Co-morbidity after oesophageal cancer surgery and recovery of health-related quality of life

Cardiac Dose Predicts the Response to Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Definitive concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) is the standard treatment for cervical esophageal cancer and non-surgical candidates. Initial treatment response affects survival; however, few validated markers are available for prediction. This study evaluated the clinical variables and chemoradiation parameters associated with treatment response. Between May 2010 and April 2016, 86 completed CCRT patients' clinical, dosimetric, and laboratory data at baseline and during treatment were collected. Cox regression analysis assessed the risk factors for overall survival (OS). A receiver operating characteristic curve with Youden's index was chosen to obtain the optimal cut-off value of each parameter. Treatment response was defined per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v.1.1 at the first post-CCRT computed tomography scan. Responders had complete and partial responses; non-responders had stable and progressive diseases. Logistic regression (LR) was used to evaluate the variables associated with responders. The Cox regression model confirmed the presence of responders (n = 50) vs. non-responders (n = 36) with a significant difference in OS. In multivariate LR, cardiac dose-volume received ≥10 Gy; the baseline hemoglobin level, highest neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio during CCRT, and cumulative cisplatin dose were significantly associated with the responders. The initial clinical treatment response significantly determines disease outcome. Cardiac irradiation may affect the treatment response.

Stapler Assisted Total Laryngectomy: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study

Closure of the pharyngeal defect after total laryngectomy had been traditionally performed with manual suturing techniques that invert the mucosal edge this technique though effective, yet it is time-consuming. Recently the use of stapling devices to successfully close the pharyngeal defect after total laryngectomy has been advocated to shorten the operative time, especially in the high-risk cancer patients where a prolonged operative time is not preferred. The present study aimed at comparing stapler assisted total laryngectomy to suture closure total laryngectomy in a prospective randomized manner. This is a prospective clinical study conducted on 60 patients undergoing total laryngectomy at Alexandria Main University Hospital, Egypt. Patients with tumor extension to the hypopharynx or base of the tongue were excluded from the study. The surgical time is reduced with shorter hospital stays and no increase in postoperative complications rate. The use of the stapler is technically easy to perform and as equally as effective as the traditional neopharyngeal suturing techniques in patients undergoing total laryngectomy.

Predicting the depth of superficial adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Preoperative determination of the invasion depth of superficial adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction is important for appropriate endoscopic or surgical resection. There are no objective criteria regarding this; therefore, we investigated the factors associated with the invasion depth of superficial adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.

METHODS

This retrospective study evaluated patients with superficial adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction who had undergone endoscopic or surgical resection at a Japanese tertiary cancer center between April 2004 and December 2017. We analyzed endoscopic features of intramucosal to slight submucosal (M-SM1; < 500 μm) and deep submucosal (SM2; ≥ 500 μm) adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and extracted significant factors associated with and assessed the diagnostic performance of endoscopic features for SM2 lesion.

RESULTS

A total of 106 cases were included in this study. Multivariate analysis indicated that depressed or protruded type (odds ratio [OR], 11.1), lesion size ≥ 15 mm (OR, 3.11), uneven surface (OR, 6.31), and subsquamous extension (OR, 5.41) were significantly associated with SM2 adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction. When the macroscopic type was depressed or protruded, high sensitivity (97%) but fair specificity (46%) were observed for SM2 adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction, whereas uneven surface and subsquamous extension showed high specificity (96% and 87%) but fair sensitivity (36% and 46%).

CONCLUSIONS

Depressed or protruded type, lesion size ≥ 15 mm, uneven surface, and subsquamous extension were significantly associated with the invasion depth of superficial adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. These endoscopic features are useful in determining the treatment method preoperatively.

Health-related quality of life after esophagectomy in patients with esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is one of the malignant tumors with the poorest prognosis. Esophagectomy, which is the mainstay of curative-intent treatments, imposes excessive surgical stress on the patients, and postoperative morbidity and mortality rates after esophagectomy remain high. On the other hand, the number of survivors after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer is increasing due to recent improvements in surgical techniques and multidisciplinary treatments for this cancer. However, esophagectomy still has a great influence on the fundamental aspect of patients' lives, that is, the health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), including their physical, emotional, and social functions in the short- and long-term postoperatively. HR-QOL is a multifactorial concept used to assess the symptoms and functional changes caused by the disease itself and treatments from the patients' perspectives. Therefore, assessing the HR-QOL of patients with esophageal cancer after esophagectomy is becoming increasingly important. However, the status of HR-QOL changes after esophagectomy has not been satisfactorily evaluated, and there is no worldwide consensus as to how the postoperative HR-QOL can be improved. This review aimed to raise awareness of healthcare providers, such as surgeons and nurses, on the importance of HR-QOL in patients with esophageal cancer after curative-intent esophagectomy by providing multifaceted information concerning the short- and long-term HR-QOLs, including the status of changes and the determinants of HR-QOL after esophagectomy, and furthermore, essential points for improvement of HR-QOL after esophagectomy.

