Recent Advances in Post-operatively New Onset Myasthenia Gravis in Thymoma Patients / 肿瘤防治研究

Patients with thymoma without preoperative myasthenia gravis may develop symptoms of myasthenia gravis after tumor resection. A comprehensive understanding toward this rare clinical phenomenon is lacking. Recent studies indicate that post-operatively new onset myasthenia gravis (ponoMG) is the result of multiple mechanisms and their interactions, which may be related to the thymoma-mediated production, release and long-term presence of abnormal T cells and autoimmune antibodies in the periphery, as well as the presence of ectopic thymus and late recurrence of thymoma. Preoperative antibody titer is the main predictor. The treatment strategy is based on anticholinesterase drugs and hormonal therapy. In this study, we review the incidence, pathogenesis, predictors, and prevention and treatment strategies of ponoMG.

Value of Postoperative Radiotherapy in Treatment of Completely Resected Thymic Tumors / 肿瘤防治研究

Thymic tumors are the most common malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum. Surgical resection is the main treatment for thymic tumors, but the need for adjuvant radiotherapy after surgery is controversial. For tumors that cannot be completely resected, the role of postoperative radiotherapy is certain. However, for completely resected thymic tumors, deciding on whether to supplement with postoperative radiotherapy depends on the tumor stage and histological type. This article reviews the application of postoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of completely resected thymic tumors.

Curative effect analysis of Da Vinci? Robot-assisted surgery for 339 cases with mediastinal tumor: a single center retrospective case-control study / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of Da Vinci robot-assisted surgery for mediastinal tumor, and summarize the value of Da Vinci system in mediastinal surgery.Methods:The clinical data of 339 cases of robot-assisted mediastinal mass in Shanghai Chest Hospital from April 2015 to September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, to compare perioperative outcomes of robotic surgery and conventional video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery 2 949 cases.Results:All the operations were successfully completed as planned. No residual lesions, conversion or second operation was observed in the consecutive cohort. The operating time[(81.8±36.8)min vs.(95.6±58.3)min, P=0.015]and post-operation stay[(3.1±1.9)days vs.(3.8±2.3)days, P=0.002] were statistically shorter in robotic group than those inconventional thoracoscopic group. Intraoperative blood loss in two groups was similar[(43.2±22.6)ml vs.(44.0±33.4)ml, P>0.05]. Conclusion:The Da Vinci robot system in mediastinal surgery is safe and feasible with great perspective in the new age of minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Compared with thoracoscopic surgery, it can shorten the operation time and reduce the postoperative hospital stay. It has certain advantages in operator experience and patient recovery.

Standardized surgical treatment of thymic tumors / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Thymic epithelial tumors are the most common tumors in anterior mediastinum. They are used to be considered rare in incidence, with an indolent nature of biological behaviors, which led to the lack of high level evidence obtained from prospective randomized controlled trials to guide the clinical treatment. At present, the experience of diagnosis and treatment of thymic tumors varies greatly in different regions. And there are still many problems remain to be solved. This paper aims to establish a standardized surgical treatment based on the latest researches in surgical indications, resection extent, surgical approach, lymph node dissection and postoperative management of thymic tumors.

Postoperative nutrition in patients with esophageal cancer: a prospective randomized controlled study / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective To observe the effects of total enteral nutrition ( TEN) and early combined parenteral nutrition ( PEN+TEN) in patients with esophageal cancer after operation .Methods The prospective,random, controlled clinical trial was adopted.One hundred patients receiving esophageal cancer operation were randomly assigned to the TEN group (50 cases) and the PEN+TEN group(50 cases).The differences in nutritional status, inflammatory response, immune status and postop-erative complications were compared in the two groups before and after operation.Results The levels of total serum protein, albumin or retinol binding protein were higher in the PEN group than the TEN group at the 10th day after operation, respective-ly[(60.1 ±6.2)g/L vs(55.3 ±9.3)g/L,(36.4 ±4.2)g/L vs(34.6 ±1.6)g/L,(43.3 ±5.9)g/L vs(34.9 ±3.3)g/L, P<0.05] .The levels of ESR or CRP were higher in PEN +TEN group than the TEN group at the 10th day after operation, re-spectively [(54.9 ±25.8)mm/h vs(31.8 ±14.2)mm/h,(30.9 ±13.2)g/L vs(15.8 ±6.1)g/L, P<0.01] .The levels of CD3+, CD4 +, or CD8 +were higher at the 10 th day after operation than at the day before surgery in TEN group [(59.6 ±9.8)％vs(68.3 ±4.4)％,(41.7 ±7.8)％vs(46.5 ±5.5)％,(23.2 ±5.5)％vs(20.0 ±2.7)％, P<0.05], but not in PEN+TEN group.The levels of IgA or IgG were significant higher in the TEN group than the PEN +TEN group at the 10th day after operation[(1.9 ±0.5)g/L vs(1.6 ±0.3)g/L,(11.9 ±3.3)g/L vs(9.4 ±2.2)g/L, P<0.01].Con-clusion The inflammatory reaction and immune function in TEN group are better than those in PEN +TEN group.Although the nutritional status is worse in the TEN group than that in the PEN group , but the rate of postoperative complications has not increased.

