Long-term prognostic analysis on complete/near-complete clinical remission for mid-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy / 中华胃肠外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the long-term outcome of organ preservation with local excision or "watch and wait" strategy for mid-low rectal cancer patients evaluated as clinical complete remission (cCR) or near-cCR following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT).@*METHODS@#Clinical data of 62 mid-low rectal cancer patients evaluated as cCR/near-cCR after NCRT undergoing organ preservation surgery with local excision or receiving "watch and wait" strategy at Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute from March 2011 to August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the approximate 1:2 pairing, 123 patients who underwent radical resection with complete pathological remission(ypCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy during the same period were selected for prognosis comparison. The primary endpoint of the study was 3-year non-regrowth disease-free survival (NR-DFS) and tumor specific survival (CSS). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier curve (Log-rank method). The secondary endpoint of the study was 3-year organ preservation and sphincter preservation.@*RESULTS@#The retrospective study included 38 male and 24 female patients. The median age was 60 (31-79) years and the median distance from tumor to anal verge was 4(1-8) cm. The ratio of cCR and near-cCR was 79.0%(49/62) and 21.0%(13/62) respectively. Local regrowth rate was 24.2%(15/62). Of 15 with tumor regrowth, 9 patients received salvage radical rectal resection and no local recurrence was found during follow-up; 4 patients received salvage local excision among whom one patient had a local recurrence occurred patient; 2 patients refused further surgery. The overall metastasis rate was 8.1%(5/62), including resectable metastasis(4.8%,3/62) and unresectable metastasis (3.2%,2/62). The valid 3-year organ preservation rate and sphincter preservation rate were 85.5%(53/62) and 95.2%(59/62) respectively. The median follow-up was 36.2(8.6-89.0) months. The 3-year NR-DFS of patients with cCR and near-cCR was 88.6% and 83.1% respectively, which was not significantly different to that of patients with ypCR (94.7%, P=0.217). The 3-year CSS of patients with cCR and near-cCR was both 100%, which was not significantly different to that of patients with ypCR(93.4%, P=0.186).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Mid-low rectal cancer patients with cCR or near-cCR after NCRT undergoing organ preservation with local excision or receiving "watch and wait" strategy have good long-term prognosis with low rates of local tumor regrowth and distant metastasis, which is similar to those with ypCR after radical surgery. This treatment mode may be used as an option for organ preservation in mid-low rectal cancer patients with good tumor remission after NCRT.

Status and clinical value of microsatellite instability in stage Ⅱ colon cancer / 中华普通外科杂志

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of microsatellite instability (MSI) in stage Ⅱ colon cancer patients.Methods 120 stage Ⅱ colon cancer patients underwent radical resection in the Department of Colorectal Surgery,Beijing Cancer Hospital from 2000 to 2007.Tissue samples were collected and DNA was extracted for MSI determination using PCR following the Pentaplex panel.Clinical parameters were also combined and analyzed statistically to explore the association between MSI status and clinical parameters.Results The incidence of high frequency of microsatellite instability (MSI-H) was 20.8％ in these 120 stage Ⅱ colon cancer patients.There was a significant correlation between the status of MSI and tumor differentiation (x2 =9.69,P =0.021);However MSI status was demonstrated to be a prognostic factor for disease free survival or overall survival (all P ＞ 0.05).Nor was MSI status associated with tumor relapse or metastasis.Age and preoperative serum CEA level were identified as independent factors for DFS by Cox regression.Conclusion In stage Ⅱ colon cancer patients,MSI status correlates with tumor differentiation,but is not a prognostic factor.

Outcome of watch and wait strategy or organ preservation for rectal cancer following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: report of 35 cases from a single cancer center / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the safety and efficacy of organ preservation surgery or "watch and wait" strategy for rectal cancer patients who are evaluated as clinical complete response(cCR) or near-cCR following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>From March 2011 to June 2016, 35 patients with mid-low rectal cancers who were diagnosed as cCR or near-cCR following nCRT underwent organ preservation surgery with local excision or surveillance following "watch and wait" strategy in the Peking University Cancer Hospital. All the patients received re-evaluation and re-staging 6-12 weeks after the completion of nCRT, according to Habr-Gama and MSKCC criteria for the diagnosis of cCR or near-cCR. The near-cCR patients who received local excision and were pathologically diagnosed as T0Nx were also regarded as cCR. The end-points of this study included organ-preservation rate (OPR), sphincter-preservation rate (SPR), non-re-growth disease-free survival (NR-DFS), stoma-free survival, cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival(OS). Kaplan-Meier curve was used to estimate the survival data at 3 years.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 35 cases were analyzed including 24 males (68.6%) and 11 females (31.4%). The median age was 60 (range 37-79) years and the median distance from tumor to anal edge was 4(2-8) cm. Thirty-three patients received 50.6 Gy/22f IMRT with capecitabine and two patients received 50 Gy/25f RT with capecitabine. The cCR and near-cCR rates were 74.3%(26/35) and 25.7%(9/35) respectively. Excision biopsy was performed in 4 near-cCR cases to confirm the diagnosis of cCR. The non-re-growth DFS rate was 14.3%(5/35) and the median time of tumor re-growth was 6.7 (4.7-37.4) months. In five patients with tumor re-growth, four were salvaged by radical rectal resections and one received local excision. The distant metastasis rate was 5.7%(2/35), one patient presented resectable liver metastasis and received radical resection, another patient presented multiple bone metastases and was still alive. The median follow-up time was 43.7(6.1-71.4) months. At three years, the organ-preservation rate was 88.6%(31/35), the sphincter-preservation rate was 97.1% (34/35). No local recurrence was observed in five patients who received salvage surgery. The non-re-growth DFS was 94.0%. Three patients died of non-rectal cancer related events. The cancer-specific survival was 100%, the overall survival was 92.7% and the stoma-free survival rate was 90.0%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Organ preservation surgery or "watch and wait" strategy for cCR or near-cCR patients is feasible and achieves good outcomes. This strategy can be an alternative to standard care, improve patient's quality of life and facilitate tailored treatment for mid-low rectal cancer following nCRT, however, it should be cautiously applied in near-cCR patients before local excision biopsy.</p>

