Incidence and risk factors of readmission after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer

Background: The Esophageal Complications Consensus Group (ECCG) recommends that readmission to a primary or secondary hospital within 30 days of discharge after esophagectomy is an important quality outcome indicator for esophagectomy. This retrospective study was performed to investigate the incidence and risk factors for readmission after esophagectomy. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 291 patients who received an esophagectomy and mediastinal lymphadenectomy for curative purposes from January 2006 to June 2017. Results: The mean age was 63.02±8.02 years, and there were 264 (90.7%) male patients. Thirty-nine (13.4%) patients were re-admitted within 30 days after discharge. The mean interval from discharge to the readmission was 13.46±9.36. Common causes of readmission were anastomotic stricture that required ballooning (12, 30.7%), wound problem (7, 17.9%), pneumonia (6, 15.4%), and poor oral intake (4, 10.2%). Other causes of readmission were delayed gastric emptying [3], jejunostomy tube problem [2], ileus [2], pain [1], pneumothorax [1], and pleural effusion [1]. On multivariable analysis, anastomotic leakage (odd ratio =2.884, P=0.026) was significantly related to readmission, whereas age, pathologic stage, vocal cord palsy, and neoadjuvant therapy were not related to readmission. Conclusions: Readmission within 30 days after esophagectomy was determined to be related to postoperative anastomotic leakage and wound problems whereas the vocal cord palsy was not.ope

폐에 발생한 다형태 암종 환자에서 전이부위 절제술 후 장기 생존

Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinomas are rare malignant tumors that account for 0.1 to 0.4% of all lung cancers. They are notable for their aggressive clinical behavior and poor prognosis. We report here on a patient who is alive and disease-free 12 years after receiving surgical treatment for the rib recurrence of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.ope

Prognostic and predictive value of carcinoembryonic antigen and cytokeratin-19 fragments levels in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with gefitinib or erlotinib

PURPOSE: The prognostic and predictive value of pretreatment serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin-19 fragments (CYFRA 21-1) were assessed in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with gefitinib or erlotinib. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pretreatment CEA and CYFRA 21-1 were measured in 123 advanced NSCLC patients receiving gefitinib or erlotinib. High CEA levels (h-CEA) were significantly associated with females, patients with adenocarcinoma, and non-smokers. RESULTS: Low CYFRA 21-1 levels (l-CYFRA) were significantly associated with a good performance status (ECOG PS 0-1). The overall response rate (RR) was 27.6%, and higher RR was associated with adenocarcinoma, h-CEA, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. Patients with h-CEA had significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) (p=0.021). Patients with l-CYFRA had significantly longer PFS and overall survival (p=0.006 and p<0.001, respectively). Of note, h-CEA and l-CYFRA had good prognosis in patients with unknown EGFR mutation status or patients with squamous cell carcinoma (p=0.021 and p=0.015, respectively). A good ECOG PS (HR=0.45, p=0.017), h-CEA (HR=0.41, p=0.007), l-CYFRA 21-1 (HR=0.52, p=0.025), and an EGFR mutation (HR=0.22, p<0.001) were independently predictive of a longer PFS. CONCLUSION: h-CEA and l-CYFRA 21-1 may be prognostic and predictive serum markers for higher response and longer survival in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving gefitinib or erlotinib, especially in patients with unknown EGFR mutation status or patients with squamous cell carcinoma.ope

Prognostic effect of perineural invasion in surgically treated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Although perineural invasion is a well known prognostic factor used in several cancers, its prognostic role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma remains controversial. Here, we investigated the prognostic role of perineural invasion in surgically treated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 316 patients who underwent esophagectomy and lymph node dissection for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma between 2007 and 2016. Results: Overall, 287 men (mean age: 62.73 ± 7.97 years) were included in the study. The median follow-up period was 35.97 ± 30.99 months, perineural invasion was confirmed in 25 patients, and three-year overall and disease-free survival were significantly lower in the perineural invasion group than in the no-perineural invasion group (75.9% vs. 40.0%, p < 0.001; 70.3% vs. 21.6%, p < 0.001). Cumulative incidences of locoregional recurrence and distant metastasis over three years were higher in the perineural invasion group (13.8% vs. 9.6%, p = 0.009 and 52.8% vs. 14.6%, p < 0.001). On performing multivariable analysis, perineural invasion, pathological stage, incomplete resection, and neoadjuvant therapy were adverse risk factors for disease-free survival. The concordance index increased when perineural invasion was included in the model (0.712 vs. 0.723). On subgroup analysis, perineural invasion demonstrated a prognostic value in node-negative patients (79.4% vs. 35.7%, p = 0.012). Conclusions: Perineural invasion was found to be an adverse risk factor for disease-free survival in surgically treated patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Close observation and individualized adjuvant therapy may be helpful for patients with perineural invasion.ope

