Decrease of physical fitness during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy predicts the risk of pneumonia after esophagectomy

Tongue pressure, respiratory muscle and limb strength and functional exercise capacity in oesophageal cancer

OBJECTIVES

Preoperative management of oesophageal cancer requires effective prehabilitation. This study investigates the relationship between tongue pressure, respiratory muscle, handgrip and lower limb muscle strengths, and functional exercise capacity in patients with oesophageal cancer to develop a novel prehabilitation strategy.

METHODS

This prospective, single-centre, observational study analysed data from 29 pretreatment patients with oesophageal cancer. We evaluated tongue pressure, maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures, handgrip and lower limb muscle strengths, functional exercise capacity and dysphagia scores before treatment. The relationship between parameters was identified using Spearman's correlation analysis.

RESULTS

Maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures were significantly associated with handgrip and lower extremity muscle strengths and functional exercise capacity. However, tongue pressure was not associated with maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures, handgrip and lower extremity muscle strengths and functional exercise capacity. Rather, tongue pressure was significantly associated with clinical T, dysphagia and nutritional status scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Respiratory muscle strength was associated with conventional sarcopenia and functional exercise capacity. Tongue pressure was not associated with respiratory muscle strength, conventional sarcopenia and functional exercise capacity. Rather, tongue pressure was associated with clinical T, dysphagia and nutritional status scores. Preoperative management of oesophageal cancer requires prehabilitation consisting of exercise and nutritional therapy and an additional swallowing programme, such as tongue resistance training, for patients without progress in oral intake, based on tongue pressure evaluation.

Effectiveness of prehabilitation during neoadjuvant therapy for patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer: a systematic review

Progression of the physical weakness during neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer is a serious problem; however, prehabilitation during NAT has the potential to overcome the unmet need. Nevertheless, systematic reviews on this topic have not been summarized. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to determine prehabilitation's effectiveness, acceptability, and safety during NAT for patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer. An electronic search was performed in the MEDLINE, Web of Science, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and PEDro databases. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness of prehabilitation during NAT, along with a descriptive analysis of acceptance and safety. This study analyzed data from three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nine non-RCTs involving 664 patients. The meta-analysis of two RCTs demonstrated that prehabilitation during NAT may be more effective than usual care in enhancing tolerance to NAT and grip strength; moreover, one RCT and three non-RCTs revealed that prehabilitation may reduce the risk of postoperative complications. The adherence rates for exercise programs in two RCTs and seven non-RCTs were 55-76%. Additionally, two studies reported a 76% adherence rate for multimodal prehabilitation programs, including exercise, dietary, and psychological care. Six studies reported no serious prehabilitation-related adverse events during NAT. Prehabilitation during NAT may be a safe and beneficial intervention strategy for patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer. However, the investigation of strategies to enhance adherence is essential. Furthermore, additional high-quality RCTs are needed to examine the effect of prehabilitation during NAT.

Measurement and optimization of perioperative risk among patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer

Esophagectomy is an exemplar of complex oncological surgery and is associated with a relatively high risk of major morbidity and mortality. In the modern era, where specific complications are targeted in prevention and treatment pathways, and where the principles of enhanced recovery after surgery are espoused, optimum outcomes are targeted via a number of approaches. These include comprehensive clinical and physiological risk assessment, specialist perioperative care by a high-volume team, and multimodal inputs throughout the patient journey that aim to preserve or restore nutritional deficits, muscle mass and function.

Predictive Ability of the Five-time Chair Stand Test for Postoperative Pneumonia after Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer

BACKGROUND

The revised sarcopenia guidelines proposed handgrip strength (HGS) and five-time chair stand test (5-CST) as the primary parameters of muscle function. HGS and 5-CST are associated with pulmonary function among community-dwelling people, although few reports have described an association between these parameters and surgical outcomes in carcinomas. We examined the predictive ability of 5-CST for postoperative pneumonia after minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) compared with that of HGS.

METHODS

This retrospective, single-center, observational study evaluated 222 male patients who underwent MIE for esophageal cancer between February 2018 and October 2020. Sarcopenia parameters included 5-CST, HGS, and skeletal muscle index. Postoperative pneumonia predictors were determined by using multivariate logistic regression analysis. We assessed the net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) to analyze the predictive ability of 5-CST and HGS.

RESULTS

MIE was performed for squamous cell carcinoma (n = 179), adenocarcinoma (n = 38), and other cancers (n = 5). Forty-nine (22.1%) patients developed postoperative pneumonia. Multivariate logistic regression showed that age (odds ratio [OR] 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.10; p = 0.027), 5-CST (OR, 1.19; 95% CI 1.00-1.40; p = 0.046), and recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (RLNP) (OR, 3.37; 95% CI 1.60-7.10; p = 0.001) significantly predicted postoperative pneumonia. Category-free NRI and IDI showed that adding 5-CST in the prediction model with age and RLNP resulted in significantly greater reclassification and discrimination abilities than did HGS.

CONCLUSIONS

The 5-CST significantly predicted postoperative pneumonia after MIE. NRI and IDI analyses suggested that 5-CST had significantly better predictive ability for postoperative pneumonia than did HGS.