Comparison of Short-Term Results of Laparoscopy and Open Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: A Single-Center Experience

Objective: Although laparoscopic colon cancer surgeries have increased in recent years, their oncological competence is questioned. In our study, we aimed to evaluate oncological competence by comparing laparoscopic and open surgery. Material and Methods: The study was planned retrospectively. A total of 94 patients were included in the study, 42 of whom underwent laparoscopy, and 52 patients underwent open surgery. Both groups were compared in terms of demographic characteristics, staging, number of benign/malignant lymph nodes, histological findings and complications. Result: The final pathology report of all patients was adenocarcinoma. The median number of dissected lymph nodes was 20.9 in the open group (8-34) and 19.46 in the laparoscopy group (7-31) (p=0.639). The median number of dissected malignant lymph nodes was 1 (0-13) in the open surgery group and 3.1 (0-8) in the laparoscopy group (p=0.216). The laparoscopy group exhibited a longer operation time (281.2±54.2 and 221.0±51.5 min, respectively; P=0.036) than the open surgery group, but a shorter intensive care unit(ICU) discharge, quicker initiation oral feeding, and shorter length of hospital stay (4.0±0.9 vs. 5.7±2.0 days, respectively; P<0.001). Discussion: Laparoscopic surgery elicits many benefits such as less wound infection, lower requirement for blood transfusion, shorter hospitalization, quicker initiation of oral feeding and mobilization. Our study has shown that laparoscopic surgery provides quite adequate lymph node dissection when compared with oncological surgery, which is viewed with suspicion in the light of these benefits of laparoscopy.

Diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound elastography combined with rapid onsite cytological evaluation in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration

Background Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) elastography has been used in EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) to identify malignant lymph nodes based on tissue stiffness. Rapid onsite cytological evaluation (ROSE) has been widely utilized for onsite evaluation of sample adequacy and for guiding sampling during EBUS-TBNA. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of combined EBUS elastography and ROSE in evaluating mediastinal and hilar lymph node status. Methods Retrospective chart review was performed from December 2018 to September 2020. Patient demographics, EBUS elastography scores, and ROSE, pathologic, and clinical outcome data were collected. The EBUS elastography scores were classified as follows: Type 1, predominantly nonblue; Type 2, partially blue and partially nonblue; and Type 3, predominantly blue. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio for evaluation of malignant lymph nodes among the EBUS elastography, ROSE, and EBUS combined with ROSE groups. Results A total of 245 patients (345 lymph nodes) were included. The sensitivity and specificity of the EBUS elastography group for the diagnosis of malignant lymph nodes were 90.51% and 57.26%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity in the ROSE group were 96.32% and 79.05%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of EBUS elastography combined with ROSE were 86.61%, 92.65%, 11.78, and 0.14, respectively, and the area under the curve was 0.942. Conclusions Combining EBUS elastography and ROSE significantly increased the diagnostic value of EBUS-TBNA in evaluating mediastinal and hilar lymph node status compared to each method alone.

THE EFFICACY OF CLINICAL EXAMINATION, ULTRASONOGRAPHY AND CT SCAN IN DETECTING MALIGNANT LYMPH NODES OF THE NECK IN ORAL CANCER AND CONFIRMATION WITH FINAL HISTOPATHOLOGY REPORT

To evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of detecting malignant cervical lymph nodes using Clinical evaluation, CT scan and Ultrasonography and conrmation with histopathology in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Atotal number of 30 patients, of both sexes, with carcinoma of different regions of the oral cavity, conrmed with incisional biopsy were included in this study. We found USG to be most sensitive (83.5%), followed by CT (78.3%) and clinical evaluation (63.7%). Similarly, CT scan was found to be most specic (81.5%), followed by USG (78.2%) and clinical evaluation (60.7%).

Diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound elastography combined with rapid onsite cytological evaluation in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) elastography has been applied in EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) to identify malignant lymph nodes based on the tissue stiffness. Rapid onsite cytological evaluation (ROSE) has been widely used for onsite evaluation of the adequacy of the samples and guiding the sampling during EBUS-TBNA. The aim of the study is to investigate the diagnostic value of combined EBUS elastography and ROSE in evaluating of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes status.Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed from December 2018 to September 2020. Patients’ demographic, EBUS elastography score, ROSE, pathologic and clinical outcomes were collected. The EBUS elastography scores were classified as follows: Type 1, predominantly non-blue; Type 2, partially blue and partially non-blue; Type 3, predominantly blue. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio among EBUS elastography, ROSE, and EBUS combined with ROSE groups for evaluation of malignant lymph nodes.Results: A total of 247 patients (345 lymph nodes) were included in our study. The sensitivity and specificity of EBUS elastography group in the diagnosis of malignant lymph nodes were 90.51% and 57.26%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity in the ROSE alone group were 96.32% and 79.05%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of EBUS elastography combined with ROSE group were 86.61%, 92.65%, 11.78, and 0.14, respectively, and the area under curve was 0.942.Conclusions: The combination of EBUS elastography and ROSE significantly increased the diagnostic value of EBUS-TBNA in evaluating mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes status.

Accuracy of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) in diagnosis, staging and follow-up of gastric cancer, in comparison to CT: a pilot study

Background Accurate staging of patients with gastric cancer is necessary for selection of the most appropriate and personalized therapy. Computed tomography (CT) is currently used as primary staging tool, being widely available with a relatively high accuracy for the detection of parenchymal metastases, but with low sensitivity for the detection of peritoneal metastases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has a very high contrast resolution, suggesting a higher diagnostic performance in the detection of small peritoneal lesions. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the added value of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) to CT for detection of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) and distant metastases in the preoperative staging of gastric cancer. Methods This retrospective study included thirty-two patients with a suspicion of gastric cancer/recurrence, who underwent WB-DWI/MRI at 1.5 T, in addition to CT of thorax and abdomen. Images were evaluated by two experienced abdominal radiologists in consensus. Histopathology, laparoscopy and/or 1-year follow-up were used as reference standard. Results For overall tumour detection (n = 32), CT sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) was 83.3%, 100%, 100% and 82.4% respectively. For WB-DWI/MRI these values were 100%, 92.9%, 94.7% and 100%, respectively. For staging (n = 18) malignant lymph nodes and metastases, CT had a sensitivity, specificity/PPV/NPV of 50%/100%/100%/71.4%, and 15.4%/100%/100%/31.3% respectively. For WB-DWI/MRI, all values were 100%, for both malignant lymph nodes and metastases. WB-DWI/MRI was significantly better than CT in detecting tumour infiltration of the mesenteric root, serosal involvement of the small bowel and peritoneal metastases for which WB-DWI/MRI was correct in 100% of these cases, CT 0%. Conclusions WB-DWI/MRI is highly accurate for diagnosis, staging and follow-up of patients with suspected gastric cancer.

Identifying Malignant Lymph Nodes of Prostate Cancer Patients Using A Combination of Pre-Trained Deep Models and Traditional Machine Learning Classifiers

Prostate cancer is the second most common new cancer diagnosis in the United States. The prostate gland sits beneath the urinary bladder and surrounds the first part of the urethra. Usually, prostate cancer is slow-growing; stays confined to the prostate gland; and can be treated conservatively (active surveillance) or with surgery. However, if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, such as to the lymph nodes, then that suggests the cancer is more aggressive and surgery is not adequate. In those cases, radiation and/or systemic therapies (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy) are required. The challenge is that it is often difficult for radiologists to differentiate malignant lymph nodes from non-malignant ones with current medical imaging technology. In this study, we design a scalable hybrid approach utilizing a deep learning model to extract features into a machine learning classifier to automatically identify malignant lymph nodes in patients with prostate cancer.