Resected biliary tract cancers: a novel clinical-pathological score correlates with global outcome

The Prognostic Value of the CA19-9/TBIL Ratio in Patients with Biliary Tract Cancers (BTCs): A Retrospective Study

Background

Incidence of biliary tract cancers (BTCs) in China is high, and surgery is the only curative option. Preoperative CA19-9 has been identified as a predictor for survival in patients with resectable BTCs, but more potential predictors need to be studied. This retrospective study aimed to establish the prognostic significance of CA19-9/TBIL ratio (CTR) in patients with BTCs.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed in patients who were diagnosed with BTCs and received surgical resection between 2013 and 2018 at PUMCH. Demographic and clinical parameters were collected. Preoperative CA19-9 and CTR were classified as elevated (>58.6 and >0.83) according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Demographic and clinical parameters were compared between the groups using Student's t-test, chi-square, or Fisher's exact test. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier methods, and the relationship between variables and survival was assessed by the log-rank test. Cox regression analysis was conducted to identify potential risk factors for overall survival.

Results

In total, 109 participants were involved in the final analysis. The overall survival rate was 18.0% at 5 years, with a median survival duration of 1.58 years. The Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that higher CTR was associated with shorter OS (15 vs. 50, p < 0.01). Univariate survival analysis identified TNM staging, CA19-9, and CTR as statistically significant prognostic factors. In a multiple Cox analysis, only CTR was proved as a significantly independent prognostic factor.

Conclusion

CTR acts as an independent prognostic predictor for patients with biliary tract cancer.

Hyponatremia is a Predictor of Clinical Outcome for Resected Biliary Tract Cancers: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

Introduction

Biliary tract cancers (BTC) include both gallbladder cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, both of which have a poor prognosis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the main clinical prognostic factors in this setting and to assess their impact on overall survival (OS).

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed data collected on 64 patients with BTC who underwent surgery with radical intent at our institution. OS was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The Cox regression model was used to perform univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

Preoperative hyponatremia was found to be an independent prognostic factor that correlated negatively with prognosis, with hyponatremic patients having a poor OS compared to the group of patients with normal serum sodium levels (9.44 vs. 15.47 months; p = 0.0215). In addition, high preoperative values for carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (Ca19.9), a tumor marker for some gastrointestinal cancers, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were found to be prognostic factors for a significant reduction in OS (Ca19-9: 7.14 vs. 24.22 months, p  = 0.0088; LDH: 1.70 vs. 15.47 months, p = 0.0384).

Conclusion

Identification of these prognostic factors may support strategies to identify, in clinical practice, those subgroups of patients with a favorable or unfavorable prognosis before surgical treatment and, therefore, to guide therapeutic choices. In particular, to our knowledge, this is the first report of the prognostic role of serum sodium level in BTC. Early detection and careful monitoring of hyponatremia and supportive therapy can help to improve the treatment and prognosis of BTC.

Risk estimation for biliary tract cancer: Development and validation of a prognostic score

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Biliary tract cancer is a rare tumour entity characterized by a poor prognosis. We aimed to identify prognostic factors and create a prognostic score to estimate survival.

METHODS

Clinical data of the training set, consisting of 569 patients treated from 2000 to 2010 at Hannover Medical School, were analysed. A prognostic model defining three prognostic risk groups was derived from Cox regression analyses. The score was applied and validated in an independent cohort of 557 patients from four different German centres.

RESULTS

Median overall survival (OS) was 14.5 months. If complete resection was performed, the patients had a significantly improved OS (23.9 months; n=242) as compared to patients with non-resectable tumours (9.1 months; n=329, P<.0001). Based on univariable and multivariable analyses of clinical data, a prognostic model was created using variables available before treatment. Those were age, metastasis, C-reactive protein (CRP), international normalized ratio (INR) and bilirubin. The prognostic score distinguished three groups with a median OS of 21.8, 8.6 and 2.6 months respectively. The validation cohort had a median OS of 20.2, 14.0 and 6.5 months respectively. The prognostic impact of the score was independent of the tumour site and of treatment procedures.

CONCLUSIONS

Here, we identified prognostic factors and propose a prognostic score to estimate survival, which can be applied to all patients independent of tumour site and before initial treatment. Further validation in prospective trials is required.

Serum albumin predicts survival in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma is a devastating malignancy with incidence varying by geography and other risk factors. Rapid progression of disease and delays in diagnosis restrict the number of patients eligible for curative therapy. The objective of this study was to determine prognostic factors of overall survival in all patients presenting with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

METHODS

All adult patients with histologically confirmed hilar cholangiocarcinoma from 2003 to 2013 were evaluated for predictors of survival using demographic factors, laboratory data, symptoms and radiological characteristics at presentation.

RESULTS

A total of 116 patients were identified to have pathological diagnosis of hilar cholangiocarcinoma and were included in the analysis. Patients with a serum albumin level >3.0 g/dL (P < 0.01), cancer antigen 19-9 ≤200 U/mL (P = 0.03), carcinoembryonic antigen ≤10 ìg/L (P < 0.01) or patients without a history of cirrhosis (P < 0.01) or diabetes (P = 0.02) were associated with a greater length of overall survival. A serum albumin level >3.0 g/dL was identified as an independent predictor of overall survival (hazard ratio 0.31; 95% confidence interval 0.14-0.70) with a survival benefit of 44 weeks.

