Spontaneously ruptured endometriomas presenting with symptoms and imaging findings worrisome for carcinomatosis: A case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Endometriomas are the most common presenting subtype of endometriosis. Although most endometriomas are asymptomatic, patients can rarely present acutely with spontaneous rupture causing diffuse peritonitis and severe systemic inflammatory response.

CASE PRESENTATION

Here we describe a case of ruptured endometriomas in a 26-year-old nulligravid female with a history of heavy menses, progressive abdominal distension, and a recent urinary tract infection. The patient presented to the emergency department with upper abdominal pain radiating to her back with associated nausea. Computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated diffuse ascites with a large, multilobulated, and multicystic septated mass arising in the right pelvis and extending into the lower abdomen. Findings were concerning for peritoneal carcinomatosis and the patient was admitted for evaluation. She developed progressive signs of sepsis and was emergently brought to the operating room for surgical exploration on hospital day (HD) number two. She was found to have ruptured pelvic cysts arising from both ovaries with diffuse contamination of the abdomen by cyst contents and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) was performed. Final pathology demonstrated benign bilateral endometriomas.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

Endometrioma rupture is extremely rare and imaging findings may appear to represent disseminated peritoneal malignancy. CT findings demonstrating a pelvic mass with concurrent ascites should raise clinical suspicion for ruptured endometrioma, particularly in younger patients.

CONCLUSION

Prompt surgical exploration and complete resection of pathologic tissue may be necessary for diagnosis and treatment in some patients with clinical deterioration related to perforated endometriomas. Combined oral contraceptives are recommended in the postoperative period.

The Utility of Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy Scans in the Tokyo Guidelines Era for Acute Cholecystitis

BACKGROUND

Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy (HIDA) aids the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis (AC) but has limitations. We sought to design a model based on the Tokyo Guidelines 2018 (TG18) to predict HIDA results.

METHODS

A retrospective review of patients who underwent a HIDA scan during the evaluation of AC was performed. Using logistic regression techniques incorporating the TG18 criterion and additional readily available patient characteristics, a prediction model was created to identify patients likely to test negative for acute cholecystitis by HIDA scan.

RESULTS

In 235 patients with suspected AC, a HIDA scan was performed. Variables associated with positive HIDA results were male gender (RR 2.0 (CI 1.33-2.99), age (OR 1.02 (CI 1.01-1.04), right upper quadrant tenderness (RR 1.7 (CI 1.1-2.8)), clinical Murphy's sign (RR 2.2 (CI 1.5-3.4)), ultrasound findings suggestive of AC by any of its components (RR 3.2 (CI 1.6-6.5)), gallbladder wall thickening (RR 2.0 (CI 1.3-3.1)), and gallbladder distention (RR 1.9 (CI 1.3-2.9)). These variables allowed for creation of a model to predict HIDA results. The model predicted HIDA results in 36.9% of patients with an area under the curve of 0.81.

CONCLUSIONS

In the era of TG18, HIDA is probably over utilized. We developed an accurate, simple model based on TG18 that identifies a group of patients for whom a HIDA scan is unnecessary to establish the diagnosis of AC.

A Phase 2 Randomized Placebo-Controlled Adjuvant Trial of GI-4000, a Recombinant Yeast Expressing Mutated RAS Proteins in Patients with Resected Pancreas Cancer

