A novel scoring system for arterial invasion of pancreatic body and tail cancer based on multidetector row computed tomography and biomarkers

Efficacy of Subtraction Computed Tomography Arteriography During Preoperative Embolization in Spinal Tumors

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of subtraction computed tomography arteriography (s-CTA) during preoperative embolization in spinal tumors.

Methods

The study analyzed 17 vertebrae in 13 patients who underwent preoperative embolization before spinal fixation surgery for malignant spinal tumors to decrease blood loss at our hospital from 2019 to 2021. Their ages ranged from 56 to 88 years (average, 73.5 years). Metastatic bone tumors were most common, including five cases originating as lung carcinomas and three as renal cancers. After digital subtraction angiography of selected tumor-feeding arteries and non-subtraction CTA (ns-CTA) were performed, s-CTA was conducted using data obtained from both procedures. A clarity score of the boundary between the normal bone and tumor was derived for each patient, which was then classified into four grades (good, 3 points; fair, 2 points; faint, 1 point; poor, 0 points) by two experienced radiologists, followed by a comparison between the s-CTA and ns-CTA groups using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results

Clarity scores were significantly higher in the s-CTA group than in the ns-CTA group (P < 0.001). The agreement of Cohen's coefficients between the two radiologists was κ = 0.724 in s-CTA scoring and κ = 0.622 in ns-CTA scoring, which were moderately matched. Seven arteries were not embolized due to insufficient tumor contrast enhancement and their poor relation to the surgical invasion zone. No complications were observed during or after embolization.

Conclusion

S-CTA successfully distinguished between tumor and normal bone and may help avoid unnecessary embolization.

Technical options in surgery for artery-involving pancreatic cancer: Invasion depth matters

Background

The artery involvement explains the majority of primary unresectability of non-metastatic pancreatic cancer patients and both arterial resection and artery-sparing dissection techniques are utilized in curative-intent pancreatectomies for artery-involving pancreatic cancer (ai-PC) patients.

Methods

This narrative review summarized the history of resectability evaluation for ai-PC and attempted to interpret its current pitfalls that led to the divergence of resectability prediction and surgical exploration, with a focus on the rationale and the surgical outcomes of the sub-adventitial divestment technique.

Results

The circumferential involvement of artery by tumor currently defined the resectability of ai-PC but insufficient to preclude laparotomy with curative intent. The reasons behind could be: 1. The radiographic involvement of tumor to arterial circumference was not necessarily resulted in histopathological artery wall invasion; 2. the developed surgical techniques facilitated radical resection, better perioperative safety as well as oncological benefit. The feasibility of periadventitial dissection, sub-adventitial divestment and other artery-sparing techniques for ai-PC depended on the tumor invasion depth to the artery, i.e., whether the external elastic lamina (EEL) was invaded demonstrating a hallmark plane for sub-adventitial dissections. These techniques were reported to be complicated with preferable surgical outcomes comparing to arterial resection combined pancreatectomies, while the arterial resection combined pancreatectomies were considered performed in patients with more advanced disease.

Conclusions

Adequate preoperative imaging modalities with which to evaluate the tumor invasion depth to the artery are to be developed. Survival benefits after these techniques remain to be proven, with more and higher-level clinical evidence needed.

Key message

The current resectability evaluation criteria, which were based on radiographic circumferential involvement of the artery by tumor, was insufficient to preclude curative-intent pancreatectomies for artery-involving pancreatic cancer patients. With oncological benefit to be further proven, periarterial dissection and arterial resection have different but overlapping indications, and predicting the tumor invasion depth in major arteries was critical for surgical planning.

Comprehensive multimodal management of borderline resectable pancreatic cancer: Current status and progress

Borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) is a complex clinical entity with specific biological features. Criteria for resectability need to be assessed in combination with tumor anatomy and oncology. Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for BRPC patients is associated with additional survival benefits. Research is currently focused on exploring the optimal NAT regimen and more reliable ways of assessing response to NAT. More attention to management standards during NAT, including biliary drainage and nutritional support, is needed. Surgery remains the cornerstone of BRPC treatment and multidisciplinary teams can help to evaluate whether patients are suitable for surgery and provide individualized management during the perioperative period, including NAT responsiveness and the selection of surgical timing.

Sub-adventitial divestment technique for resecting artery-involved pancreatic cancer: a retrospective cohort study

PURPOSE

To introduce sub-adventitial divestment technique (SDT), a procedure to remove the tumor while preserving the artery during curative pancreatectomy. Peri-operative safety profile was also evaluated.

METHODS

In a single center consecutive series of pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer, the outcome of patients who had pancreatectomy with SDT was compared to standard pancreatic surgery.

