Salvage radiotherapy for postoperative locoregional failure in esophageal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Locoregional recurrences following surgery for esophageal cancers represent a significant clinical problem with no standard recommendations for management. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis with the objective of studying safety and efficacy of salvage radiotherapy in this setting. All prospective and retrospective cohort studies, which studied patients who developed locoregional recurrence following initial radical surgery for esophageal cancer and subsequently received salvage radiation therapy (RT)/chemoradiation with all relevant information regarding survival outcome and toxicity available, were included. The quality of eligible individual studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score for risk of bias. R package MetaSurv was used to obtain a summary survival curve from survival probabilities and numbers of at-risk patients collected at various time points and to test the overall heterogeneity using the I2 statistic. Thirty studies (27 retrospective, 3 prospective) published from 1995 to 2020 with 1553 patients were included. The median interval between surgery and disease recurrence was 12.5 months. The median radiation dose used was 60 Gy and 57% received concurrent chemotherapy. The overall incidence of acute grade 3/4 mucositis and dermatitis were 8 and 4%, respectively; grade 3/4 acute pneumonitis was reported in 5%. The overall median follow-up of all studies included was 27 months. The 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) probabilities were 67.9, 35.9 and 30.6%, respectively. Factors which predicted better survival on multivariate analysis were good PS, lower group stage, node negativity at index surgery, longer disease-free interval, nodal recurrence (as compared to anastomotic site recurrence), smaller disease volume, single site of recurrence, RT dose >50 Gy, conformal RT, use of concomitant chemotherapy and good radiological response after radiotherapy. Salvage radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy for locoregional recurrences after surgery for esophageal cancer is safe and effective. Modern radiotherapy techniques may improve outcomes and reduce treatment-related morbidity.

A comparative analysis of immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization assay to detect anaplastic lymphoma kinase status in lung adenocarcinoma cases: A search for a testing algorithm.

INTRODUCTION: Testing for echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is well established whereas the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ALK immunohistochemical (IHC) test is relatively new. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare FDA-approved ALK IHC test (D5F3 clone) with the standard ALK FISH test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A validation and a test arm with 100 and 200 cases of Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-embedded blocks of lung adenocarcinoma, respectively, comprised the material. All cases had ALK IHC test on automated Ventana Benchmark XT IHC slide stainer using anti-ALK D5F3 rabbit monoclonal primary antibody; when positive tumor cells (any percentage) showed strong granular cytoplasmic staining. For the FISH test, Vysis ALK Dual Color Break Apart Rearrangement Probe (Abbott Molecular Inc.,) was used to detect ALK gene 2p23 rearrangements; when positive the red and green signals were split two signal diameter apart and/or isolated 3'red signal were detected in more than 15% tumor cells. The ALK FISH results were available in all 100 validation cases and 64-test arm cases which formed the basis of this analysis. RESULTS: The ALK IHC test was positive in 16% cases; four discordant cases were ALK IHC positive but ALK FISH negative, but no case was ALK IHC negative and ALK FISH positive. There was 100% sensitivity, 90.5% specificity, and 93.75% accuracy. CONCLUSION: A negative ALK IHC result obviates the need for a FISH test barring those with a strong clinical profile, and a positive ALK IHC result is sufficient basis for the initiation of treatment.

A prospective study of telephonic contact and subsequent physical follow-up of radically treated lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: We tested the hypothesis that telephonic follow-up (FU) may offer a convenient and equivalent alternative to physical FU of radically treated lung cancer patients. DESIGN: Prospective study carried out at a tertiary referral cancer care institute, Mumbai. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred consecutive lung cancer patients treated with curative intent were followed up regularly with telephonic interviews paired with their routine physical FU visits. Patient satisfaction with the telephonic call and the physical visit, the anxiety level of the patient after meeting the physician and the economic burden of the visit to the patient were noted in a descriptive manner. Kappa statistics was used to assess concurrence between the telephonic and physical impression of disease status. RESULTS: With a median FU duration of 21.5 months, the median satisfaction scores for telephonic and physical FU were 8 and 9, respectively. The prevalence and bias adjusted kappa (PABAK) score of the entire cohort of patients was 0.64 (95% confidence interval [CI] =0.58-0.70). Data analyzed up to first disease progression/relapse on FU had a PABAK score of 0.71 (95% CI = 0.64-0.77) indicating substantial agreement. Patients with disease controlled at the FU had a significant PABAK score of 0.88 (95% CI = 0.80-0.94) indicating excellent concurrence. On average, each patient spent Rs. 5117.10 on travel and Rs. 3079.06 on lodging per FU visit. CONCLUSION: Telephonic FU is substantially accurate in assessing disease status until the first relapse. In a resource-constrained country like India, it is worthwhile to further explore the benefits of such an alternative strategy.

