Close relationship between mediators of inflammation and pancreatic cancer:Our experience

In this editorial,we focus specifically on the mechanisms by which pancreatic inflammation affects pancreatic cancer.Cancer of the pancreas remains one of the deadliest cancer types.The highest incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer are found in developed countries.Trends of pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality vary considerably worldwide.A better understanding of the etiology and identification of the risk factors is essential for the primary prevention of this disease.Pancreatic tumors are characterized by a complex microenvironment that orchestrates metabolic alterations and supports a milieu of interactions among various cell types within this niche.In this editorial,we highlight the foundational studies that have driven our understanding of these processes.In our experimental center,we have carefully studied the mechanisms of that link pancreatic inflammation and pancreatic cancer.We focused on the role of mast cells(MCs).MCs contain pro-angiogenic factors,including tryptase,that are associated with increased angiogenesis in various tumors.In this editorial,we address the role of MCs in angiogenesis in both pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissue and adjacent normal tissue.The assessment includes the density of c-Kit receptor-positive MCs,the density of tryptase-positive MCs,the area of tryptasepositive MCs,and angiogenesis in terms of microvascularization density.

Real-time fluorescence image-guided gastrointestinal oncologic surgery:Towards a new era

Technological improvements are crucial in the evolution of surgery.Real-time fluorescence-guided surgery(FGS)has spread worldwide,mainly because of its usefulness during the intraoperative decision-making processes.The success of any gastrointestinal oncologic resection is based on the anatomical identification of the primary tumor and its regional lymph nodes.FGS allows also to evaluate the blood perfusion at the gastrointestinal stumps after colorectal or esophageal resections.Therefore,a reduction on the anastomotic leak rates has been postulated as one of the foreseeable benefits provided by the use of FGS in these procedures.Although the use of fluorescence in lymph node detection was initially described in breast cancer surgery,the technique is currently applied in gastric or splenic flexure cancers,as they both present complex and variable lymphatic drainages.FGS allows also to perform intraoperative lymphograms or sentinel lymph node biopsies.New applications of FGS are being developed to assist in the detection of peritoneal metastases or in the evaluation of the tumor resection margins.The present review aims to provide a general overview of the current status of real-time FGS in gastrointestinal oncologic surgery.We put a special focus on the different applications of FGS,discussing the main findings and limitations found in the contemporary literature and also the promising near future applications.

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and colorectal cancer:From physiology to surgery

The pursuit of this paper is to collect principal reviews and systematic reviews about hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy(HIPEC) and cytoreductive surgery(CRS) used in colorectal cancer(CRC).We focus on principal biological aspects of CRC,hyperthermia effects,and surgical procedures.We searched PubMed/MEDLINE for the principal reviews and systematic reviews published from 2010 to 2021 regarding the bimodal treatment(CRS + HIPEC) against local and advanced CRC.In the literature,from several studies,it seems that the efficacy of bimodal treatment with an accurate CRS can extend overall survival.Despite these studies,there are not still any straight guidelines more detailed and scheduled about the use of combined treatment in patients with CRC.Even if the concept is still not very clear and shared,after a careful evaluation of the published data,and after some technical and pathophysiological descriptions,we concluded that it is possible to improve the overall survival and quality of life and to reduce the tumor relapse in patients affected by locally advanced(pT4) CRC with peritoneal metastases.

Neoadjuvant treatment:A window of opportunity for nutritional prehabilitation in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Patients affected by pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)frequently present with advanced disease at the time of diagnosis,limiting an upfront surgical approach.Neoadjuvant treatment(NAT)has become the standard of care to downstage non-metastatic locally advanced PDAC.However,this treatment increases the risk of a nutritional status decline,which in turn,may impact therapeutic tolerance,postoperative outcomes,or even prevent the possibility of surgery.Literature on prehabilitation programs on surgical PDAC patients show a reduction of postoperative complications,length of hospital stay,and readmission rate,while data on prehabilitation in NAT patients are scarce and randomized controlled trials are still missing.Particularly,appropriate nutritional management represents an important therapeutic strategy to promote tissue healing and to enhance patient recovery after surgical trauma.In this regard,NAT may represent a new interesting window of opportunity to implement a nutritional prehabilitation program,aiming to increase the PDAC patient’s capacity to complete the planned therapy and potentially improve clinical and survival outcomes.Given these perspectives,this review attempts to provide an in-depth view of the nutritional derangements during NAT and nutritional prehabilitation program as well as their impact on PDAC patient outcomes.

