Systemic immune-inflammation index for predicting prognosis of colorectal cancer

AIM To investigate the clinical significance of preoperative systemic immune-inflammation index(SII) in patients with colorectal cancer(CRC). METHODS A retrospective analysis of 1383 cases with CRC was performed following radical surgery. SII was calculated with the formula SII =(P × N)/L, where P, N, and L refer to peripheral platelet, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts, respectively. The clinicopathological features and follow-up data were evaluated to compare SII with other systemic inflammation-based prognostic indices such as the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio(PLR) in patients with CRC.RESULTS The optimal cut-off point for SII was defined as 340. The overall survival(OS) and disease-free survival(DFS) were better in patients with low NLR, PLR, and SII(P < 0.05). The SII was an independent predictor of OS and DFS in multivariate analysis. The area under the receiver-operating characteristics(ROC) curve for SII(0.707) was larger than those for NLR(0.602) and PLR(0.566). In contrast to NLR and PLR, SII could effectively discriminate between the TNM subgroups. CONCLUSION SII is a more powerful tool for predicting survival outcome in patients with CRC. It might assist the identification of high-risk patients among patients with the same TNM stage.

Novel immunological and nutritional-based prognostic index for gastric cancer

AIM: To assess the prognostic significance of immunological and nutritional-based indices, including the prognostic nutritional index(PNI), neutrophillymphocyte ratio(NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio in gastric cancer.METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 632 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy between1998 and 2008. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated to compare the predictive ability of the indices, together with estimating the sensitivity, specificity and agreement rate.Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for overall survival(OS). Propensity score analysis was performed to adjust variables to control for selection bias.RESULTS: Each index could predict OS in gastric cancer patients in univariate analysis, but only PNI had independent prognostic significance in multivariate analysis before and after adjustment with propensity scoring(hazard ratio, 1.668; 95% confidence interval:1.368-2.035). In subgroup analysis, a low PNI predicted a significantly shorter OS in patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ disease(P = 0.019, P < 0.001), T3-T4 tumors(P <0.001), or lymph node metastasis(P < 0.001). Canton score, a combination of PNI, NLR, and platelet, was a better indicator for OS than PNI, with the largest area under the curve for 12-, 36-, 60-mo OS and overall OS(P = 0.022, P = 0.030, P < 0.001, and P = 0.024,respectively). The maximum sensitivity, specificity, and agreement rate of Canton score for predicting prognosis were 84.6%, 34.9%, and 70.1%, respectively.CONCLUSION: PNI is an independent prognostic factor for OS in gastric cancer. Canton score can be a novel preoperative prognostic index in gastric cancer.

Rare case of an abdominal mass: Reactive nodular fibrous pseudotumor of the stomach encroaching on multiple abdominal organs

Reactive nodular fibrous pseudotumor(RNFP), which presents abdominal clinical manifestations and malignant radiographic results, usually requires radical resection as the treatment. However, RNFP has been recently described as an extremely rare benign postinflammatory lesion of a reactive nature, which typically arises from the sub-serosal layer of the digestive tract or within the surrounding mesentery in association with local injury or inflammation. In addition, a postoperative diagnosis is necessary to differentiate it from the other reactive processes of the abdomen. Furthermore, RNFP shows a good prognosis without signs of recurrence or metastasis. A 16-year-old girl presented with a 3-mo history of epigastric discomfort, and auxiliary examinations suggested a malignant tumor originating from the stomach; postoperative pathology confirmed RNFP, and after a 2-year follow-up period, the patient did not display any signs of recurrence. This case highlights the importance of preoperative pathology for surgeons who may encounter similar cases.

Detection of hMSH2 and hMLH1 mutations in Chinese hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer kindreds

AIM： To establish and validate the mutation testing for identification and characterization of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer （HNPCC） in suspected Chinese patients. METHODS： Five independent Chinese kindreds with HNPCC fulfilling the classical Amsterdam criteria were collected. Genomic DNA was extracted after informed consent was obtained. The coding region of hMSH2 and hMLH1 genes was detected by polymerase chain reaction （PCR） and denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography （DHPLC）. Mutations identified in the proband by DHPLC were directly sequenced using a 377 DNA sequencer, analyzed with a basic local alignment tool （BLAST）, and tested in the corresponding family members by direct DNA sequencing. RESULTS： Mutations were identified in two Chinese HNPCC kindreds. One was the missense mutation of hMSH2 c.1808A→G resulting in Asp 603 Gly identified in the proband of the fifth HNPCC （HNPCCS） kindred. In the HNP5 kindred, three family members were found to have this mutation and two of them had colorectal cancer. The other mutation of hMLH1 c.1882A→G was identified in the HNP2 kindred＇s proband, which might be the nonsense mutation analyzed by BLAST. CONCLUSION： Pedigree investigation and mutation testing of hMSH2 and hMLH1 are the practical methods to identify high-risk HNPCC patients in China.

