Clinical efficacy of radical resection for lung metastasis from colorectal cancer and prognostic factors analysis / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of radical resection for lung metastasis from colorectal cancer and the prognostic factors.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 63 colorectal cancer patients with lung metastasis who were admitted to Peking University Cancer Hospital from January 2004 to December 2015 were collected. There were 35 males and 28 females, aged (57±12)years. Patients underwent radical resection for primary lesion and lung metastasis from colorectal cancer. Observation indicators: (1) diagnosis and treatment; (2) follow-up and survival; (3) prognostic factors analysis. Follow-up was conducte by outpatient examination and telephone interview to detect the survival of patients after operation up to December 2018. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range). Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates and draw survival curves. Log-rank test was used for univariate analysis and COX proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. Results:(1) Diagnosis and treatment: of 63 patients with lung metastasis from colorectal cancer, 6 had synchronous lung metastasis and 57 had metachronous lung metastasis. Eighteen cases of suspected lung metastasis were initially detected by chest X-ray, and further confirmed by computed tomography (CT). Forty-five cases of suspected lung metastasis were initially detected by chest CT. All the 63 patients underwent radical resection for primary and metastatic lesions. Two of 22 cases undergoing mediastinal lymph nodes dissection were detected one positive lymph node, respectively. All patients recovered well after operation, without severe complications. There were 57 of 63 patients receiving more than 6 months of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and targeted therapy based on fluorouracils. (2) Follow-up and survival: 63 patients were followed up for 8-143 months, with a median follow-up time of 58 months. During the follow-up, 19 of 63 patients died, 24 patients had secondary recurrence with a 5-year recurrence rate of 38.1%(24/63) and a recurrence interval of 18 months(range, 3-58 months). Of 24 patients with secondary recurrence, 19 had lung metastasis, 3 had brain metastasis, 2 had bone metastasis, 2 had liver metastasis; some patients had multiple metastases. Of 24 patients with secondary recurrence, 5 underwent reoperation and 19 underwent chemotherapy and radiochemotherapy. The 5-year overall survival rate of 63 patients was 62.7%. (3) Prognostic factors analysis: results of univariate analysis showed that location of primary lesion, the number of lung metastases and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level before resection of lung metastasis were related factors for prognosis of patients with lung metastasis from colorectal cancer ( χ2=4.162, 7.175, 6.725, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that the number of lung metastases and CEA level before resection of lung metastasis were independent influencing factors for prognosis of patients with lung metastasis from colorectal cancer ( hazard ratio=2.725, 2.778, 95% confidence interval as 1.051-7.064, 1.072-7.021, P<0.05). Conclusions:Radical resection for lung metastasis from colorectal cancer is safe and feasible. The number of lung metastases and CEA level before resection for lung metastasis are independent influencing factors for prognosis of patients with lung metastasis from colorectal cancer.

Short term efficacy of laparoscopic assisted transanal total mesorectal excision for low rectal cancer: a prospective, multicenter, case registration study / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the short term efficacy of laparoscopic assisted transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) for low rectal cancer.Methods:The prospective study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 80 patients who underwent laparoscopic assisted taTME for low rectal cancer in 8 medical centers，including 27 cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University，16 cases in the Daping Hospital of Army Medical University，15 cases in the Beijing Friendship Hospital of Capital Medical University，10 cases in the Peking University Cancer Hospital，7 cases in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences，2 cases in the Peking University People′s Hospital，2 cases in the Liaoning Cancer Hospital Institute，1 case in the Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine，from August 2017 to September 2018 were collected. Observation indicators：(1) clinical data of enrolled patients；(2) surgical situations；(3) postoperative histopathological examination；(4)postoperative complications and hospitalization. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers and (or) percentages. Results:(1) Clinical data of enrolled patients：a total of 80 patients were selected for eligibility. There were 59 males and 21 females，aged from 53 to 79 years，with a median age of 61 years. (2）Surgical situations：all 80 patients underwent surgery successfully，including 73 cases undergoing low anterior resection，4 cases undergoing Hartmann operation，1 case undergoing intersphincteric and abdominoperineal resection，1 case undergoing other operations and 1 case missing operation information. Nineteen of the 80 patients underwent transabdominal and transanal operations simultaneously. The operation time of 80 patients was 255 minutes (range，211?305 minutes). Of 80 patients，77 cases had the volume of intraoperative blood loss ≤500 mL，3 cases had the volume of intraoperative blood loss >500 mL，44 cases underwent instrumental anastomosis，24 cases underwent manual anastomosis，12 cases were missing anastomosis information，66 cases had specimens been taken out through anus，2 cases had specimens been taken out through Pfannens-tiel incision，10 cases had specimens been taken out through other ways，2 cases were missing the information of specimens removal ways，57 cases underwent preventive stoma，32 cases under-went anal canal indwelling，30 cases underwent free of splenic flexure and 2 cases were converted to open surgery. (3) Postoperative histopathological examination：of 80 patients，68 cases had the integrity of mesorectal specimens with complete，5 cases had the integrity of mesorectal specimens with near complete，1 case had the integrity of mesorectal specimens with not complete，6 cases were missing the information of integrity of mesorectal specimens，1 case had rectal perforation，1 case had positive circumferential margin and 1 case had positive distal margin. The number of lymph node dissected and diameter of tumor were 12(range，9?16) and 3.0 cm(range，1.9?4.0 cm) of 80 patients. Four of 80 patients achieved pathological complete remission. Cases with tumor stage as T0 stage，Tis stage，T1 stage，T2 stage，T3 stage or T4 stage of the pT staging，cases with tumor stage as N0 stage，N1 stage or N2 stage of the pN staging，cases with tumor stage as M0 stage or M1 stage of the pM staging were 4，2，11，24，35，4，55，21，4，75，5 of 80 patients. (4) Postopera-tive complications and hospitalization：8 of 80 patients underwent anastomotic leakage，including 2 cases with grade A anastomotic leakage，4 cases with grade B anastomotic leakage and 2 cases with grade C anastomotic leakage.Seven of 80 patients underwent intestinal obstruction. The 2 cases with grade A anastomotic leakage were improved after symptomatic drug treatment，the 4 cases with grade B anastomotic leakage were improved after treatment with antibiotics or catheter drainage and the 2 cases with grade C anastomotic leakage were improved after operation. The duration of hospital stay of 80 patients was 14 days(range，11?21 days). No patient died during hospitalization.Conclusion:Laparoscopic assisted taTME for low rectal cancer is safe and feasible，which has a good short term efficacy.

