Platinum-based adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with head and neck adenoid cystic carcinoma.

PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness and toxicity of platinum-based adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (POCRT) in comparison to postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in patients with head and neck adenoid cystic carcinoma (HNACC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed patients diagnosed with HNACC at our center between January 2010 and April 2020. A 1:1 propensity score matching method was used to create a matched cohort. RESULTS: In this study, 206 patients were analyzed, with 147 patients (71.4%) receiving postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) and 59 patients (28.6%) receiving POCRT. Twenty-one patients experienced local-regional failure. The 3-, 5-, and 10-yr local-regional control (LRC) rate for the cohort were 92.0%, 90.6%, and 86.9%, respectively. In both the entire cohort and the matched cohort, the POCRT group exhibited superior LRC compared to the PORT group (Gray's test, all P < 0.05*). Multivariate analysis identified adjuvant concurrent chemotherapy as an independent prognostic factor for LRC (Competing risks regression, HR = 0.144, 95% CI 0.026-0.802, P = 0.027*). In addition, the POCRT group had higher incidences of upper gastrointestinal toxicity and hematologic toxicities, including leukopenia, neutropenia, and anemia (all P < 0.05*). CONCLUSION: In terms of reducing locoregional failures in HNACC patients, POCRT may potentially offer a more effective therapeutic approach than using PORT alone, although it also entails an augmented burden of treatment-related toxicity.

Clinicopathological factors predict residual lymph node metastasis in locally advanced rectal cancer with ypT0-2 after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

PURPOSE: Residual lymph node metastases (RLNM) remained a great concern in the implementation of organ-preserving strategies and led to poor prognosis in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). In this study, we aimed to identify the clinicopathological factors correlated with RLNM in LARC patients with ypT0-2 after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 417 patients histologically diagnosed middle-low LARC after NCRT and total mesorectal excision (TME), whose pathological staging was ypT0-2. All patients received pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before NCRT. The radiation doses were 50-50.6 Gy for the planning gross tumor volume and 41.8-45 Gy for the planning target volume, respectively. A nomogram for predicting RLNM was constructed using a binary logistic regression. Nomogram performance was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC). RESULTS: After surgery, 191 patients (45.8%) were ypT0, 43 patients (10.3%) were ypT1 and 183 patients (43.9%) were ypT2, and a total of 49 patients (11.8%) were found the presence of RLNM. Multivariable analyses identified MRI-defined mesorectal fascia (MRF)-positive, high-grade histopathology at biopsy, advanced ypT-category, and the presence of perineural invasion (PNI) as the predictive factors. The nomogram, incorporating all these predictors, showed good discrimination and calibration efficacy, with the areas under the ROC curve of 0.690 (95% CI: 0.610-0.771). Both DCA and CIC demonstrated that this nomogram has good clinical usefulness. CONCLUSION: The nomogram model can predict RLNM in patients with ypT0-2 tumors. It can help select suitable patients for performing organ-preserving strategies after NCRT.

An analysis of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus chemotherapy on the survival rates for patients with stage IB-III uterine serous carcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a combination of chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was able to increase the overall survival rates compared with chemotherapy alone in stage IB-III uterine serous carcinoma. A total of 1096 patients (593 who had not received radiotherapy, and 503 who had) with primary stage IB-III uterine serous carcinoma who underwent surgery and received chemotherapy were included in the present study. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-Rank tests showed that radiotherapy did not increase 5-year overall survival rates compared with the no-radiotherapy groups (52.3 cf. 50.8%, respectively; P = 0.641). Cox regression analysis subsequently corroborated that radiotherapy did not affect the 5-year overall survival rate (P = 0.635). Patients who were aged ≥ 60 years had a higher mortality rate [hazard ratio (HR), 1.712; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.385-2.117; P < 0.05]. The 5-year overall survival rates were found to be lower in the groups where the regional lymph nodes had not been removed (HR 0.645; 95% CI 0.508-0.821; P < 0.05). Chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was found to not be associated with improved 5-year overall survival rates. However, chemotherapy may be a better treatment option for patients with primary stage IB-III uterine serous carcinoma who have undergone surgery.

Impact of adjuvant radiochemotherapy on free flap volume in head and neck reconstruction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Limited data exist regarding the effect of adjuvant radiochemotherapy on free flap volume in head and neck reconstruction. However, an adequate free flap volume is an important predictor of functional and patient-reported outcomes in head and neck reconstruction. METHODS: A systematic review of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 6710 abstracts were screened, and 36 full-text papers were reviewed. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were used to extract data for this analysis. RESULTS: A meta-analysis of 14 two-arm studies comparing the impact of adjuvant radiotherapy versus no adjuvant radiotherapy was performed. The main analysis revealed that 6 months postoperatively, irradiated flaps showed a significant reduction of volume (average, 9.4%) compared to nonirradiated flaps. The average interpolated pooled flap volumes 6 months postoperatively were 76.4% in irradiated flaps and 81.8% in nonirradiated flaps. After a median postoperative follow-up of 12 months, the total flap volume was 62.6% for irradiated flaps and 76% for nonirradiated flaps. Four studies reported that chemotherapy had no significant impact on free flap volume. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to nonirradiated flaps, irradiated flaps were significantly reduced in volume (range, 5% to 15.5%). Clinicians should take this into account when planning the surgical reconstruction of head and neck defects. Conducting large-scale prospective studies with standardized protocols and well-defined follow-up measurements could contribute to defining the ideal, personalized free flap volume for optimal function and patient-reported outcomes.

The clinical relevance of adjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer patients achieving near pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: Insights from ypT stage.

BACKGROUND: Near-pathological complete response (Near-pCR) patients constitute a distinct subgroup with limited research attention. The clinical relevance of adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) in this patient cohort remains uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 245 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) who achieved near-pCR following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) between 2011 and 2018. Based on their receipt of ACT or not (non-ACT), patients were divided into two groups. We examined their characteristics, treatment modalities, and survival outcomes, particularly focusing on 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Among the 245 near-pCR patients, 191 (77.96%) received ACT, and 42 (17.14%) experienced disease recurrence. All 54 (22.04%) Patients in the non-ACT group exhibited a lower 5-year DFS rate (72.2% vs. 85.9%, P = 0.014) and a similar 5-year OS rate (87.0% vs. 91.1%, P = 0.351). Interestingly, those with ypT3-T4 stage tumors demonstrated a worse DFS (76.8% vs. 89.9%, P = 0.010) and OS (87.5% vs. 97.0%, P = 0.004) compared to their counterparts with ypT1-T2 stage tumors. Patients with Non-Downstage tumors showed inferior DFS (76.9% vs. 88.3%, P = 0.025) and OS (87.2% vs. 93.0%, P = 0.166) in comparison to patients with Downstage tumors. The ACT subgroup in patients with Downstage demonstrated statistically better 5-year DFS (93.0% vs. 71.4%, P = 0.001) but analogous survival rates for 5-year OS (OS: 94.0% vs. 89.3%, P = 0.402). Pathological T stage 3-4, perineural invasion (PNI) (positive) and ACT were independent factors influencing 5-year DFS in multivariate analysis. Both univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated a link between serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) before treatment ≥5 ng/ml and shorter 5-year OS. Notably, near-pCR patients with positive lymph nodes experienced notably diminished 5-year DFS in the absence of ACT post-surgery (61.1% vs. 93.2%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ACT demonstrated a significant positive impact on the prognosis of select near-pCR patients, particularly those with ypT1-T2 stage tumors and positive lymph nodes. ypT staging may emerge as a valuable criterion for precise post-surgical ACT guidance in near-pCR patients.

Choosing the right adjuvant therapy for stage III-IVA endometrial cancer: A comparative analysis of chemoradiotherapy and chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: The optimal adjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced endometrial cancer (EC) remains debatable. We comparatively analyzed recurrence patterns and survival outcomes in patients with stage III-IVA EC treated with adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) exclusively or combined with radiotherapy (CRT). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 184 patients treated for stage III-IVA EC at 2 tertiary institutions between 2010 and 2021. All patients underwent standard primary surgery and received either CT alone (n = 89) or CRT (n = 95) as an adjuvant treatment. We compared the failure patterns, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) between the CT and CRT groups. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 54.8 months. Most patients underwent pelvic (94.6%) or para-aortic (75.5%) lymphadenectomies. The 5-year RFS was 69.2% with CRT versus 56.3% with CT (P = 0.038), and 5-year OS was 86.1% versus 78.9% (P = 0.357). Pelvic and para-aortic recurrence rates were significantly higher in the CT group (pelvic: 29.2%; para-aortic: 20.2%) than in the CRT group (pelvic: 10.5%; para-aortic: 6.3%). The CRT group showed a higher rate of distant recurrence (CRT, 23.2% vs. CT, 14.6%) however, the 5-year cumulative incidence of distant recurrence was not significantly different between the two groups (CRT, 28% vs. CT, 35%). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the potential benefits of adjuvant CRT in patients with stage III-IVA EC. The incorporation of molecular classification is necessary to derive optimal personalized adjuvant treatment strategies for this patient population.

Effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on the oncological outcome of rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response.

BACKGROUND: Locally advanced rectal cancer is typically treated using a combination of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and total mesorectal resection. While achieving pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy has been recognized as a positive prognostic factor in oncology, the necessity of adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response after surgery remains uncertain. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on the oncological outcomes of rectal cancer patients who attain pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. METHODS: This meta-analysis followed the guidelines outlined in the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). The Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched to identify relevant literature. RESULTS: A total of 34 retrospective studies, including 9 studies from the NCBD database, involving 31,558 patients with pathological complete response rectal cancer, were included in the meta-analysis. The included studies were published between 2008 and 2023. The pooled analysis demonstrated that adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival (HR = 0.803, 95% CI 0.678-0.952, P = 0.011), and no heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 0%). Locally advanced rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy exhibited a higher 5-year overall survival rate compared to those who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy (OR = 1.605, 95% CI 1.183-2.177, P = 0.002). However, the analysis also revealed that postoperative ACT did not lead to improvements in disease-free survival and recurrence-free survival within the same patient population. Subgroup analysis indicated that pathological complete response patients with clinical stage T3/T4, lymph node positivity, and younger than 70 years of age may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in terms of overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy has a beneficial effect on improving overall survival among rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response. However, no such association was observed in terms of disease-free survival and recurrence-free survival.

Nomogram to Predict the Prognosis of Oligodendroglioma Patients Undergoing Postoperative Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a prognostic nomogram for predicting the prognosis of oligodendroglioma patients receiving combined chemoradiotherapy (CRT) after surgery. METHODS: The study used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2000 and 2019. The patients were randomly divided into a development cohort (700 patients) and a validation cohort (244 patients) in a 7:3 ratio. The Cox hazards regression model was used to identify predictors, and a nomogram was constructed to visualize the prognosis. The performance of the prognostic nomogram was evaluated using the consistency index (C-index), clinical net benefit, and calibration. RESULTS: The nomogram included 5 variables: age, marital status, tumor size, site of lesions, and surgery type. The C-index of the training set and validation set were 0.77 and 0.68, respectively. The calibration plots showed that the nomogram was in good agreement with the actual observation. The clinical decision curve indicated that the nomogram had a good clinical net benefit in oligodendroglioma patients receiving CRT after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This study established and verified a prognostic nomogram for a large cohort of oligodendroglioma patients receiving CRT after surgery based on the SEER database. The nomogram may help clinicians provide personalized treatment services and clinical decisions for patients.

Risk Factors for Distant Metastasis in Extrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer after Curative Resection (KROG 1814).

PURPOSE: Risk factors predicting distant metastasis (DM) in extrahepatic bile duct cancer (EHBDC) patients treated with curative resection were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 1,418 EHBDC patients undergoing curative resection between Jan 2000 and Dec 2015 from 14 institutions were reviewed. After resection, 924 patients (67.6%) were surveilled without adjuvant therapy, 297 (21.7%) were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and 148 (10.8%) with CCRT followed by chemotherapy. To exclude the treatment effect from innate confounders, patients not treated with adjuvant therapy were evaluated. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 36.7 months (range, 2.7 to 213.2 months), the 5-year distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate was 57.7%. On multivariate analysis, perihilar or diffuse tumor (hazard ratio [HR], 1.391; p=0.004), poorly differentiated histology (HR, 2.014; p < 0.001), presence of perineural invasion (HR, 1.768; p < 0.001), positive nodal metastasis (HR, 2.670; p < 0.001) and preoperative carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 ≥ 37 U/mL (HR, 1.353; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with inferior DMFS. The DMFS rates significantly differed according to the number of these risk factors. For validation, patients who underwent adjuvant therapy were evaluated. In patients with ≥ 3 factors, additional chemotherapy after CCRT resulted in a superior DMFS compared with CCRT alone (5-year rate, 47.6% vs. 27.7%; p=0.001), but the benefit of additional chemotherapy was not observed in patients with 0-2 risk factors. CONCLUSION: Tumor location, histologic differentiation, perineural invasion, lymph node metastasis, and preoperative CA 19-9 level predicted DM risk in resected EHBDC. These risk factors might help identifying a subset of patients who could benefit from additional chemotherapy after resection.

