Colorectal adenocarcinoma patients with M1a diseases gain more clinical benefits from palliative primary tumor resection than those with M1b diseases: A propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND Surgical resection is regarded as the only potentially curative treatment option for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer(CRC).The National Comprehensive Cancer Network clinical practice guidelines do not recommend palliative surgery unless there is a risk of severe symptoms.However,accumulating evidence has shown that palliative surgery is associated with more favorable outcomes for patients with metastatic CRC.AIM To investigate the separate role of palliative primary tumor resection for patients with stage IVA(M1a diseases)and stage IVB(M1b diseases)colorectal adenocarcinoma(CRA).METHODS CRA patients diagnosed from 2010 to 2015 with definite M1a and M1b categories according to the 8th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system were selected from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results(SEER)database.To minimize potential selection bias,the data were adjusted by propensity score matching(PSM).Baseline characteristics,including gender,year of diagnosis,age,marital status,primary site,surgical information,race,grade,chemotherapy,and radiotherapy,were recorded and analyzed.Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the separate role of palliative surgery for patients with M1a and M1b diseases.RESULTS A total of 19680 patients with metastatic CRA were collected from the SEER database,including 10399 cases of M1a diseases and 9281 cases of M1b diseases.Common independent prognostic factors for both M1a and M1b patients included year of diagnosis,age,race,marital status,primary site,grade,surgery,and chemotherapy.After PSM adjustment,3732 and 3568 matched patients in the M1a and M1b groups were included,respectively.Patients receiving palliative primary tumor resection had longer survival time than those without surgery(P<0.001).For patients with M1a diseases,palliative resection could increase the median survival time by 9 mo;for patients with M1b diseases,palliative resection could prolong the median survival time by 7 mo.For M1a diseases,patients with lung metastasis had more clinical benefit from palliative resection than those with liver metastasis(15 mo for lung metastasis vs 8 mo for liver metastasis,P<0.001).CONCLUSION CRA patients with M1a diseases gain more clinical benefits from palliative primary tumor resection than those with M1b diseases.Those patients with M1a(lung metastasis)have superior long-term outcomes after palliative primary tumor resection.

Diagnosis and treatment for advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma:experience of 24 cases

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effi-cacy of the surgical treatment for advanced hilar cholan-giocarcinoma(CCA)in order to improve the resection rate and curative effect.A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 24 patients who had under-gone surgical treatment for advanced hilar CCA.According to the Bismuth classification,there were four cases of type IIIa,six cases of type IIIb,and 14 cases of type IV.Based on the treatment approaches,these patients were divided into three groups:①Radical resection group:There were five cases(one type IIIa,three type IIIb,and one type IV).The tumor visible to the naked eyes was resected thoroughly and the cut mar-gin was free of tumor by microscopic examination.Then,Roux-en-Y hepatico-jejunal anastomosis was per-formed to restore the bile flow.②Palliative resection group:There were 11 cases.The bile flow was restored by Roux-en-Y hepatico-jejunal anastomosis directly in five cases(two type IIIa,three type IIIb)and by internal drainage through a hepatico-jejunal bridge in the other six cases(one type IIIa,five type IV).③Simple internal biliary drainage group:There were eight cases of type IV,including three cases with the internal drainage through hepatico-jejunal bridge by laparotomy,three cases with endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage(ERBD),two cases with percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage(PTBD).The rate of radical resection was 20.8%and the overall resection rate was 66.7%.All of the 24 patients were fol-lowed-up.The cumulative surviving rates were significantly different among these three groups(Log-rank x2=17.56,P=0.0002).For advanced hilar CCA,the best choice of treatment is radical resection.If radical resection is impractical,palliative resection combined with partial hepatectomy can significantly prolong the survival time.Internal drainage through a hepatico-jejunal bridge can enhance the surgical resection rate and decrease the occur-rence rate of postoperative biliary leakage.