Clinical Study on the Prognosis of Patients with Thymoma with Myasthenia Gravis / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#Thymoma is frequently associated with myasthenia gravis (MG). However, whether MG is a factor for the outcome of patients with thymoma following complete thymectomy remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of thymoma with MG prognostic factors.@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis of The Chinese Alliance for Research in Thymomas (ChART) database within 1992-2012 complete cases 875 cases, 20 years follow-up data analysis thymic tumor tissue type credits and MG, Masaoka staging and prognosis, postoperative adjuvant therapy and relationship with the prognosis of surgical removal of the way.@*RESULTS@#Thymic tumor tissue type credit has correlation with MG, difference was statistically significant (χ²=24.908, P B3 type (65/239, 27.20%) > B1 (27/132, 20.45%) > AB (43/267, 16.10%) > type A, 10.17% (6/59), Masaoka stage has no correlation with MG (χ²=0.365, P=1.365). Survival analysis showed that the WHO classification, Masaoka stage associated with prognosis (P<0.05), and whether the merger MG (χ²=0.113, P=0.736), postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (χ²=0.380, P=0.538) has nothing to do with the prognosis, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with poor prognosis (χ²=14.417, P<0.001). Whether has nothing to do with the prognosis of the thymus resection (χ²=1.548, P=1.548), whether the whole correlated with the curative effect of thymus excision with MG (χ²=24.695, P<0.001).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Thymoma patients with MG and extended thymectomy have no correlation with prognosis. Extended thymectomy can improve the effect of MG patients.

Minimally Invasive Surgery in Thymic Malignances / 中国肺癌杂志

Surgery is the most important therapy for thymic malignances. The last decade has seen increasing adoption of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for thymectomy. MIS for early stage thymoma patients has been shown to yield similar oncological results while being helpful in minimize surgical trauma, improving postoperative recovery, and reduce incisional pain. Meanwhile, With the advance in surgical techniques, the patients with locally advanced thymic tumors, preoperative induction therapies or recurrent diseases, may also benefit from MIS in selected cases.

Correlation between Serum Cytokeratin 19 Fragment and the Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis of Thymic Epithelial Tumors / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#So far there's no tumor maker applied in diagnosis and treatment of thymic epithelial tumors. This study is to assess the correlation between serum cytokine 19 fragment (Cyfra 21-1) and clinicopathological features and prognosis of thymic epithelial tumors (TETs).@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 159 patients with TETs in Shanghai Chest Hospital was retrospectively analysed. Patients were divided into groups according to different tumor stages and histotypes. Serum Cyfra 21-1 was thus compared. In addition, the possible relationship between perioperative serum Cyfra 21-1 level and the recurrent status was carrid out.@*RESULTS@#Preoperative Cyfra 21-1 serum concentrations in patiants with advanced stage (T4) and thymic carcinomas were significantly higher than that in others (P<0.001, P<0.001, respectively). When the preoperative serum level exceeds the out-off of 1.66 ng/mL, it possibly indicates the recurrence during follow up. Furthermore, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive as well as negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of postoperative Cyfra 21-1 to predict tumor recurrence were evaluated. At a cut-off of Cyfra 21-1 of 2.66 ng/mL, the sensitivity was 0.7, the specificity was 0.925, the PPV was 0.5 and the NPV was 0.966.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The elevated level of preoperative serum Cyfra 21-1 indicates an advanced stage of tumor or a more malignant histotype (thymic carcinoma). It also probably suggests a higher risk of tumor recurrence. During the oncological follow up, in addition to regular imaging examinations, the blood test of serum Cyfra 21-1 is also suggested to improve the diagnosis of tumor recurrence in order to improve the prognosis.