Higher Dispositional Optimism Predicts Better Health-Related Quality of Life After Esophageal Cancer Surgery: A Nationwide Population-Based Longitudinal Study

PURPOSE

To assess whether higher dispositional optimism could predict better health-related quality of life (HRQL) after esophageal cancer surgery.

METHODS

This Swedish nationwide longitudinal study included 192 patients who underwent esophagectomy for cancer. The exposure was dispositional optimism measured by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) at 1 year post-surgery. Patients were categorized into four subgroups (very low, moderately low, moderately high, and very high dispositional optimism) based on the quartile of the LOT-R sum score. The outcome was HRQL assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and Quality of Life Questionnaire-Esophago-Gastric module 25 (QLQ-OG25) at 1, 1.5, and 2 years post-surgery. Linear mixed-effects models, adjusted for potential confounders, were used to examine the mean score difference (MSD) with 95% confidence interval of HRQL among the four patient subgroups.

RESULTS

Patients with very high dispositional optimism reported clinically relevantly better global quality of life, emotional function, and social function (MSD range 10-16) and less severe symptoms in pain, dyspnea, diarrhea, eating difficulty, anxiety, dry mouth, trouble with taste, worry about weight loss, and self-doubt about body image (MSD range - 9 to - 22) than patients with lower dispositional optimism. Patients with moderately high dispositional optimism reported clinically and statistically significantly better global quality of life (MSD 10) and less severe diarrhea (MSD - 9) than patients with lower dispositional optimism. Adjusted MSDs were constant over the three time points in all aspects except for eating difficulty.

CONCLUSIONS

Measuring dispositional optimism could help identify patients at higher risk of poor HRQL recovery after esophageal cancer surgery.

Knockdown of circ_0003340 induces cell apoptosis, inhibits invasion and proliferation through miR-564/TPX2 in esophageal cancer cells

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a promising biomarker of cancer occurrence and development. The different expression levels of circRNAs in various cancers also make them possible therapeutic targets. In this work, we researched the function and underlying mechanisms of circ_0003340 (circ3340) in esophageal cancer EC1 and EC9706 cells. Firstly, we found the expression levels of circ3340 are higher in ESCC and two esophageal cancer cells than in adjacent normal tissues and Het-1a cells. Bioinformatics analysis showed circ3340 has a binding site with miR-564. This was verified by luciferase assay, which revealed that miR-564 can be sponged by circ3340, and that the TPX2 3'UTR is a direct target of miR-564. Upregulation of miR-564 decreased TPX2 protein levels, as shown by Western blot. Moreover, knockdown of circ3340 or enhancement of miR-564 expression had similar effects in EC1 and EC9706 cells, i.e., inducing cell apoptosis, inhibiting cell proliferation, and arresting cell invasion. Downregulation of circ3340 had a negative influence on EC1 and EC9706 cells by affecting the miR-564/TPX2 pathway. Additionally, animal experiments revealed that downregulation of circ3340 inhibited tumor growth in vivo, making circ3340 a potential therapeutic target for patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer.

Impact of co-morbidities on health-related quality of life 10 years after surgical treatment of oesophageal cancer

Background

Oesophagectomy for cancer is associated with long‐term decreased health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of co‐morbidities on HRQoL among survivors of oesophageal or gastro‐oesophageal junctional cancers after 10 years or more.

Methods

The study included a prospectively collected, population‐based cohort, comprising all patients who had surgery for oesophageal or gastro‐oesophageal junctional cancer in Sweden in 2001–2005 with follow‐up until 31 December 2016. All data regarding patient and tumour characteristics, treatment details and HRQoL were collected using a prospectively created database. Multivariable ANCOVA regression models, adjusting for age, sex, tumour histology, stage and surgical technique, were used to calculate adjusted mean scores with 95 per cent confidence intervals for all HRQoL outcomes.

Results

A total of 92 survivors (88·5 per cent) responded to the questionnaires. Patients were stratified in two groups according to whether they reported a low or high impact of co‐morbidities on general health. Patients in the high‐impact group had clinically significantly decreased HRQoL and an increased level of symptoms, but differences between these two groups were not statistically significant.

Conclusion

Co‐morbidities with high impact on general health still contribute to impaired HRQoL 10 years after oesophagectomy for cancer.

