bims-netuvo 2021-11-07 papers

Issue of 2021‒11‒07
four papers selected by
Maksym V. Kopanitsa
The Francis Crick Institute

Anticancer Res. 2021 Nov;41(11): 5803-5810

Venous Invasion and Perineural Invasion as Upstaging and Poor Prognostic Factors in N0 Gastric Cancers.

Kyungseek Chang, Boram Song, In-Gu DO, Dong-Hoe Koo, Hyoun Wook Lee, Byung Ho Son, Chang Hak Yoo, Kyungeun Kim.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in gastric cancer patients. In node-negative (N0) gastric cancer patients, additional prognostic factors are needed to reinforce TNM staging.PATIENTS AND METHODS: We semi-quantitatively recorded the presence of lymphatic, venous, and perineural invasion and evaluated the possibility that they could be used as upstaging factors in N0 gastric cancer by comparing N0 gastric cancer cases with N1 cases.
RESULTS: Venous (p<0.001) and perineural (p<0.001) invasion were important factors in the relapse-free survival of N0 patients, but lymphatic invasion was not. N0 cases with venous or perineural invasion had survival curves similar to those of N1 patients. In addition, the number of invasive features (lymphatic, venous, or perineural) was an important factor in predicting poor patient survival.
CONCLUSION: Venous and perineural invasion were significant prognostic factors in N0 gastric cancer cases. It is necessary to record lymphatic, venous, and perineural invasion separately in the pathology report, especially in cases of N0 gastric cancer.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; lymphatic invasion; perineural invasion; venous invasion

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21873/anticanres.15397

World J Gastrointest Endosc. 2021 Oct 16. 13(10): 460-472

Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided celiac plexus neurolysis in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer: An update.

Guillermo Pérez-Aguado, Diego Martinez-Acitores de la Mata, Carlos Marra-López Valenciano, Ignacio Fernandez-Urien Sainz.

Pancreatic cancer produces disabling abdominal pain, and the pain medical management for pancreatic cancer is often challenging because it mainly relies on the use of narcotics (major opioids). However, opioids often provide suboptimal pain relief, and the use of opioids can lead to patient tolerance and several side effects that considerably reduce the quality of life of pancreatic cancer patients. Endosonography-guided celiac plexus neurolysis (EUS-CPN) is an alternative for pain control in patients with nonsurgical pancreatic cancer; EUS-CPN consists of the injection of alcohol and a local anesthetic into the area of the celiac plexus to achieve chemical ablation of the nerve tissue. EUS-CPN via the transgastric approach is a safer and more accessible technique than the percutaneous approach. We have reviewed most of the studies that evaluate the efficacy of EUS-CPN and that have compared the different approaches that have been performed by endosonographers. The efficacy of EUS-CPN varies from 50% to 94% in the different studies, and EUS-CPN has a pain relief duration of 4-8 wk. Several factors are involved in its efficacy, such as the onset of pain, previous use of chemotherapy, presence of metastatic disease, EUS-CPN technique, type of needle or neurolytic agent used, etc. According to this review, injection into the ganglia may be the best technique, and a good visualization of the ganglia is the best predictor for a good EUS-CPN response, although more studies are needed. However, any of the 4 different techniques could be used to perform EUS-CPN effectively with no differences in terms of complications between the techniques, but more studies are needed. The effect of EUS-CPN on pain improvement, patient survival and patient quality of life should be evaluated in well-designed randomized clinical trials. Further research also needs to be performed to clarify the best time frame in performing a EUS-CPN.

Keywords: Celiac plexus neurolysis; Echoendoscopy; Endosonography; Opioids; Pancreatic cancer

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4253/wjge.v13.i10.460

ANZ J Surg. 2021 Nov 01.

Management and outcomes of patients for non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: a multi-institutional analysis.

Bingqing Du, Xing Wang, Wangfa Zhang, Qingquan Tan, Yisheng Wei, Zili Shao.

BACKGROUND: To analysed the short- and long-term outcomes of patients who underwent surgical resection for non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NF-PNETs) to gain insights into treatment approaches for this rare and heterogeneous entity.METHODS: All patients who underwent surgical resection for NF-PNETs at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, and West China Hospital, Sichuan University, from 2009 to 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The data of patients was including perioperative management, pathologic analysis and follow-up.
RESULTS: A total of 119 cases with histologically or cytologically confirmed NF-PNETs, The mean age of the patients was 52, and 56.3% were female. Twenty-three patients received post-operative adjuvant therapy, and five of nine (55.6%) patients with distant metastasis showed recurrence 14(60.9%) G2/G3 patients without distant metastasis received post-operative therapy with octreotide. Of these 14 patients, 3 (21.4%) revealed recurrence. Univariate analysis indicated that symptoms (P = 0.03), tumour size >4 cm (P = 0.029), ENETS stages III-IV (P < 0.001), positive lymph nodes (P < 0.001), vascular/perineural invasion (P < 0.001), and pathology grade G2 were associated with significantly higher risks of recurrence; age, gender, surgery type, and tumour location were not. Multivariate analysis revealed that positive lymph nodes (P < 0.001), vascular/peripheral invasion (P < 0.001), and pathology grade G3 (P = 0.03) are significant prognostic factors of tumour recurrence.
CONCLUSION: Positive lymph nodes, vascular/peripheral invasion and pathology grade G3 were related to recurrence of NF-PNETs. Lymph node resection is recommend when FNA biopsy indicates pathology grade G3 for patients with NF-PNETs.

Keywords: non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour; outcome; pancreas; pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours; predictor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ans.17326

J Surg Case Rep. 2021 Oct;2021(10): rjab460

Giant sacral schwannoma excised under intraoperative neuromonitoring in an elderly patient: case report.

Michele R Colonna, Alfio L Costa, Claudio Mastrojeni, Vincenzo Rizzo, Giuseppe Nirta, Filippo F Angileri, Antonio Ieni, Erica Milone, Antonio Macrì.

Schwannomas are mainly benign tumors arising from the Schwann cells of the peripheral nerve sheath. These tumors can often be associated with non-specific symptoms, such as abdominal heaviness. In this article, we present a detailed description of the surgical management of a giant sacral schwannoma in an elderly patient, for which intraoperative neuromonitoring made it possible to distinguish easily the nerves of the sacral plexus from which the tumor originated and to remove it without complications. Treatment of these rare and symptomatic giant tumors is still a challenge for surgeons; to treat adequately these tumors; a multidisciplinary approach is required to ensure an optimal therapeutic approach to reduce the risk of recurrence and, on the other hand, is not associated with unnecessary iatrogenic neurological damage.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jscr/rjab460