Prevention and treatment of complications of transanal total mesorectal excision / 中华消化外科杂志

Transanal total mesorectal excision is a new surgical procedure which has emerged in the recent years.This procedure performs a "bottom-to-up" resection of the rectum and its surrounding mesenteries through the anus,which provides better view compared with laparoscopic or open total mesorectal excision.However,it is undeniable that as a new surgical procedure,transanal total mesorectal excision is also bound to have some complications of surgery.Therefore,how to prevent and treat the complications of transanal total mesorectal excision is still a problem that must be faced in the future.This article intends to review the prevention and treatment of surgical complications and provide some experience for the development of transanal total mesorectal excision.

Short-term outcomes and prognosis of palliative surgery for malignant bowel obstruction caused by peritoneal metastasis of colorectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective@#To explore the short-term efficacy and prognosis of palliative surgical treatment for malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) caused by peritoneal metastasis of colorectal cancer (mCRC).@*Methods@#A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The inclusion criteria for patients were as follows: (1) primary colorectal cancer; (2) massive peritoneal metastasis; (3)obstructive site located below Treitz ligament by imaging; (4) obstruction refractory to conservative treatment; (5) estimated rese survival time more than 2 months; (6) patients and their families had strong willingness for operation; (7) surgical treatment included stoma/bypass and debulking surgery. In accordance with the above criteria, clinicopathological data of 46 patients undergoing palliative surgery at Peking University Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, Unit III from January 2016 to October 2018 were retrospectively collected. Postoperative symptomatic relief rate, morbidity of complication within 30 days, complication classification (Clavien-Dindo classification), mortality and survival after operation were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate survival and Cox regression analysis was used to identify prognostic factors.@*Results@#Among 46 patients, 30 were male and 16 were female with median age of 63 (19-87) years; 23 patients received stoma/bypass surgery (stoma/bypass group), and 23 cases received tumor debulking surgery (debulking group). The overall symptom relief rate was 76.1% (35/46), while symptom relief rate in the debulking group was 91.3% (21/23), which was significantly higher than 60.9% (14/23) in the stoma/bypass group (χ2=4.301, P=0.038). Postoperative complications occurred in 25 patients. The complication rate was 52.2% (12/23) in the debulking group and 56.5% (13/23) in the stoma/bypass group, without statistically significant difference (χ2=0.088, P=0.767). Morbidity of complication beyond grade III was 8.7% (2/23) and 13.0% (3/23) in the debulking group and stoma/bypass group respectively, without statistically significant difference (χ2=0.224, P=0.636). Four patients died within 30 days after operation, 2 (8.7%) in each group. Twenty-four patients underwent 1-8 cycles of chemotherapy ± targeting therapy (regimens: CapeOX ± Bevacizumab, FOLFOX/FOLFIRI ± Bevacizumab/Cetuximab), including 10 cases in the stoma/bypass group and 14 cases in the debulking group. Two patients of debulking group received postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy (50.6 Gy/22 f, with concurrent oral capecitabine). Till the last follow up of April 2019, 34 patients died (34/46, 73.9%) with a median overall survival time of 6.4 months, and the 6-month and 1-year survival rate was 54.5% and 29.2% respectively. The median survival time in the debulking group was significantly longer than that in the stoma/bypass group (11.5 months vs. 5.2 months, χ2=5.117, P=0.024). The median survival time of the 35 patients with symptomatic relief after operation was significant longer than that of 11 patients without relief (7.1 months vs 5.1 months, χ2=3.844, P=0.050). Multivariate analysis showed stoma/bypass surgery (HR=2.917, 95%CI:1.357-6.269, P=0.006) and greater omental metastasis (HR=4.060, 95%CI:1.419-11.617, P=0.009) were independent risk factors associated with prognosis of patients with MBO caused by peritoneal mCRC.@*Conclusions@#For patients of MBO caused by peritoneal mCRC, tumor debulking surgery may achieve higher symptom relief rate and prolong survival. Greater omental metastasis indicates poor prognosis.