Quality of life in patients with upper GI malignancies managed by a strategy of chemoradiotherapy alone versus surgery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) induces a pathological complete response (pCR) in 25-85% of oesophago-gastric cancer. As surgery entails morbidity and mortality risks and quality of life (QL) impairment, its avoidance in patients without residual disease is desirable. This study aimed to compare quality of life of patients with a cCR who chose surveillance with those who chose surgery.

METHODS

Four groups of patients were studied. Group 1(n = 31) were controls; Group 2 (n = 26) had chemoradiotherapy only; Group 3 (n = 31) had oesophagectomy after nCRT; Group 4 (n = 26) had gastrectomy alone. A 33-point novel questionnaire was administered at two 3 month time points. Participants were also interviewed with a validated questionnaire.

RESULTS

Mean(±sd) quality of life scores in cCR patients offered surveillance (28.9 ± 4.5) were superior to patients undergoing oesophagectomy (32.3 ± 58. p=0.042) or gastrectomy (33.19 ± 5.9, p=0.004). This result was replicated in the validated questionnaire (p=0.017). There was a trend towards increased reflux-related respiratory symptoms in the oesophagectomy group (7.3 ± 2.2 vs 6.5 ± 1.9; p=0.396) and towards early dumping (8.2 ± 1.4 vs 7.1 ± 1.; p=0.239) and vagotomy-related symptoms (1.82 ± 0.9 vs 1.4 ± 0.6; p=0.438) in the gastrectomy group.

CONCLUSIONS

Avoidance of surgery in cCR patients is rewarded with a superior quality of life to those undergoing surgery.

Education level and health-related quality of life after oesophageal cancer surgery: a nationwide cohort study

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether low education level was associated with patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after oesophageal cancer resection.

SETTING

A nationwide cohort study in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 378 patients who underwent oesophageal cancer surgery in 2001-2005 were followed up 6 months and 3 years after surgery.

OUTCOME MEASURES

HRQOL was assessed by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and the oesophageal cancer-specific module. The association between level of education and HRQOL was calculated with linear regression models, providing mean score differences (MD) and 95% CIs. Data were analysed separately for women and men.

RESULTS

Education level was not associated with HRQOL recovery after oesophageal cancer surgery. However, when data were stratified by sex, lower education was associated with worse emotional function (MD -13; 95% CI -22 to -3), more symptoms of insomnia (MD 20; 95% CI 8 to 32) and reflux (MD: 15; 95% CI 3 to 26) for women, but not for men. Among women, low education was in general associated with worse functioning and more symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Low education was not associated with worse HRQOL after oesophageal cancer surgery. However, when data were stratified for sex, low education level was associated with worse functioning and more symptoms in certain HRQOL domains for women, particularly in a short-term perspective. For men, no such association was found.

Health-related quality of life after gastrectomy, esophagectomy, and combined esophagogastrectomy for gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

The postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes in patients with gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma after gastrectomy and esophagectomy are unclear. The aim was to evaluate HRQOL outcomes 6 months after extended total gastrectomy, subtotal esophagectomy, and combined esophagogastrectomy.

METHODS

Patients who underwent surgery for GEJ adenocarcinoma of Siewert type 2 or 3 in 2001-2005 were identified from a nationwide Swedish prospective and population-based cohort. Three surgical strategies, i.e., gastrectomy, esophagectomy, or esophagogastrectomy, were analyzed in relationship to HRQOL measured at 6 months after surgery (main outcome). HRQOL was assessed using well-validated questionnaires for general (EORTC QLQ-C30) and esophageal cancer-specific (EORTC QLQ-OES18) symptoms. Mean score differences (MSD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analyzed using ANCOVA and adjusted for age, sex, tumor stage, comorbidity, education level, hospital volume, and postoperative complications. MSDs > 10 were regarded as clinically relevant.

RESULTS

Among 176 patients with complete information on HRQOL and covariates, none of the MSDs for HRQOL among the three surgery groups were clinically and statistically significant. MSDs comparing esophagectomy and gastrectomy showed no major differences in global quality of life (MSD, +8, 95% CI, 0 to +16), physical function (MSD, +2, 95% CI, -5 to +9), pain (MSD, -3, 95% CI, -12 to +7), or reflux (MSD, +5, 95% CI, -4 to +14). Also, complication rates and 5-year survival rates were similar comparing esophagectomy and gastrectomy.

CONCLUSIONS

Extended total gastrectomy, subtotal esophagectomy, and combined esophagogastrectomy seemed to yield similar 6-month postoperative HRQOL outcomes for patients with GEJ adenocarcinoma.