RESULTS

From June 2014 to June 2016, 72 patients had pancreatectomy with SDT and 235 had standard surgery. Tumor stage was T4 in all 72 (100%) tumors removed using SDT compared to four (2%) with standard pancreatectomy (p < 0.001). All 72 (100%) tumors in the SDT group were stage III compared to 24 (10%) in the standard surgery group (p < 0.001). Both groups had a high proportion of poorly differentiated tumors (52 (72%) and 163 (69%) respectively) and perineural tumor invasion (62 (86%) and 186 (79%) respectively). R1 (< 1 mm) was found in 24 (86%) of 28 tumors in the SDT group, and in 72 (60%) out of 120 standard pancreatectomy tumors (p = 0.01). Complications occurred in 29 (40%) of the SDT group and in 88 (37%) of the standard group. The in-hospital mortality was four (6%) in the SDT group and one (0.4%) in the standard group (p = 0.01), with a 90-day mortality of 5 (8%)/60 and 6 (3%)/209 (p = 0.07) respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The sub-adventitial divestment technique appeared to be an effective surgical technique to remove the tumor while preserving the artery. This approach warrants further validation in prospective studies.

Mitochondrial expression of the DNA repair enzyme OGG1 improves the prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is an indicator of oxidative stress and causes transversion mutations and carcinogenesis. 8-OHdG is excision repaired by 8-OHdG DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1), which is classified as nuclear and mitochondrial subtypes. We aimed to clarify the role of OGG1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

METHODS

Ninety-two patients with PDAC who had undergone surgical resection at multiple institutions were immunohistochemically analyzed. The OGG1 and 8-OHdG expression levels were scored using the Germann Immunoreactive Score. The cutoff values of OGG1, as well as that of 8-OHdG, were determined.

RESULTS

The low nuclear OGG1 expression group (n = 41) showed significantly higher carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 (p = 0.026), and higher s-pancreas antigen (SPAN)-1 (p = 0.017) than the high expression group (n = 51). Nuclear OGG1 expression has no effect on the prognosis. The low mitochondrial OGG1 expression group (n = 40) showed higher CA19-9 (p = 0.041), higher SPAN-1 (p = 0.032), and more histological perineural invasion (p = 0.037) than the high expression group (n = 52). The low mitochondrial OGG1 expression group had a significantly shorter recurrence-free survival (p = 0.0080) and overall survival (p = 0.0073) rates. The Cox proportional hazards model revealed that low mitochondrial OGG1 expression is an independent risk factor of the PDAC prognosis. OGG1 expression was negatively correlated with 8-OHdG expression (p = 0.0004), and high 8-OHdG expression shortened the recurrence-free survival of patients with PDAC.

CONCLUSIONS

Low mitochondrial OGG1 expression might aggravate the PDAC prognosis.

A New Score to Predict the Resectability of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: The BACAP Score

Surgery remains the only curative treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Therefore, a predictive score for resectability on diagnosis is needed. A total of 814 patients were included between 2014 and 2017 from 15 centers included in the BACAP (the national Anatomo-Clinical Database on Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma) prospective cohort. Three groups were defined: resectable (Res), locally advanced (LA), and metastatic (Met). Variables were analyzed and a predictive score was devised. Of the 814 patients included, 703 could be evaluated: 164 Res, 266 LA, and 273 Met. The median ages of the patients were 69, 71, and 69, respectively. The median survival times were 21, 15, and nine months, respectively. Six criteria were significantly associated with a lower probability of resectability in multivariate analysis: venous/arterial thrombosis (p = 0.017), performance status 1 (p = 0.032) or ≥ 2 (p = 0.010), pain (p = 0.003), weight loss ≥ 8% (p = 0.019), topography of the tumor (body/tail) (p = 0.005), and maximal tumor size 20-33 mm (p < 0.013) or >33 mm (p < 0.001). The BACAP score was devised using these criteria (http://jdlp.fr/resectability/) with an accuracy of 81.17% and an area under the receive operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78; 0.86). The presence of pejorative criteria or a BACAP score < 50% indicates that further investigations and even neoadjuvant treatment might be warranted. Trial registration: NCT02818829.