Purpose: GI-4000, a series of recombinant yeast expressing four different mutated RAS proteins, was evaluated in subjects with resected ras-mutated pancreas cancer. Methods: Subjects (n = 176) received GI-4000 or placebo plus gemcitabine. Subjects' tumors were genotyped to identify which matched GI-4000 product to administer. Immune responses were measured by interferon-γ (IFNγ) ELISpot assay and by regulatory T cell (Treg) frequencies on treatment. Pretreatment plasma was retrospectively analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry for proteomic signatures predictive of GI-4000 responsiveness. Results: GI-4000 was well tolerated, with comparable safety findings between treatment groups. The GI-4000 group showed a similar pattern of median recurrence-free and overall survival (OS) compared with placebo. For the prospectively defined and stratified R1 resection subgroup, there was a trend in 1 year OS (72% vs. 56%), an improvement in OS (523.5 vs. 443.5 days [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.06 [confidence interval (CI): 0.53-2.13], p = 0.872), and increased frequency of immune responders (40% vs. 8%; p = 0.062) for GI-4000 versus placebo and a 159-day improvement in OS for R1 GI-4000 immune responders versus placebo (p = 0.810). For R0 resection subjects, no increases in IFNγ responses in GI-4000-treated subjects were observed. A higher frequency of R0/R1 subjects with a reduction in Tregs (CD4⁺/CD45RA⁺/Foxp3^low) was observed in GI-4000-treated subjects versus placebo (p = 0.033). A proteomic signature was identified that predicted response to GI-4000/gemcitabine regardless of resection status. Conclusion: These results justify continued investigation of GI-4000 in studies stratified for likely responders or in combination with immune check-point inhibitors or other immunomodulators, which may provide optimal reactivation of antitumor immunity. ClinicalTrials.gov Number: NCT00300950.

Understanding Racial Disparities in Gastrointestinal Cancer Outcomes: Lack of Surgery Contributes to Lower Survival in African American Patients

BACKGROUND

Race/ethnicity-related differences in rates of cancer surgery and cancer mortality have been observed for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. This study aims to estimate the extent to which differences in receipt of surgery explain racial/ethnic disparities in cancer survival.

METHODS

The National Cancer Database was used to obtain data for patients diagnosed with stage I-III mid-esophageal, distal esophagus/gastric cardia (DEGC), noncardia gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer in years 2004-2015. Mediation analysis was used to identify variables influencing the relationship between race/ethnicity and mortality, including surgery.

RESULTS

A total of 600,063 patients were included in the study: 3.5% mid-esophageal, 12.4% DEGC, 4.9% noncardia gastric, 17.0% pancreatic, 40.1% colon, and 22.0% rectal cancers. The operative rates for Black patients were low relative to White patients, with absolute differences of 21.0%, 19.9%, 2.3%, 8.3%, 1.6%, and 7.7%. Adjustment for age, stage, and comorbidities revealed even lower odds of receiving surgery for Black patients compared with White patients. The observed HRs for Black patients compared with White patients ranged from 1.01 to 1.42. Mediation analysis showed that receipt of surgery and socioeconomic factors had greatest influence on the survival disparity.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicate that Black patients appear to be undertreated compared with White patients for GI cancers. The disproportionately low operative rates contribute to the known survival disparity between Black and White patients.

IMPACT

Interventions to reduce barriers to surgery for Black patients should be promoted to reduce disparities in GI cancer outcomes.See related commentary by Hébert, p. 438.

Providing Reliable Prognosis to Patients with Gastric Cancer in the Era of Neoadjuvant Therapies: Comparison of AJCC Staging Schemata

Purpose

Patients with gastric cancer who receive neoadjuvant therapy are staged before treatment (cStage) and after treatment (ypStage). We aimed to compare the prognostic reliability of cStage and ypStage, alone and in combination.

Materials and Methods

Data for all patients who received neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma from 2004 to 2015 were extracted from the National Cancer Database. Kaplan-Meier (KM)curves were used to model overall survival based on cStage alone, ypStage alone, cStage stratified by ypStage, and ypStage stratified by cStage. P-values were generated to summarize the differences in KM curves. The discriminatory power of survival prediction was examined using Harrell's C-statistics.

Results

We included 8,977 patients in the analysis. As expected, increasing cStage and ypStage were associated with worse survival. The discriminatory prognostic power provided by cStage was poor (C-statistic 0.548), while that provided by ypStage was moderate (C-statistic 0.634). Within each cStage, the addition of ypStage information significantly altered the prognosis (P<0.0001 within cStages I–IV). However, for each ypStage, the addition of cStage information generally did not alter the prognosis (P=0.2874, 0.027, 0.061, 0.049, and 0.007 within ypStages 0–IV, respectively). The discriminatory prognostic power provided by the combination of cStage and ypStage was similar to that of ypStage alone (C-statistic 0.636 vs. 0.634).