Solitary pulmonary nodule evaluation in regions endemic for infectious diseases: Do regional variations impact the effectiveness of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

BACKGROUND: Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) has become a preferred imaging modality for the evaluation of solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN), particularly in the developed world. Since FDG can concentrate in infective/inflammatory lesions, the diagnostic utility of FDG-PET can be questioned, particularly in regions endemic for infectious decisions. AIM: To evaluate the accuracy of FDG-PET/CT in evaluation of SPNs in a population endemic for infectious disease and to assess if regional variations have an impact on its effectiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients who underwent an FDG/PET-CT with a clinico-radiological diagnosis of SPN categorized as indeterminate were included. Based on a maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) cut-off of 2.5, lesions were classified as benign (<2.5) or malignant (>2.5) and compared with gold standard histopathology. The diagnostic accuracy of PET-CT to detect malignancy was calculated. On the basis of final histopathology, lesions were grouped as (a) malignant nodules (b) infective/granulomatous nodules with a specific diagnosis and (c) nonspecific inflammatory nodules. The SUVmaxbetween these groups was compared using nonparametric statistical tests. RESULTS: A total of 191 patients (129 males, 62 females) with a median age of 64 years (range: 36-83) were included. Totally, 144 nodules (75.3%) were malignant and 47 were benign (24.7%). Adenocarcinoma (n = 84) was the most common malignancy. Tuberculosis (n = 16) and nonspecific infections (n = 24) were the two most common benign pathologies. There was a significant overlap in the metabolic uptake of malignant (median SUVmax-11.2, range: 3.3-34.6) and tuberculous nodules (median SUVmax-10.3, range: 2.7-22.5) with no statistically difference between their SUVmaxvalues (P = 0.43). The false-positive rate was 65.2% and the false-negative rate was 5.5%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of FDG-PET/CT for detecting malignancy were 94.4%, 34.7%, 81.9%, 66.6%, and 79.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Though FDG-PET scans show a very high sensitivity for malignant nodules, it has a high false-positive rate and reduced specificity when characterizing SPNs in an infectious endemic region. Physicians must be aware of this limitation in the workup of lung nodules, and regional variations must be considered before further management decisions are taken.

Thymic epithelial tumors: Can fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography help in predicting histologic type and stage?

OBJECTIVES: To study the utility of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in predicting (1) the World Health Organization (WHO) histologic type and differentiating low-risk from high-risk types. (2) Tumor stage and differentiate early from advanced stage disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with thymic epithelial neoplasia who underwent a pretreatment FDG-PET study were included. Tumor maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was correlated with the WHO histologic type and also with the Masaoka-Koga (MK) staging system. Patients with WHO Type A, AB, and B1 were classified as low risk and those with B2 and B3 as high risk. Thymic carcinomas belonged to Type C. Patients with MK Stage I and II disease were grouped as early stage and those with Stage III and IV as an advanced stage. Differences in SUVmax between the various groups were calculated. RESULTS: The SUVmax of thymic carcinomas was significantly higher as compared to low-risk (P = 0.001) and high-risk groups (P = 0.007). The SUVmax of high-risk group was also significantly higher than the low-risk group (P = 0.002). SUVmax cutoff of 6.5 was able to differentiate thymic carcinomas from thymomas with 100% sensitivity and 87.2% specificity. The SUVmax in patients with advanced stage disease showed a higher trend compared to those with early stage, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.167). CONCLUSION: PET can differentiate thymic carcinomas from rest of the thymoma subtypes by the virtue of their higher FDG uptake. It can also provide valuable information in differentiating high-risk from low-risk thymomas and in predicting disease stage.