Male sex and anterior wall tumor location as risk factors for urinary dysfunction after laparoscopic rectal surgery

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy combined with immunotherapy for microsatellite stable ultra-low rectal cancer (CHOICE II): study protocol of a multicentre prospective randomised clinical trial

INTRODUCTION

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) could bring tumour shrinking and downstaging and increase the probability of organ preservation for patients with low rectal cancer. But for ultra-low rectal cancer, there is little possibility for organ preservation. Immunotherapy has been shown to have significant survival benefits in microsatellite instability-high patients but poor response in microsatellite stable (MSS) patients. Studies have demonstrated that radiotherapy and immunotherapy have synergistic effects in cancer treatment. There is no existing evidence about the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy combined with nCRT for patients with MSS ultra-low rectal cancer.

METHOD AND ANALYSIS

This trial is an open-labelled multicentre prospective randomised controlled trial (NCT05215379) with two parallel groups and allocation ratio 1:1 (nCRT+immunotherapy vs nCRT group). Eligible participants will be aged 18-75 years, with a desire for anus preservation, confirmed cT1-3aN0-1M0 rectal adenocarcinoma, confirmed MSS type, inferior margin of ≤5 cm from the anal verge. The primary endpoint of this trial is complete clinical response (cCR) rate. Immunotherapy is added after 1 week of chemoradiotherapy for two cycles, and then the patients will be administered two cycles of immunotherapy and CAPOX. The evaluations will be carried out after the completion of the whole neoadjuvant therapy. We expect the programme to improve the cCR rate and the quality of life for patients with ultra-low rectal cancer.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This trial was approved by the Ethics committee of Changhai Hospital and other medical centres (Grant number:CHEC2022-118). The results of this study will provide further insight into the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy in combination with nCRT in patients with MSS ultra-low rectal cancer.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT05215379.

Essential updates 2020/2021: Advancing precision medicine for comprehensive rectal cancer treatment

In the paradigm shift related to rectal cancer treatment, we have to understand a variety of new emerging topics to provide appropriate treatment for individual patients as precision medicine. However, information on surgery, genomic medicine, and pharmacotherapy is highly specialized and subdivided, creating a barrier to achieving thorough knowledge. In this review, we summarize the perspective for rectal cancer treatment and management from the current standard-of-care to the latest findings to help optimize treatment strategy.

Risk factors for postoperative urinary retention in patients undergoing colorectal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is a common complication following colorectal surgery. The incidence of POUR among colorectal surgery patients varies widely, and the risk factors and outcomes of POUR are also debatable. This meta-analysis aims to systematically evaluate the risk factors for POUR in patients after colorectal surgery.

METHODS

PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, and Chinese databases (CBM, CNKI, and WanFang Databases) were searched to identify relevant cohort studies (from inception to August 2022). Two researchers independently conducted literature quality evaluation and data extraction. All data were analyzed by using the Review Manager 5.4 software.

RESULTS

Nineteen studies with 101,025 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The risk factors for POUR in colorectal surgery patients were male sex, older age, diabetes mellitus, urological diseases, tumor location in the lower rectum, APR, laparoscopic surgery, operation time ≥ 4 h, postoperative date of urinary catheter removal, excessive intraoperative intravenous fluid volume, and postoperative ileus. The postoperative anastomotic leak, on the other hand, was not a risk factor for POUR.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple risk factors influence the incidence of POUR in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. To reduce the incidence of POUR in colorectal surgery patients, medical staff should identify risk factors early and enforce interventions to prevent them.

Validation of a scoring system to predict bladder dysfunction after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery

PURPOSE

A recent trend in  urinary catheter management in patients who underwent laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery is early removal. However, some patients develop bladder dysfunction and require urinary re-catheterization. In 2016, a scoring system to predict bladder dysfunction after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery was developed in our institution. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the validity of this scoring system and to determine the suitability of patients for early removal of urinary catheter.

METHODS

A single-center, retrospective study from a prospective database was conducted on 234 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery between January 2016 and December 2019. According to bladder dysfunction predictive score, the urinary catheter was removed on the first postoperative day (low-risk group) and fifth postoperative day (high-risk group). After catheter removal, all patients were managed using in-house protocols.

RESULTS

Of 234 patients, 130 (55.6%) were classified as a low-risk group. The overall incidence of bladder dysfunction was 8.5% (11/130) in the low-risk group and 13.5% (14/104) in the high-risk group.

CONCLUSION

The scoring system developed to predict bladder dysfunction showed good overall performance for discriminating between patients suitable or not for early removal of urinary catheter after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery.

Retrospective risk analysis for acute urinary dysfunction after laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery in patients receiving epidural analgesia

PURPOSE

Urinary dysfunction (UD) is a frequent complication following rectal surgery. The aim of the present study was to investigate the risk factors for acute UD after laparoscopic low anterior resection (LALAR) for rectal cancer in patients receiving epidural analgesia.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted on 131 patients who underwent LALAR among those receiving epidural analgesia in a single institution between October 2008 and December 2019. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the clinicopathological factors associated with acute UD.

RESULTS

The overall incidence of acute UD was 16.0% (21/131). Univariate analysis showed that older age (P = 0.016) and earlier urinary catheter removal (P = 0.036) were associated with acute UD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age (10-year increments; odds ratio (OR) 2.046, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.171-3.543, P = 0.011), urinary catheter removal before epidural analgesia discontinuation (OR 6.393, 95% CI 1.540-26.534, P = 0.011), and a large tumor circumference rate (10% increments; OR 1.263, 95% CI 1.043-1.530, P = 0.017) were independent risk factors for acute UD.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that older age, early removal of urinal catheter before epidural analgesia discontinuation, and large tumor circumference rate are risk factors of acute UD after LALAR for rectal cancer in patients receiving epidural analgesia.