A pyroptosis-related signature in colorectal cancer: exploring its prognostic value and immunological characteristics.

Background: The heterogeneity of colorectal cancer (CRC) is the main cause of the disparity of drug sensitivity and the variability of prognosis. Pyroptosis is closely associated with the development and prognosis of various tumors, including CRC. Dividing CRC into distinct subgroups based on pyroptosis is a worthwhile topic for improving the precision treatment and prognosis prediction of CRC. Methods: We classified patients into two clusters using the consensus clustering based on the pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs). Next, the prognostic signature was developed with LASSO regression analysis using the screened genes from differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. According to the pyroptosis-related score (PR score) calculated with the signature, patients belonged to two groups with distinct prognosis. Moreover, we assessed the immune profile to explore the relationship between the signature and immunological characteristics. Two single cell sequencing databases were adopted for further exploration of tumor immune microenvironment (TME). In addition, we applied our own cohort and Drugbank to explore the correlation of the signature and clinical therapies. We also studied the expression of key genes by immunohistochemistry. Results: The signature performed well in predicting the prognosis of CRC as the high area under curve (AUC) value demonstrated. Patients with a higher PR score had poorer prognosis and higher expression of immune checkpoints but more abundant infiltration of immune cells. Combining with the indicator of therapeutic analysis, they might benefit more from immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). Conclusion: In conclusion, our study is based on genomics and transcriptomics to investigate the role of PRGs in CRC. We have established a prognostic signature and integrated single-cell data to study the relationship between the signature with the TME in CRC. Its clinical application in reliable prediction of prognosis and personalized treatment was validated by public and own sequencing cohort. It provided a new insight for the personalized treatment of CRC.

Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients of High-Grade Glioma Undergoing Adjuvant Chemoradiation: A Prospective Study.

PURPOSE: High-grade gliomas are highly fatal disease with poor prognosis despite multimodality management. Inflammatory biomarkers are widely used for prognostication in various solid malignancies to stratify high risk patients. The current research was conducted to investigate whether any change in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) during adjuvant chemoradiotherapy has any prognostic significance in high-grade glioma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-three biopsy proven high-grade glioma patients treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy were enrolled in this study. Haematological parameters were collected before treatment, weekly during treatment, and at 4th week after chemoradiotherapy along with baseline characteristics. Overall survival (OS) was determined using Kaplan-Meier curve. Variables found statistically significant in univariate analysis by Cox regression model were subjected to final multivariable analysis. RESULTS: The median follow-up was around 17 months with a median OS of 17.2 months (95%CI 14.7-23). The best prognosis was seen in patients who had a baseline NLR< 3.5 with decline in NLR during treatment achieving a 1-year survival of 100% and median overall survival of 36.5 months. Patients who had baseline NLR ≥3.5 without a decline in NLR had worst prognosis with a 1-year survival of 25% (95%CI 9.4%-66.6%) and median OS of 7.1 months. On multivariate analysis, age [HR 1.025, p=0.040)], ECOG performance status≤1 [HR 0.089, p<0.001], extent of surgery [HR 0.305, p=0.001] and decline in NLR during treatment [HR 0.452, p=0.026] were found to be significant predictors of OS. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that NLR is a cost-effective biomarker that has prognostic significance in predicting overall survival for high-grade glioma patients.

Butterfly gliomas: a time for stratified management?

