Extended lymph node dissection for gastric cancer from a European perspective

Surgical oncolog

A Population-based Study on Lymph Node Retrieval in Patients with Esophageal Cancer: Results from the Dutch Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Audit

Background: For esophageal cancer, the number of retrieved lymph nodes (LNs) is often used as a quality indicator. The aim of this study is to analyze the number of retrieved LNs in The Netherlands, assess factors associated with LN yield, and explore the association with short-term outcomes. This is a population-based study on lymph node retrieval in patients with esophageal cancer, presenting results from the Dutch Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Audit. Study Design: For this retrospective national cohort study, patients with esophageal carcinoma who underwent esophagectomy between 2011 and 2016 were included. The primary outcome was the number of retrieved LNs. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were used to test for association with ≥ 15 LNs. Patients and Results: 3970 patients were included. Between 2011 and 2016, the median number of LNs increased from 15 to 20. Factors independently associated with ≥ 15 LNs were: 0–10 kg preoperative weight loss (versus: unknown weight loss, odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.71 [0.57–0.88]), Charlson score 0 (versus: Charlson score 2: 0.76 [0.63–0.92]), cN2 category (reference: cN0, 1.32 [1.05–1.65]), no neoadjuvant therapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (reference: neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, 1.73 [1.29–2.32] and 2.15 [1.54–3.01]), minimally invasive transthoracic (reference: open transthoracic, 1.46 [1.15–1.85]), open transthoracic (versus open and minimally invasive transhiatal, 0.29 [0.23–0.36] and 0.43 [0.32–0.59]), hospital volume of 26–50 or > 50 resections/year (reference: 0–25, 1.94 [1.55–2.42] and 3.01 [2.36–3.83]), and year of surgery [reference: 2011, odds ratios (ORs) 1.48, 1.53, 2.28, 2.44, 2.54]. There was no association of ≥ 15 LNs with short-term outcomes. Conclusions: The number of LNs retrieved increased between 2011 and 2016. Weight loss, Charlson score, cN category, neoadjuvant therapy, surgical approach, year of resection, and hospital volume were all associated with increased LN yield. Retrieval of ≥ 15 LNs was not associated with increased postoperative morbidity/mortality

Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and chemotherapy or by surgery and chemoradiotherapy for patients with resectable gastric cancer (CRITICS)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Radical surgery is the cornerstone in the treatment of resectable gastric cancer. The Intergroup 0116 and MAGIC trials have shown benefit of postoperative chemoradiation and perioperative chemotherapy, respectively. Since these trials cannot be compared directly, both regimens are evaluated prospectively in the CRITICS trial. This study aims to obtain an improved overall survival for patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy and surgery by incorporating radiotherapy concurrently with chemotherapy postoperatively.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>In this phase III multicentre study, patients with resectable gastric cancer are treated with three cycles of preoperative ECC (epirubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine), followed by surgery with adequate lymph node dissection, and then either another three cycles of ECC or concurrent chemoradiation (45 Gy, cisplatin and capecitabine). Surgical, pathological, and radiotherapeutic quality control is performed. The primary endpoint is overall survival, secondary endpoints are disease-free survival (DFS), toxicity, health-related quality of life (HRQL), prediction of response, and recurrence risk assessed by genomic and expression profiling. Accrual for the CRITICS trial is from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark, and more countries are invited to participate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results of this study will demonstrate whether the combination of preoperative chemotherapy and postoperative chemoradiotherapy will improve the clinical outcome of the current European standard of perioperative chemotherapy, and will therefore play a key role in the future management of patients with resectable gastric cancer.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00407186">NCT00407186</a></p

Organizing Pneumonia and Microvascular Fibrosis as Late Sequelae after a COVID-19 Infection. A Case Report

We report a patient with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization for two weeks, complicated by multiple segmental pulmonary embolisms for which dabigatran was initiated. After clearing the infection, the patient remained asymptomatic for 5 months. He was then readmitted with a spontaneous haemothorax, most likely related to the use of dabigatran, which progressed to a pleural empyema with a trapped lung. The patient underwent a video assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) with decortication. Because of focal abnormalities, biopsies for histopathology were taken from the lung parenchyma. These showed an organizing pneumonia with progression towards fibrosis and arteries with intimal fibrosis. So far, no histopathological reports exist on late pulmonary changes after a COVID-19 infection. The unusual combined presence of microvascular damage and interstitial fibrosis may reflect a pathophysiological concept in which early endothelial damage by SARS-CoV-2 can lead to a chronic state of microvascular damage, low grade inflammation, and early progression towards pulmonary fibrosis

Recent trends and predictors of multimodality treatment for oesophageal, oesophagogastric junction, and gastric cancer: A Dutch cohort-study