Retrospective analysis of 856 cases with stage 0 to III rectal cancer underwent curative surgery combined modality therapy / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the survival and prognostic factors of stage 0 to III rectal cancer in 10 years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical data and follow-up of 856 rectal cancer patients with stage 0-III underwent curative surgery from January 2000 to December 2010 were retrospective analyzed. There were 470 male and 386 female patients, with a mean age of (58 ± 12) years. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival and disease free survival. Log-rank test was used to compare the survival between groups. Cox regression was used to analyze the independent prognostic factors of rectal cancer.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The patients in each stage were stage 0 with 18 cases, stage I with 209 cases, stage II with 235 cases, and stage III with 394 cases. All patients received curative surgery. There were 296 patients evaluated as cT3, cT4 and any T with N+ received preoperative radiotherapy. 5.4% patients got pathological complete response (16/296), and the recurrence rate was 4.7% (14/296). After a median time of 41.7 months (range 4.1 to 144.0 months) follow-up, the 5-year overall survival rate in stage 0 to I of was 91.0%, stage II 86.2%, and stage III 60.0%, with a significant difference (P=0.000). The cumulative local recurrence rate was 4.8% (41/856), of which 70.7% (29/41) occurred within 3 years postoperatively, 97.6% (40/41) in 5 years. The cumulative distant metastasis rate was 16.4% (140/856), of which 82.9% (129/140) occurred within 3 years postoperatively, 96.4% (135/140) in 5 years. The incidence of abnormal imaging findings was significantly higher in pulmonary than liver and other sites metastases (75.0% vs. 21.7%, χ² =25.691, P=0.000). The incidence of CEA elevation was significantly higher in liver than lung and other sites metastases (56.8% vs. 37.8%, χ² =25.691, P=0.000). Multivariable analysis showed that age (P=0.015, HR=1.385, 95% CI: 1.066 to 1.801), surgical approach (P=0.029, HR=1.337, 95% CI: 1.030 to 1.733), differentiation (P=0.000, HR=1.535, 95% CI: 1.222 to 1.928), TNM stage (P=0.000, HR=1.349, 95% CI: 1.260 to 1.444) and lymphovascular invasion (P=0.001, HR=1.715, 95% CI: 1.258 to 2.342) are the independent prognostic factors for rectal cancer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Age, surgical approach, differentiation, TNM stage and lymphovascular invasion are independent prognostic factors for rectal cancer. Preoperative evaluation and combined modality therapy can significant reduce the local recurrence and improve overall survival for rectal cancer patients.</p>

Clinical significance of lymphovascular invasion in rectal cancer following neoadjuvant therapy / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in mid-low rectal cancer following neoadjuvant therapy. Methods A total of 297 consecutive patients with mid-low rectal cancer received radical surgery from August 2002 to August 2005 at Beijing Cancer Hospital. All patients were divided into the neoadjuvant therapy group and a control group according to whether they underwent preoperative radiotherapy or radiochemotherapy. Histological assessment of tumor specimens was made, and correlation of LVI and prognosis was analysed using the chi-square test. The disease-free survival rate and overall survival rate were analysed by the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Results The overall positive rate of LVI was 23.9% (71/297). The positive rates of LVI in neoadjuvant therapy group and control group were 21.5% (31/144) and 26. 1% (40/153), respectively,with no significant difference between the groups ( x2 = 0.872, P ＞ 0.05). In the neoadjuvant therapy and control groups, LVI was significantly associated with pathologic T and N stages as well as the degree of histological differentiation (x2 =13.490, 27.401,7.323;16. 188, 21.623, 16.534, P＜0.05). In the control group, LVI was closely associated with local recurrence (x2 =4. 010, P ＜0.05 ), whereas this was not the case in the neoadjuvant therapy group (x2 =0.000, P＞0.05). LVI was significantly associated with distal metastasis in both the neoadjuvant therapy and control groups (x2 = 4.950, 14. 332, P ＜ 0.05 ). The disease-free and overall survival rates of patients with LVI were 46.4% (26/56) and 56.7% (34/60), which were significantly lower than 75.1%(148/197) and 79.4% ( 166/209 ) of those with no LVI, respectively ( x2 = 16. 720, 12.660, P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Neoadjuvant therapy does not significantly reduce LVI;however, the biological behaviour of LVI has changed. Patients with LVI may benefit from neoadjuvant radiotherapy.

