Prognostic role of initial pan-endoscopic tumor length at diagnosis in operable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing esophagectomy with or without neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy

Pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Eastern versus Western countries: meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Locally advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma can be treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy followed by oesophagectomy. Discrepancies in pathological response rates have been reported between studies from Eastern versus Western countries. The aim of this study was to compare the pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in Eastern versus Western countries.

METHODS

Databases were searched until November 2022 for studies reporting pCR rates after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Multi-level meta-analyses were performed to pool pCR rates separately for cohorts from studies performed in centres in the Sinosphere (East) or in Europe and the Anglosphere (West).

RESULTS

For neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, 51 Eastern cohorts (5636 patients) and 20 Western cohorts (3039 patients) were included. Studies from Eastern countries included more men, younger patients, more proximal tumours, and more cT4 and cN+ disease. Patients in the West were more often treated with high-dose radiotherapy, whereas patients in the East were more often treated with a platinum + fluoropyrimidine regimen. The pooled pCR rate after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was 31.7% (95% c.i. 29.5% to 34.1%) in Eastern cohorts versus 40.4% (95% c.i. 35.0% to 45.9%) in Western cohorts (fixed-effect P = 0.003). For cohorts with similar cTNM stages, pooled pCR rates for the East and the West were 32.5% and 41.9% respectively (fixed-effect P = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

The pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is less favourable in patients treated in Eastern countries compared with Western countries. Despite efforts to investigate accounting factors, the discrepancy in pCR rate cannot be entirely explained by differences in patient, tumour, or treatment characteristics.

Impact of the extent of negative lymph nodes in gastric adenocarcinoma undergoing primary surgical resection: An institutional report

BACKGROUND

Sub-total/total gastrectomy with lymph node dissection (LND) remains an effective therapeutic strategy for resectable gastric adenocarcinomas (GACs). Despite the prognostic significance of positive lymph nodes (PLNs) defined in N-status, few have appraised the impacts of negative lymph nodes (NLNs) and the percentage of NLN (=number of NLNs/number of total lymph nodes [TLNs], %), as well as the extent of TLNs to be dissected in GACs.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 62 GAC patients (mean age of 67.1 years; 41 men) undergoing primary sub-total/total gastrectomy from a single institute. Candidate variables, including the number of NLNs (≤9 and >9) and the percentage of NLN (≤37.5, 37.5-80.6 and >80.6, %), were evaluated to determine their prognostic impacts and hazard ratios (HRs).

RESULTS

Under the multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression model, tumor length exceeding 4 cm (p = 0.017; HR = 2.828), perineural invasion (p = 0.037; HR = 3.182), and lower percentage of NLN (p = 0.016 and p = 0.060; HRs = 1.000, 0.327, and 0.333 for subgroups ≤37.5, 37.5-80.6, and >80.6, respectively) were three independent predictors with elevated HRs for poor prognosis. GAC patients with the percentage of NLN > 80.6 were highly related to those with NLNs > 9 (p < 0.001), and GAC patients with NLNs > 9 were highly related to those with TLNs > 15 (p < 0.001). For all 62 GAC or 42 N(+) GAC patients, those who underwent LND with TLNs>15 tended to have more PLNs (p = 0.018, p = 0.003) and more NLNs (p < 0.001, p = 0.029) than did those with TLNs ≤ 15. Among the 42 GAC patients with TLNs > 15, a lower percentage of NLN (p = 0.026 and p = 0.015; HRs = 1.000, 0.272, and 0.180 for subgroups ≤37.5, 37.5-80.6, and >80.6, respectively) remained an independent predictor of poor prognosis.

CONCLUSION

The percentage of NLN could predict the prognosis of GAC patients properly. However, an accurate percentage of NLN needs a minimal requirement of TLNs > 15 to detect an adequate number of PLNs and sufficient number of NLNs.

Involvement of increased p53 expression in the decrease of mitochondrial DNA copy number and increase of SUVmax of FDG-PET scan in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

We appraised Warburg effect through analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and maximum standard uptake value (SUV_max) of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan and their alterations in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Later T-status and longer longitudinal tumor length were associated with lower mtDNA^ESCC copy number (p < .05) but higher SUV_max-ESCC (p < .05), respectively. Lower mtDNA^ESCC copy number correlated with higher SUV_max-ESCC, reciprocally (p < .05). ESCCs expressing mutant p53 protein had lower mtDNA^ESCC copy number (p = .056) but higher SUV_max-ESCC (p = .046). We conclude that mutant p53 protein may be involved in the Warburg effect of ESCC.

Mediastinoscopy-assisted esophagectomy for T2 middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients

BACKGROUND

We aimed to compare mediastinoscopy-assisted esophagectomy (MAE) with the Ivor Lewis procedure in T2 middle and lower thoracic esophageal carcinoma patients in fields of perioperative complications and overall survival (OS).

METHODS

The clinical data of 112 T2 esophageal cancer patients who received MAE (n = 31) or Ivor Lewis procedure (n = 81) from January 2010 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed in propensity score analysis. Thirty-eight T2 esophageal cancer patients who underwent MAE (n = 19) and Ivor Lewis procedure (n = 19) were included in this study. The perioperative conditions and OS were analyzed.

RESULTS

The MAE group showed shorter operation time (143.2 ± 20.6 vs 176.8 ± 31.1 min, P = 0.001), less drainage in 24 h (119.2 ± 235.1 vs 626.3 ± 396.3 mL, P < 0.001), less retention time of thoracic tube (27.8 ± 24.0 vs 101.2 ± 54.6 h, P < 0.001), and less hemorrhage during operation (255.4 ± 159.8 vs 367.4 ± 150.9 mL, P = 0.059) compared with the Ivor Lewis group. Less dissected lymph nodes were detected in the MAE group (12.2 ± 5.4 vs 16.8 ± 5.8, P = 0.044) than in the Ivor Lewis group, especially in the upper mediastinum (1.8 ± 2.1 vs 3.5 ± 2.3, P < 0.001) and middle mediastinum (2.5 ± 2.0 vs 5.3 ± 3.2, P = 0.027). The mean survival time was 59.1 and 53.3 months for the MAE group and Ivor Lewis group, respectively (P = 0.635). The results of Cox regression indicated that the nodal stage (P = 0.016) was an independent prognostic factor and the surgical method was not an independent prognostic factor for these patients (P = 0.290).

CONCLUSIONS

MAE procedure showed less surgical trauma compared with the Ivor Lewis procedure. The mediastinal lymphadenectomy of T2 esophageal carcinoma patients who underwent MAE was inferior to those who underwent Ivor Lewis procedure. The perioperative complications and OS of the MAE group were no worse than that of the Ivor Lewis group.