Diagnostic value of combined prealbumin-to-fibrinogen and albumin-to-fibrinogen ratios in Hp-negative gastric cancer

Background This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of prealbumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (PFR) and albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) alone or in combination in Helicobacter pylori-negative gastric cancer (Hp-NGC) patients. Methods This study included 171 healthy controls, 180 Hp-NGC patients, and 215 Helicobacter pylori-negative chronic gastritis (HpN) patients. We compared the differences of various indicators and pathological characteristics between groups with Mann–Whitney U test and Chi-square test. The diagnostic value of PFR and AFR alone or in combination for Hp-NGC patients was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results PFR and AFR were related to the progression and clinicopathological characteristics of Hp-NGC. As the disease progressed, PFR and AFR values gradually decreased and were negatively related to the tumor size and depth of invasion. In addition, the area under the curves (AUCs) that resulted from combining PFR and AFR to distinguish Hp-NGC patients from healthy controls and HpN patients were 0.908 and 0.654, respectively. When combined with PFR and AFR in the differential diagnosis of tumors with a maximum diameter ≥ 5 cm and the T3 + T4 stage, the AUCs were 0.949 and 0.922; the sensitivity was 86.32% and 80.74%; and the specificity was 94.74% and 92.98%, respectively. Conclusions PFR and AFR may be used as diagnostic biomarkers for Hp-NGC. The combination of PFR and AFR was more valuable than each indicator alone in the diagnosis of Hp-NGC.

Computed Tomography Image Features under Deep Learning Algorithm Applied in Staging Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer and Detection on Ceramide Glycosylation

The research is aimed at investigating computed tomography (CT) image based on deep learning algorithm and the application value of ceramide glycosylation in diagnosing bladder cancer. The images of ordinary CT detection were improved. In this study, 60 bladder cancer patients were selected and performed with ordinary CT detection, and the detection results were processed by CT based on deep learning algorithms and compared with pathological diagnosis. In addition, Western Blot technology was used to detect the expression of glucose ceramide synthase (GCS) in the cell membrane of tumor tissues and normal tissues of bladder. The comparison results found that, in simple CT clinical staging, the coincidence rates of T1 stage, T2a stage, T2b stage, T3 stage, and T4 stage were 28.56%, 62.51%, 78.94%, 84.61%, and 74.99%, respectively; and the total coincidence rate of CT clinical staging was 63.32%, which was greatly different from the clinical staging of pathological diagnosis ( P < 0.05 ). In the clinical staging of algorithm-based CT test results, the coincidence rates of T1 stage and T2a stage were 50.01% and 91.65%, respectively; and those of T2b stage, T3 stage, and T4 stage were 100.00%; and the total coincidence rate was 96.69%, which was not obviously different from the clinical staging of pathological diagnosis ( P > 0.05 ). Therefore, it could be concluded that the algorithm-based CT detection results were more accurate, and the use of CT scans based on deep learning algorithms in the preoperative staging and clinical treatment of bladder cancer showed reliable guiding significance and clinical value. In addition, it was found that the expression level of GCS in normal bladder tissues was much lower than that in bladder cancer tissues. This indicated that the changes in GCS were closely related to the development and prognosis of bladder cancer. Therefore, it was believed that GCS may be an effective target for the treatment of bladder cancer in the future, and further research was needed for specific conditions.

Multi-Slice Spiral Computed Tomography Image Features under Hybrid Iterative Reconstruction Algorithm in Staging Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer

Objective. This study was aimed to explore the accuracy of multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT) scan in preoperative staging diagnosis of bladder cancer based on hybrid iterative reconstruction algorithm, so as to provide a more reasonable supporting basis for guiding clinical work in the future. Methods. Retrospectively, 120 patients admitted to hospital from July 2019 to April 2021, who were confirmed to be with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder by pathological examination after surgical treatment, were selected. CT images before processing were set as the control group and those after processing were set as the observation group according to whether they were processed by the hybrid iterative algorithm. Postoperative pathological examination was utilized as the standard for analysis. The accuracy and consistency of the two methods were compared. Results. The accuracy of the results of each stage of the observation group (T1 stage: 91.09%, T2 stage: 89.66%, T3 stage: 88.89%, and T4 stage: 88.89%) and consistency (T1 stage: 0.66, T2 stage: 0.69, T3 stage: 0.71, and T4 stage: 0.82) were higher than those of the control group (accuracy: T1—57.01%, T2—48.28%, T3—44.44%, and T4—44.44%). The consistency was as follows: T1—0.32, T2—0.24, T3—0.37, and T4—0.43, and the comparison was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). Conclusion. The adoption value of the image features based on the hybrid iterative reconstruction algorithm in the diagnosis of bladder cancer staging was higher than that of the conventional multi-slice spiral CT, indicating that the hybrid iterative reconstruction algorithm had a good adoption prospect in clinical examination.

IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 May Serve as Diagnosis Biomarkers in Gastric Cancer

To determine whether IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 can be used as biomarkers for the detection of gastric cancer (GC), via evaluating the correlations between IL-31, IL-32 and IL‑33 expression and clinicopathological parameters of GC patients. Tissue array (n=180) gastric specimens were utilised. IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in GC and non-GC tissues were detected immunohistochemically. The correlations between IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in GC and severity of clinicopathological parameters were evaluated. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier/Cox regression. IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in circulation were detected by ELISA. We found that IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 were all lower in GC than that in adjacent non-GC gastric tissue (p all <0.05). IL-33 in peripheral blood of GC patients was significantly lower than that of healthy individuals (1.50 ± 1.11 vs 9.61 ± 8.00 ng/ml) (p<0.05). Decreased IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in GC were observed in younger patients (<60 years), and IL-32 and IL-33 were lower in female patients (p all <0.05). Higher IL-32 correlated with longer survival in two GC subgroups: T4 invasion depth and TNM I-II stage. Univariate/multivariate analysis revealed that IL-32 is an independent prognostic factor for GC within the T4 stage subgroup. Circulation IL-33 was significantly lower in GC patients than healthy people (p <0.05). Our findings provide new insights into the roles of IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in carcinogenesis of GC and demonstrate their relative usefulness as prognostic markers for GC. The underlying mechanism of IL-31, IL-32 and IL-33 in GC is further discussed.

Profile of parotid cancers at the ENT clinic Lamine Sine Diop of Fann teaching hospital

INTRODUCTION: Parotid cancers are characterized by a great histological diversity and they pose diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary problems. We deliver through this study our experience on the management of malignant parotid tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective, descriptive and analytical study carried out over a period of 12 years in the ENT department of Fann teaching hospital. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 48 years with a sex-ratio of 1.6. The time to symptom progression was approximately 47 months. Parotid swelling was present in all patients and peripheral facial palsy was found in 31% of patients. Ultrasound of the parotid region was performed in 11 patients, i.e. 34%, and computed tomography in 18 patients, i.e. 56%. Fine needle aspiration was performed in 11 patients. Parotid cancers accounted for 44% of all parotid tumors. Sixty-eight percent of patients consulted at the T4 stage. Seventy-one percent of patients received surgical treatment. The most common histologic type was muco-epidermoid carcinoma. Five patients received radiotherapy. The postoperative effects were dominated by PFP (18%). Seven cases of death were recorded. CONCLUSION: The management of parotid cancer still poses diagnostic and above all therapeutic problems. The combination of radiotherapy surgery, very rarely encountered in our study, provides a better prognosis and better survival.

High-Grade Inflammation Attenuates Chemosensitivity and Confers to Poor Survival of Surgical Stage III CRC Patients

Background: Heterogeneous clinical and molecular characteristics are reported in colorectal cancer (CRC) with different tumor laterality. However, the outcome of left- and right-sided patients with stage I–III CRC and the role of chronic inflammation in survival differences between them remain unclear.Method: A prospective study including 1,181 surgical patients with stage I–III CRC was carried out to investigate the involvement of circulating fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin (Alb) ratio (FPR) and primary tumor sidedness in the clinical outcome of those patients. We further investigated the effect of FPR on adjuvant chemotherapy response and recurrence in stage III patients.Results: Our study showed that the right tumor location was significantly associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.04, adjusted HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.02–1.94) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.04, adjusted HR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.01–2.38) only in the stage III disease. In these patients, T4 stage distribution (83.39 vs. 70.94%, p &lt; 0.01) within right-sided cases was significantly higher than left-sided patients. Moreover, preoperative FPR within right-sidedness (p &lt; 0.01), T4 stage (p &lt; 0.05), and large cancer bulk (≥5 cm) (p &lt; 0.05) subgroups was significantly elevated compared to their counterparts, and it was gradually rising following the increased cancer bulk (p trend &lt; 0.01). High-FPR distribution (52.30 vs. 27.00%, p &lt; 0.01) within right-sided patients with the stage III disease was significantly higher than that in the left-sided cases. RFS (plog−rank &lt; 0.01) and OS (plog−rank &lt; 0.01) of the high-FPR patients were extremely inferior to the low-FPR cases, and the significant associations were observed when they were adjusted by other confounders including primary tumor location (p &lt; 0.01, adjusted HR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.42–2.70 for RFS; p &lt; 0.01, adjusted HR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.59–3.75 for OS). Additionally, RFS of adjuvant chemotherapy-treated high-FPR patients was superior to the patients without chemotherapy (plog−rank = 0.01) but was inferior to the low-FPR patients undergoing the treatment, especially in the 5-FU- and XELOX-treated subgroup.Conclusion: These findings indicate that chronic high-grade inflammation weakens chemotherapy efficacy and contributes to the poor prognosis of stage III surgical CRC patients.

The impact of COVID-19 on the oncologic outcomes of 3236 patients undergoing ColoRectal Cancer surgery in Northern Italy in 2019 and 2020 (COVID-CRC): results of a multicentric comparative cohort study.

