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Objective The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy is still controversial for stage II gastric cancer patients. This study aims to identify prognostic factors to guide individualized treatment for stage II gastric cancer patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 1121 stage II gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 radical gastrectomy from 2007 to 2017 in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, FuJian Medical School Affiliated Union Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Propensity score matching was used to ensure that the baseline data were balanced between the adjuvant chemotherapy group and surgery-only group. Kaplan–Meier survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses were carried out to identify independent prognostic factors. Results In univariate analysis, after propensity score matching, age, tumor location, tumor size, CEA, T stage and N stage were associated with overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis illustrated that age ≥ 60 years old, linitis plastica and T4 were independent risk factors for OS, but lower location and adjuvant chemotherapy were protective factors. Conclusion Stage II gastric cancer patients with adverse prognostic factors (age ≥ 60, linitis plastica and T4) have poor prognosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be more beneficial for these patients.

The role of villous architecture in the prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors of colon adenocarcinoma with different types of villous architecture and to establish nomograms for predicting cancer-specific mortality. This retrospective study included 10,427 patients with colon adenocarcinoma arising in adenomas with villous architectures. The patients were stratified into the tubulovillous adenocarcinoma cohort and villous adenocarcinoma cohort. The prognostic risk factors, which were incorporated into nomograms for survival prediction, were determined by the log-rank test and Cox hazard models. The Harrell’s Concordance Index (C-index) and calibration curve were utilized to evaluate the prediction accuracy. The pathological type of villous architecture was independently associated with the mortality of the entire population. Age, race, tumor size, T/N/M stage, and chemotherapy were independent risk factors of mortality in both cohorts. Interestingly, tumor differentiation was a prognostic factor for tubulovillous adenocarcinoma rather than villous adenocarcinoma, while the retrieved lymph node number was a prognostic factor for villous adenocarcinoma rather than tubulovillous adenocarcinoma. Survival analysis showed that the mortality rate of villous adenocarcinoma was higher than that of tubulovillous adenocarcinoma (HR 1.361, P

Optimal nutrition formulas for colorectal cancer patients underwent surgery remains uncertainty. We constructed an indirect comparison study to assess comparative efficacy of different immunonutrition formulas and standard nutrition in colorectal cancer patients underwent surgery. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov and Web of Science databases were searched to identify RCTs that compared immunonutrition with standard nutrition or different immunonutrition formulas. Data on length of hospital stays (LOS), infectious complications (IC), noninfectious complications (NIC) and anastomotic leakage (AL) were extracted from the included RCTs for Bayesian network analysis using a random-effect model. Twelve articles that included 1032 individuals were incorporated into this study. The indirect comparison confirmed the potential improvement of arginine-based immunonutrition on IC (odds ratios [OR] = 0.43, 95%confidence interval [CI]: 0.17 to 0.95), glutamine on NIC (OR = 0.07 CI: 0.00 to 0.78) and LOS (MD=-3.91 CI: -6.33 to -1.69) and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on LOS (OR=-3.49 CI: -5.46 to -1.00). Results indicated that glutamine had the highest probability of reducing complications and hospital stays. As for colorectal cancer patients underwent surgery, this indirect comparison suggested some superiority of glutamine. Future more RCTs with larger scale are required to provide evidence for the optimal immunonutrition formulas.