Associated factors of postoperative relapse and metastasis in pT1bN0M0-pT4aN0M0 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the associated high risk factors of postoperative relapse and metastasis for patients with confined tumors (grade pT1b-4a) without lymph-node metastases (pN0) in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinicopathological and follow up data of ESCC patients undergoing radical surgical resection as primary treatment in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital between January 2004 and December 2012 from Hospital Database were retrospectively collected. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) the first development of ESCC confirmed by histopathology without lymphatic and distant metastasis; (2) pathological stage of pT1bN0M0 to pT4aN0M0 according to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in 2009; (3) curative trans-thoracic esophagectomy with R0 (tumor-free surgical margin) resection, using the Ivor-Lewis or McKeown procedure; two-field lymphadenectomy or three-field lymph node dissection based on the positive results of preoperative cervical ultrasonography examination or CT scan; (4) without adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy before and after operation; (5) complete follow-up data. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the clinicopathological factors affecting the postoperative relapse and metastasis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 112 patients were eligible, including 94 male cases and 18 female cases; age of (58.6±7.7) years; squamous carcinoma of upper thorax in 25 cases, of middle thorax in 67 cases and of lower thorax segment in 20 cases; 12 cases of high-differentiated ESCC, 49 cases of moderate-differentiated ESCC, poorly-differentiated ESCC in 48 cases; 4 cases of I(a stage, 9 cases of I(b, 24 cases of II(a, 62 cases of II(b, 13 cases of III(a; the tumor length >4 cm in 43 cases, ≤4 cm in 69 cases. Forty-three (38.4%) patients presented relapse or metastasis during the follow-up, including 24 (21.4%) of loco-regional relapse, 13 (11.6%) of distant metastasis, and 6(5.4%) of both above. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that poorly-differentiated tumor (OR=1.899, 95%CI:1.233-2.925, P=0.004), upper-middle location (OR=2.351, 95%CI:1.188-4.653, P=0.014), and tumor length >4 cm (OR=2.381, 95%CI:1.009-5.618, P=0.048) were independent risk factors of overall postoperative relapse and metastasis for thoracic ESCC with stage pT1b N0M0-T4aN0M0. Further stratified analysis identified that only poorly-differentiated tumor (OR=1.730, 95%CI:1.121-2.671, P=0.013) was an independent risk factor of loco-regional relapse, whereas pathological stage II(b-III(a (OR=3.372, 95%CI:1.206-9.428, P=0.021) was an independent risk factor of distant metastasis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Poorly-differentiated tumor, tumor length >4 cm, and upper-middle location may be regarded as high risk factors for predicting overall relapse and metastasis of pN0 thoracic ESCC patients after esophagectomy. Moreover, poorly-differentiated tumor is the only independent risk factor of postoperative loco-regional relapse, meanwhile it should be noted that pathological stage II(b-III(a is closely related to postoperative distant metastasis.</p>

Research on short-term biological stability and cytotoxicity of allogenic arteries cross-linked by dye-mediated photooxidation in vivo / 生物医学工程学杂志

This study evaluated the biological stability and cytotoxicity of rabbit thoracic aorta cross-linked by dye-mediated photooxidation in vivo environment of blood flow. Rabbits, whose allogenic thoracic aorta was cross-linked by dye-mediated photooxidation (DMP, n=6) and glutaraldehyde (GA, n=6), were in the DMP group and GA group, respectively; rabbits, whose homogenic abdominal aorta was orthotopic transplanted (OT, n=6), were in the OT group. Then the donor arteries were transplanted into the position of the abdominal arteries of rabbits. After operation, the animals were fed for 1 month, then each of graft arteries was removed for observation. Biological stability was evaluated through histological analysis under optical microscope. Cytotoxicity was evaluated through ratio of coverage of endothelial cell (ES) under scanning-electron microscope. The results showed that no statistically significant difference was noted between DMP group and OT group (P>0.05); however, there was a significant difference between DMP group and GA group (P<0.01). The stability index in DMP group was much higher than that in GA group. There was a statistically significant difference between DMP group and GA group (P<0.01). Ratio was much higher in DMP group than in GA group. In conclusion, the arteries cross-linked by dye-mediated photooxidation treatment appeared to have higher biological stability and lower cytotoxicity in rabbit allogenic transplation model.