Conclusions

The cStage is unreliable for prognosis, and ypStage is moderately reliable. Combining cStage and ypStage does not improve the discriminatory prognostic power provided by ypStage alone. A ypStage-based prognosis is minimally affected by the initial cStage.

Clinical Stage of Cancer Affects Perioperative Mortality for Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgeries

BACKGROUND

The impact of the stage of cancer on perioperative mortality remains obscure. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether cancer stage influences 30-d mortality for gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.

METHODS

Data were collected from the National Cancer Database for patients undergoing resections for cancers of the stomach, pancreas, colon, or rectum between 2004 and 2015. The main analysis was conducted among patients with cancer stages 1-3. A sensitivity analysis also included cancer stage 4. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the patients' baseline characteristics. Generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate the relationship between stage and 30-d mortality, controlling for other disease-, patient- and hospital-level factors. Pseudo R2 statistics (%Δ pseudo R²) were used to quantify the relative explanatory capacity of the variables to the model for 30-d mortality. All analyses were performed using SAS 9.4.

RESULTS

The cohort included 24,468, 28,078, 176,285, and 64,947 patients with stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectal cancers, respectively. After adjusting for other variables, 30-d mortality was different by stage for all cancer types examined. The factor most strongly associated with 30-d mortality was age (%Δ pseudo R² range 14%-39%). The prognostic impact of cancer stage (Stages 1, 2, or 3) on 30-d mortality was comparable to that of the Charlson comorbidity index.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer stage contributes to explaining differences observed in short-term mortality for gastrointestinal cancers. Short-term mortality models would benefit by including more granular cancer stage, beyond disseminated status alone.

Calcifying Fibrous Pseudotumor of the Pancreas in a Patient With Metastatic Mammary Lobular Carcinoma and Gastric Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: A Previously Undescribed Benign Mimic of Metastatic Disease

Calcifying fibrous pseudotumor, a benign spindle cell tumor, has not been reported previously in the pancreas. Herein, we report a case of pancreatic calcifying fibrous pseudotumor in a 74-year-old female with a history of metastatic breast carcinoma and gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), both confounding the diagnosis and rendering it more challenging. Microscopic examination showed a well-demarcated, paucicellular, densely fibrotic tumor with widespread dystrophic calcifications and sparse, cytologically bland polygonal and spindle cells. Histologic and immunohistochemical work-up helped to exclude relevant differential diagnoses, including metastatic carcinoma, solitary fibrous tumor, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, and GIST. 

Abstract A105: Racial disparities in reasons for not receiving surgery for gastrointestinal cancer

Introduction: Differences in rates of surgery performed for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers contribute to racial disparities in cancer mortality. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) contains data obtained from Commission on Cancer-accredited hospital cancer registries and collects reasons for nonreceipt of surgery as a registry item. This study aims to examine whether racial disparities exist in this provided reason for not receiving surgery.

Methods: The NCDB was used to obtain data for patients diagnosed with gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer in years 2004-2015. Analysis was limited to patients who were Black or White, and cancers stages 1-3. Unadjusted and adjusted differences between Black and White patients were examined for all variables in the model. Variables included demographics, receipt of surgery, reason for not having surgery, tumor stage and characteristics, and hospital factors. Reasons for patients' not receiving surgery were evaluated with Generalized Linear Modeling regression to see if certain responses, such as “contraindicated due to patient risk factors,”, “not part of the planned first course treatment,” and “refused by the patient” were more frequently assigned to Black compared to White patients.

Results: 540,205 patients with stage 1-3 gastrointestinal cancer were included in the study. 43% of the cohort had colon cancer, 24% rectal cancer, 11% gastric cancer, and 22% pancreatic cancer. For stage 1-3 disease, the raw operative rate for Black patients was 0.3%, 6.6%, 2.0%, and 6.7% lower than in White patients for stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum cancers, respectively. These gaps widened when adjusted for age, comorbidities, and stage. On multivariate regression, Black patients were more likely to be recorded as being denied surgery due to patient risk factors even after controlling for age, stage, comorbidities, tumor characteristics, demographics, and hospital factors: OR 1.03 (95% CI 0.91-1.16), 1.25 (1.18-1.33), 1.43 (1.22-1.66), 1.63 (1.41-1.88) for stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum cancer, respectively. Similarly, Black patients were more likely to reportedly not receive surgery due to surgery “not being the first course of treatment”: OR 0.99 (0.93-1.05), 1.14 (1.09-1.19), 1.30 (1.21-1.39), 1.33 (1.26-1.41). These two factors explain more than 80% of the difference in operative rates. Lastly, Black patients were disproportionately more likely to be recorded as having refused surgery: OR 1.84 (1.61-2.12), 1.07 (0.96-1.19), 1.59 (1.45-1.75), 1.81 (1.61-2.02).

Conclusion: Compared to White patients, Black patients are more likely to be described as not receiving surgery due to patient risk factors, surgery not being part of their first course of treatment, and their having refused surgery. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether the differences in operative rates are attributable to factors not captured in cancer registries, such as frailty and lack of social support.

Citation Format: John Bliton, Michael Parides, John McAuliffe, Peter Muscarella, Haejin In. Racial disparities in reasons for not receiving surgery for gastrointestinal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A105.

Abstract D105: Differences in receipt of surgery contribute to survival disparities in esophageal and gastric cancers

Introduction: Mortality disparities for gastrointestinal cancers are well described. Differences in rates of surgery across race and ethnicity may contribute to this phenomenon. In order to evaluate this, we assessed the extent to which the mortality disparity among racial/ethnic groups for gastrointestinal cancers are due to differences in operative rates. Methods: Data for patients with stage I-III esophageal and gastric cancer diagnoses between 2004-2015 were obtained from National Cancer Database. Cancers were categorized in 3 groups: mid-esophageal (ME) cancers, distal third of esophagus and cardia gastric cancers (DEC), and non-cardia gastric (NCG) cancers. Variables included demographics, receipt of surgery, tumor stage and characteristics, and hospital factors. The racial disparity in survival was measured as the hazard ratio (HR) for Black, Latinx, and Asian/Pacific Islander patients compared to White patients. A mediation analysis was performed to quantify the contribution of variables to the observed disparity between minority and White patients. The magnitude of the contributions was estimated using two methods: the change in HR with (1) the addition of each variable of interest to a model only adjusted by age and year, and (2) the removal of each variable from a multivariate model that included all variables. Factors associated with undergoing surgery were also examined using a logistic regression model. Results: A total of 124,862 patients were included (20,852 with ME, 74,427 with DEC, and 29,583 with NCG). Black patients were more likely to be from lower-income and urban areas and had lower operative rates in all cancers. The observed HRs for Black patients compared to White patients were 1.42 (95% CI 1.36-1.49) for ME, 1.36 (1.31-1.43) for DEC and 1.01 (0.97-1.05 – no observed disparity) for NCG tumors, adjusting for age and year of diagnosis. Only Black race/ethnicity was associated with a mortality disadvantage compared to White patients. Without adjustment for any additional variables, receipt of surgery accounted for more than half of the observed survival disparity for tumors of the esophagus and cardia (ΔHRs for ME: 0.27, DECS: 0.25 and NCG: 0.07). After adjustment for tumor, patient and hospital factors, receipt of surgery remained the single strongest contributor to the Black/White disparity in survival for all cancers (ΔHRs for ME: 0.070, DEC: 0.091 and NCG: 0.07). On logistic regression, Black patients were less likely to have received surgery after adjusting for other variables compared to White patients (ME aOR: 0.41 (0.37-0.46), DECS aOR: 0.42 (0.39-0.46), and NCG aOR: 0.79 (0.73-0.86)). Conclusions: Observed survival disparities in upper GI cancers may be due to fewer surgeries being performed for Black patients. Addressing differences in receipt of surgery for stage I through III esophageal and proximal stomach cancer has potential to mitigate cancer mortality disparities.

Citation Format: John Bliton, Peter Muscarella, Michael Parides, Katia Papalezova, John McAuliffe, Haejin In. Differences in receipt of surgery contribute to survival disparities in esophageal and gastric cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D105.

