Identification of optimal primary tumor resection candidates for metastatic gastric cancer: Nomograms based on propensity score matching.

BACKGROUND: This study sought to develop and validate nomograms for screening patients with metastatic gastric cancer (mGC) who are candidates for primary tumor resection (PTR) and evaluating the prognosis of mGC patients after PTR. METHODS: From 2010 to 2016, we screened mGC patients with complete data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Depending on whether or not PTR was performed, we categorized patients into surgery and non-surgery groups. A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to balance the characteristics of the two groups. The endpoints were overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Two predictive nomograms were developed using logistic regression to assess the likelihood of benefit. Two additional prognostic nomograms were developed to assess prognosis in mGC patients after PTR by Cox regression. Finally, nomograms were evaluated using a variety of methodologies. RESULTS: Our study included 3594 mGC patients who met the criteria. PTR was associated with improved OS and CSS time (median OS time after PSM: 15 vs. 7 months, P < 0.05; median CSS time after PSM: 17 vs. 7 months, P < 0.05). The OS-related predictive nomogram, including age, histologic type, grade, T stage, and chemotherapy, was developed. Moreover, the CSS-related predictive nomogram, including age, histologic type, grade, and chemotherapy, was developed. Sex, histologic type, grade, T stage, N stage, and chemotherapy were found to be correlated with OS. Furthermore, the CSS correlated with histologic type, grade, T stage, N stage, and chemotherapy. Both predictive and prognostic nomograms were found to be valuable and reliable after different types of validation. CONCLUSION: Predictive nomograms were developed and validated for identifying the optimal PTR mGC candidates. Prognostic nomograms were developed and validated for assessing the prognosis of mGC patients after PTR.

Incidence and risk factors of suicide among patients with pancreatic cancer: A population-based analysis from 2000 to 2018.

Background: The rate of suicide within one year after diagnosis in pancreatic cancer patients are high, but suicide studies based on the current large-scale data are still a vacancy. Our study aimed to determine, compared to the general population, the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) of suicide and risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer patients committing suicide to provide clues for prevention. Methods: We collected 199,604 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2000 and 2018 from the SEER database. Multivariate logistic regression and multivariate Cox regression were applied to determine the risk factors independently affecting the suicide outcome of pancreatic cancer patients. Results: A total of 180 suicide deaths were observed in the cohort, yielding an overall suicide rate of 88.05 per 100,000 person-years and an SMR of 6.43. In multivariate analyses, males (HR: 12.798, 95% CI: 7.471-21.923), unmarried (HR: 1.826, 95% CI: 1.205-2.767), and divorced, separated or widowed (HR: 1.779, 95% CI: 1.230-2.572) were found associated with a higher risk of suicide. While race black (HR: 0.250, 95% CI: 0.110-0.567), diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (HR: 0.487, 95% CI: 0.276-0.859), received chemotherapy (HR: 0.456, 95% CI: 0.323-0.646), and received surgical procedures (HR: 0.553, 95% CI: 0.342-0.895) were indicated might protective factors. Conclusions: The 199,604 pancreatic cancer patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 had an overall suicide rate of 88.05 per 100,000 person-years and an SMR of 6.43 compared to the U.S. general population. Male, white, unmarried, and diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients were associated with a higher risk of suicide, while cancer-directed surgery and chemotherapy might indicate protective factors. The screening and prevention process should be enhanced for pancreatic cancer patients with adverse risk factors. Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that timely cancer-directed treatment might help reduce the subsequent suicide risk of pancreatic cancer patients.

Survival Outcomes for Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Radical Prostatectomy or Radiation Therapy: A SEER-based Study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) have a very low 5-year survival rate. How to choose proper treatment of mPCa remains controversial. METHOD: Within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (2004-2015), we performed analyses of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and overall mortality (OM) in the comparisons of local treatment (LT) versus no local treatment (NLT) and radical prostatectomy (RP) versus radiation therapy (RT). To balance the characteristics between 2 treatment groups, propensity score matching was performed. Considering the selection bias, we additionally used an instrument variate (IVA) to calculate the unmeasured confounders. RESULT: Multivariate regression showed that patients receiving LT had the lower risks of OM and CSM after adjustment of covariates (hazard ratio [HR] 0.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35-0.44 and HR 0.39, 95% CI 0.34-0.45). In the IVA-adjusted model, LT showed more survival benefits compared with NLT, with HR of 0.57 (95% CI 0.50-0.65) and cancer-specific HR of 0.59 (95% CI 0.51-0.68), respectively. For those receiving LT, adjusted multivariate regression indicated that RP is superior to RT (HR 0.60; 95% CI 0.43-0.83 for OM and HR 0.61; 95% CI 0.42-0.91 for CSM). The IVA-adjusted model also showed that RP presented with potentially better survival outcome compared with RT, although the effect was not statistically significant (HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.26-1.54 for OM and HR 0.47; 95% CI 0.16-1.35 for CSM). CONCLUSION: Among patients with metastatic prostate cancer, LT might bring better survival benefits in decreasing CSM and all-cause mortality compared with NLT. For those receiving LT, RP showed better survival outcomes than RT.