Background Survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is a debatable issue. Studies have shown that the survival benefit of NAC is dependent on the pathological response to chemotherapy drugs. For those who achieve pathological complete response (pCR), NAC significantly prolonged prolapsed-free survival and overall survival. For those with poor response, NAC yielded no survival benefit, only toxicity and increased risk for tumor progression during chemotherapy, which may hinder surgical resection. Thus, predicting pCR to NAC is of great clinical significance and can help achieve individualized treatment in AGC patients. Aim To establish a nomogram for predicting pCR to NAC for AGC patients. Methods Two-hundred and eight patients diagnosed with AGC who received NAC followed by resection surgery from March 2012 to July 2019 were enrolled in this study. Their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed by logistic regression analysis to determine the possible predictors for pCR. Based on these predictors, a nomogram model was developed and internally validated using the bootstrap method. Results pCR was confirmed in 27 patients (27/208, 13.0%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher carcinoembryonic antigen level, lymphocyte ratio, lower monocyte count and tumor differentiation grade were associated with higher pCR. Concordance statistic of the established nomogram was 0.767. Conclusion A nomogram predicting pCR to NAC was established. Since this nomogram exhibited satisfactory predictive power despite utilizing easily available pretreatment parameters, it can be inferred that this nomogram is practical for the development of personalized treatment strategy for AGC patients.

Objective Peritoneal dissemination is difficult to diagnose by conventional imaging technologies. We aimed to construct a nomogram to predict peritoneal dissemination in gastric cancer (GC) patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 1,112 GC patients in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between 2001 and 2010 as the development set and 474 patients from The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University between 2010 and 2016 as the validation set. The clinicopathological variables associated with gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination (GCPD) were analyzed. We used logistic regression analysis to identify independent risk factors for peritoneal dissemination. Then, we constructed a nomogram for the prediction of GCPD and defined its predictive value with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. External validation was performed to validate the applicability of the nomogram. Results In total, 250 patients were histologically identified as having peritoneal dissemination. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, sex, tumor location, tumor size, signet-ring cell carcinoma (SRCC), T stage, N stage and Borrmann classification IV (Borrmann IV) were independent risk factors for peritoneal dissemination. We constructed a nomogram consisting of these eight factors to predict GCPD and found an optimistic predictive capability, with a C-index of 0.791, an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.791, and a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 0.762-0.820. The results found in the external validation set were also promising. Conclusions We constructed a highly sensitive nomogram that can assist clinicians in the early diagnosis of GCPD and serve as a reference for optimizing clinical management strategies.

Background: Billroth I, Billroth II, Roux-en-Y, and Un-cut Roux-en-Y are common reconstruction techniques of distal gastrectomy. Which of these techniques is better has yet to be established. We performed an indirect comparison to evaluate which technique was optimal for preventing reflux symptoms. Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Collaboration, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov and Web of Science databases were searched to identify clinical trials that compared at least two of the reconstruction skills among Billroth I, Billroth II, Roux-en-Y, and Un-cut Roux-en-Y. Data on reflux gastritis, intraoperative blood loss, bile reflux and postoperative hospital stays were extracted from the included clinical trials for meta-analysis using a random-effects model. Results: Twenty-four articles that included 5419 individuals were assessed as eligible for meta-analysis. The indirect comparison suggested that Roux-en-Y reconstruction significantly reduces reflux gastritis, and it tended to rank first and had the highest probability of preventing bile reflux. No significant differences were found in intraoperative blood loss and postoperative hospital stays. Conclusion: This indirect comparison suggested some superiority of Roux-en-Y reconstruction after distal gastrectomy. Further perspective clinical trials are required to provide evidence for the optimal reconstruction skill.

BackgroundAccording to the 8th edition AJCC staging manual, a least of 16 lymph nodes retrieval (LNRs) is the minimal requirement for lymph nodes (LNs) dissection of gastric cancer surgery. Previous studies have shown that increasing the number of LNRs (≥30) prolongs survival for selected patients. However, the necessity of retrieving 30 or more LN for stage II gastric cancer patients is still under debate.AimThis study aims to explore the impact of retrieving 30 or more lymph nodes on the survival of stage II cancer patients.MethodsA total of 1,177 patients diagnosed with stage II gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. The clinicopathological parameters and the impact of different LNRs (ResultsThe mean number of LNRs was 34 ± 15. A total of 44% (518/1,177) of patients had an LNRs 60 years/male/underwent total gastrectomy/stage IIB. For N+ patients, higher NR was significantly correlated with poor survival.ConclusionThe survival benefit of retrieving 30 LNs varies in different subgroups. An LNRs of 30 is mandatory for selected stage II gastric cancer patients.