Abstract A104: Racial disparities in receipt of cancer surgery contribute to worse outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal cancers

Introduction: Mortality disparities exist in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers among racial/ethnic groups. One potential contributor to this disparity is a gap in who receives surgery. We aim to examine how much of the mortality disparity among racial/ethnic groups for GI cancers is explained by differences in operative rates.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was used to obtain data from patients diagnosed with gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer in 2004-2015. Descriptive statistics were used to compare raw differences for variables among races. Variables included demographics, receipt of surgery, tumor stage and characteristics, and hospital factors. The racial disparity in survival was measured as the hazard ratio (HR) for each minority compared to White patients, controlling for age and year in Cox regression. The contributions of the variables, including surgical resection, to the racial disparities were estimated by measuring how inclusion of each of these variables affected the HRs of minorities compared to White patients. The magnitudes of the contributions to the HRs were estimated using two methods: (1) the addition of each variable to the age- and year-controlled model, and (2) the serial removal of each variable from a multivariate model that included all variables. The main analysis was performed excluding patients with unknown stage or disseminated cancer.

Results: 1.47 million patients with GI cancer were included in the study: 52% colon, 11% gastric, 21% pancreatic, and 16% rectal. Black patients were more likely to be from lower-income areas, from urban areas, and had lower operative rates in all cancers except gastric cancer. On Cox regression of stage 1-3 disease controlling for age and year of diagnosis, the HRs for Black patients compared to White patients were 1.01 (95% CI 0.97- 1.03), 1.11 (1.09-1.13), 1.22 (1.19-1.24), and 1.28 (1.24-1.32) for stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum tumors, respectively. Based on the multivariate regression, the factors with the greatest influence on the survival disparity were zip income quartile and receipt of surgery. Receipt of surgery independently accounted for 29%, 11%, and 19% of the survival disadvantage observed in Black compared to White patients for pancreas, colon, and rectum cancer. Zip income quartile accounted for 16%, 18%, and 17%, excluding interactions. In contrast, no gap in operative rates or overall survival was observed for stomach cancer. The significance of surgery to outcomes was most pronounced for pancreatic cancer, where adding receipt of surgery to the age- and year-controlled model reduced the HR from 1.11 to 0.99; for colon and rectal cancer the HR changed from 1.22 to 1.15 and from 1.28 to 1.17.

Conclusion: Part of the observed cancer disparities for Black patients may be due to fewer surgeries being performed for Black patients. Correcting the disparities on the receipt of surgery for stage I through III GI cancer would likely have a large impact on mortality disparities.

Citation Format: John Bliton, Michael Parides, John McAuliffe, Peter Muscarella, Haejin In. Racial disparities in receipt of cancer surgery contribute to worse outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A104.

Feasibility and efficacy of gamification in general surgery residency: Preliminary outcomes of residency teams

BACKGROUND

Comprehensive studies evaluating the efficacy of team-based competition ("Gamification") in surgery have not been performed. Board pass rates and resident satisfaction may improve if surgical residents are involved in competition.

METHODS

Residents at Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, New York) were surveyed and separated into teams during a draft. Each resident's performance was converted into a point system. Resident scores were combined into a team score and presented as a leaderboard. Awards were given. ABSITE, ACGME residency satisfaction, and ABS qualifying exam pass rates were compared.

RESULTS

Sixty percent of residents are inspired to improve their performance during gamification. ABSITE average percentile score improved from 28 to 43. ABS qualifying exam pass rates improved from 73% to 100%. Resident satisfaction improved from 65% to 88%. The point system allowed for establishing "growth curves" for each resident enabling enhanced assessment of residents.

CONCLUSIONS

A comprehensive team-based competition inspires performance, is feasible, and seems to improve ABSITE scores, ABS pass rates, and satisfaction while being a tool for assessment of performance.

Perioperative Mortality Does Not Explain Racial Disparities in Gastrointestinal Cancer

BACKGROUND

Racial minorities with gastrointestinal cancer suffer disproportionately poor overall and disease-specific survival. We used a nationally representative sample to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and mortality and determine whether these disparities were observed in the perioperative period.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) was used to examine patients undergoing surgery for cancers of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon and rectum ("GI cancer") between 2008 and 2012. Logistic regression was used to evaluate whether race/ethnicity was associated with perioperative mortality after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, perioperative factors and presentation (ER vs elective).

