Clinicopathological analysis of recurrence patterns and prognostic factors for survival after hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatectomy is recommended as the most effective therapy for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRCLM). It is crucial to elucidate the prognostic clinicopathological factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty-three patients undergoing initial hepatectomy for CRCLM were retrospectively analyzed with respect to characteristics of primary colorectal and metastatic hepatic tumors, operation details and prognosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall 5-year survival rate after initial hepatectomy for CRCLM was 57.5%, and the median survival time was 25 months. Univariate analysis clarified that the significant prognostic factors for poor survival were depth of primary colorectal cancer (≥ serosal invasion), hepatic resection margin (< 5 mm), presence of portal vein invasion of CRCLM, and the presence of intra- and extrahepatic recurrence. Multivariate analysis indicated the presence of intra- and extrahepatic recurrence as independent predictive factors for poor prognosis. Risk factors for intrahepatic recurrence were resection margin (< 5 mm) of CRCLM, while no risk factors for extrahepatic recurrence were noted. In the subgroup with synchronous CRCLM, the combination of surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy controlled intrahepatic recurrence and improved the prognosis significantly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Optimal surgical strategies in conjunction with effective chemotherapeutic regimens need to be established in patients with risk factors for recurrence and poor outcomes as listed above.</p

A complete response to capecitabine and oxaliplatin chemotherapy in primary duodenal carcinoma with liver and nodal metastases: a case report

Abstract Background Primary duodenal adenocarcinoma (PDC) is a rare and lethal disease, and cases with nodal or distant metastasis have a poor prognosis. There are several reports of unresectable duodenal adenocarcinoma responding to systemic chemotherapy. However, there is little data on conversion surgery for PDC with distant metastasis. Case presentation We report a 55-year-old man with unresectable PDC with liver and nodal metastases responding to systemic chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin (XELOX). His metastatic lesions completely disappeared by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography after six courses of XELOX. Then, he underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy with lymph node dissection and partial resection of the liver. Postoperatively, the histological effect was determined to be grade 3, and the patient was diagnosed as having achieved pathological complete response (pCR). He is disease-free with no evidence of metastatic lesion for 14 months after surgery. Conversion surgery allowed R0 resection for unresectable PDC, and pCR can be achieved with XELOX treatment. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first report of conversion surgery for unresectable PDC with liver and para-aortic lymph node metastases

Surgical treatment for abdominal actinomycosis: A report of two cases

Since actinomycosis sometimes causes an abdominal tumor which mimics malignancy, treatment strategy varies from case to case. We herein report two cases which were treated with a combination of antibiotics and surgical intervention. Both patients presented with an intra-abdominal tumor lesion mimicking malignant disease after an appendectomy for acute appendicitis. Case 1 received surgical extirpation of the abdominal tumor in the liver and kidney twice since the clinical diagnosis of actinomycosis was not made. In contrast, case 2 was successfully treated by a combination of antibiotics and laparoscopic surgery following the experience of case 1. When a high probability diagnosis can be made, a laparoscopic approach is a useful and effective option to treat this condition

Live Images of Donor Dendritic Cells Trafficking via CX3CR1 Pathway

Background: A number of studies have demonstrated the role of CX3CR1 in regulating the migration of monocytes into peripheral tissue and their transformation into dendritic cell (DC). No data are yet available on the importance of chemokine pathways in regulating homeostasis of DC in heart transplants. Recently, we showed that recipients of heart allografts from CX3CR1−/− donors show longer survival. To assess the trafficking of dDC, we have developed and tested a novel in vivo imaging tool in CX3CR1GFP/+ DC (B6 background) heart graft into BALB/c recipient model. Results: Majority of GFP+ cells were noted in the middle of cardiac myocyte. However few hours post transplant, they experienced morphological changes including stretching their extensions (3 and 24 h). However, images from 72 h at cardiac graft showed many of GFP+ cells moved to vessel areas. GFP+ cells were detected in near vessel wall. Only one GFP+ cell was observed in three lymph nodes (two mesenteric and one inguinal) (72 h). Conclusion: Our data indicate that immediately post transplant dDC undergo morphological changes and traffic out of the organs via systemic circulation. While, we still noted presence of dDC in the transplanted organs, their trafficking to lymphoid tissue remains to be fully explored

Computational modeling of pancreatic cancer patients receiving FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine-based therapies identifies optimum intervention strategies.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) exhibits a variety of phenotypes with regard to disease progression and treatment response. This variability complicates clinical decision-making despite the improvement of survival due to the recent introduction of FOLFIRINOX (FFX) and nab-paclitaxel. Questions remain as to the timing and sequence of therapies and the role of radiotherapy for unresectable PDAC. Here we developed a computational analysis platform to investigate the dynamics of growth, metastasis and treatment response to FFX, gemcitabine (GEM), and GEM+nab-paclitaxel. Our approach was informed using data of 1,089 patients treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital and validated using an independent cohort from Osaka Medical College. Our framework establishes a logistic growth pattern of PDAC and defines the Local Advancement Index (LAI), which determines the eventual primary tumor size and predicts the number of metastases. We found that a smaller LAI leads to a larger metastatic burden. Furthermore, our analyses ascertain that i) radiotherapy after induction chemotherapy improves survival in cases receiving induction FFX or with larger LAI, ii) neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in cases with resectable PDAC, and iii) temporary cessations of chemotherapies do not impact overall survival, which supports the feasibility of treatment holidays for patients with FFX-associated adverse effects. Our findings inform clinical decision-making for PDAC patients and allow for the rational design of clinical strategies using FFX, GEM, GEM+nab-paclitaxel, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation