Effect of chemotherapy on prognosis in patients with primary pancreatic signet ring cell carcinoma: A large real-world study based on machine learning.

BACKGROUND: Primary pancreatic signet ring cell carcinoma (PSRCC), an extremely rare histologic variant of pancreatic cancer, has a poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of chemotherapy in PSRCC. METHODS: Patients with PSRCC between 2000 and 2019 were identified using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. The main outcomes in this study were cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). The baseline characteristics of patients were compared using Pearson's Chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to generate the survival curves. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), univariate and multivariate Cox regression models, and Random Survival Forest model were used to analyze the prognostic variables for OS and CSS. The variance inflation factors (VIFs) were used to analyze whether there was an overfitting problem. RESULTS: A total of 588 patients were identified. Chemotherapy was an independent prognostic factor for OS and CSS, and significantly associated with OS (HR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.27-0.40, P <0.001) and CSS (HR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.26-0.39, P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy showed beneficial effects on OS and CSS in patients with PSRCC and should be recommended in clinical practice.

A unique case of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver manifesting with biloma: A case report.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-negative hepatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) harboring the ETS variant transcription factor 6-neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase 3 (ETV6-NTRK3) fusion gene and manifesting with biloma are extremely rare, and their biological behavior is unclear. The present study reports the case of a 45-year-old female with ALK-negative IMT of the liver harboring the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene and manifesting with biloma. Computed tomography of the abdomen confirmed the lesions to be a low-density mass, measuring 11.2×8.5×10.5 cm, located in the left lobe of the liver, and a lower-density mass, measuring 8.5×6.1×5.9 cm, located in the interior of the tumor. As the suspicion of a malignancy remained high, surgical resection of the left hepatic lobe, including the tumor, was undertaken. Intraoperatively, a tumor (12×10×9 cm), with an unclear boundary, incomplete capsule and fish-like texture, was found in the left lateral lobe of the liver, and a biloma, measuring 8×6 cm, was identified inside the tumor. Pathological examination revealed spindle cell proliferation with infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells and mucinous degeneration. Immunohistochemical studies showed negativity for ALK, CD117, CD34, discovered on GIST-1, desmin, smooth muscle actin, S-100, CD21, pan-cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, CD23 and CD35, but positivity for vimentin staining, and 5% Ki-67-positive cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization studies assessing characteristic genetic rearrangements using ALK, RET, ROS1, MDM2, MGEA5 and ETV6 break-apart assays, revealed the presence of the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion oncogene and negativity for ALK, RET, ROS1, MDM2 and MGEA5. The patient was discharged 7 days post-operatively, without any adjuvant treatment. No recurrence of symptoms was noted at the 3-year follow-up. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of biloma in an ALK-negative IMT of the liver, which may increase our understanding of hepatic IMT.

The expression level and prognostic value of Y-box binding protein-1 in rectal cancer.

The aims of this study were to simultaneously evaluate the expression of Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1) in non-neoplastic rectal tissue and rectal cancer tissue, and to collect clinical follow-up data for individual patients. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the developmental functions and prognostic value of YB-1 in rectal cancer. We performed immunohistochemical studies to examine YB-1 expression in tissue samples from 80 patients with rectal cancer, 30 patients with rectal tubular adenoma, and 30 patients with rectitis. The mean YB-1 histological scores for rectal cancer, rectal tubular adenoma, and rectitis tissue specimens were 205.5, 164.3, and 137.7, respectively. Shorter disease-free and overall survival times were found in patients with rectal cancer who had higher YB-1 expression than in those with lower expression (38.2 months vs. 52.4 months, P = 0.013; and 44.4 months vs. 57.3 months, P = 0.008, respectively). Our results indicate that YB-1 expression is higher in rectal cancer tissue than in rectal tubular adenoma and rectitis tissue and that it may be an independent prognostic factor for rectal cancer.