The status analysis of diagnosis and treatment of synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer in China: a report of 1 003 cases in 16 domestic medical centers / 中华外科杂志

Objective@#To analyze the status of domestic surgical treatment of synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer in China.@*Methods@#Clinicopathological data of patients who underwent surgery from October 2003 to October 2018 in 16 domestic medical centers was retrospectively analyzed. Excel database was created which covered 77 fields of 7 parts: baseline information of patients, laboratory tests, imaging tests, chemoradiotherapy information, intra-operative findings, postoperative pathology and follow-up data. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of the measurement data between groups. The χ2 test was used for comparison of the categorical data between groups. The survival curve was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.@*Results@#Of the 1 003 patients, there were 575 male and 428 female patients with the age of (58.5±14.1) years (range: 18 to 92 years). In a total of 920 patients, the carcinoma of sigmoid colon was performed in 292 cases (31.8%) with the highest ratio. The proportion of patients with liver metastasis and lung metastasis were 27.9% (219/784) and 8.3% (64/769). Preoperative detection of carcino-embryonic antigen level was the most common method in China (87.74%, 880/1 003), and the positive rate was 64.5% (568/880). The correct rate of preoperative imaging tests was 40.7% (280/688). The ratio of peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) scores between 0 and 10 was the highest (59.6%, 170/285). Two hundred and sixty-two (27.0%) patients were performed by totally laparoscopic operation in 971 patients. The resection of primary tumor was performed in 588 of the 817 patients (72.0%). In a total of 457 cases, 253 (55.4%) patients were performed cytoreduction which group scored completeness of cytoreduction (CCR) 0. The postoperative hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy was implemented in 70 of the 334 cases (21.0%). Among 1 003 cases, 562 cases (56.03%) had complete follow-up data and the median overall survival was 15 months. The primary tumor resection and the CCR scores were affected by the PCI scores. The patients underwent primary tumor resection (187/205 vs. 26/80, χ2=105.085, P=0.000) and the patients were performed cytoreduction which scored CCR 0 or CCR 1 (162/204 vs. 8/78, Z=-10.465, P=0.000) had significant difference between the groups of PCI<20 and ≥20. There was a close correlation between the surgical method and the CCR scores (Z=-3.246,P=0.001).When the maximum degree of tumor reduction was planned, most surgeons would choose laparotomy. The overall survival time was longer in patients with primary tumor resection (P=0.000). The median survival time was 18.6 months in the group of primary tumor resection.@*Conclusions@#It is difficult to diagnose the synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer before the operation. Primary tumor resection has an obvious effect to prolong the survival time. It is necessary to standardize the treatment of peritoneal metastasis.