Objective This study compared all patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer in 20 hospitals of Northern Italy in 2019 versus 2020, in order to evaluate whether COVID-19-related delays in the execution of colorectal cancer screening resulted in more advanced cancers at diagnosis and worse clinical outcomes. Design A retrospective multicentric cohort analysis of patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in March-December 2019 (2019) versus March-December 2020 (2020). The independent predictors of disease stage (oncologic stage, associated symptoms, clinical T4 stage, metastasis) and postoperative outcome (surgical complications, palliative surgery, 30-day death) were evaluated using logistic regression. Results The sample consisted of 1755 patients operated in 2019, and 1481 in 2020 (both mean ages 69.6 years). The proportions of cancers with symptoms, clinical T4 stage, liver and lung metastases in 2019 and 2020 were, respectively: 80.8% vs 84.5%; 6.2% vs 8.7%; 10.2% vs 10.3%; and 3.0% vs 4.4%. The proportions of surgical complications, palliative surgery, and death in 2019 and 2020 were, respectively: 34.4%vs 31.9%; 5.0% vs 7.5%; and 1.7% vs 2.4%. At multivariate analysis, as compared with 2019, cancers in 2020 were significantly more likely to be symptomatic (Odds Ratio - OR: 1.36, 95% Confidence Interval - CI: 1.09-1.69), in clinical T4 stage (OR: 1.38; 1.03-1.85), with multiple liver metastases (OR: 2.21; 1.24-3.94), but less likely to cause surgical complications (OR: 0.79; 0.68-0.93). Conclusions Colorectal cancer patients who had surgery between March and December 2020 had an increased risk of more advanced disease in terms of associated symptoms, cancer location, clinical T4 stage, and number of liver metastases.

Risk factors for recurrence of radically resected mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma

Background Local recurrence and distant metastasis are major challenges to overcome in order to improve the survival of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) after surgery. Mucinous adenocarcinoma (MA) is a subtype of CRC associated with a higher incidence of local extension and worse survival compared to non-mucinous adenocarcinoma, but few studies have investigated predictors for poor clinical outcome of MA. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the predictors for local recurrence and remote metastasis of MA after surgery.Methods This study retrospectively analyzed 162 patients with mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma (MAC) after radical resection. Analysis variables included demographics, clinical indicators, pathologic stage, surgical procedure, adjuvant therapy, and recurrence. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the risk factors for local and distant tumor relapse.Results A total of 162 patients (86 male) with a mean age of 58.26 years were included; 70.37% of patients had colonic tumors, and 29.63% had rectal tumors. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates for these patients were as follows: 100% for TNM stage I, 71.2% for stage II, and 47.8% for stage III. Five-year DFS rates of MAC, colonic and rectal MA were 62.0%, 65.8%, and 51.7%, respectively. Local recurrence occurred in 38 patients (23.5%) and distant metastasis in 33 patients (20.4%). In univariate analysis, predictors for local recurrence of MAC were intra-operative blood loss (p=0.004, OR=1.005), intra-operative transfusion (p=0.002, OR=5.179), and N2 stage (p=0.000, OR=4.643), and predictors for distant metastasis were male sex (p=0.035, OR=2.410), CA199 (p=0.011, OR=1.004), CEA (p=0.020, OR=1.010), intra-operative blood loss (p=0.022, OR=1.003), T4 stage (p=0.007, OR=4.125), and N2 stage (p=0.018, OR=3.4). In multivariate analysis, predictors for local recurrence of colorectal MA were intra-operative transfusion (p=0.04, OR=4.175) and N2 stage (p=0.000, OR=5.291), and predictors for distant metastasis were male sex (p=0.049, OR=2.410), CA199 (p=0.02, OR=1.003), and T4 stage (p=0.007, OR=4.006).Conclusions Intra-operative transfusion and N2 stage were significant predictors for local recurrence. Male sex, CA199, and T4 stage were significant predictors for distant metastasis. Knowledge of the risk factors for postoperative recurrence provides a basis for logical approaches to treatment and follow-up of mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Tumor size as a prognostic factor improves the accuracy of the prognostic prediction of T4 stage colon cancer: a propensity score analysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of tumor size on the long-term outcome of CC patients after curative surgery. A total of 782 curatively resected T4 stage CC patients without distant metastasis were enrolled. Patients were categorized into 2 groups according to the best threshold of tumor size: larger group (LG) and smaller group (SG). Propensity score matching was used to adjust for the differences in baseline characteristics. The ideal cutoff points for tumor size was 5 cm. In the multivariate analysis for the whole study series, tumor size was an independent prognostic factors. Patients in the LG had a significant lower 5-year OS rate, but higher distant metastatic rate than those in the SG (37.1% versus 25.2%, P < 0.001). After matching, patients in the LG still demonstrated a significant lower 5-year OS rate than those in the SG (63.5% versus 74.2%, P < 0.001). Patients in the LG benefited more from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy than patients in the SG. The modified stage including tumor size was found to be more appropriate for predicting the OS of T4 stage CC than TNM stage. In conclusion, tumor size was an independent prognostic factor and could correlate with higher distant metastasis rate and better response of adjuvant chemotherapy. We maintain that tumor size should be incorporated into the staging system to enhance the accuracy of the prognostic prediction of T4 stage CC patients.