CONCLUSION

This study was the largest analysis to date of prognostic factors in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. A serum albumin level >3.0 g/dL conferred an independent survival advantage with a significantly greater length of survival.

PKM2 regulates neural invasion of and predicts poor prognosis for human hilar cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

The therapeutic and prognostic value of the glycolytic enzymes hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase (PK) has been implicated in a variety of cancers, while their roles in treatment of and prognosis for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) remain unclear. In this study, we determined the expression of PKM2 in and its impact on biology and clinical outcome of human HC.

METHODS

The regulation and function of PKM2 in HC pathogenesis was evaluated using human tissues, molecular and cell biology, and animal models, and its prognostic significance was determined according to its impact on patient survival.

RESULTS

We found that expression of hexokinase 1 and the M2 splice isoform of PK (PKM2) was upregulated in HC tissues and that this expression correlated with tumor recurrence and outcome. PKM2 expression was increased in HC cases with chronic cholangitis as demonstrated by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification. High PKM2 expression was highly correlated with high syndecan 2 (SDC2) expression and neural invasion. PKM2 downregulation led to a decrease in SDC2 expression. Treatment with metformin markedly suppressed PKM2 and SDC2 expression at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels and inhibited HC cell proliferation and tumor growth.

CONCLUSIONS

PKM2 regulates neural invasion of HC cells at least in part via regulation of SDC2. Inhibition of PKM2 and SDC2 expression contributes to the therapeutic effect of metformin on HC. Therefore, PKM2 is an independent prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target for human HC.

[View on the problem of Klatskin tumor]

Klatskin tumor arises from the common hepatic duct and its bifurcation the bile ducts and is the most common primary malignancy of the biliary tree. the location of the tumor and its close relationship with vascular structures at the hepatic hilum have resulted in a low resectability and high morbidity and mortality. Improvement of instrumental diagnostics and operative techniques allows to perform extended resection and complex interventions on the liver, bile ducts and vascular structures at the hepatic hilum. The role of chemoratiotherapy and photodynamic therapy is not fully understood. thus, questions of treatment and prognosis of the disease are remain relevant and require further study.

Prognostic factors and adjuvant treatments for surgically treated cancers of the biliary tract: a multicentre study of the Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology (ASMO)

BACKGROUND

Biliary tract cancers are rare, and surgical resection is the standard treatment at early stages. However, reports on the benefits of adjuvant treatment following surgical resection are conflicting. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting survival and adjuvant treatments in patients with surgically treated biliary tract cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patient clinical features, adjuvant treatments, and efficacy and prognostic factor data were evaluated. Survival analyses were performed using SPSS 15.0.

RESULTS

The median overall survival was 30.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.4-42.9 months). Median survival was 19 months (95% CI, 6-33) for patients treated with fluorouracil based chemotherapy and 53 months (95% CI, 33.2-78.8) with gemcitabine based chemotherapy (p=0.033). On univariate analysis, poor prognostic factors for survival were galbladder localization, perineural invasion, hepatic invasion, a lack of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy treatment, and a lack of lymph node dissection. On multivariate analysis, perineural invasion was a poor prognostic factor (p=0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

Biliary tract cancers generally have poor prognoses. The main factors affecting survival are tumour localization, perineural invasion, hepatic invasion, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, and lymph node dissection. Gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy is more effective than 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma: diagnosis, treatment options, and management

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis which typically presents in the 6(th) decade of life. Of the 3,000 cases seen annually in the United States, less than one half of these tumors are resectable. A variety of risk factors have been associated with HC, most notably primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), biliary stone disease and parasitic liver disease. Patients typically present with abdominal pain, pruritis, weight loss, and jaundice. Computed topography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound (US) are used to characterize biliary lesions. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) assess local ductal extent of the tumor while allowing for therapeutic biliary drainage. MRCP has demonstrated similar efficacies to PTC and ERCP in identifying anatomic extension of tumors with less complications. Treatment consists of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy. Biliary drainage of the future liver remnant should be performed to decrease bilirubin levels thereby facilitating future liver hypertrophy. Standard therapy consists of surgical margin-negative (R0) resection with extrahepatic bile duct resection, hepatectomy and en bloc lymphadenectomy. Local resection should not be undertaken. Lymph node invasion, tumor grade and negative margins are important prognostic indicators. In instances where curative resection is not possible, liver transplantation has demonstrated acceptable outcomes in highly selected patients. Despite the limited data, chemotherapy is indicated for patients with unresectable tumors and adequate functional status. Five-year survival after surgical resection of HC ranges from 10% to 40% however, recurrence can be as high as 50-70% even after R0 resection. Due to the complexity of this disease, a multi-disciplinary approach with multimodal treatment is recommended for this complex disease.