Application value of colonoscopic assessment in "watch and wait" strategy for mid-lower rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the value of colonoscopic assessment in "watch and wait" strategy for mid-lower rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).@*Methods@#A single-center retrospective case series study was performed. Database of mid-lower rectal cancer patients at Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute from March 2011 to June 2017 was retrieved. Inclusion criteria: (1) nCRT was completed (50.6 Gy/22 f, plus oral capecitabine); (2) radical surgery was performed within 12 weeks after nCRT treatment; (3) clinical response to nCRT was determined as clinical complete response (cCR) or near-cCR. Patients who did not undergo colonoscopy and MRI in our center during initial assessment and follow-up, or whose colonoscopy data were unable to re-evaluated, were excluded. Initial evaluation of nCRT response was carried out between 6 and 16 weeks after nCRT. The results of endoscopy (eCR, near-eCR and non-eCR) and MRI (mCR, near-mCR and non-mCR) were compared to local lesion relapse during follow-up. The consistency of the results of colonoscopy and MRI was evaluated by Kappa test (Kappa value of 0.21 to 0.40 indicates general consistency, 0.41 to 0.60 moderate consistency, and 0.61 to 0.80 high consistency). The non-regrowth disease-free survival (NR-DFS) curves of the eCR group and the near-eCR group were plotted by Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test. Clinical significance of colonoscopy examination in the following "watch and wait" strategy during follow-up period was analyzed.@*Results@#A total of 32 patients were enrolled in the study, including 21 (65.6%) males and 11 (34.4%) females with a median age of 57 years old. The differentiated type of rectal cancer included 1 (3.1%) case of well-differentiated, 26 (81.2%) of moderately differentiated and 5 (15.6%) of poorly differentiated. Clinical stage of the patients included 9 (28.1%) cases of T2-3N0 and 23 (71.9%) of T2-3N+. Median follow-up period was 48 (18 to 80) months. The local regrowth rate was 34.4% (11/32) and median interval of local regrowth was 10.0 (4 to 37) months. Initial colonoscopy evaluation was carried out at a median time of 9 (5 to 19) weeks after nCRT was completed. According to endoscopic findings, patients were divided into 3 groups, including 15 cases in eCR group, 15 cases in near-eCR group and 2 cases in non-eCR group. According to the appearance of MRI, patients were divided into 3 groups, including 8 cases in mCR group, 21 cases in near-mCR group and 3 cases in non-mCR group. The regrowth rate of eCR group was lower than that of mCR group (1/15 vs. 1/8) without significant difference (P=1.000). The regrowth rate of near-eCR group was higher than that of near-mCR group [9/15 vs. 42.9% (9/21)] without significant difference as well (P=0.500). The consistency between colonoscopy and MRI in response evaluation of cCR or near-cCR after nCRT was unsatisfactory (Kappa=0.341, P=0.011). After initial evaluation, 31 patients underwent watch and wait strategy, and 1 underwent local resection. The 1- and 3-year NR-DFS in the eCR group was both 100%, which was higher than that in the near-eCR group (53.3% and 38.9%, respectively), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). During watch and wait period, 11 cases developed local regrowth by colonoscopy examination and the biopsy result included 4 case of high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HIN), 6 cases of adenocarcinoma and 1 case of chronic mucosal inflammation. Meanwhile lateral developmental tumor of ascending colon in 1 case and of sigmoid in a case was found by colonoscopy and confirmed as HIN by postoperative pathology. Besides, 4 cases developed colonic multiple adenoma and all underwent endoscopic resection.@*Conclusion@#Colonoscopy examination plays an important role in both initial assessment and regrowth monitoring during watch and wait strategy after nCRT treatment.