Effects of modified fat clearance technique in the diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes in the mesorectum of patients with rectal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the number, distribution and metastatic rule of lymph nodes in the mesorectum of rectal cancer specimen after processing the recta] cancer specimen with modified fat clearance technique. Methods Sixty patients with mid-low rectal cancer who had been admitted to Peking University School of Ontology from 2003 to 2008 were assigned to test group. All the 60 patients who denied neo-adjuvant therapy were treated with total mesorectal excision, and the rectums resected were processed with the modified fat clearance technique. Rectums from another 50 patients with mid-low rectal cancer in control group were fixed in formalin solution for 24 hours. The mesorectum was divided into anterior, posterior, left and right quadrants, and each quadrant was further divided into upper, middle and lower parts. The numbers of lymph nodes harvested and metastatic rate of lymph nodes between the 2 groups were analyzed by t test and chi-square test. Results (1) The numbers of lymph nodes harvested in the test and control groups were 1436 and 525, with statistical difference between the 2 groups (t =- 12. 153, P <0.05). The number of small lymph nodes(diameter≤5 mm) harvested in test group was 985. (2) The numbers of lymph nodes harvested in the anterior, posterior and bilateral mesorectum were 125,696 and 615, respectively. The numbers of lymph nodes harvested in the upper, middle and lower part of the mesorectum were 395,534 and 507, respectively. The metastatic rate of lymph nodes in the upper part of the mesorectum was 18.5% (37/200), which was significantly lower than in the middle [43.5% (87/200)] and lower [38.0% (76/200)] part of the mesoreetum (X2= 9. 414, 6.406, P < 0.05). Two hundred metastatic lymph nodes in 33 patients were harvested, 48.0% (96/200) of which with a diameter of ≤ 5 mm. Twenty percent patients had their TNM stage changed after the retrieval of metastatic small lymph nodes. Conclusions Modified fat clearance technique significandy improves the retrieval of lymph nodes, and more small lymph nodes retrieved can increase the accuracy of staging. Rectal cancer cells have strong tendency to disseminate to the distal mesorectum. Adequate excision of the distal mesorectum is key in controlling the local recurrence.

Progress in the studies of colon cancer recurrence / 中华消化外科杂志

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers in China, with an increasing incidence these years. Currently, the combined therapy based on radical surgery has dramatically improved the survival rate and life quality of patients, however, a large percentage of patients still died of recurrence and metastasis. In recent years, the treatment strategies for the recurrence of colon cancer have been greatly advanced, especially the new targeted drugs and chemotherapeutic drugs, which lead to a significantly improved therapeutic efficacy and a better life quality. Therefore, how to choose and use these new treatments synthetically and reasonably become a great challenge to all surgeons, especially to digestive surgeons.

Meta-analysis of Early Postoperative Small Bowel Obstruction after Laparoscopic Colorectal Resection / 中国微创外科杂志

Objective To compare the efficacies of laparoscopic colorectal resection and conventional open surgery by collecting and investigating related studies with Meta-analysis.Methods Randomized controlled trials(RCT) on the outcomes of laparoscopic colorectal resection and conventional open surgery that published between January 1989 and March 2008 in English were collected and analyzed.The quality of the original investigations was evaluated,and the low-level reports were excluded.Then the odds ratio(OR) for the incidence of early postoperative small bowel obstruction between the two methods were calculated.ResultsTotally 12 studies including 3032 cases were analyzed.Among which,1522 patients received laparoscopy,33 of them developed early postoperative small bowel obstruction.1510 cases underwent open surgery,and 71 of these patients showed small bower obstruction before being discharged form hospital.The pooled OR was 0.46 with a 95% confidence interval of(0.30-0.69).Conclusion Compared with open surgery,laparoscopic colorectal resection is superior in the incidence of early postoperative small bowel obstruction.

Clinical biology value of p53 overexpression in Chinese breast cancer by Meta analysis / 中国癌症杂志

Purpose:To find out the clinical biology value of p53 overexpression on Chinese breast cancer by Meta analysis. Methods:Reviewed all the published studies during the recent 10 years regarding p53 and breast cancer, and used standard techniques of Meta-analysis to combine the results of these studies to produce a more precise estimate of the prognostic significance of p53 mutations.Results:the mean of p53 positive express was 45%,95% confidence interval (43-47)%:, p53 positive was related with node metastasis, recurrence after surgery, over survival, tumor size and nuclear grade, but not related with age and pathology type, p53 was a special and sensitive prognostic factor for breast cancer.Conclusions:p53 can be an independent molecular marker to definitive prognostic of breast cancer, and possibly can be a reliable marker for choice of standard and individulized therapy.