Impact of weight loss and eating difficulties on health-related quality of life up to 10 years after oesophagectomy for cancer

Background

Severe weight loss is experienced by patients with eating difficulties after surgery for oesophageal cancer. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to asssess the influence of eating difficulties and severe weight loss on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) up to 10 years after oesophagectomy.

Methods

Data on bodyweight and HRQoL were collected at 6 months, 3, 5 and 10 years in patients who underwent surgery for oesophageal cancer in Sweden between 2001 and 2005. Exposures were percentage weight loss, and eating difficulties defined by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-OES18 questionnaire. Outcomes were HRQoL scores from the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Repeated-measures ANOVA, adjusting for potential confounders, was used to assess the association between eating difficulties and weight loss (4 exposure groups) and HRQoL scores at each time point. Mean score differences (MDs) between time points or exposure groups were defined as clinically relevant in accordance with evidence-based interpretation guidelines.

Results

In total, 92 of 104 10-year survivors (88·5 per cent) responded to the questionnaires. Weight loss was greatest within 6 months of surgery. Patients with eating difficulties with or without weight loss reported clinically and statistically significantly worsened HRQoL in almost all aspects. The largest MD was seen between 5 and 10 years after surgery for global quality of life, physical, role and social function (MD –22 to –30), as well for fatigue, nausea, dyspnoea, insomnia, appetite loss and diarrhoea (MD 24–36).

Conclusion

Eating difficulties are associated with deterioration in several aspects of HRQoL up to 10 years after surgery for oesophageal cancer.

Quality of Life after Open or Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy in Patients With Esophageal Cancer-A Systematic Review

Although esophageal cancer is rare in the United States, 5-year survival and quality of life (QoL) are poor following esophageal cancer surgery. Although esophageal cancer has been surgically treated with esophagectomy through thoracotomy, an open procedure, minimally invasive surgical procedures have been recently introduced to decrease the risk of complications and improve QoL after surgery. The current study is a systematic review of the published literature to assess differences in QoL after traditional (open) or minimally invasive esophagectomy. We hypothesized that QoL is consistently better in patients treated with minimally invasive surgery than in those treated with a more traditional and invasive approach. Although global health, social function, and emotional function improved more commonly after minimally invasive surgery compared with open surgery, physical function and role function, as well as symptoms including choking, dysphagia, eating problems, and trouble swallowing saliva, declined for both surgery types. Cognitive function was equivocal across both groups. The potential small benefits in global and mental health status among those who experience minimally invasive surgery should be considered with caution given the possibility of publication and selection bias.

Multidetector Computed Tomography Versus Staging Laparoscopy for the Detection of Peritoneal Metastases in Esophagogastric Junctional and Gastric Cancer

OBJECTIVE

Staging laparoscopy (SL) is the gold standard investigation for detecting peritoneal metastases (PM) in patients with esophagogastric cancer but computed tomography (CT) has undergone significant improvements in recent years. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CT can replace SL in the detection of PM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients undergoing SL between January 2008 and December 2009 were identified from a prospectively collected database, operation notes were reviewed for the detection of PM. Corresponding CTs were reassessed by 2 experienced gastrointestinal radiologists, blinded to the SL results.

RESULTS

In total, 74 patients undergoing SL were included. Sensitivity and specificity of SL for PM were 94.1% (95% confidence interval, 69.2-99.7) and 100% (90.7-100). Sensitivity and specificity of CT were 58.8% (33.5-80.6) and 89.6% (76.6-96.1), respectively. Area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic curves for SL and CT were 0.971 (SE, 0.033) and 0.742 (SE, 0.78), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

CT cannot replace SL for the detection of PM in lower esophageal and gastric cancer.

Oesophageal cancer

Oesophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide and is therefore a major global health challenge. The two major subtypes of oesophageal cancer are oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC), which are epidemiologically and biologically distinct. OSCC accounts for 90% of all cases of oesophageal cancer globally and is highly prevalent in the East, East Africa and South America. OAC is more common in developed countries than in developing countries. Preneoplastic lesions are identifiable for both OSCC and OAC; these are frequently amenable to endoscopic ablative therapies. Most patients with oesophageal cancer require extensive treatment, including chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy and/or surgical resection. Patients with advanced or metastatic oesophageal cancer are treated with palliative chemotherapy; those who are human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive may also benefit from trastuzumab treatment. Immuno-oncology therapies have also shown promising early results in OSCC and OAC. In this Primer, we review state-of-the-art knowledge on the biology and treatment of oesophageal cancer, including screening, endoscopic ablative therapies and emerging molecular targets, and we discuss best practices in chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, surgery and the maintenance of patient quality of life.