The 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO-GI) was held in San Francisco, the USA from January 18th to 20th, 2024 (local time). The multiple studies presented in this symposium will have a significant impact on the clinical practice of esophageal cancer. This article will focus on the surgical methods of esophageal cancer, perioperative immunotherapy, drug therapy for advanced esophageal cancer, rescue treatment after immunotherapy resistance, and other relevant aspects. It aims to summarize and interpret the significant advancements in the field of esophageal cancer presented in this symposium.
Objective To determine the oncological outcomes following the intersphincteric resection (ISR) for lower rectal cancer and influencing factors. Methods Reviewed the reports on ISR for lower rectal cancer, and summarized the oncological outcomes and influencing factors. The oncological outcomes included local and distant recurrence rates, postoperative survival, and mortality rates. Tumor indicators, surgical techniques, and perioperative radiochemotherapy were included in the influencing factors. Results The recurrence, survival, and mortality rates following ISR resemble traditional operations. Higher stages, metastasis, and non-standard operations affect the oncological outcomes significantly. Preoperative radiochemotherapy could improve the efficacy, but probably at the cost of postoperative anal function. Conclusions The oncological outcomes following ISR are acceptable. The careful case selection and rational arrangements of radiochemotherapy will allow better outcomes.
ObjectiveTo compare the differences in surgical efficiency, surgical safety, aesthetic outcomes, and oncological safety between axillary single-incision endocsopic breast-conserving surgery (ASIEBS) and conventional open breast-conserving surgery (COBS), and to evaluate the clinical value of ASILBCS based on the “HUAXI hole 3” technique. MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted on the clinicopathologic data of patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2021 to September 2024. The patients were assigned into an ASILBCS group and a COBS group based on the surgical approach. Both groups received standardized surgical treatment and postoperative follow-up. The observation indicators included baseline characteristics, intraoperative data, postoperative complications, aesthetic outcome (by Ueda score and Harris score evaluation), and oncological safety (local recurrence and distant metastasis). ResultsA total of 67 patients were enrolled, with 41 in the ASIEBS group and 26 in the COBS group. There was no statistically significant differences in the comparison of other baseline data between the two groups (P>0.05), except for the proportions of patients with diabetes mellitus and those positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (P＜0.05). The ASIEBS group showed superior aesthetic outcomes compared to the COBS group (Ueda score: P=0.013; Harris score: P=0.047). However, the ASIEBS group had higher median total hospitalization costs (12 779.00 yuan vs. 12 354.50 yuan, Z=–2.16, P=0.03). The median follow-up time was 31.43 months in the ASIEBS group and 21.20 months in the COBS group (Z=–2.36, P=0.02). During follow-up, only one patient with local recurrence occurred in the ASIEBS group, and no distant metastasis or death event was observed in both groups. ConclusionThe ASIEBS based on the “HUAXI hole 3” technique is comparable to COBS in terms of surgical efficiency, surgical safety, and oncological safety, while offering superior aesthetic outcomes.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy of problem-based learning (PBL) model in clinical oncology teaching.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PBL model used in clinical oncology teaching in China from January, 2000 to March, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software.ResultsA total of 29 RCTs involving 2 238 subjects were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: PBL model in clinical oncology teaching was superior to traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) model on the total score (MD=6.50, 95%CI 4.44 to 8.55, P<0.000 01), theoretical knowledge score (MD=4.58, 95%CI 3.38 to 5.78, P<0.000 01), case analysis score (MD=4.26, 95%CI 3.38 to 5.78, P<0.000 01), skill operation score (MD=6.10, 95%CI 4.77 to 7.43, P<0.000 01), overall course satisfaction (RR=1.74, 95%CI 1.34 to 2.27, P<0.000 01), increased learning interest (RR=1.52, 95%CI 1.28 to 1.81, P<0.000 1), improved teamwork cooperation (RR=1.67, 95%CI 1.39 to 2.01, P=0.002), and improved self-study ability (RR=1.51, 95%CI 1.20 to 1.90, P<0.000 1), the differences were statistically significant.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that the PBL model can improve clinical teaching effect of oncology and learning satisfaction. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies accumulated, more high quality studies are required to verify above conclusion.