Effect of somatostatin in advanced gastric cancer after D2 radical gastrectomy

AIM:To study the effect of somatostatin in patients with advanced gastric cancer who received D2 lymphadenectomy and vagina vasorum dissection.METHODS:Using a prospective,single-blind,placebocontrolled design,patients with advanced gastric cancer were randomized into a study group(n=61)and a control group(n=59).Patients in the study group were given somatostatin for 5-7 d starting 6 h after the operation,and patients in the control group were given normal saline.Preoperative and nonoperative complications in the perioperative period,as well as differenttypes of postoperative drainage in the two groups were compared.RESULTS:There was no significant difference between the study group and the control group for preoperative clinicopathological indicators.We found no significant difference between the two groups for the overall incidence of complications,but a lower percentage of peritoneal effusion was observed in the treatment group(1.6%vs 10.2%,P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidence of postoperative pancreatic dysfunction and chylous fistula.However,there were significant differences in the amylase concentration in drainage fluid,volume and duration of drainage,volume and duration of chylous fistula and peritoneal drainage,and volume and duration of gastric tube drainage.The study group did not show any increase in mean hospitalization cost and the cost reduced when the postoperative complications occurred.CONCLUSION:Postoperative somatostatin reduces volume and duration of surgical drainage and related complications.Somatostatin may improve safety of gastric cancer surgery,reducing postoperative complications and promoting recovery.

Pathological diagnosis is maybe non-essential for special gastric cancer: Case reports and review

Histopathological results are critical for the diagnosis and surgical decision regarding gastric cancer. How-ever, opposite opinions from radiology and pathology can sometimes affect clinical decisions. The two cases reported in this article were both highly suspected as gastric cancer by clinical manifestations and radiologic findings, although both showed negative results in the first biopsy examination. One was confirmed as gastric cancer by the time of the 6 th biopsy, while the other was still negative even after 8 biopsies. With a definite pathologic result and the agreement of the patient for the latter case, both of them finally received surgery. Postoperative pathological examination revealed find-ings that were the same as Borrmann type Ⅳ gastric cancer. We believed that duplicate biopsies under ra-diologic guidance were necessary for highly suspected gastric cancer cases in the absence of a definite pathol-ogy result, and patients should be under close follow-up. We propose that, if gastric cancer is highly sus-pected when typical radiology changes of widely diffuse gastric parietal lesions suffice to exclude lymphoma and other similar situations, and even in absence of a posi-tive biopsy result, a diagnostic laparotomy under lapa-roscopy and even radical gastrectomy may be reason-ably performed by an experienced gastric cancer center with the agreement of the patient after being decided by a multidisciplinary discussion team.

In vitro maturation of human oocytes maintaining good development potential for rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection with fresh sperm

BACKGROUND The outcomes of the use of commercial in vitro maturation(IVM)medium to culture immature oocytes obtained from conventional ovulation induction,followed by rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection(RICSI),are not ideal.It is thus difficult to widely adopt this approach in clinical practice.Therefore,it is necessary to explore methods for improving the clinical outcome of IVM.AIM To study the effect of sperm on the developmental potential of in vitro-matured oocytes in conventional culture.METHODS This was a retrospective study of patients whose immature oocytes were harvested from conventional oocyte stimulation cycles and underwent ICSI at our hospital between June 2018 and August 2020.RICSI was performed using sperm collected on the day of oocyte harvest(old)and sperm collected on the day of RICSI(fresh)and oocytes matured in vitro after 24 h of culture in conventional medium.The rates of in vitro oocyte maturation,normal fertilization,normal cleavage,day-3 top-quality embryos,and useful blastocyst formation were compared between the two groups.RESULTS In total,102 germinal vesicle(GV)-stage immature oocytes were cultured in the old sperm group.In the fresh sperm group,122 GV-stage immature oocytes were collected and cultured in vitro for 24 h.There were no significant differences in the general conditions of males and females between the two groups(P>0.05).The oocyte maturation,normal fertilization,and normal cleavage rates of the old and fresh groups were 51.0%vs 55.7%,61.5%vs 64.7%,and 93.8%vs 93.2%,respectively.None of the rates differed significantly(P>0.05)between the two groups.However,the day-3 top-quality embryo and useful blastocyst rates of the old and fresh sperm groups were 16.6%vs 63.4%;6.67%vs 34.6%,respectively.The day-3 top-quality embryos and useful blastocyst rates of the old sperm group were significantly lower than those of the fresh group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION In vitro maturation with conventional culture medium combined with the use of fresh sperm collected on the day of RICSI is an easy-to-implement strategy for patients whose oocytes are completely or mostly immature.