High CD3 and ICOS and low TIM-3 expression predict favourable survival in resected oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

With the increasing oncological potential of immunotherapy, several immune checkpoint modulators are being investigated. The value of immune markers, including programmed cell death ligand-1, programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), inducible co-stimulator (ICOS), lymphocyte activation gene-3, T-cell immunoglobulin, and mucin-dominant containing-3 (TIM-3), is not well known. Using tissue microarrays of 396 patients who underwent surgery for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), infiltrated T-cell subsets (CD3, CD8, and Foxp3) and checkpoint protein expression were scored. With a median follow-up of 24.8 months, CD3+ TIL subsets (50.0%) had longer median recurrence-free survival (RFS, 55.0 vs 21.4 months) and overall survival (OS, 77.7 vs 35.8 months). Patients with high ICOS expression (46.5%) had longer median RFS (53.9 vs 25.3 months) and OS (88.8 vs 36.9 months). For PD-1, RFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.67) and OS (HR 0.66) were significantly longer in the high-expression group (45.2%). In the multivariate analysis, high TIM-3 expression (50.8%) had a significant relationship with shorter RFS (HR = 1.52) and OS (HR = 1.60). High CD3+ TIL and T-cell ICOS expression were associated with favourable prognosis, whereas high TIM-3 expression suggested a poor prognosis. Our findings may confer new insights to improve ESCC outcomes beyond the application of PD-1 blockade.ope

Immune response after systematic lymph node dissection in lung cancer surgery: changes of interleukin-6 level in serum, pleural lavage fluid, and lung supernatant in a dog model

BACKGROUND: Systematic nodal dissection (SND) is regarded as a core component of lung cancer surgery. However, there has been a concern on the increased morbidity associated with SND. This study was performed to investigate whether or not SND induces significant immune response. METHODS: Sixteen dogs were divided into two groups; group 1 (n = 8) underwent thoracotomy only, and group 2 (n = 8) underwent SND after thoracotomy. We compared interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in serum, pleural lavage fluid and lung supernatant at the time of thoracotomy (T0) and at 2 h(T1) after thoracotomy (group 1) or SND (group 2). Severity of inflammation and IL-6 expression in lung tissue were evaluated in a semi-quantitative manner. RESULTS: The operative results were comparable. IL-6 was not detected in serum in either group. IL-6 in pleural lavage fluid marginally increased from 4.75 ± 3.74 pg/mL at T0 to 19.75 ± 8.67 pg/mL at T1 in group 1 (P = 0.112), and from 7.75 ± 5.35 pg/mL to 17.72 ± 8.58 pg/mL in group 2 (P = 0.068). IL-6 in lung supernatant increased from 0.36 ± 0.14 pg/mL/mg to 1.15 ± 0.17 pg/mL/mg in group 1 (P = 0.003), and from 0.25 ± 0.08 pg/mL/mg to 0.82 ± 0.17 pg/mL/mg in group 2 (P = 0.001). However, the degree of increase in IL-6 in pleural lavage fluid and lung supernatant were not different between two groups (P = 0.421 and P = 0.448). There was no difference in severity of inflammation and IL-6 expression between groups. CONCLUSIONS: SND did not increase IL-6 in pleural lavage fluid and lung supernatant. This result suggests that SND could be routinely performed in lung cancer surgery without increasing the significant inflammatory response.ope