"Watch and wait" strategy after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer: status survey of perceptions, attitudes and treatment selection in Chinese surgeons / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective@#To understand the perceptions, attitudes and treatment selection of Chinese surgeons on the "watch and wait" strategy for rectal cancer patients after achieving a clinical complete response (cCR) following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).@*Methods@#A cross-sectional survey was used in this study. Selection of subjects: (1) Domestic public grade III A (provincial and prefecture-level) oncology hospitals or general hospitals possessing the radiotherapy department and the diagnosis and treatment qualifications for colorectal cancer. (2) Surgeons of deputy chief physician or above. Using the "Questionnaire Star" online survey platform to create a questionnaire about cognition, attitude and treatment choice of the "watch and wait" strategy after cCR following nCRT for rectal cancer. The questionnaire contained 32 questions, such as the basic information of doctor, the current status of rectal cancer surgery, the management of pathological complete remission (ypCR) after nCRT for rectal cancer, the selection of examination items for diagnosis of cCR, the selection of suitable people undergoing "watch and wait" approach, the nCRT mode for promotion of cCR, the choice of evaluation time point, the willingness to perform "watch and wait" approach and the treatment choice, and the risk and monitoring of "watch and wait" approach. A total of 116 questionnaires were sent to the respondents via WeChat between January 31 and February 19, 2019. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher′s exact test for categorical variables.@*Results@#Forty-eight hospitals including 116 surgeons meeting criteria were enrolled, of whom 77 surgeons filled the questionnaire with a response rate of 66.4%. "Watch and wait" strategy was carried out in 76.6% (59/77) of surgeons. Seventy surgeons (90.9%) were aware of the ypCR rate of rectal cancer after preoperative nCRT and 49 surgeons (63.6%) knew the 3-year disease-free survival of patients with ypCR in their own hospitals. Fifty-five surgeons (71.4%) believed that patients with ypCR undergoing radical surgery met the treatment criteria and were not over-treated. Three most necessary examinations in diagnosing cCR were colonoscopy (96.1%, 74/77), digital rectal examination (DRE) (90.9%,70/77) and DWI-MRI (83.1%, 64/77). Responders preferred to consider a "watch and wait" strategy for patients with baseline characteristics as mrN0 (77.9%, 60/77), mrT2 (68.8%, 53/77) and well-differentiated adenocarcinoma (68.8%, 53/77). Sixty-six surgeons (85.7%) believed that long-term chemoradiotherapy (LCRT) with combination or without combination of induction and/or consolidation of the CapeOX regimen (capecitabine + oxaliplatin) should be the first choice as a neoadjuvant therapy to achieve cCR. Forty-one surgeons (53.2%) believed that a reasonable interval of judging cCR after nCRT should be ≥ 8 weeks. Forty-four surgeons (57.1%) routinely, or in most cases, informed patient the possibility of cCR and proposed to "watch and wait" strategy in the initial diagnosis of patients with non-metastatic rectal cancer. Thirteen surgeons (16.9%) would take the "watch and wait" strategy as the first choice after the patient having cCR. Fifty-two surgeons (67.5%) would be affected by the surgical method, that was to say, "watch and wait" approach would only be recommended to those patients who would achieve cCR and could not preserve the anus or underwent difficult anus-preservation surgery. Sixteen surgeons (20.8%) demonstrated that "watch and wait" strategy would not be recommended to patients with cCR regardless of whether the surgical procedure involved anal sphincter. Eleven surgeons (14.3%) believed that the main risk of "watch and wait" approach came from distant metastasis rather than local recurrence or regrowth. Twenty-nine of surgeons (37.7%) did not understand the difference between "local recurrence" and "local regrowth" during the period of "watch and wait". Twenty-six surgeons (33.8%) thought that the monitoring interval for the first 3 years of "watch and wait" strategy was 3 months, and the follow-up monitoring interval could be 6 months to 5 years. Surgeons from cancer specialist hospitals had higher approval rate, notification rate, and referral rate of "watch and wait" strategy than those from general hospitals. Thirty-one surgeons (42.5%) considered that the difficulty and concern of carrying out "watch and wait" approach in the future was the disease progress leading to medical disputes. Twenty-six surgeons (35.6%) demonstrated that their concern was lack of uniform evaluation standard for cCR.@*Conclusions@#Chinese surgeons seem to have inadequate knowledge of non-operative management for rectal cancer patients achieving cCR after nCRT and show relatively conservative attitudes toward the strategy. Chinese consensus needs to be formed to guide the non-operative management in selected patients. Chinese Watch & Wait Database (CWWD) is also needed to establish and provide more evidence for the use of alternative procedure after a cCR following nCRT.

Current status and perspectives on "watch and wait" strategy for rectal cancer patients after clinical complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiation / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation has been accepted as a standard of care for local advanced middle to low rectal cancer. Patients with clinical complete response (cCR) or near cCR following neoadjuvant chemoradiation may benefit from watch and wait strategy or organ-preserving surgery with good short- and long-term outcome and quality of life (QOL). Yet the criteria of cCR varies and cCR is not consistent with pCR. Therefore, the obstacle to the strategy lies on whether its failure can be salvaged and the complexity of follow-up. Available studies demonstrated that local recurrence or regrowth can be salvaged by surgery without compromising the survival. So, the key is appropriate follow-up schedule and timely salvage. The strategy has not drawn much attention until recently, and relevant studies go slowly because of low data availability, patient awareness, and peer acceptance. We still believe that more and more patients might benefit from this strategy, along with the increasing attention of QOL from the patients. That may be obtained through screening of the right patients and optimizing treatment modality, evaluation methods, and protocol of follow-up.

