Postoperative Adjuvant Chemotherapy Cancel Out the Negative Survival Impact on Stage II/III Gastric Cancer Patients With Postoperative Complications

Purpose The potential additive influence of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) on prognosis of patients with stage II/III gastric cancer (GC) who experienced complications after radical surgery is unclear.Methods The whole group was divided into a postoperative complication (PC) group and a postoperative non-complication (NPC) group, and the overall survival (OS) rate, recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups of patients. Results A total of 1563 patients between January 2010 and December 2015 in our center were included in this analysis. There were 268 patients (17.14%) in the PC group and 1295 patients (82.86%) in the NPC group. The 5-year OS rate of the PC group was 55.2%, the NPC group was 63.3%; and the 5-year RFS rate of the PC group was 53.7%, the non-PC group was 58.8%. Recurrence patterns showed no significant difference between the two group (all p>0.05). Adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) significantly improved the OS and RFS rates of patients with and without PCs (both p<0.05), and it showed no significant difference between the PC group and the NPC group who received AC (both p> 0.05). Stratified analysis showed that AC only improve the OS or RFS rates of stage III patients (both p<0.05). Further stratified analysis of the time interval (TI) from operation to initiation of AC in the PC group showed that a TI after 6 weeks (≥6eeks) improved only the OS and RFS rates of stage III patients, while when a TI within 6 weeks (＜6weeks), a benefit was observed in stage II and III patients (both p<0.05).Conclusion AC can abolish the negative effect of PCs on the long-term survival of patients with stage III GC; for stage II patients, the above offset effect is affected by the TI. Delaying AC initiation after 6 weeks may not improve the survival of patients experienced stage II GC with complications.

Prospective urinary albumin/creatinine ratio for diagnosis, staging, and organ response assessment in renal AL amyloidosis: results from a large cohort of patients

Objectives Quantification of 24 h-proteinuria is the gold standard for diagnosing, staging, and monitoring of patients with renal AL amyloidosis. However, 24 h-urine collection is cumbersome and may result in preanalytical error. In this prospective study, we investigated the role of urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) (cut-off: 300 mg/g) identifying renal involvement, evaluated a UACR-based staging system (UACR cut-off: 3,600 mg/g) and assessed whether UACR response (UACR decrease >30% without worsening in eGFR >25%) predicts renal outcome in 531 patients with newly-diagnosed AL amyloidosis. Methods From October 2013 paired 24 h-proteinuria and UACR (on first morning void) were measured in all newly-diagnosed patients with AL amyloidosis. Correlation between 24 h-proteinuria and UACR at baseline was assessed by Pearson’s r test. Impact of UACR response on renal outcome was assessed in randomly created testing (n=354) and validation (n=177) cohorts. Results A strong linear correlation was found between 24 h-proteinuria and UACR at baseline (r=0.90; p<0.001). After a median follow-up of 31 months, 57 (11%) patients required dialysis. A UACR-based renal staging system identified three stages with significantly higher dialysis rate at 36 months comparing stage I with stage II and stage II with stage III. Achieving a renal response, according to a UACR-based criterion, resulted in lower dialysis rate in both testing and validation cohorts. Conclusions UACR is a reliable marker for diagnosis, prognosis, and organ response assessment in renal AL amyloidosis and can reliably replace 24 h-proteinuria in clinical trials and individual patients’ management.

Early Postoperative Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Is a Stronger Independent Prognostic Factor for Stage II Colorectal Cancer Patients Than T4 Stage and Preoperative CEA