Objective: The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy is still controversial for stage II gastric cancer patients. This study aims to identify prognostic factors to guide individualized treatment for stage II gastric cancer patients.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 1121 stage II gastric cancer patients who underwent D2 radical gastrectomy from 2007-2017 in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, FuJian Medical School Affiliated Union Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to ensure that the baseline data were balanced between the adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) group and surgery-only group. Kaplan-Meier survival and multivariate Cox regression analyses were carried out to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: In univariate analysis, after propensity score matching, age, tumor location, tumor size, CEA, T stage and N stage were associated with overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis illustrated that age ≥60 years old, linitis plastica and T4 were independent risk factors for OS, but lower location and adjuvant chemotherapy were protective factors. Conclusion: Adjuvant chemotherapy is helpful for stage II gastric cancer patients. These prognostic factors can help guide individual therapy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of art therapy on cancer patients' quality of life and physical and psychological symptoms. METHODS The databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Clinical Trial.gov, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) were searched from their inception up to 20 August 2019. Trials examining the effects of art therapy on physical and psychological symptoms and quality of life versus a control group were included. The methodological quality of the included randomised controlled trials was assessed using the risk of bias tool of Cochrane Handbook. Meanwhile, the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the non-randomised studies. RESULTS Twelve studies involving 587 cancer patients were included. The results revealed that art therapy significantly reduced anxiety symptoms (standard mean difference [SMD] = -0.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.90, 0.02], p = .04), depression symptoms (SMD = -0.47, 95% CI [-0.72, 0.21], p

Background Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignant disease worldwide, with lower one-third gastric cancer the most common type. Distal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection was recommended as a standard surgery for distal gastric cancer patients. However, some controversy remains about the anastomosis of the residual stomach and the intestine. The objectives of this trial are to test the hypothesis that uncut Roux-en-Y anastomosis can reduce postoperative complications and improve nutritional status more effectively than Billroth II anastomosis in gastric cancer patients after D2 gastrectomy. Methods/design This multi-center, prospective, phase III, randomized controlled trial will compare the efficacy of uncut Roux-en-Y anastomosis versus Billroth II anastomosis in phase I–III patients with initial treatment of radical distal gastrectomy. Patients will be randomized to undergo either the intervention (uncut Roux-en-Y anastomosis) or the control (Billroth II anastomosis). We will recruit 832 patients who meet the trial eligibility criteria and will follow the patients after surgery to observe postoperative complications and nutrition status for 5 years. The primary assessment indices of the study are reflux gastritis, esophagitis, bile regurgitation, and anastomotic ulcer. The secondary assessment indices are nutritional status, quality of life, perioperative complications, overall survival rate, and others. When the number of cases reaches 400, an interim analysis will be performed to identify any evidence of definite superiority of the experimental intervention. Discussion We aim to test the hypothesis that uncut Roux-en-Y anastomosis can reduce postoperative complications and improve nutritional status more than Billroth II anastomosis in gastric cancer patients after D2 gastrectomy. The results of the trial will contribute to the best evidence on which to base the reconstruction of distal gastrectomy. Trial registration Chinese Southern Gastric Cancer Conference CSGC002 Trial. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02763878. Registered on 5 May 2016. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-019-3531-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objective To identify independent prognostic factors to be included in a nomogram to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination. Methods This is a retrospective study on 684 patients with a histological diagnosis of gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination from the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center as the development set, and 62 gastric cancer patients from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University as the validation group. Chi-square test and Cox regression analysis were used to compare the clinicopathological variables and the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination. The Harrell's concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve were determined for comparisons of predictive ability of the nomogram. Results Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (P=0.032), ascites grading (P=0.008), presence of extraperitoneal metastasis (P