Postoperative short-term complications of laparoscope-assisted transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy and their management: a single center report / 中华胃肠外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To summarize and analyze the postoperative short-term complications of laparoscope-assisted transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) for rectal cancer patients after neoadjuvant therapy.@*METHODS@#A prospectively established database on taTME patients at Peking University Cancer Hospital was screened with the following conditions: data retrieval from June 2016 to August 2018, pathologically confirmed adenocarcinoma, receiving preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy. The transabdominal procedure and the transanal procedure were performed simultaneously in the taTME operation. Occurrence of complications during perioperative period (within postoperative 3 months) in these patients, especially anastomosis-related complications and their management were analyzed. The relevant complications were recorded according to the Clavien-Dindo (CD) grading criteria. The severity of anastomotic leakage and anastomotic stenosis was evaluated according to criteria developed by the International Rectal Cancer Research Group.@*RESULTS@#A total of 29 patients were enrolled in this study. In the 29 patients, 25 (86.2%) were male and 4 (13.8%) were female, the median age was 60 (range, 30 to 72) years, the median body mass index was 25.8 (range, 19.8 to 36.4) kg/m, the median distance from the tumor to anal verge was 4 (range, 2 to 8) cm. All the patients completed laparoscope-assisted taTME operations successfully without conversion to laparotomy, intra-operative severe complication or death. The median operation time was 300 (range, 198 to 405) minutes, and the median intra-operative blood loss was 100 (range, 50 to 200) ml. All the TME specimens were complete according to the Nagtegaal standard. All the patients underwent prophylactic ileostomy. Hartmann procedure was performed in one case due to poor blood supply in the proximal bowel without the possibility of anastomosis. Anal sphincter preservation rate was 96.6% (28/29). The median postoperative exhaust time was 2 (range, 1 to 10) days, and the median postoperative hospital stay was 9 (range, 7 to 24) days. Fifteen patients (51.7%) had postoperative complications, among which serious complication (CD grade IIIb and above) accounted for 6.9% (2/29). No perioperative death was observed. Five patients (17.2%) presented anastomosis-related complications, including 2 cases of grade C anastomotic leakage due to anastomotic rupture, who underwent abdominal perineal resection 1 month after operation; 2 cases of grade B anastomotic leakage, who improved after conservative treatment; 1 case of grade A anastomotic stenosis, who improved with anal expansion 1 month after operation. The incidence of postoperative infection was 24.1% (7/29), including 6 cases of pelvic infection and 1 case of trocar site infection, all of which were CD grade II. One case had incomplete intestinal obstruction (CD grade II); 1 case had gastroplegia; 1 case had abdominal trocar hernia. All the patients were followed up for a median of 12.0 (range, 3.9 to 29.9) months. Seven cases did not undergo ileal stoma closure. The anal sphincter preservation rate was 75.9% (22/29).@*CONCLUSION@#Pelvic infection and anastomosis-related complications are common after laparoscope-assisted taTME surgery for rectal cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, which require active management and appropriate treatment.

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.

Attaching importance to diagnosis and treatment of peritoneal metastases from colorectal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Peritoneal metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC) are generally considered to be end-stage disease of CRC,which has greatly impacted the prognosis and quality of life of patients.In recent years,cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy following systemic control has gradually been accepted for the treatment of peritoneal metastasis from CRC.Unfortunately,it has not widely used in clinical practice for the reasons of instruments,experience,surgical complexity,postoperative complications and cost-effectiveness.There is still no sufficient importance attached to CRC with peritoneal metastasis.Researches on the mechanism and treatment of peritoneal metastasis should be encouraged.Screening of high risk patients for early intervention to reduce incidence of peritoneal metastasis,selecting effective regimens and exploring optimal model for patients with other distal metastasis to improve the outcome of patients may be of importance.

Short-term outcome of transanal total mesorectal excision for male low rectal cancer patients with "difficult pelvis" : a single center report from Peking University Cancer Hospital / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the applicable value of transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) in male low rectal cancer patients with narrow pelvis-"difficult pelvis", which remains difficult for both open and laparoscopic sphincter-saving operations.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical data of male low rectal cancer patients diagnosed by pathology undergoing taTME between June 2016 and January 2018 at Peking University Cancer Hospital were collected. A retrospective cohort study was performed. Patients were selected according to the following criteria: (1) low rectal cancer, the distance between inferior margin of tumor and anal verge ≤5 cm; (2) the distance between two sciatic tubercles <5 cm; (3) body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m; (4) tumor horizontal diameter ≤4 cm. Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications and anal function were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 20 patients were included in this study. All the patients received preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiation and hybrid transabdominal and transanal surgery. The median BMI was 27.7(26.2-36.4) kg/m; the median distance between two sciatic tubercles was 92.5 (78-100) mm; the median distance between the inferior margin of tumor to the anal verge was 4 (2-5) cm; the median operation time was 302 (215-402) min; the median intraoperative blood loss was 100 (50-200) ml; the median postoperative hospital stay was 9 (5-15) d. Postoperative complications occurred in 5 patients (25%), including 3 pelvic infection, 1 intestinal obstruction, 1 anastomotic leakage receiving sigmoid colostomy. There was no perioperative death. Sphincter-preservation rate was 100%. Nineteen patients received anal manometry 1 month after operation with normal resting pressure (41.5±8.6) mmHg and squeeze pressure (121.0±11.6) mmHg. All the patients were followed up to March 2018, and the median follow-up time was 4.5 months. Only 1 patient had supraclavicular lymph node metastasis and no local recurrence was found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The safety of transanal total mesorectal excision for male patients with low rectal cancer and difficult pelvis is acceptable. TaTME is helpful to preserve the anal sphincter.</p>