Butterfly glioblastomas (bGBM) are a rare subset of WHO grade IV tumours that carry a poor prognosis with a median survival ranging between 3.3 to 6 months. Given their poor prognosis, there is debate over whether histological diagnosis with a biopsy or any surgical or oncological intervention alters disease progression. With this in mind, we reviewed our experience as a high-volume unit to evaluate management decisions and outcomes. A retrospective analysis was undertaken (January 2009 to June 2021) of the electronic patient records of a large neurosurgical centre. We assessed patient demographics, initial clinical presentation, tumour characteristics, clinical management and overall survival (Kaplan-Meier estimator, log-rank analysis and cox proportional hazard analysis). Eighty cases of bGBM were identified. These patients were managed with biopsy ± adjuvant therapy (36), with radiotherapy alone without biopsy (3), or through surgical resection (3). Thirty-eight cases of suspected bGBM were managed conservatively, receiving no oncological treatment or surgical resection/biopsy for histological diagnosis. Those managed conservatively and with radiotherapy without biopsy were diagnosed at neuro-oncology multidisciplinary meeting (MDT) based on clinical presentation and radiological imaging. No significant difference in survival was seen between conservative management compared with single adjuvant treatment (p = 0.69). However, survival was significantly increased when patients received dual adjuvant chemoradiotherapy following biopsy or resection (p = 0.002). A Cox Proportional Hazards model found that survival was significantly impacted by the oncology treatment (p < 0.001), but was not significantly related to potential confounding variables such as the patient's age (p = 0.887) or KPS (p = 0.057). Butterfly glioblastoma have a poor prognosis. Our study would suggest that unless a patient is planned for adjuvant chemoradiotherapy following biopsy, they should be managed conservatively. This avoids unnecessary procedural interventions with the associated morbidities and costs.

Real-world analysis of survival benefit of surgery and adjuvant therapy in elderly patients with colorectal cancer.

Treatment guidelines for colorectal cancer (CRC) in elderly patients remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether elderly patients (≥ 70 years) with CRC benefit from surgery and adjuvant therapy. A total of 90,347 eligible CRC patients older than 70 years were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and divided into a surgery group and a no-surgery group. After being matched by propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio, 23,930 patients were included in our analysis. The Kaplan‒Meier method and log-rank test were applied to compare overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were utilized to confirm independent prognostic factors for OS and CSS. In age-stratified analysis (70-74; 75-79; 80-84; ≥ 85), the OS and CSS rates of patients in the surgery group were significantly higher than those of patients in the no-surgery group (all P < 0.001). Adjuvant therapy was an independent prognostic factor for OS and CSS in elderly patients with CRC (all P < 0.001). Further analysis showed that elderly colon cancer patients with stage III and stage IV disease gained a survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy can significantly improve OS and CSS in elderly rectal cancer patients with stage II, III, and IV disease. In conclusion, among CRC patients aged ≥ 70 years reported in the SEER database, treatment with surgical resection is significantly associated with improved OS and CSS. Moreover, adjuvant therapy led to a significant prognostic advantage for elderly advanced CRC patients who underwent surgery.

Management and Molecular Characterization of Intraventricular Glioblastoma: A Single-Institution Case Series.

While the central nervous system (CNS) tumor classification has increasingly incorporated molecular parameters, there is a paucity of literature reporting molecular alterations found in intraventricular glioblastoma (IVGBM), which are rare. We present a case series of nine IVGBMs, including molecular alterations found in standardized next-generation sequencing (NGS). We queried the clinical charts, operative notes, pathology reports, and radiographic images of nine patients with histologically confirmed IVGBM treated at our institution (1995-2021). Routine NGS was performed on resected tumor tissue of two patients. In this retrospective case series of nine patients (22% female, median (range) age: 64.3 (36-85) years), the most common tumor locations were the atrium of the right lateral ventricle (33%) and the septum pellucidum (33%). Five patients had preoperative hydrocephalus, which was managed with intraoperative external ventricular drains in three patients and ventriculoperitoneal shunts in one patient. Hydrocephalus was managed with subtotal resection of a fourth ventricular IVGBM in one patient. The most common surgical approach was transcortical intraventricular (56%). Gross total resection was achieved in two patients, subtotal resection was achieved in six patients, and one patient received a biopsy only. Immunohistochemistry for IDH1 R132H mutant protein was performed in four cases and was negative in all four. Genetic alterations common in glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype, were seen in two cases with available NGS data, including EGFR gene amplification, TERT promoter mutation, PTEN mutation, trisomy of chromosome 7, and monosomy of chromosome 10. Following surgical resection, four patients received adjuvant chemoradiation. Median survival among our cohort was 4.7 months (IQR: 0.9-5.8 months). Management of IVGBM is particularly challenging due to their anatomical location, presentation with obstructive hydrocephalus, and fast growth, necessitating prompt intervention. Additional studies are needed to better understand the genetic landscape of IVGBM compared to parenchymal glioblastoma and may further elucidate the unique pathophysiology of these rare tumors.