Survival and Quality of Life of Patients after Rectal Cancer Surgery in a Low-Income Country: A Study in Cameroon, Sub-Saharan African Region

Background: Survival of patients after rectal cancer surgery as well as their quality of life (QoL) has been little studied in Africa and never in our country in particular. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multicentre study in Yaoundé (Cameroon). We reviewed operating reports of the selected departments to identify patients operated from January 2010 to December 2019 for a rectal cancer. The outcome of patients enrolled had to be known until December 2020. Patients who were alive were contacted to evaluate their QoL using the EORTC QLQ C30 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL questionnaire). Results: During the study period, rectal cancer was ranked 4th within the digestive cancers. We included 68 patients;their mean age was 49.74 years and 41.18% were under 45. The sex ratio was 1.19 in favour of males. The tumour was mainly located in the lower rectum (45.6%). The main surgical procedure implemented was abdomino-perineal resection (42.6%). Forty-one patients died, giving a mortality rate of 60.29%. The mean survival time was 13 months. The 5-year survival rate for the 32 patients operated from January 2010 to December 2015 was 21.87%. The overall QoL of the 27 living patients was good with a mean of 62.346 ± 15.907. Sexual complications and urinary disorders were found in 40.74% and 14.81% of patients, respectively. Conclusion: There is a low hospital incidence of rectal cancer in our context. The 5-year survival after rectal cancer surgery is poor while the QoL of living patients is good.

The Epidemiological Profil of Digestive Cancers in Secondary and Tertiary Health Care Facilities in Cameroon

Background: Cancers have been a major public health problem in developing countries in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological profile of digestive cancers in secondary and tertiary health care facilities in Cameroon. Methodology: This was a cross sectional and descriptive study conducted over a period of 12 months in 14 health structures over the national territory. Included in our study were patients aged 15 and above with a histologically proven digestive cancer, patients with a clinical, biological and morphologic evidence of a digestive cancer. Socio-demographic (age, gender, region of origin, profession), clinical (symptoms on diagnosis, personal and family past history, consumption habits, tumour location) and paraclinical data were recorded on a pretested questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Quantitative data was expressed as means with their corresponding standard deviations. Chi square was used for correlation between variables. A P value 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Five hundred and eighty-two cases of digestive cancers were recorded out of 37,780 consultations/admissions during the study period giving a prevalence of 1.5% with a male predominance (58.1%). The mean age was 53.11 ± 17.26 years (15 - 99) with 33.8% of them below 45 years of age. Tumours were predominantly localized in the liver (43.5%) and colon (24.9%). Adenocarcinoma was the most common histological type in 44.5% of all cases. Alcohol consumption was found to be associated with colorectal cancer (p = 0.028) while tobacco consumption was found to be significantly associated with oesophageal cancer (p ≤ 0.001) and gastric cancer (p = 0.0047). Conclusion: A third of patients with digestive cancers were aged less than 45 years suggesting an early onset of these cancers in our setting. Relatively low prevalence with the liver being the most common site of localisation in our setting.

Giant dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the gastrocolic ligament:A case report

BACKGROUND Dedifferentiated liposarcoma(DDLS)has a worse prognosis and occurs most commonly in the retroperitoneal region and rarely in the intraperitoneal region.Histological diagnosis was revolutionized by the combined contributions of histoimmuno-chemistry and molecular biology.Aside from surgery,there is no consensus on the optimal treatment for this chemoresistant cancer.CASE SUMMARY A thirty-year-old black female presented with a large painful abdominal mass occupying nearly the entire abdomen and progressive weight loss was admitted for surgery.Abdominal computed tomography showed a large heterogeneous mass of the mesentery that was sized 18 cm×16 cm in size and had heterogeneous contrast enhancement.During laparotomy,en bloc excision of the large and multilobulated gastrocolic ligament mass was performed.The initial postoperative histopathological diagnosis was undifferentiated sarcoma.Finally,the results of immunohistochemistry and molecular biology allowed us to confirm the diagnosis of DDLS.The tumour followed an aggressive evolution with diffuse metastasis,causing the death of the patient less than 5 mo after the operation.CONCLUSION Dedifferentiated liposarcomas are rare tumours that typically originate in the retroperitoneum but may arise in unexpected locations.

Presacral venous bleeding during mobilization in rectal cancer

To analyze the anatomy of sacral venous plexus flow, the causes of injuries and the methods for controlling presacral hemorrhage during surgery for rectal cancer.METHODSA review of the databases MEDLINE® and Embase™ was conducted, and relevant scientific articles published between January 1960 and June 2016 were examined. The anatomy of the sacrum and its venous plexus, as well as the factors that influence bleeding, the causes of this complication, and its surgical management were defined.RESULTSThis is a review of 58 published articles on presacral venous plexus injury during the mobilization of the rectum and on techniques used to treat presacral venous bleeding. Due to the lack of cases published in the literature, there is no consensus on which is the best technique to use if there is presacral bleeding during mobilization in surgery for rectal cancer. This review may provide a tool to help surgeons make decisions regarding how to resolve this serious complication.CONCLUSIONA series of alternative treatments are described; however, a conventional systematic review in which optimal treatment is identified could not be performed because few cases were analyzed in most publications.

