Scoring systems for the management of oncological hepato-pancreato-biliary patients

Prognostic impact of preoperative cachexia in patients undergoing major hepatopancreatobiliary surgery for malignancy

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Data regarding the association between cachexia and clinical outcomes in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) malignancies are limited. This retrospective study sought to investigate the prognostic significance of preoperative cachexia in patients undergoing major HPB surgery for malignancies.

METHODS

Data from patients, who underwent major open surgery for HPB malignancies between March 2014 and December 2018, were retrospectively reviewed. Cachexia was evaluated a few days before surgery, and defined according to modified Asian Working Group for Cachexia criteria: low body mass index (<21 kg/m2) and decreased handgrip strength (<28 kg [males] and <18 kg [females]) or elevated C-reactive protein level (>0.5 mg/dL). The primary endpoint was postoperative overall survival (OS); secondary endpoints included disease-free survival (DFS) and postoperative complications.

RESULTS

Of 332 patients (228 male; mean age, 68.8 ± 10.3 years), 93 (28 %) had preoperative cachexia. There were 154 (46 %) deaths and 181 (55 %) combined events (death or recurrence) during a five-year follow-up (mean, 3.3 ± 1.7 years), with no significant differences in major postoperative complications between the 2 groups (P = 0.329). After adjusting for covariates, cachexia (n = 93) exhibited significant associations with shorter OS (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.65 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.18-2.30]; P = 0.004) and DFS (adjusted HR 1.39 [95 % CI 1.01-1.91; P = 0.043) compared with non-cachexia (n = 239). Cachexia significantly shortened OS only in a subset with pathological stage ≤ II disease (adjusted HR 2.45 [95 % CI 1.27-4.74]; P = 0.008) but not otherwise (P for interaction, 0.040).

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative cachexia did not affect short-term surgical complications but significantly deteriorated postoperative prognosis in patients who underwent surgery for HPB malignancies.

Salvage Hepatectomy for Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Radiofrequency Ablation: A Retrospective Cohort Study with Propensity Score-Matched Analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Although radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a well-established locoregional treatment modality for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the optimal strategy to handle local recurrence after ablation is still debated. This study aims to investigate the role of salvage hepatectomy (SH) as a rescue therapy for recurrent HCC after RFA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between January 2004 and December 2020, 1161 patients were subject to surgical resection for HCC. Among them, 47 patients who underwent SH for local recurrence after ablation were retrospectively analyzed and compared to a propensity score-matched group of controls (n = 47) who received primary hepatectomy (PH). Short-term and long-term outcomes were analyzed between the two groups.

RESULTS

After matching, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative morbidity rates showed no statistically significant difference. Tumors in the SH group were associated with poor differentiation (SH 9 (19.1%) vs. PH 1 (2.1%), p < 0.001). The 5-year disease-free survival rates (31.6% vs. 73.4%, p < 0.001) and overall survival rates (80.3% vs. 94.2%, p = 0.047) were significantly lower in the SH group. In multivariable analysis, less extensive resection compared to the initial plan (hazard ratio (HR) 4.68, p = 0.024), higher grade (HR 5.38, P < 0.001), negative but close (<0.1 cm) resection margin (HR 22.14, p = 0.007), and R1 resection (HR 3.13, p = 0.006) were significant predictors for recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

SH for recurrent tumors after ablation showed safety and effectiveness equivalent to primary resection. As recurrent tumors show a higher grade and more aggressive behavior, more extensive resections with wide surgical margins are necessary to prevent recurrence.

Interpretations of the Role of Plasma Albumin in Prognostic Indices: A Literature Review

This review assesses how publications interpret factors that influence the serum or plasma albumin (PA) level in prognostic indices, focusing on inflammation and nutrition. On PubMed, a search for "albumin AND prognosis" yielded 23,919 results. From these records, prognostic indices were retrieved, and their names were used as search strings on PubMed. Indices found in 10 or more original research articles were included. The same search strings, restricted to "Review" or "Systematic review", retrieved yielded on the indices. The data comprised the 10 latest original research articles and up to 10 of the latest reviews. Thirty indices had 294 original research articles (6 covering two indices) and 131 reviews, most of which were from recent years. A total of 106 articles related the PA level to inflammation, and 136 related the PA level to nutrition. For the reviews, the equivalent numbers were 54 and 65. In conclusion, more publications mention the PA level as a marker of nutrition rather than inflammation. This is in contrast to several general reviews on albumin and nutritional guidelines, which state that the PA level is a marker of inflammation but not nutrition. Hypoalbuminemia should prompt clinicians to focus on the inflammatory aspects in their patients.

Immunotherapy improved cancer related pain management in patients with advanced Hepato-Pancreatic Biliary Cancers: A propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis

Background

Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) cancer is a serious form of cancer. in many HPB cancers, including cholangiocarcinoma (also known as bile duct cancer), pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallbladder cancer and ampullary cancer, although several treatment options are developed during these decades, the prognosis is still poor.

Methods

A total of 356 HPB cancers patients in advanced stage received different kinds of treatments including adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Among these patients with advanced HPB cancers, 135 patients have received standard opioid treatment for pain controlling.

Results

We performed a PSM analysis to minimize differences between groups. Before PSM, 135 patients received standard opioid treatment for pain controlling were enrolled in this study and divided into 4 groups, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Relevant clinical variables that were available at the time of initial diagnosis were used for 1:1 matching between the two groups. After PSM, the cohort consisted of 18 patients in each group. Prior to PSM, patients received targeted therapy and immunotherapy exhibited shorter median OSs than their counterparts for patients received chemotherapy and radiotherapy (p&lt;0.001). there were so survival differences among all the four different treatments for these patients with HPB cancers (p&gt;0.05). We found the OMED (mg) q/day and NRS scores decreased significantly when patients received immunotherapy treatment. Fewer adverse events were showed between immunotherapy group and other three treatment groups, which was consistent with our previous reports.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we found that given the same survival benefit, immunotherapy reduced opioid consumption in HPB cancers patients and improved the pain management. Moreover, immunotherapy results in fewer other adverse effects.