ObjectiveTo analyze the relationship between occupational type of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and decision-making and curative effect of neoadjuvant therapy in the current version of the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA). MethodsThe eligible CRC patients were collected from June 29, 2022 updated DACCA according to the screening criteria, in which the data items analyzed included: gender, age, BMI, blood type, marriage, occupation, neoadjuvant therapy, symptomatic changes, imaging changes, and tumor regression grade (TRG), and the occupations were classified into the mental labour group, physical labour group, and the unemployed and resident groups according to the type of labour, then compared the decision-making and curative effect of neoadjuvant therapy among the 3 groups. ResultsA total of 2 415 eligible data were screened, of which 1 160 (48.0%) were the most in the manual labour group, followed by 877 (36.3%) in the unemployed and resident group, and finally 378 (15.7%) in the mental labour group. The proportion of those who did not use targeted drugs was higher in both patients ≤60 years old and >60 years old [75.6% (958/1 267) vs. 82.5% (947/1 148)], with both differences being statistically significant (P=0.004 and P=0.019), and among patients >60 years old, the different occupational types were associated with symptomatic changes and imaging changes after neoadjuvant therapy, with the highest number of both changes to partial remission [71.5% (161/225) vs. 66.7% (148/222)], both differences being statistically significant (P=0.001 and P=0.017). ConclusionThe analysis results of DACCA data reveal that the occupational type of CRC patients was associated with the choice of neoadjuvant therapy, and that different occupational types were associated with changes in curative effect before and after neoadjuvant therapy in CRC patients >60 years old, which needs to be further analysis for the reasons.
ObjectiveTo understand the impact of preoperative nutritional status on the postoperative complications for patients with low/ultra-low rectal cancer undergoing extreme sphincter-preserving surgery following neoadjuvant therapy. MethodsThe patients with low/ultra-low rectal cancer who underwent extreme sphincter-preserving surgery following neoadjuvant therapy from January 2009 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected using the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA), and then who were assigned into a nutritional risk group (the score was low than 3 by the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002) and non-nutritional risk group (the score was 3 or more by the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002). The postoperative complications and survival were analyzed for the patients with or without nutritional risk. The postoperative complications were defined as early-term (complications occurring within 30 d after surgery), middle-term (complications occurring during 30–180 d after surgery), and long-term (complications occurring at 180 d and more after surgery). The survival indicators included overall survival and disease-specific survival. ResultsA total of 680 patients who met the inclusion criteria for this study were retrieved from the DACCA database. Among them, there were 500 (73.5%) patients without nutritional risk and 180 (26.5%) patients with nutritional risk. The postoperative follow-up time was 0–152 months (with average 48.9 months). Five hundreds and forty-three survived, including 471 (86.7%) patients with free-tumors survival and 72 (13.3%) patients with tumors survival. There were 137 deaths, including 122 (89.1%) patients with cancer related deaths and 15 (10.9%) patients with non-cancer related deaths. There were 48 (7.1%) cases of early-term postoperative complications, 51 (7.5%) cases of middle-term complications, and 17 (2.5%) cases of long-term complications. There were no statistical differences in the incidence of overall complications between the patients with and without nutritional risk (χ2=3.749, P=0.053; χ2=2.205, P=0.138; χ2=310, P=0.578). The specific complications at different stages after surgery (excluding the anastomotic leakage complications in the patients with nutritional risk was higher in patients without nutritional risk, P=0.034) had no statistical differences between the two groups (P>0.05). The survival curves (overall survival and disease-specific survival) using the Kaplan-Meier method had no statistical differences between the patients with and without nutritional risk (χ2=3.316, P=0.069; χ2=3.712, P=0.054). ConclusionsFrom the analysis results of this study, for the rectal cancer patients who underwent extreme sphincter-preserving surgery following neoadjuvant therapy, the patients with preoperative nutritional risk are more prone to anastomotic leakage within 30 d after surgery. Although other postoperative complications and long-term survival outcomes have no statistical differences between patients with and without nutritional risk, preoperative nutritional management for them cannot be ignored.