<div><p><b>Background.</b> In recent years, evidence supporting multimodality treatment for oesophageal, oesophagogastric junction (OGJ), and gastric cancer has accumulated. This population-based cohort-study investigates trends and predictors of utilisation of multimodality treatment for oesophagogastric cancer in the Netherlands.</p><p><b>Patients and methods.</b> Data were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry regarding patients with oesophageal (n = 5450), OGJ (n = 2168) and gastric cancer (n = 6683) without distant metastases who had undergone R0 or R1 surgery diagnosed between 2000 and 2012. Follow-up was completed until February 2014. Preoperative/postoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy combined with surgery were considered multimodality treatment. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyse the association of age, gender, socioeconomic status, clinical T and N classification, hospital type, comprehensive cancer centre network region, and year of diagnosis, with multimodality treatment receipt. Additional analyses were performed to explore differences in trends of utilisation of multimodality treatment between academic and non-academic hospitals.</p><p><b>Results.</b> Multimodality treatment utilisation for oesophageal, OGJ and gastric cancer increased significantly to 90%, 85% and 56% in 2012, respectively. In oesophageal and OGJ cancer patients, preoperative chemoradiotherapy was most frequently administered (85% and 47% in 2012, respectively), and in gastric cancer patients preoperative chemotherapy (47% in 2012). Lower age, higher clinical T and N classification, and diagnosis in more recent years were significantly associated with more frequent multimodality treatment receipt. The adoption of most types of multimodality treatment in academic hospitals preceded non-academic hospitals by a year.</p><p><b>Conclusion.</b> In the Netherlands, the utilisation of multimodality treatment for oesophagogastric cancer has significantly increased during the past decade, especially in oesophageal and OGJ cancer. Multimodality treatment utilisation was especially dependent on patient and tumour characteristics and year of diagnosis, but multimodality treatment trends seem to be related to the publication of landmark studies, participation in nationally running clinical trials, and hospital type, preceding national guidelines.</p></div

The influence of a composite hospital volume on outcomes for gastric cancer surgery: A Dutch population‐based study

Background: Volume-outcome associations for complex surgical procedures have motivated centralization of care worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between overall hospital experience with complex upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer resections and outcomes after gastric cancer surgery. Methods: Data on all patients (n = 4837) who underwent a resection for non metastatic invasive gastric cancer between 2005 and 2014 were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). Annual hospital volume categorieswere based on the combined volume of gastrectomies, esophagectomies, and pancreatectomies (composite hospital volume). Volume-outcome analyses were performed for lymph node yield, 30-day mortality, and overall survival. Results: The proportion of gastric cancer resections performed in hospitals with an annual composite hospital volume of = 40 upper GI cancer resections increased from6% in 2005 to 80% in 2014. A higher composite hospital volume was univariably associated with a higher lymph node yield, lower 30-day mortality, and increased overall survival. Statistical significance was lost after adjusting for case mix. But, sub group analysis including only elderly patients (>= 75 years) showed a significant association between composite hospital volume and 30-day mortality. Conclusion: In the Netherlands, an increasing proportion of gastric cancer resections is performed in hospitals with a high composite hospital volume of gastric, esophageal, and pancreatic cancer resections. Special attention is warranted to referral of elderly patients, as these patients might specifically benefit from this centralizatio

Risk of Lymph Node Metastasis in T1b Gastric Cancer: An International Comprehensive Analysis from the Global Gastric Group (G3) Alliance

Objective: We sought to define criteria associated with low lymph node metastasis risk in patients with submucosal (pT1b) gastric cancer from 3 Western and 3 Eastern countries. Summary Background Data: Accurate prediction of lymph node metastasis risk is essential when determining the need for gastrectomy with lymph node dissection following endoscopic resection. Under present guidelines, endoscopic resection is considered definitive treatment if submucosal invasion is only superficial, but this is not routinely assessed. Methods: Lymph node metastasis rates were determined for patient groups defined according to tumor pathological characteristics. Clinicopathological predictors of lymph node metastasis were determined by multivariable logistic regression and used to develop a nomogram in a randomly selected subset that was validated in the remainder. Overall survival was compared between Eastern and Western countries. Results: Lymph node metastasis was found in 701 of 3166 (22.1%) Eastern and 153 of 560 (27.3%) Western patients. Independent predictors of lymph node metastasis were female sex, tumor size, distal stomach location, lymphovascular invasion, and moderate or poor differentiation. Patients fulfilling the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline criteria, excluding the requirement that invasion not extend beyond the superficial submucosa, had a lymph node metastasis rate of 8.9% (53/594). Excluding moderately differentiated tumors lowered the rate to 3.4% (10/296). The nomogram's area under the curve was 0.690. Regardless of lymph node status, overall survival was better in Eastern patients. Conclusions: The lymph node metastasis rate was lowest in patients with well differentiated tumors that were 3 cm and lacked lymphovascular invasion. These criteria may be useful in decisions regarding endoscopic resection as definitive treatment for pT1b gastric cancer