Evaluation of factors influencing long-term and textbook outcomes in laparoscopic gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Textbook outcome (TO) in gastric cancer surgery is a multidimensional measure of surgical quality. However, its impact on long-term survival after laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) is unclear. This study aims to evaluate TO in LG, assess its hospital-level relevance, and examine its association with long-term survival. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed 2278 consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) from January 2004 to December 2017. We determined TO achievement rates, compared preoperative and intraoperative variables between TO and non-TO groups, identified independent predictors of TO, and assessed long-term oncologic outcomes using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression. RESULTS: A total of 1540 LG patients were analyzed, with 994 (64.5%) achieving TO. The least frequently achieved metric was 'hospital stays ≤21 days' (83.4%), followed by 'lymph nodes retrieved ≥15' (84.0%). Factors independently associated with reduced TO likelihood included age ≥65 years, BMI ≥25, ASA III, conversion to open surgery, operation time ≥260 min, and estimated blood loss ≥150 ml. Furthermore, TO was independently linked to improved 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR 0.519 [0.443-0.609] and HR 0.517 [0.443-0.604], respectively). CONCLUSION: Implementing the TO concept in LG provides a benchmark for achieving improved prognoses and empowers surgeons to devise strategies for enhancing surgical care quality.

Long-term oncologic and surgical outcomes of robotic and laparoscopic gastrectomy for Siewert II/III esophagogastric junction carcinoma: A propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the short-term surgical and long-term survival outcomes after robotic gastrectomy (RG) or laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) for patients with Siewert type II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 84 and 312 patients with Siewert type II/III AEG who underwent RG or LG between January 2005 and September 2016 in our center. We performed a 1:2 matched propensity score matching (PSM) analysis between the RG and LG group for clinical features to reduce confounding bias. Additionally, the long- and short-term outcomes between the RG and LG group were compared. RESULTS: The clinicopathological characteristics of 246 patients (RG group: n = 82; LG group: n = 164) were well balanced after PSM. Patients in the RG group showed less estimated blood loss, less time to first flatus, less time to first ambulation, less drainage tube removed time, and retrieved more lymph nodes than the LG group. The overall complication rate was comparable between the RG and LG groups. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 44.4% in the RG group and 43.7% in the LG group (p = 0.898). The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 43.2% in the RG group and 43.2% in the LG group (p = 0.990). The RG and LG groups exhibited a similar recurrence rate and pattern within 5 years after surgery. CONCLUSION: Robotic gastrectomy could be a feasible and safe option for patients with Siewert II/III AEG in terms of surgical and oncologic outcomes.

Survival Benefit of Pyloric Lymph Node Dissection for Siewert Type II/III Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagogastric Junction Based on Tumor Diameter: A Large Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the dissection of pyloric lymph nodes (PLNs, No. 5 and No. 6 lymph nodes) is necessary for adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) with a tumor diameter >4 cm based on current guidelines. This study aimed at evaluating whether pyloric node lymphadenectomy is essential for patients with Siewert type II/III AEG according to different tumor diameters. METHODS: This study included 300 patients on whom transabdominal total gastrectomy was performed for Siewert type II/III AEG at a high-volume center in China from January 2006 to December 2015. The index of estimated benefit from lymph node dissection (IEBLD) was used to analyze the priority of pyloric lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: In Siewert type II AEG, the 5-year overall survival (OS) and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) were similar between patients with PLN-positive cancer and patients of stage III AEG without PLN metastasis (23.1% vs. 30.6%, p = 0.505; 23.1% vs. 27.1%, p = 0.678). However, in Siewert type III AEG, the OS and the DFS of patients with PLN-positive cancer were significantly lower than that of patients with stage III without PLN metastasis (7.9% vs. 27.8%, p = 0.021; 0 vs. 26.8%, p = 0.005). According to the IEBLD, the dissection of PLNs did not appear to be beneficial in either Siewert type II AEG or type III AEG, whereas a stratified analysis revealed that PLN dissection yielded a high therapeutic benefit for Siewert type II AEG with tumor diameters >4 cm. CONCLUSION: We recommended that the PLNs be dissected in Siewert type II AEG when a tumor diameter is >4 cm. Total gastrectomy should be optional for Siewert type II AEG with a tumor diameter >4 cm and Siewert type III AEG.

GLI1 activation by non-classical pathway integrin αvß3/ERK1/2 maintains stem cell-like phenotype of multicellular aggregates in gastric cancer peritoneal metastasis.

Peritoneal metastasis is one of the most important causes of postoperative death in patients with gastric cancer, and the exact mechanism remains unclear. The proliferation of multicellular aggregates of exfoliated malignant gastric cells in the abdominal cavity is the focus of current research. However, the mechanism how gastric cancer multicellular aggregates survive remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that multicellular aggregates of exfoliated gastric cancer cells in the abdominal cavity expressed a stem cell-Like phenotype. We found that Integrin αvß3 not only mediated adhesion of gastric cancer multicellular aggregates to form independent functional units, but also maintained their stem cell-like phenotype by the non-classical pathway Integrin αvß3/ERK1/2/GLI1. In addition, ERK1/2 directly regulates the transcriptional activity of GLI1. GLI1 is a key effector of the Integrin αvß3 pathway in regulating stem cell-like phenotype in multicellular aggregates. Our data indicates that although there is a crosstalk between the non-classical Integrin αvß3 pathway and the classical Hedgehog pathway, the activation of GLI1 is almost independent of the Hedgehog pathway in multicellular aggregates of gastric cancer cells. Our study provides a basis for blocking GLI1 activity in the prevention and treatment of peritoneal metastases of gastric cancer.