Objective To investigate the perioperative differences between video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and thoracotomy after neoadjuvant therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Clinical data of NSCLC patients who underwent VATS or thoracotomy after neoadjuvant therapy at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from June 2020 to May 2022 were retrospectively collected. Perioperative outcomes were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 260 patients were enrolled, 184 (70.8%) patients underwent VATS and 76 (29.2%) patients underwent thoracotomy. After propensity matching, there were 113 (62.4%) patients in the VATS group and 68 (37.6%) patients in the thoracotomy group. VATS had similar lymph node dissection ability and postoperative complication rate with thoracotomy (P>0.05), with the advantage of having shorter operative time (146.00 min vs. 165.00 min, P=0.006), less intraoperative blood loss (50.00 mL vs. 100.00 mL, P<0.001), lower intraoperative blood transfusion rate (0.0% vs. 7.4%, P=0.003), less 3-day postoperative drainage (250.00 mL vs. 350.00 mL, P=0.011; 180.00 mL vs. 250.00 mL, P=0.002; 150.00 mL vs. 235.00 mL, P<0.001), and shorter postoperative drainage time (9.34 d vs. 13.84 d, P<0.001) and postoperative hospitalization time (6.19 d vs. 7.94 d, P=0.006). Conclusion VATS after neoadjuvant therapy for NSCLC is safer than thoracotomy and results in better postoperative recovery.
The standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy combined with surgery, but patients after the same treatment regimen show a large difference in outcomes. For patients with good response to neoadjuvant therapy, the waiting & observation scheme can be selected to avoid surgery and other complications. Therefore, accurate assessment of the response of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy can better develop personalized treatment strategies. Current studies have found that blood sample detection, endoscopy, imaging examination and artificial intelligence have their own advantages and disadvantages in evaluating the response of neoadjuvant therapy. Therefore, this article reviews the application of different clinical tools in evaluating and predicting the response of neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer, and looks forward to the future development direction.
ObjectiveTo summarize the value of imaging in the evaluation of non-surgical therapy for pancreatic cancer.MethodThe relevant literatures about imaging evaluation of non-surgical therapy for pancreatic cancer were collected to make an review.ResultsAt present, most of the imaging evaluation of non-surgical therapy for pancreatic cancer were based on the assessment of morphological characteristics of tumors, such as contrast-enhanced CT and MRI. However, only morphological changes of tumors could not accurately evaluate the response of pancreatic cancer after non-surgical treatment. A few studies had explored the value of functional imaging and artificial intelligence.ConclusionsNon-surgical therapy provides new treatment opportunities for unresectable pancreatic cancer, especially the proposed of neoadjuvant therapy, which provides the possibility of operation for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. More imaging indicators with stronger objectivity, higher accuracy, and wider universality need to be improved and developed in the future.
Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy combined with surgery for locally advanced esophageal cancer has become the standard treatment, and despite the survival benefit, most patients still experience postoperative recurrence and distant metastasis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors play an anti-tumor role by activating T cells, and immunotherapy has become one of the important strategies for first-line and second-line treatment of advanced esophageal cancer with the continuous evolution of immunotherapy models. Regarding neoadjuvant immunotherapy for esophageal cancer, a large number of studies are being carried out and explored, which are expected to inject new vitality into neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer. This article reviews the current clinical studies on neoadjuvant immunotherapy for esophageal cancer.
ObjectiveTo make a comprehensive review of the value of radiomics for prediction of therapeutic responses to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).MethodRelevant literatures about the therapeutic response evaluation of LARC by using radiomics were collected to make an review.ResultRadiomics had good predictive value in terms of complete pathologic response (pCR) and treatment effectiveness of NCRT in patients with LARC.ConclusionRadiomics, a new imaging diagnostic technique, plays an important role in the prediction of the efficacy of NCRT in LARC.
Surgery following neoadjuvant therapy has become the standard treatment for middle- and late-stage resectable esophageal cancer. However, treatment modalities such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery cause physical and psychological harm to patients, reducing their quality of life. Prehabilitation, as an emerging preoperative management strategy, integrates various measures, including exercise training, nutritional support, and psychological support. Its aim is to enhance patients’ physiological and psychological reserves prior to surgery, bolster their tolerance to surgical stress, and thus accelerate the postoperative recovery process. This approach is a key manifestation of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) concept. This article reviews prehabilitation during neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer patients from 3 aspects: intervention timing, intervention content, and barriers, with the aim of providing a reference for promoting early recovery in patients undergoing esophageal cancer surgery.
China is a country with a high incidence of esophageal cancer. Most patients are already in the locally advanced stage when first diagnosed. Preoperative neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery has become the standard treatment mode for them. Closely related to prognosis, the evaluation of tumor response is essential. Response evaluation criteria in solid tumors is the gold standard to evaluate tumor response, but the lesions must meet the measurement standards. Tumor regression grading (TRG) systems are designed to classify regressive changes after neoadjuvant treatment based on histopathological results to reveal prognostic information. Concentrating on pathologic assessment of esophageal cancer following neoadjuvant therapy, this article reviews histopathological changes, commonly used TRG systems and current debate.