Prognostic Factors in Operated T3-T4 Gastric Cancer

Billroth-II with Braun versus Roux-en-Y reconstruction in totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Introduction

Totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) has been increasingly adopted for the treatment of gastric cancer. Both Billroth-II with Braun (B-IIB) reconstruction and Roux-en-Y (R-Y) reconstruction are commonly performed in TLDG; however, which of these reconstruction techniques is better remains unclear.

Aim

To compare the efficacy of B-IIB reconstruction and R-Y reconstruction in TLDG for gastric cancer.

Material and methods

A total of 105 gastric cancer patients who underwent TLDG with B-IIB or R-Y reconstruction were reviewed from January 2019 to July 2020. Clinicopathological characteristics and perioperative data of the B-IIB and R-Y groups were compared.

Results

Clinicopathological characteristics were not significantly different between the B-IIB and R-Y groups. The average total operative time for the R-Y group (161.9 ±20.7 min) was significantly longer than that for the B-IIB group (141.9 ±16.7 min). The average anastomosis time for the R-Y group (25.5 ±4.1 min) was also significantly longer than that for the B-IIB group (18.9 ±3.3 min). Blood loss volume, number of retrieved lymph nodes, time to first flatus, average length of postoperative hospital stay, inflammatory parameters and postoperative complications did not differ between the two groups.

Conclusions

Both B-IIB reconstruction and R-Y reconstruction are safe and effective in TLDG. B-IIB reconstruction is easier and faster to perform than R-Y reconstruction in TLDG.

hsa_circ_0060975 is highly expressed and predicts a poor prognosis in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common cancer and GC has a high mortality rate worldwide. Circular (circ) RNAs serve an important role in cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the expression level of hsa_circ_0060975 in gastric cancer (GC) and to determine the clinical pathological significance of hsa_circ_0060975 in patients with GC. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to detect expression level of hsa_circ_0060975 in 192 GC and adjacent non-cancerous gastric tissues, in GC cell lines (MKN-45, HGC27 and AGS) and a human gastric epithelium cell line (GES-1), as well as in plasma samples from 126 patients with GC and 92 healthy volunteers. All plasma and tissue samples of were obtained from The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China). The relationship between hsa_circ_0060975 expression and clinical pathological factors was analyzed using the χ² test. The diagnostic value of hsa_circ_0060975 was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve), while the Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the relationship of hsa_circ_0060975 expression with the survival of patients with GC as determined by log-rank tests. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify the prognostic factors, including hsa_circ_0060975 expression and clinical pathological factors. In addition, the potential function of hsa_circ_0060975 was evaluated via bioinformatics analysis. The expression level of hsa_circ_0060975 was higher in GC tissues compared with adjacent non-cancerous gastric tissues, GC cell lines compared with GES-1 and plasma samples from patients with GC compared with plasma samples from healthy volunteers. In addition, higher hsa_circ_0060975 expression was associated with histological grade, pathological stage and tumor (T) classification in GC tissues and plasma samples (P<0.05). The area under the ROC curves of hsa_circ_0060975, the combination with hsa_circ_0060975 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or CEA alone were 0.804 (sensitivity, 0.746; specificity, 0.783; P<0.001); 0.931 (sensitivity, 0.937; specificity, 0.870; P<0.001) and 0.924 (sensitivity, 0.937; sspecificity, 0.804; P<0.001) respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) time of patients with higher hsa_circ_0060975 expression were shorter compared with those in patients with lower hsa_circ_0060975 expression. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses in OS and DFS time determined that the expression level of hsa_circ_0060975, histological grade and pathological stage were independent prognostic factors for patients with GC. In addition, the bioinformatics analysis results suggested that the abnormal expression of hsa_circ_0060975 may serve an important role in tumorigenesis. Hence, hsa_circ_0060975 expression may be an independent prognostic factor for patients with GC and may be a potential marker for biological malignancy.