The surgical management of esophago-gastric junctional cancer

The best available surgical strategy in the treatment of resectable esophago-gastric junctional (EGJ) cancer is a controversial topic. In this review we evaluate the current literature and scientific evidence examining the surgical treatment of locally advanced EGJ cancer by comparing esophagectomy with gastrectomy, transhiatal with transthoracic esophagectomy, minimally invasive with open esophagectomy, and less extensive with more extensive lymphadenectomy. We also assess endoscopic procedures increasingly used for early EGJ cancer. The current evidence does not favor any of the techniques over the others in terms of oncological outcomes. Health-related quality of life may be better following gastrectomy compared to esophagectomy. Minimally invasive procedures might be less prone to surgical complications. Endoscopic techniques are safe and effective alternatives for early-stage EGJ cancer in the short term, but surgical treatment is the mainstay in fit patients due to the risk of lymph node metastasis. Any benefit of lymphadenectomy extending beyond local or regional nodes is uncertain. This review demonstrates the great need for well-designed clinical studies to improve the knowledge in how to optimize and standardize the surgical treatment of EGJ cancer.Orion Research FoundationThelma Mäkikyrö FoundationMary och Georg C. Ehrnroots StiftelseSwedish Research Council (E0253601)Swedish Cancer Society (150802)Accepte

Research letter : Oncological treatment reported by the Finnish Cancer Registry compared to given neoadjuvant treatment in patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer-A nationwide study

Peer reviewe

Preoperative hemoglobin count and prognosis of esophageal cancer, a population-based nationwide study in Finland

BackgroundThe prognostic value of preoperative hemoglobin in patients undergoing esophagectomy is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine whether preoperative hemoglobin is associated with prognosis in patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer.Materials and methodsThis was a population-based nationwide retrospective cohort study in Finland, using Finnish National Esophago-Gastric Cancer Cohort (FINEGO). Esophagectomy patients with available preoperative hemoglobin measurement were included. Multivariable cox regression provided hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for calendar period of surgery, age at surgery, sex, comorbidity (Charlson Comorbidity Index), tumor histology, tumor stage, neoadjuvant therapy, type of surgery (minimally invasive or open) and annual hospital volume.ResultsOf the 1313 patients, 932 (71.0%) were men and 799 (60.9%) had esophageal adenocarcinoma. Overall all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the lowest hemoglobin count tertile (HR 1.26 (1.07–1.47)) compared to the highest tertile, but this association was attenuated after adjustment for confounding. No differences were found between the preoperative hemoglobin groups in the adjusted analyses of 90-day all-cause, 5-year all-cause, and 5-year cancer-specific mortality.ConclusionIn this population-based nationwide study, preoperative hemoglobin count had no independent prognostic significance in esophageal cancer.KeywordsHemoglobin; Esophageal cancer; Esophagectomy; Mortality; Prognosis</p

Ruokatorvisyövän hoito kehittyy

Vertaisarvioitu. English summaryPeer reviewe

Meta-analysis of health-related quality of life after minimally invasive versus open oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes between minimally invasive and open oesophagectomy for cancer at different postoperative time points. METHODS: A search of PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library was performed for studies that compared open with minimally invasive oesophagectomy. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted for studies that measured HRQoL scores using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OES18 questionnaires. Mean differences (MDs) greater than 10 in scores were considered clinically relevant. Pooled effects of MDs with 95 per cent confidence intervals were estimated to assess statistical significance. RESULTS: Nine studies were included in the qualitative analysis, involving 1157 patients who had minimally invasive surgery and 907 patients who underwent open surgery. Minimally invasive surgery resulted in better scores for global quality of life (MD 11.61, 95 per cent c.i. 3.84 to 19.39), physical function (MD 11.88, 3.92 to 19.84), fatigue (MD -13.18, -17.59 to -8.76) and pain (MD -15.85, -20.45 to -11.24) compared with open surgery at 3 months after surgery. At 6 and 12 months, no significant differences remained. CONCLUSION: Patients report better global quality of life, physical function, fatigue and pain 3 months after minimally invasive surgery compared with open surgery. No such differences remain at longer follow-up of 6 and 12 months.The Stockholm Cancer SocietySigrid Jusélius FoundationOrion Research FoundationThe National Institute for Health ResearchAccepte