Comparison of preoperative imaging and pathological findings for pancreatic head adenocarcinoma: A retrospective analysis by the Association Française de Chirurgie

Initial imaging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is of crucial importance in the decision-making process. The aim of this study was to compare preoperative imaging, pathological data, and outcomes in a series of patients who underwent resection for pancreatic head cancer.From January 2004 to December 2009, data were collected by the Association Française de Chirurgie on 1044 patients who received first-line R0 resection of pancreatic head cancer.On imaging (computed tomography scan 97%, echoendoscopic ultrasound 61.3%, magnetic resonance imaging 46.5%), arterial, venous, or lymph node invasion was suspected in 20, 161, and 197 patients, respectively; arterial, venous, or lymph node invasion was observed histologically in 11, 116, and 736 cases, respectively. In the patients for whom both imaging and pathological data were available, the concordance, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were as follows: 97.5%, 27.3%, 98%, 20%, and 99%, for arterial invasion; 86.5%, 54%, 91%, 47.8%, and 93.2%, for venous invasion; and 38%, 21%, 86%, 78%, and 41%, respectively, for lymph node invasion. Imaging of arterial invasion had no prognostic value, while histological evidence of invasion was associated with a poor prognosis. Venous and lymph node invasion, as demonstrated by imaging and by pathological analysis, had an adverse prognostic value.Imaging gives a fair positive predictive value for venous or arterial invasion; venous invasion on imaging and histology was associated with a poor prognosis; arterial invasion on imaging does not have any significant prognostic value.

Prognostic impact of splenic artery invasion for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail

BACKGROUND

The prognostic impact of splenic artery (SA) invasion after resection for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical value of SA invasion for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail.

METHODS

Between 1993 and 2015, 64 patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy (DP) for histologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma of the body and tail were included in this study. Clinicopathological prognostic factors for survival were analyzed using a prospectively collected database.

RESULTS

Of the 64 study patients, histologic invasion of the SA was confirmed in 23 (35.9%) cases. The prognosis of patients with SA invasion was significantly worse than that of patients with non-SA invasion (median survival: 16.0 versus 34.7 months, p = 0.014). Multivariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastases (risk ratio: 2.817, p = 0.005) and R1 resection (risk ratio: 2.715, p = 0.006) were independently associated with overall survival after DP for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail. In contrast, SA invasion was not extracted as an independent prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONS

SA invasion after resection for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail does not have the prognostic impact that surpasses lymph node metastases.

Cancer-associated carbohydrate antigens for clinical diagnostic markers--its effectiveness and limitations

Cancer cells express various aberrant glycoconjugates. Several kinds of carbohydrate antigens have been used for the serological tumor markers. In particular, the serological level of sialylated carbohydrate antigens, which contain the sialic acid residue in their structure, showed effectiveness in diagnosing cancer behavior. Although large number of carbohydrate antigens in serum of cancer patients was elevated broadly in various cancers, each tumor marker has different sensitivity and specificity for each cancer. Therefore, the combined use of several tumor markers which have different characteristics is effective for better sensitivity in diagnosing cancer behavior. The mechanism of synthesizing cancer-associated carbohydrate antigens is not fully understood because it is very complex. In addition, new cancer-associated carbohydrate antigens are also identified by molecular oncological studies. Those investigations are considered to develop more effective tumor markers to diagnose cancer behavior.

Laparoscopic versus open distal splenopancreatectomy for the treatment of pancreatic body and tail cancer: a retrospective, mid-term follow-up study at a single academic tertiary care institution

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

Laparoscopic distal splenopancreatectomy (DSP) is an effective and safe surgical modality for treating benign and borderline distal pancreatic tumors, but rarely for pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to examine the feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of laparoscopic versus laparotomic DSP in pancreatic body-tail cancer (PBTC) patients.

METHODS

Thirty-four PBTC patients were consecutively and retrospectively hospitalized for elective laparoscopic DSP (n = 11) or laparotomy (n = 23) between January 2007 and December 2011. The primary outcome measure was mean overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

All patients underwent DSP via laparoscopy or laparotomy as scheduled and were followed-up for 12-72 months. The two groups showed statistically similar mean operative time (laparoscopy vs. laparotomy, 150 ± 54 vs. 160 ± 48 min), median volume of intraoperative bleeding (100 [50-400] vs. 150 [50-350] ml), and rate of postoperative pancreatic fistula (18.2 vs. 21.7 %). The laparoscopy group had a significantly shorter median duration of hospitalization (5 [3-12] vs. 8 [7-22] d, P < 0.05). All patients had a clear resection margin and showed statistically similar tumor size (2.8 ± 1.5 vs. 3.1 ± 1.7 cm), number of lymph nodes dissected (14.8 ± 4.5 vs. 16.1 ± 5.7), and mean OS (42.0 ± 8.6 vs. 54.0 ± 5.8 mo, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic DSP is a feasible, effective, and safe alternative to laparotomy in carefully selected PBTC patients and is associated with a more rapid postoperative recovery.