Thought of the present application situation and the future trends of minimally invasive surgery in colorectal cancer / 中华外科杂志

Laparoscopic surgery has been increasingly used in rectal cancer surgery. Though there are still some controversies, most of the research results support that the outcome is similar for rectal cancer patients with either laparoscopic or open surgery, in term of short-term such as safety and efficacy and long-term such as oncologic outcome. Standardization of laparoscopic training together with the comprehensive management concept are the prerequisites of laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery. Those doctors who do minimally invasive surgery should follow the rationale that smaller incision and sphincter preservation are secondary to safety and oncological result of the patients. It is the comprehensive management and personalized treatment that bring opportunities for the continuous development and innovation of innovative technologies and concepts, for example, non-operative treatment, endoscopic therapy, natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, single incision laparoscopic surgery, and robotic surgery. And they may finally lead to better outcome and quality of life for the patients.

Effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on the prognosis of stage II( colon cancer patients with high risk factors / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on the prognosis of stage II( colon cancer patients with high risk factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinicopathological and follow-up data of stage II( colon cancer patients undergoing radical surgery from January 2001 to March 2012 at Gastrointestinal Cancer Center of Peking University Cancer Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy (within postoperative 2 month, fluorine uracil as main drugs) on the prognosis of high-risk patients was analyzed. High risk factors were defined as having at least one of the following factors: (1) tumor stage T4; (2) poor differentiation; (3) with vascular cancer embolus; (4) number of harvested lymph node less than 12; (5) complicated with obstruction or perforation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 497 patients with stage II( colon cancer were included in this study, of whom 258 cases(51.9%) had high risk factors, including stage T4 tumor in 80 cases(16.1%), poor differentiation in 80 cases (16.1%), cancer embolus in 37 cases (7.4%), lymph node harvested number less than 12 in 88 cases (17.7%), and obstruction or perforation in 85 cases (17.1%). Among 497 patients, number of cases with 1 to 4 high risk factors was 170 (34.2%), 68 (13.7%), 16 (3.2%) and 4 (0.8%), respectively. The last follow-up time was December 2016. The 5-year overall survival rate of all the 497 patients was 81.7%. The 5-year overall survival rate of 239 patients without high risk factors was 87.0%. The 5-year survival rate in patients with 1 to 4 risk factors was 81.9%, 73.7%, 66.7% and 25.0%, respectively (P=0.001). There was no significant difference in 5-year survival rate between 103 patients with adjuvant chemotherapy and 394 patients without adjuvant chemotherapy (79.6% vs. 82.8%, P=0.814). In patients with high risk factors, 80(31.0%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no significant difference of 5-year survival rate between 80 patients with adjuvant chemotherapy and 178 patients without adjuvant chemotherapy (81.4% vs. 74.7%, P=0.147). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative CEA level, T4 stage, lymph node harvested number, and tumor differentiation were the independent prognostic factors of patients with stage II( colon cancer (all P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The proportion of patients with at least one risk factor is quite high in stage II( colon cancer cases. Adjuvant chemotherapy can not prolong the overall survival time of high risk patients.</p>

Predictive value of preoperative and postoperative serum tumor markers CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 in the diagnosis of gastric cancer recurrence at different stages / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of preoperative and postoperative serum tumor markers, namely, carcinoem-bryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and CA72-4, in the diagnosis of gastric cancer recurrence at different stag-es. Methods:Analysis was performed in 564 patients who underwent curative resection for gastric cancer between January 2002 and March 2007, received no chemotherapy at our hospital, and received complete follow-up according to the schedule determined pro-spectively. The values of CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 were evaluated before and after surgery. Results:In the pTNM-Ⅰ and pTNM-Ⅱ stage groups, patients with positive preoperative serum CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 levels showed recurrence rates of 50.0%, 24.1%, and 22.6%, respectively. Similarly, the recurrence rates of patients with positive postoperative serum CEA, CA72-4, and CA19-9 levels were 42.9%, 21.7%, and 14.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the positive preoperative serum CEA level could be an inde-pendent factor of recurrence. In the pTNM-Ⅲ stage group, the recurrence rates of patients with positive preoperative serum CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 levels were 50.0%, 55.2%, and 47.6%, respectively. The recurrence rates of patients with positive postoperative se-rum CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 levels were 75.0%, 66.7%, and 66.7%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that high postoperative serum CA72-4 levels could be an independent factor of gastric cancer recurrence. Conclusion:Serum tumor markers exhibited differ-ent predictive values in different pTNM stages. Preoperative CEA level could be used to predict recurrence in patients with pTNM-Ⅰ and pTNM-Ⅱ stages of gastric cancer. Moreover, postoperative CA72-4 level could be used to predict recurrence in patients with pTNM-Ⅲ stage gastric cancer.