Incidence and Mortality in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer After Negative Endoscopy for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is associated with an increased risk of cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract. This study aimed to assess whether and to what extent a negative upper endoscopy in patients with GERD is associated with decreased incidence and mortality in upper gastrointestinal cancer (ie, esophageal, gastric, or duodenal cancer). METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study of all patients with newly diagnosed GERD between July 1, 1979 and December 31, 2018 in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The exposure, negative upper endoscopy, was examined as a time-varying exposure, where participants contributed unexposed person-time from GERD diagnosis until screened and exposed person-time from the negative upper endoscopy. The incidence and mortality in upper gastrointestinal cancer were assessed using parametric flexible models, providing adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Among 1,062,740 patients with GERD (median age 58 years; 52% were women) followed for a mean of 7.0 person-years, 5324 (0.5%) developed upper gastrointestinal cancer and 4465 (0.4%) died from such cancer. Patients who had a negative upper endoscopy had a 55% decreased risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer compared with those who did not undergo endoscopy (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.43-0.48), a decrease that was more pronounced during more recent years (HR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.30-0.38 from 2008 onward), and was otherwise stable across sex and age groups. The corresponding reduction in upper gastrointestinal mortality among patients with upper endoscopy was 61% (adjusted HR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.37-0.42). The risk reduction after a negative upper endoscopy in incidence and mortality lasted for 5 and at least 10 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Negative upper endoscopy is associated with strong and long-lasting decreases in incidence and mortality in upper gastrointestinal cancer in patients with GERD.Peer reviewe

Intressivertailu kaivoslain lupaprosessin osana

Tutkimusryhmä selvitti vesilain kaltaisen intressivertailun soveltuvuutta ja sisältöä kaivoslupaprosessin osana. Toimeksiannon mukainen tutkimus koski kaivoslain soveltamisalaa rajapintoineen. Kaivoslain uudistus on toimeksiannon mukaan erillinen hanke, joka ei liity tutkimuskysymyksiin. Tutkimuskysymyksinä työryhmä selvitti intressivertailun oikeudellisen sisällön, osatekijät, vertailutavat, vesilain kokemuksia, verrokkimaiden ratkaisuja ja muita tutkimuskysymyksiä, tavoitteena välttää päällekkäisyyksiä muun sääntelyn kanssa. Valtion turvallisuus ylittää muut intressit. Tutkimusryhmä pitää haasteellisena lakien keskinäisten soveltamis- ja hallinnonalarajojen päällekkäisyyksien vuoksi intressivertailun säätämistä kaivoslakiin. Kaivoslain intressivertailussa voisi ottaa huomioon kaivostoiminnan ympäristötekijöitä vain siltä osin kuin niistä ei säädetä muussa laissa. Lainsäätäjän arvioitavaksi jäävät intressivertailun säätämisestä kaivoslaissa seuraavat hyödyt ja haitat suhteessa julkisuudessa esitettyihin odotuksiin. Työryhmä selvitti lisäksi, millainen kestävän kehityksen taloudellisen, sosiaalisen ja ympäristöllisen pilarin, perustuslain ja kaivoslain kestävyyskriteerit täyttävä intressivertailu olisi, jos se nyt tai tulevaisuudessa otettaisiin käyttöön kaivoslain tai useampien lakien soveltamisaloilla. Julkaisu on läpikäynyt ulkopuolisen tieteellisen arvioinnin.Tämä julkaisu on toteutettu osana valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimussuunnitelman toimeenpanoa. (tietokayttoon.fi) Julkaisun sisällöstä vastaavat tiedon tuottajat, eikä tekstisisältö välttämättä edusta valtioneuvoston näkemystä

