disability associated with complete endoscopic healing to disability with partial endoscopic healing in patients with CD. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter prospective study, between September 2019 and November 2020, in one university hospital, one general hospital, and one private practice center. Consecutive patients with CD in clinical remission were included, having either complete endoscopic healing (CDEIS = 0) or partial endoscopic healing (CDEIS >0 and <4). The 10-item IBD-Disk self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess disability. Moderate to severe disability was defined as an overall IBD-Disk score ≥40. RESULTS: A total of 82 patients were included. Forty-four (53%) were women, the median age and disease duration were respectively 35.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 28.6-45.2) and 8.0 years (IQR, 3.0-17.0). The median overall IBD-Disk score was 26.5 (IQR, 9 -45.0), and 30 (36.6%) patients had moderate to severe disability. Complete endoscopic healing was observed in 48 patients (57.3%). The median IBD-Disk score was respectively 24 (IQR, 9.0-40.5) and 34 (IQR, 9.5-51.5) for patients with complete and partial endoscopic healing (p = 0.068). Respectively, 13/48 (27%) and 17/34 (50%) of patients with complete and partial endoscopic healing had moderate to severe disability (p = 0.039). In multivariate analysis, partial endoscopic healing (OR=5.82, 95% CI [1.65, 24.69], p = 0.0009), female gender (OR=4.0, 95%CI [1.13, 16.58], p = 0.04), and smoking (OR=8.33, 95% CI [1.96, 50.0] p = 0.006) were significantly associated with moderate to severe disability. Among the IBD-Disk sub scores, the defecation score (median, IQR) (0.0 [0.0-3.0] vs 4.0 [0.0-7.5], p = 0.028) and energy score (4.0 [0.0-6.0] vs 6.0 [2.5-8.0], p = 0.023) were significantly lower with complete endoscopic healing. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of patient with endoscopic healing reported moderate to severe disability. Complete endoscopic healing (CDEIS = 0) was associated with lower disability than partial endoscopic healing (CDEIS >0 and <4). Deeper endoscopic healing may be needed to reduce the risk of disability in CD.

Urgent endoscopy in severe non-variceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage: does the Glasgow-Blatchford score help endoscopists?

OBJECTIVE: The Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS) has been validated to select severe patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH). The aim was to compare the yield of the triage based on the GBS with an endoscopist' decision to perform an urgent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) in newly admitted patients and inpatients with UGIH in the setting of an endoscopy on-duty service in 13 tertiary care centers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: During a 6-month period, GBS and patient data were collected for all patients with non-variceal UGIH for whom an UGIE was requested in emergency. If patients experienced severe endoscopic lesion, surgery or death, they were categorized as patients who had been at need for urgent UGIE. RESULTS: The 102 UGIH patients included (mean age 62, men 73%) had a median GBS of 12 (range 0-21), significantly lower for new patients compared with inpatients (11, range 0-21 vs. 14, range 2-21, respectively, p = 0.001). If triage for urgent UGIE had followed the GBS, no more patients would have had an urgent UGIE compared with what endoscopists performed (99/102 (97%) vs. 92/102 (90%), respectively, p = 0.09). Sensitivity for the detection of patients who needed an UGIE was no different with the GBS than endoscopists (98% vs. 98%, respectively, p = 0.10) and both showed insufficient specificity (4% and 19%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The GBS does not detect more patients at need for urgent UGIE than on-duty endoscopists. Both methods lead to numerous unjustified UGIEs. A score that would equally help endoscopists in their decision to intervene urgently is still warranted.