BackgroundSerum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an important biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis, recurrence, metastasis monitoring, and the evaluation of the effect of chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, few studies have focused on the role of early postoperative CEA in the prognosis of stage II CRC.MethodsPatients with stage II CRC diagnosed between January 2007 and December 2015 were included. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to obtain the cutoff value of early postoperative CEA, CEA ratio and CEA absolute value. The areas under curves (AUCs) were used to estimate the predictive abilities of the CEA and T stage. The stepwise regression method was used to screen the factors included in the Cox regression analysis. Before and after propensity score (PS) - adjusted Cox regression and sensitivity analysis were used to identify the relationship between early postoperative CEA and prognosis. Meta-analysis was performed to verify the results. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate the effects of CEA on prognosis.ResultsWe included 1081 eligible patients. ROC curves suggested that the cutoff value of early postoperative CEA was 3.66 ng/ml (P &lt;0.001) and the AUC showed early postoperative CEA was the most significant prognostic marker in stage II CRC (P = 0.0189). The Cox regression and sensitivity analysis before and after adjusting for PS both revealed elevated early postoperative CEA was the strongest independent prognostic factor of OS, DFS, and CSS (P &lt; 0.001). Survival analysis revealed that patients with elevated early postoperative CEA had lower OS (53.62% VS 84.16%), DFS (50.03% VS 86.75%), and CSS (61.77% VS 90.30%) than patients with normal early postoperative CEA (P &lt; 0.001). When the postoperative CEA was positive, the preoperative CEA level showed no significant effect on the patient’s prognosis (all P-values were &gt; 0.05). Patients with a CEA ratio ≤0.55 or CEA absolute value ≤-0.98 had a worse prognosis (all P-values were &lt; 0.001). Survival analysis suggested that adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II CRC patients with elevated early postoperative CEA may improve the CSS (P = 0.040).ConclusionsEarly postoperative CEA was a better biomarker for prognosis of stage II CRC patients than T stage and preoperative CEA, and has the potential to become a high-risk factor to guide the prognosis and treatment of stage II CRC patients.

Post-marathon Decline in Right Ventricular Radial Motion Component Among Amateur Sportsmen

Moderate physical activity has a positive impact on health, although extreme forms of sport such as marathon running may trigger exercise-induced cardiac fatigue. The explicit distinction between the right ventricular (RV) physiological response to training and maladaptive remodeling has not yet been determined. In this study, we aimed to analyze the impact of running a marathon on RV mechanics in amateur athletes using three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography (ECHO) and the ReVISION method (RV separate wall motion quantification). A group of 34 men with a mean age of 40 ± 8 years who successfully finished a marathon underwent ECHO three times, i.e., 2 weeks before the marathon (stage I), at the marathon finish line (stage II), and 2 weeks after the marathon (stage III). The ECHO findings were then correlated with the concentrations of biomarkers related to myocardial injury and overload and also obtained at the three stages. On finishing the marathon, the amateur athletes were found to have a significant (p &lt; 0.05) increase in end-diastolic (with a median of 51.4 vs. 57.0 ml/m2) and end-systolic (with a median of 24.9 vs. 31.5 ml/m2) RV volumes indexed to body surface area, reduced RV ejection fraction (RVEF) (with a median of 51.0% vs. 46.0%), and a decrease in RV radial shortening [i.e., radial EF (REF)] (with a mean of 23.0 ± 4.5% vs. 19.3 ± 4.2%), with other RV motion components remaining unchanged. The post-competition decrease in REF was more evident in runners with larger total volume of trainings (R2 = 0.4776, p = 0.0002) and higher concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (r = 0.43, p &lt; 0.05) during the preparation period. The decrease in REF was more prominent in the training of marathoners more than 47 km/week. At stage II, marathoners with a more marked decrease in RVEF and REF had higher galectin-3 (Gal-3) levels (r = −0.48 and r = −0.39, respectively; p &lt; 0.05). Running a marathon significantly altered the RV performance of amateur athletes. Transient impairment in RV systolic function resulted from decreased radial shortening, which appeared in those who trained more extensively. Observed ECHO changes correlated with the concentrations of the profibrotic marker Gal-3.

Costs of breast cancer treatment incurred by women in Vietnam

Background There is a paucity of research on the cost of breast cancer (BC) treatment from the patient’s perspective in Vietnam. Methods Individual-level data about out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on use of services were collected from women treated for BC (n = 202) using an online survey and a face-to-face interview at two tertiary hospitals in 2019. Total expenditures on diagnosis and initial BC treatment were presented in terms of the mean, standard deviation, and range for each type of service use. A generalised linear model (GLM) was used to assess the relationship between total cost and socio-demographic characteristics. Results 19.3% of respondents had stage 0/I BC, 68.8% had stage II, 9.4% had stage III, none had stage IV. The most expensive OOP elements were targeted therapy with mean cost equal to 649.5 million VND ($28,025) and chemotherapy at 36.5 million VND ($1575). Mean total OOP cost related to diagnosis and initial BC treatment (excluding targeted therapy cost) was 61.8 million VND ($2667). The mean OOP costs among patients with stage II and III BC were, respectively, 66 and 148% higher than stage 0/I. Conclusions BC patients in Vietnam incur significant OOP costs. The cost of BC treatment was driven by the use of therapies and presentation stage at diagnosis. It is likely that OOP costs of BC patients would be reduced by earlier detection through raised awareness and screening programmes and by providing a higher insurance reimbursement rate for targeted therapy.

Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Systemic Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Stage II–IV Epithelial Ovary, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma: A Practice Guideline

Background: This study aims to provide guidance for the use of neoadjuvant and adjuvant systemic therapy in women with newly diagnosed stage II–IV epithelial ovary, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal carcinoma. Methods: EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library were investigated for relevant systematic reviews and phase III trials. Articles focusing on consolidation and maintenance therapies were excluded. Results: For women with potentially resectable disease, primary cytoreductive surgery, followed by six to eight cycles of intravenous three-weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin is recommended. For those with a high-risk profile for primary cytoreductive surgery, neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be an option. Adjuvant chemotherapy with six cycles of dose-dense weekly paclitaxel plus three-weekly carboplatin can be considered for women of Japanese descent. In women with stage III or IV disease, the incorporation of bevacizumab concurrent with paclitaxel and carboplatin is not recommended for use as adjuvant therapy unless bevacizumab is continued as maintenance therapy. Intravenous paclitaxel plus intraperitoneal cisplatin and paclitaxel can be considered for stage III optimally debulked women who did not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, intraperitoneal administration of chemotherapy with bevacizumab should not be considered as an option for stage II–IV optimally debulked women. Discussion: The recommendations represent a current standard of care that is feasible to implement and valued by both clinicians and patients.

Comprehensive assessment and variation characteristics of the drought intensity in North China based on EID

Under the new background of climate change, it is very important to identify the characteristics of drought in North China. Based on the daily Meteorological Drought Comprehensive Index from 494 national meteorological stations in North China during 1961–2019, the drought processes and their intensity are identified by applying the ‘extreme’ intensity-duration theory. Then, the stage variation characteristics of the drought trend, the average drought intensity and the drought frequency are analyzed. The results show that among the five drought intensity indexes the process maximum intensity demonstrates the greatest correlation coefficient with the disaster rate of drought in North China. Therefore, the process maximum intensity of drought is selected as the annual drought intensity to analyze the drought characteristics in North China. According to the climate warming trends, the study period is divided into three stages, i.e., 1951–1984 (stage I), 1985–1997 (stage II) and 1998–2019(stage III). The comprehensive results show that the drought intensity in North China has significant stage characteristics. In stage I, the drought shows an increasing trend in most parts of North China, but its average intensity is relatively weaker, with a lower severe drought frequency. The drought also shows an increasing trend in most parts in stage II, with a more significant increase rate than that in stage I, and the average drought intensity is the strongest and the severe drought frequency is the highest. In stage III, the drought shows a decreasing trend in some areas, and the average intensity is the weakest, with a lower severe drought frequency.

Comparison of Long-Term Survival Outcomes of T4a and T4b Colorectal Cancer

BackgroundAlthough T4b is known to have worse oncologic outcomes, it is unclear whether it truly shows a worse prognosis. This study aims to compare the survival differences between T4a and T4b.MethodsPatients who were pathologically diagnosed with T3 and T4 colorectal adenocarcinoma from 2010 to 2014 were included (T3, n = 1822; T4a, n = 424; T4b, n = 67). Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were compared between T4a and T4b using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test.ResultsIn stage II, T4a had better OS and CSS than T4b (5-year OS, 89.5% vs. 72.6%; 5-year CSS, 94.4% vs. 81.7%, all p &lt; 0.05), however, in stage III, there were no significant differences in survivals between groups (all p &gt; 0.05). In multivariable analysis, T classification was not an independent risk factor for OS (p &gt; 0.05). However, for CSS, when respectively compared to T3, T4b (HR 3.53, p &lt; 0.001) showed a relatively higher hazard ratio than T4a (HR 2.27, p &lt; 0.001).ConclusionsT4a showed more favorable OS and CSS than T4b, especially in stage II. Our findings support the current AJCC guidelines, in which T4b is presented as a more advanced stage than T4a.