With the increasing global burden of various cancer, an abundance of papers emerged every year in the research hotspots of oncology, covering a wide range of research types and topics. In order to facilitate interested readers to quickly grasp the frontier and hotspots of cancer research, it would be helpful to sort out and summarize the research topic in a timely manner. According to the classification of disciplines, we screened the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) hot papers released in 2019 for the ones in the oncology field, utilized methods such as bibliometrics, statistical description, hierarchical induction, analysis and interpretation to further reveal the context and characteristics of research in the field of oncology, summarized the latest progresses and future directions in the field, and provided information and hints for the trajectory of future research. A total of 549 papers were included, which were mainly from the field of clinical medicine; the country with the most publications was the United States, while China ranked the fourth in terms of contribution; the research institution with the highest number of published papers was University of Texas system; N Engl J Med published the most papers, with contribution also from highly influential journals in the field of oncology such as Lancet Oncol, J Clin Oncol, JAMA Oncol and Cancer Discov. Oncology remained the most popular research topic in the medical research and spanned a wide spectrum of sub-topics. In this study, we demonstrated and sorted out research frontiers in the field of oncology in 12 different research directions including the basic cancer research, cancer epidemiology, and various tumors types related to different systems and organs.
(1) Surgery is the first method to cure early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ground glass nodule (GGO) like lung adenocarcinoma should be regarded as a new clinical issue to avoid over-treatment. The deep meaning of multidisciplinary pathological classification of lung adenocarcinoma should be fully understood to avoid over-diagnosis. The T staging of lung adenocarcinoma mixed with GGO components should be correctly understood to avoid over-staging. We should carefully understand the new data of relationship between sublobectomy and prognosis to avoid excessive resection. Attention should be paid to the research progress of minimal residual disease (MRD) to avoid insufficient treatment. (2) The treatment strategy of resectable stage Ⅲ NSCLC should be surgery with individualized systemic treatment. Locally advanced NSCLC dominated by Ⅲa-N2 NSCLC is a kind of disease with high multi-dimensional heterogeneity. In theory, preoperative treatment is superior to postoperative treatment, and molecular diagnosis should be made along with pretreatment staging, so as to select preoperative treatment. The patients with negative driver gene mutation obtained better pathological complete response/major pathological response (PCR/MPR) from immunotherapy compared to those from chemotherapy, and the better PCR/MPR is expected to be transformed into overall survival (OS). The data of preoperative treatment in patients with positive driver gene mutation are few, whereas the data of postoperative targeted treatment are much better than those of postoperative chemotherapy. (3) The effective systemic treatment strategy has "created" many long-term survivors with stage Ⅳ NSCLC, and has changed the original concept and population of "oligometastasis". Attention should be paid to the individual ineffective lesions in stage Ⅳ patients with long-term survival. It is also necessary to explore how to intervene in the resection of "oligometastasis" of stage Ⅳ NSCLC at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way, which may be one of the main tasks of lung cancer surgery in the future.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is highly heterogeneous and is diagnosed according to the 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. The decision of treatment should be upon age, International Prognostic Index score and the tolerability of chemotherapy. High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation is the standard care for relapsed, chemotherapy sensitive patients. Clinical trials are recommended in specific conditions.
ObjectiveTo analyze the relationship between educational level and oncological characteristics of colorectal patients served by Sichuan University West China Hospital in the current version of the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA). MethodsThe DACCA version selected for this data analysis was the updated version on June 29, 2022. The data items analyzed included: educational level, precancerous lesions, family history of cancer, tumor location, tumor orientation, tumor pathology, tumor morphology, tumor differentiation and preoperative TNM staging. According to Article 17 of the Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, the educational level of the research subjects was divided into four categories: illiteracy group, the primary educated group (elementary school), the secondary educated group (middle school, high school, vocational school and technical school), and the higher educated group (university, higher vocational school, junior college and above). ResultsThe DACCA database was filtered by conditions to obtain 5 512 valid data. The data analysis results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the composition ratios of precancerous lesions (χ2=27.398, P<0.001), tumor site (χ2=42.610, P<0.001) and tumor orientation (χ2=18.967, P=0.025) among the different education groups, and there were not statistically significant differences in the composition ratios of family history of cancer in oneself (χ2=9.345, P=0.133) or in the family (χ2=4.310, P=0.635), tumor pathological properties (χ2=27.027, P=0.202), tumor morphology (χ2=16.283, P=0.061), tumor differentiation degree (H=3.672, P=0.299) and the TNM staging of tumors before operation (H=0.156, P=0.984) among the different education groups. ConclusionsData analysis in DACCA reveal multiple associations between educational level and oncological characteristics of colorectal cancer patients. The education level of patients has a certain reference value in the investigation of various precancerous lesions. With the increase of education level, the proportion of tumors located in the rectum gradually decreases, and the proportion located in the colon gradually increases, and education level may affect treatment and prognosis by influencing preoperative tumor characteristics.