A Predictive Model to Evaluate Pathologic Complete Response in Rectal Adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (nCRT) before surgery was a standard treatment strategy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the predictive factors and pathological complete response (pCR) in rectal cancer patients, especially in ultra-low ones. Method: A total of 402 patients were involved in this retrospective study. The logistic regression analyses were used to compare the different subgroups in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the independent predictive factors of pCR by using a logistic regression model. Results: A total of 402 patients received preoperative CRT. In all patients, multivariate analysis revealed that circumferential tumor extent rate (CER) (≤ 2/3cycle vs >2/3 cycle, P < .001, OR = 4.834, 95% CI: 2.309-10.121), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (both ≤ 5 vs pre > 5 and post ≤ 5 vs both > 5, P = .033, OR = 1.537, 95% CI: 1.035-2.281), and interval time between the end of CRT and surgery (P = .031, OR = 2.412, 95% CI: 1.086-5.358) were predictive factors for pCR. The area under the curve (AUC) of the predictive model was 0.709 (95% CI: 0.649-0.769), which was significantly higher than the CER (0.646, 95% CI: 0.584-0.709), interval time (0.563, 95% CI: 0.495-0.631) and CEA level (0.586, 95% CI: 0.518-0.655). In ultra-low rectal patients, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that CER (≤ 2/3 cycle vs > 2/3 cycle, P = .003, OR = 7.203, 95% CI: 1.934-26.823) and mismatch repair (MMR) status (pMMR vs dMMR, P = .016, OR = 0.173, 95% CI: 0.041-0.720) were predictive factors for pCR. The AUC of the predictive model was 0.653 (95% CI: 0.474-0.832). Conclusion: New predictive models were varied by the histologic types and MMR statuses to evaluate the trend of tumor response to nCRT in all RC cases and ultra-low RC patients, which may be used to individualize stratify for selected LARC patients.

Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs chemotherapy for resectable biliary tract cancer: a propensity score matching analysis based on the SEER database.

BACKGROUND: Although the role of adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) for resectable biliary tract cancer (BTC) is gradually recognized, the benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is still controversial. Our study is designed to compare the prognosis of CRT versus CT in BCT patients. METHODS: Clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with operable gallbladder cancer (GBCA), intrahepatic bile duct cancer (IHBDC), or extrahepatic bile duct cancer (EHBDC) were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (2004-2015). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS). Selection bias were reduced by propensity-score matching (PSM). Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate the survival time. RESULTS: Within 922 patients, 53.9% received adjuvant CRT, and 46.1% received adjuvant CT. Multivariate analysis showed age, primary tumor site, T stage, N stage, tumor size, number of removed lymph nodes, and treatment were independent risk factors for OS. Similar improvement of CRT on survival was identified by PSM in the matched cohort compared with CT (28.0 months vs. 25.0 months, p = 0.033), particularly in GBCA cohort (25.0 months vs. 19.0 months, p = 0.003). Subgroup analysis indicated CRT improved outcomes of patients with age ≥ 60, female, lymph nodes positive, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, and none removed lymph node diseases. CONCLUSION: Adjuvant CRT correlated with improved survival in patients with resected BTC compared with adjuvant CT, particularly in GBCAs. In addition, patients with age ≥ 60, female, lymph nodes positive, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, and none removed lymph node diseases may receive more benefits from adjuvant CRT.

Comparison of margins and survival between transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and non-robotic endoscopic surgery for oropharyngeal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and non-robotic transoral endoscopic surgery on margin positivity, rates of adjuvant therapy and survival in early stage oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort review. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The National Cancer Database was queried to form a cohort of patients with T1-T2 N0-N1 MO oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent TORS or Non-robotic endoscopic surgery from 2010 to 2015. Demographics, disease characteristics and rate of positive margin and adjuvant therapy were summarized. A binary logistic regression and a cox-proportional hazard model were performed to evaluate patient demographic, disease, and treatment factors that could predict margin positivity and survival respectively. RESULTS: 1026 patients received TORS treatment while 734 patients received non-robotic endoscopic primary surgery. Non-robotic surgery was more likely to have residual tumor (31.6 % of all cases) compared to TORS procedures (13.6 % of TORS cases); p < .0001. Non-robotic surgery more frequently had non-evaluable margins at 8.1 % compared to only 1.4 % of TORS cases (p < .0001). Non-robotic cases had a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving adjuvant radiotherapy and systemic therapy compared to TORS (66.4 % vs 51.3 % for radiotherapy; p < .0001 and 33.4 % vs 22.2 % for chemotherapy; p < .0001). There was no difference in mortality between the two modalities (non-robotic vs TORS, HR 1.357, 95 % CI 0.937-1.967). CONCLUSION: TORS and non-robotic surgery may have a similar impact on survival in early-stage OPSCC, but non-robotic surgery was found to have a higher likelihood of positive margins and a higher rate of adjuvant chemoradiation therapy.