Esophageal Cancer in Korea: Epidemiology and Treatment Patterns

According to statistics from 2017, esophageal cancer is the fifteenth most common cancer and the eleventh most common cause of cancer-related death in Korea. The most common pathology is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, the incidence of esophageal cancer has been gradually decreasing in Korea, and the percentage of early-stage cases has gradually increased to the point that it is higher than that of other countries. The 5-year relative survival rate has improved over time. Approximately 800 esophagectomy procedures are performed annually. Using a cut-off number of 21 cases per 2 years to define high-volume centers, it was found that 70% of esophagectomies were performed by a few high-volume centers. Unfortunately, there is no nationwide registry or database on esophageal cancer and esophagectomy in Korea. Efforts to establish a nationwide database on esophageal cancer and esophagectomy should be made.ope

Recurrence after thymoma resection according to the extent of the resection

BACKGROUND: Complete resection of the thymus is considered appropriate for a thymoma resection because any remaining thymic tissue can lead to local recurrence. However, there are few studies concerning the extent of thymus resection. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate whether recurrence following thymoma resection correlated to the extent of resection. METHODS: Between 1986 and 2011, a total of 491 patients underwent resection of thymic epithelial tumors with curative intent. Of those, we excluded patients with an undetermined World Health Organization (WHO) histologic type, patients with type C thymoma, and patients who underwent incomplete resection (n = 21). The remaining 342 patients were reviewed retrospectively and compared recurrence according to the extent of resection. RESULTS: Extended thymectomy was performed in 239 patients (69.9%) and limited thymectomy was performed 103 patients (30.1%). In the extended thymectomy group, 29 recurrences occurred, and in the limited thymectomy group, 10 recurrences occurred.Comparing rates of freedom from recurrence between two groups, there was no significant statistical difference in total recurrence (p = 0.472) or local recurrence (p = 0.798). After matching patients by stage and tumor size, there was no significant difference in freedom from recurrence between the two groups (p = 0.162). Additionally, after adjusting for histologic type and MG, there was also no significant difference (p = 0.125) between groups. CONCLUSIONS: No difference in the rate of recurrence was observed in patients following limited thymectomy compared with extended thymectomy.ope

Impact of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on recurrence after surgical treatment for stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an independent risk factor for lung cancer (LC) development; however, its effect on recurrence after curative surgery remains unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the impact of IPF on recurrence-free survival following curative surgical resection of stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and investigate the effects of patient and surgical factors on the risk of recurrence. Methods: We reviewed retrospectively collected data of patients with surgically resected stage I-III NSCLC from two tertiary care hospitals in South Korea. By propensity score matching, patients with IPF (LC with IPF) were matched to those without IPF (LC without IPF). Results: In total, 3416 patients underwent surgical resection, and 96 were diagnosed with underlying IPF. In the LC with IPF group, 89.6% patients were men, and the average age was 69.7 years. Sublobar resection was performed more frequently in the LC with IPF group than in the LC without IPF group, while the rate of mediastinal lymph node dissection and dissected node number were lower in the former group. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was significantly lower in the LC with IPF group (49.2%) than in the LC without IPF group (69.1%; P<0.001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that IPF and postoperative stage III were independent risk factors for recurrence. Conclusions: IPF may increase the risk of recurrence after curative surgical treatment for NSCLC. Close surveillance for recurrence is mandatory for patients with underlying IPF.ope

Chyle Leakage after Esophageal Cancer Surgery

Surgeons recommend dissecting lymph nodes in the thorax, abdomen, and neck during surgery for esophageal cancer because of the possibility of metastasis to the lymph nodes in those areas through the lymphatic plexus of the esophageal submucosal layer. Extensive lymph node dissection is essential for accurate staging and is thought to improve survival. However, it can result in several complications, including chyle leakage, which refers to continuous lymphatic fluid leakage and can occur in the thorax, abdomen, and neck. Malnutrition, fluid imbalance, and immune compromise may result from chyle leakage, which can be potentially life-threatening if it persists. Therefore, various treatment methods, including conservative treatment, pharmacological treatment such as octreotide infusion, and interventions such as thoracic duct embolization and surgical thoracic duct ligation, have been applied. In this article, the risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment methods of chyle leakage after esophagectomy are reviewed.ope