Robotic transanal total mesorectal excision:Is the future now?

Total mesorectal excision(TME)is the standard surgical treatment for the curative radical resection of rectal cancers.Minimally invasive TME has been gaining ground favored by the continuous technological advancements.New procedures,such as transanal TME(TaTME),have been introduced to overcome some technical limitations,especially in low rectal tumors,obese patients,and/or narrow pelvis.The earliest TaTME reports showed promising results when compared with the conventional laparoscopic TME.However,recent publications raised concerns regarding the high rates of anastomotic leaks or local recurrences observed in national series.Robotic TaTME(R-TaTME)has been proposed as a novel technique incorporating the potential benefits of a perineal dissection together with precise control of the distal margins,and also offers all those advantages provided by the robotic technology in terms of improved precision and dexterity.Encouraging short-term results have been reported for R-TaTME,but further studies are needed to assess the real role of the new technique in the long-term oncological or functional outcomes.The present review aims to provide a general overview of R-TaTME by analyzing the body of the available literature,with a special focus on the potential benefits,harms,and future perspectives for this novel approach.

Distal pancreatectomy in the new era of minimally invasive surgery: the on-going debate on the cost-effectiveness

We read with great interest the article of Rodriguez et al.,"Which method of distal pancreatectomy is cost-effective among open,laparoscopic,or robotic surgery?"(1).In the current climate of limited hospital sources and control of medical costs,the authors afford the interesting topic of the cost-effectiveness evaluation of the robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy(RDP)in comparison to the laparoscopic(LDP)and open approaches(ODP).To accomplish this purpose,they focused their attention on both the clinical and the economical outcomes of the three different techniques.

A new era for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide among patients with cirrhosis,and its management and treatment is in continuous evolution due to the introductions of new therapeutic option.It represents most common primary malignancy of the liver,developing in 90%of cases of un underlying liver disease(1)[chronic HBV and HCV hepatitis,dysmetabolic liver disease].

Evaluation of follow-up and long-term outcomes of gunshot and stab wounds in a French civilian population

Purpose The data concerning long-term follow-up and outcomes of penetrating trauma are poorly detailed in the literature.The main objective of our study was to analyze the hospital and extra-hospital follow-up of penetrating trauma victims and to evaluate the late complications and long-term consequences of these traumas.Methods This work was a retrospective longitudinal monocentric observational study conducted at Laveran Military Hospital,from January 2007 to January 2017.All patients hospitalized for gunshot wound or stab wound management during this period were identified via a retrospective systematic query in the hospital information system using the ICD-10 codes.Epidemiological data,traumatism characteristics,hospital management,follow-up and traumatism consequences(i.e.,persistent disability)were analyzed.To improve evaluation of traumatism long-term consequences,extra-hospital follow-up data from general physicians(GP)were collected by phone call.During this interview,9 closed questions were asked to the GP.The survey evaluated:the date of the last consultation related to injury with the GP,the specific follow-up carried out by the GP,traumatism consequences,and recurrence of traumatism.Descriptive,univariate and multivariate with regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results A total number of 165 patients were included.Median(Q1,Q3)of hospital follow-up was 28(4,66)days.One hundred one patients(61.2%)went to their one-month consultation at hospital.GP follow-up was achieved for 76 patients(55.2%).Median(Q1,Q3)of GP follow-up was 47(21,75)months.Twenty-four patients(14.5%)have been totally lost to follow up.The overall follow-up identified 54 patients(32.7%)with long-term consequences,20 being psychiatric disorders and 30 organic injuries.Organic consequences were mainly peripheral nerve damages(n=20;12.1%).Most of the psychiatric consequences were diagnosed during GP follow-up(n=14;70%).Seventeen cases(10.3%)of recurrence were found and late mortality occurred in 4 patients(2.4%).High injury severity score,older age and gunshot wound were significantly linked to long-term consequences.Data collection and analysis were carried out in accordance with MR004 reference methodology.Conclusion This study showed a high rate of long-term consequences among patients managed for penetrating injury.If all organic lesions are diagnosed during hospital follow-up and jointly managed by hospital and extra-hospital physicians,most socio-psychiatric consequences were detected and followed by extra-hospital workers.However,for half of the patients,the extra-hospital follow-up could not be assessed.Thus,these consequences are very probably underestimated.It appears imperative to strengthen the compliance and adherence of these patients to the care network.Awareness and involvement of medical,paramedical teams and GP role seems essential to screen and manage these consequences.