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>

Important international and Chinese clinical trials on gastric cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

In the era of evidence-based medicine, the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer are based on the evidence from important clinical trials. International and Chinese trials are performed on early, locally advanced, and late stage gastric cancer and the key points of trials of each aspect are different. Clinical trials of early gastric cancer mainly focus on the minimally invasive treatments like endoscopic resection and laparoscopic surgery. Clinical trials of locally advanced gastric cancer aim to raise the extent of radical treatment and multimodality treatment patterns. As to late stage gastric cancer, the trials aiming to prolong survival of the patients, conversion treatment, target therapy, immune therapy and new drug development are mostly interested.

Preoperative chemoradiation therapy for upper gastric cancer：a retrospective study for its efficacy and safety / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:To investigate the efficacy, safety, and overall survival of advanced upper gastric cancer patients who received preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Methods:A total of 62 patients who received preoperative chemotherapy or chemoradiation therapy in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery of Beijing Cancer Hospital&Institute were retrospectively observed to determine the efficacy and safety and to perform survival analysis of preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Results:Results of the postoperative pathology showed that the number of patients with T4 and N3 stages was significantly lower in the preoperative chemoradiation therapy group than in the preoperative chemotherapy group (P<0.05). In addition, the differences between the two groups in terms of safety and toxicity were not significant (P≥0.05). Analysis also showed that the differences between the two groups in terms of survival were not significant (P≥0.05). Conclusion:Patients with advanced upper gastric cancer can gain a potential survival advantage from preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Compared with preoperative chemotherapy, preoperative chemoradiation therapy was performed without increased risk of toxicity and insecurity. Preoperative chemoradiation therapy can also improve the local control ratio, especial y the control ratio of lymphatic metastasis. However, the final results of survival analysis depend on long-term follow-up of patients.

Adjuvant capecitabine and oxaliplatin for gastric cancer after D2 gastrectomy (CLASSIC): Chinese subgroup analysis / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of XELOX (capecitabine/oxaliplatin) in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer who underwent curative D2 resection in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This is a subgroup analysis of Chinese patients in the capecitabine and oxaliplatin adjuvant study in stomach cancer (CLASSIC study), which was a randomised, open-label, multicentre, parallel-group, phase III( study in the Asia-Pacific region. A total of 100 gastric cancer patients who received curative D2 gastrectomy were enrolled in this study and were randomly assigned to either XELOX group (oral capecitabine combined with intravenous oxaliplatin chemotherapy) or the control group (surgery alone). This study aims to compare the 3-year disease-free between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Subgroup analysis showed that 3-year DFS rate were 78% and 56% in XELOX and control group, respectively. The risk of relapse in XELOX group was reduced by 59% (HR=0.41, 95%CI:0.20-0.85, P=0.013), compared with the control group. The 3-year overall survival rate were 78% and 66% in XELOX and control group, with no statistically significant difference (HR=0.55, 95%CI:0.26-1.16, P=0.110).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Adjuvant XELOX chemotherapy following D2 gastrectomy may improve the survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer in China.</p>

Retrospective study of the influence of alimentary tract reconstruction after gastrectomy on the blood glucose level in patients with gastric cancers combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective To explore the influence of alimentary tract reconstruction after gastrectomy on the blood glucose level in patients with gastric cancers combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods From January 2004 to December 2009, the level of blood glucose and body weight before operation and 1,3,6 months after operation in 87 gastric cancer combined with type 2 diabetes mellims patients were retrospectively analyzed. These patients underwent different alimentary tract reconstructions,including 48 patients for Billroth I after distal subtotal gastrectomy (group A), 39 patients for esophageal Roux-en-Y jejunostomy after total gastrectomy (group B). Fasting blood glucose (FBG) level and body weight of these patients were compared. Results In group A, change of FBG before and after operation were not significant (P ＞ 0.05 ). The levels of FBG in group B were significantly lower in 1,3,6 months after operation [(6.7 ±0.8), (6.6 ±0.6), (6.8 ±0.7) mmol/L] than that before operation [(9.7 ± 1.4) mmol/L](P＜0.05). The lower value average difference of FBG at 1,3,6 months was significant between group A and group B (P＜0.05 ). In group B, 6 months after operation's total effective rate was 87.2% (34/39). Changes of body weight before and after operation in group A and group B were significant (P ＜ 0.05 ). But between two groups, the changes of body weight between 1,3,6 months and before operation were not significant (P ＞0.05).Conclusions Esophageal Roux-en-Y jejunostomy after total gastrectomy has obvious influence on FBG level in patients with gastric cancers combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It takes about 1 month to reveal the effect of operation and has nothing to do with weight loss.