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.

Clinicopathological features and trend changes of gastric carcinoma in Southern China

AIM:To investigate the clinicopathological features of gastric carcinoma in southern China and disease trends changes over the last 18 years.METHODS:We designed a retrospective study in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery,the first affiliated hospital,Sun Yat-sen University.A total of 2100adult patients with definitely diagnosed,histologically proven gastric carcinomas treated with radical gastrectomy from 1994 to 2013 were examined retrospectively.In all cases patient age,gender,tumor location,Borrmann type,histopathological type and grade,and pTNM stage were identified and recorded.The information was obtained from hospital records.The data were analyzed with Stata12.0 software.RESULTS:In this study,the mean age of patients was 57 years with a range from 19-89 years.A higher incidence was found in patients over 60 years of age.In the study population,67.38%of patients were male and 32.62%were female.Women had a higher disease incidence than men in patients less than 40 years of age(P<0.001).No obvious change of patient age and gender was observed in the last 18 years.The rates of disease by location were the following:antrum(44.57%),followed by fundus/body(24.95%)and cardia/gastroesophageal junction(23.00%).The mean tumor diameter was 5.57 cm,and advanced gross type BorrmannⅢwas most common.Most patients were at advanced stages when first diagnosed,and patients with early stage disease were relatively rare.More early stage patients were detected in recent years,especially after 2000(P<0.001).Gastric carcinoma has different features in young and old patients.The young patients had the following features:more frequently female,tumors in the antrum,larger tumor size,poorly differentiated carcinoma,high rate of metastasis to other sites and advanced stages(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:In southern China,gastric carcinoma was more frequent in old men and young women.Young and old patients should be treated differently for having different features.

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.

Case of metachronous bilateral isolated adrenal metastasis from colorectal adenocarcinoma and review of the literature

rarely has a solitary, metachronous bilateral adrenal metastasis of colorectal cancer been reported. We depict a 41-year-old man who underwent sigmoid colon cancer radical surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for alocally ulcerative sigmoid adenocarcinoma with metachronous bilateral adrenal metastasis revealed by a computed tomography scan. histopathological examination showed adenocarcinoma, compatible with metastasis from the rectal cancer. the level of serum carcinoembryonic antigen had indicative significance for the presence of adrenal metastasis in the reported series. We performed a literature analysis related to this pathological characteristic and attach importance to consistent, vigilant radiological surveillance of the adrenal glands in the patients' follow up for colorectal cancer with or without subsequent adrenal metastasis.

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.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Hypersplenic Thrombocytopenia and Situs Inversus Totalis:A Case Report

SITUS inversus totalis （SIT） is a complete mirrorimage of the thoracic and abdominal viscera,occurring at an incidence of 1 in 5000-20 000live births.1, 2 It is supposed to originate from anabnormal rotation of the cardiac tube during embryogenesis.Although SIT is a congenital anomaly, most of patients aredetected accidentally at the time of radiological investigation.Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is usually associated withliver cirrhosis and portal hypertension in Chinese. Presenceof hypersplenic thrombocytopenia is a common consequenceof long-term portal hypertension in cirrhoticpatients.