Intratumoral lactate metabolism in Barrett’s esophagus and adenocarcinoma

Background: Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) are cell membrane proteins which transport pyruvate, lactate and ketone bodies across the plasma membrane. MCTs are activated in various cancers, but their expression in esophageal adenocarcinoma is not known. The present study was conducted to elucidate the expression of MCTs in esophageal adenocarcinoma and its precursor lesions. Results: Cytoplasmic MCT1, MCT4 and MTCO1 expression linearly increased from normal epithelium to Barrett's mucosa to dysplasia and cancer. Low cytoplasmic MCT1 expression associated with high T-class (P < 0.01), positive lymph node metastases (P < 0.05), positive distant metastases (P < 0.01) and high tumor stage (P < 0.01). High cytoplasmic MCT4 expression correlated significantly with positive distant metastases (P < 0.05). Both low MCT1 and high MCT4 histoscore predicted survival in univariate analysis (P < 0.01). MCT4 histoscore predicted survival in multivariate analysis (P = 0.043; HR 1.8 95%CI 1.0–3.1). MTCO1 expression was not correlated to clinicopathological variables or survival. Materials and Methods: MCT1, MCT4 and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (MTCO1) expression were determined with immunohistochemistry in esophageal specimens from 129 patients with columnar dysplasia or adenocarcinoma. Specimens including normal esophagus (n = 88), gastric (n = 67) or intestinal metaplasia (n = 51), low-grade (n = 42), high-grade dysplasia (n = 37) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 99) were evaluated. Conclusions: Major increase in markers of tumor metabolism occurs during carcinogenesis and progression of esophageal adenocarcinoma. MCT1 and MCT4 are prognostic factors in esophageal adenocarcinoma.Orion Research FoundationThelma Mäkikyrö FoundationPäivikki and Sakari Sohlberg FoundationThe Emil Aaltonen FoundationGeorg C. and Mary Ehrnroot FoundationSigrid Jusélius FoundationFinnish cancer FoundationThe Finnish Medical FoundationPublishe

Tenascin-C and fibronectin in normal esophageal mucosa, Barrett's esophagus, dysplasia and adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Tenascin-C and fibronectin are adhesive glycoproteins modulating the structure of the extracellular matrix and cellular functions. Their expression and function in esophageal adenocarcinoma is poorly known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of tenascin-C and fibronectin in esophageal adenocarcinoma and its precursor stages. RESULTS: Stromal tenascin-C and fibronectin expression were found in all evaluated lesion types. Expression of both molecules increased from gastric metaplasia towards adenocarcinoma (p<0.05). In carcinomas, tenascin-C expression in the bulk was associated with T-stage (p=0.006), presence of lymph node (p=0.004) and distant organ metastases (p=0.007). Abundant tenascin-C expression associated with poor survival (p=0.034) in univariate analysis. Fibronectin expression associated to T-stage (p=0.030). Expression of tenascin-C or fibronectin in the tumor invasive front was not associated to clinicopathological variables or survival. No significant correlation with tumor/stroma percentage, cancer-associated fibroblasts or mean vascular density was observed with either tenascin-C or fibronectin. METHODS: Tenascin-C and fibronectin were stained immunohistochemically and assessed in esophageal specimens from patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma (n=90) or dysplasia (n=30). Structures and lesion were evaluated including normal esophagus (n=77), gastric (n=61) or intestinal (n=51) metaplasia without dysplasia, and low-grade (n=42) or high-grade (n=34) dysplasia, and esophageal adenocarcinoma (n=90). In carcinomas, both bulk and invasive front were separately evaluated. In addition, tumor/stroma percentage, cancer-associated fibroblasts and mean vascular density were evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: Tenascin-C and fibronectin are upregulated in esophageal adenocarcinoma when compared to Barrett's esophagus and dysplasia. Increased tenascin-C expression is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in esophageal adenocarcinoma.Orion Research FoundationThelma Mäkikyrö FoundationPäivikki and Sakari Sohlberg FoundationGeorg C. and Mary Ehrnroot FoundationSigrid Juselius FoundationThe Finnish Medical FoundationEmil Aaltonen FoundationPublishe