Endoscopy for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding caused by malignancy.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding secondary to malignancy can be challenging. Endoscopy is the gold standard to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal bleeding but clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with malignancy-related bleeding are not well understood. This study aims to look at clinical characteristics, endoscopic findings, safety and clinical outcomes of endoscopic interventions for GI malignancy-related bleeding. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed outcomes of patients with confirmed GI malignancies who underwent endoscopy for GI bleeding at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2010 and 2019. Cox hazard analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with survival. RESULTS: A total of 313 patients were included, with median age of 59 years; 74.8% were male. The stomach (30.0%) was the most common tumor location. Active bleeding was evident endoscopically in 47.3% of patients. Most patients (77.3%) did not receive endoscopic treatment. Of the patients who received endoscopic treatment, 57.7% had hemostasis. No endoscopy-related adverse events were recorded. Endoscopic treatment was associated with hemostasis (P < 0.001), but not decreased recurrent bleeding or mortality. Absence of active bleeding on endoscopy, stable hemodynamic status at presentation, lower cancer stage, and surgical intervention were associated with improved survival. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that endoscopy is a safe diagnostic tool in this patient population; while endoscopic treatments may help achieve hemostasis, it may not decrease the risk of recurrent bleeding or improve survival.

Novel Prediction Score for Arterial-Esophageal Fistula in Patients with Esophageal Cancer Bleeding: A Multicenter Study.

PURPOSE: To develop and internally validate a novel prediction score to predict the occurrence of arterial-esophageal fistula (AEF) in esophageal cancer bleeding. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study enrolled patients with esophageal cancer bleeding in the emergency department. The primary outcome was the diagnosis of AEF. The patients were randomly divided into a derivation group and a validation group. In the derivation stage, a predictive model was developed using logistic regression analysis. Subsequently, internal validation of the model was conducted in the validation cohort during the validation stage to assess its discrimination ability. RESULTS: A total of 257 patients were enrolled in this study. All participants were randomized to a derivation cohort (n = 155) and a validation cohort (n = 102). AEF occurred in 22 patients (14.2%) in the derivation group and 14 patients (13.7%) in the validation group. A predictive model (HEARTS-Score) comprising five variables (hematemesis, active bleeding, serum creatinine level >1.2 mg/dL, prothrombin time >13 s, and previous stent implantation) was established. The HEARTS-Score demonstrated a high discriminative ability in both the derivation and validation cohorts, with c-statistics of 0.90 (95% CI 0.82-0.98) and 0.82 (95% CI 0.72-0.92), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: By employing this novel prediction score, clinicians can make more objective risk assessments, optimizing diagnostic strategies and tailoring treatment approaches.

Hemostatic radiotherapy in clinically significant tumor-related bleeding: excellent palliative results in a retrospective analysis of 77 patients.

BACKGROUND: Significant bleeding of tumor sites is a dreaded complication in oncological diseases and often results in clinical emergencies. Besides basic local and interventional procedures, an urgent radiotherapeutic approach can either achieve a bleeding reduction or a bleeding stop in a vast majority of patients. In spite of being used regularly in clinical practice, data reporting results to this therapy approach is still scarce. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 77 patients treated for significant tumor-related bleeding at our clinic between 2000 and 2021, evaluating treatment response rate, hemoglobin levels, hemoglobin transfusion necessity, administered radiotherapy dose and overall survival. RESULTS: Response rate in terms of bleeding stop was 88.3% (68/77) in all patients and 95.2% (60/63) in the subgroup, wherein radiotherapy (RT) was completed as intended. Hemoglobin transfusions decreased during treatment in a further subgroup analysis. Median overall survival (OS) was 3.3 months. Patients with primary tumors (PT) of the cervix (carcinoma of the cervix, CC) or endometrium (endometrioid carcinoma, EDC) and patients receiving the full intended RT dose showed statistically significant better OS in a multivariable cox regression model. Median administered dose was 39 Gy, treatment related acute toxicity was considerably low. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show an excellent response rate with a low toxicity profile when administering urgent radiotherapy for tumor related clinically significant bleeding complications. Nonetheless, treatment decisions should be highly individual due to the low median overall survival of this patient group.