Adjuvant chemotherapy improves long-term survival in pathologic stage III rectal mucinous adenocarcinoma after pre-operative chemoradiotherapy.

PURPOSE: The benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy remain debated rectal mucinous adenocarcinoma (MC). Our study aims to delve into the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in pathologic stage III rectal MC by a large population-based database. METHODS: The Chi-square test was performed to examine the parameters between treatment groups. The overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of treatment groups were conducted by using the Kaplan-Meier method. The impact of factors on survival was assessed using Cox regression analyses. To balance the covariates and reduce the selection bias, we employed propensity score matching (PSM) to narrow the differences between treatment groups. RESULTS: The median follow-up time for overall patients was 80 months. In the pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (pre-CRT) group, patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy had significantly better 5-year OS and CSS. Multivariate analyses found that adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with better OS (p < 0.001, HR (95% CI): 0.66 (0.51-0.86)) and CSS (p = 0.012, HR (95% CI): 0.71 (0.54-0.93)). However, adjuvant chemotherapy was not an independent prognosis factor in both OS (p = 0.149, HR (95% CI): 0.76 (0.53-1.1); Supplement Table 1) and CSS (p = 0.183, HR (95% CI): 0.74 (0.48-1.15)) in patients who did not receive pre-CRT. After PSM, similar results were found in the pre-CRT and the no pre-CRT groups. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our population-based retrospective cohort study indicates that the effects of adjuvant chemotherapy were associated with the pre-CRT status in patients with stage III rectal MC. In patients who underwent pre-CRT, the receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with better survival outcomes. Conversely, adjuvant chemotherapy does not seem to confer significant survival benefits to patients without pre-CRT.

The neoadjuvant rectal score and a novel magnetic resonance imaging based neoadjuvant rectal score are stage independent predictors of long-term outcome in locally advanced rectal cancer.

AIM: Neoadjuvant rectal (NAR) score is an early surrogate for longer-term outcomes in rectal cancer undergoing radiotherapy and resection. In an era of increasing organ preservation, resection specimens are not always available to calculate the NAR score. Post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) re-staging of regression is subjective, limiting reproducibility. We explored the potential for a novel MRI-based NAR score (mrNAR) adapted from the NAR formula. METHODS: Locally advanced rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy (nCRT) and surgery were retrospectively identified between 2008 and 2020 in a single cancer network. mrNAR was calculated by adapting the NAR formula, replacing pathological (p) stages with post-nCRT MR stages (ymr). Cox regression assessed relationships between clinicopathological characteristics, NAR and mrNAR with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). RESULTS: In total, 381 NAR and 177 mrNAR scores were calculated. On univariate analysis NAR related to OS (hazard ratio [HR] 2.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33-3.14, p = 0.001) and RFS (HR 2.52, 95% CI 1.77-3.59, p = 0.001). NAR 3-year OS <8 was 95.3%, 8-16 was 88.6% and >16 was 80%. mrNAR related to OS (HR 2.96, 95% CI 1.38-6.34, p = 0.005) and RFS (HR 2.99, 95% CI 1.49-6.00, p = 0.002). 3-year OS for mrNAR <8 was 96.2%, 8-16 was 92.4% and >16 was 78%. On multivariate analysis, mrNAR was a stage-independent predictor of OS and RFS. mrNAR corresponded to NAR score category in only 15% (positive predictive value 0.23) and 47.5% (positive predictive value 0.48) of cases for categories <8 and >16, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant rectal score is validated as a surrogate end-point for long-term outcomes. mrNAR categories do not correlate with NAR but have stage-independent prognostic value. mrNAR may represent a novel surrogate end-point for future neoadjuvant treatments that focus on organ preservation.