RESULTS

A total of 110,044 subjects were identified, including 75.8% Whites, 10.5% Black patients, 7.2% Hispanic patients, and 3.1% Asian/Pacific Islanders (API). Whites were generally older than minorities. In adjusted multivariable generalized linear mixed logistic models, no increase in perioperative mortality was seen for minorities. Worse outcomes were observed for those with higher Elixhauser comorbidity score (OR 6.90, CI 5.96-7.99), lower income region (OR 1.24, CI 1.10-1.40), males (OR 1.54, CI 1.42-1.68), and those without private insurance (Medicare OR 1.34, CI 1.16-1.55; Medicaid OR 1.27, CI 1.02-1.58; self-pay OR 1.64, CI 1.24-2.17). Differences in mortality were predominantly driven by comorbidities (pseudo %ΔR² = 38.56%) and only minimally by race (pseudo %ΔR² = 0.49%).

CONCLUSION

Minority groups do not suffer higher rates of perioperative mortality for GI cancer surgeries after controlling for clinical and demographic factors. Future work to address cancer disparities should focus on areas in the cancer care trajectory such as cancer screening, surveillance, socioeconomic factors, and access.

An unusual cause of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding-gastric mucormycosis

Mucormycosis of the gastrointestinal tract is a life threatening infection most commonly seen in patients with severe immunosuppression. A 42-year-old male with history of choriocarcinoma was admitted to the intensive care unit with septic shock. He developed massive hematemesis requiring upper endoscopy which showed multiple deep gastric ulcers. Due to uncontrollable bleeding he underwent an emergent gastrectomy which revealed necrotic ulcers with evidence of angioinvasion in the ulcer bed with mucor organisms. The PCR revealed the mucor to be Mycotypha microspora which is extremely rare. We discuss the challenges involved in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric mucormycosis.

Gastric cancer staging in the era of neoadjuvant therapy and its prognostic implications

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Background: Increasingly patients are undergoing neoadjuvant therapy for gastric cancer. The relationship between stage-based prognostic information available prior to treatment (cStage), after surgery (ypStage), and difference between cStage and ypStage (delta) remains unclear. We aim to describe the relationship between cStage and ypStage as relates to survival for gastric cancer patients. Methods: Data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) from 2004-2015 was used for the analysis. Patients with gastric adenocarcinoma who received neoadjuvant therapy then underwent surgery were included. Kaplan Meier curves were used to model survival. Harrell’s C-statistics obtained from Cox Regression models were reported. Results: 9,959 patients met our inclusion criteria. Increases in cStage, ypStage and delta (ypStage-cStage) were associated with worse survival. Median overall survivals for cStages 1-4 were: 53.8, 39.5, 29.2, 20.9 months (logrank test, p<0.0001). Median survivals for ypStage 0-4 were: 95.4, 89.7, 36.9, 23.4, 16.0 months (logrank test, p<0.0001). Survival was further stratified by delta. A representative table comparing cStage 2 and ypStage 2 is shown below. A cox regression model with cStage as predictor of survival yielded a Harrell’s C-statistic of 0.555; when delta was added to the model, the C-statistic increased to 0.638. Separately, a Cox-regression model with ypStage as predictor yielded a C-statistic of 0.632; when delta was added to this model, the C-statistic increased negligibly to 0.638. Conclusions: Prognostic accuracy using cStage prior to treatment improved when tumor responsiveness was considered while this was not the case for ypStage. Pre-surgical prognostic information should be provided with a caveat that treatment response will influence survival. Post-surgery, the clinical stage is less relevant and ypStage can be used alone in providing prognostic information. [Table: see text]

Preoperative factors predictive of pathologic upstaging in clinical stage I gastric cancer patients

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Background: In patients with stage 1 gastric cancer, surgical resection without neoadjuvant therapy is offered as the first line treatment. However, some of these patients are found to have higher stage after resection and miss the opportunity for neoadjuvant therapy. Preoperative patient and tumor characteristics may be predictive of the likelihood of pathological upstaging in stage 1 gastric cancer patients who have not received neo-adjuvant therapy. Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients diagnosed from 2004-2015 with clinical stage 1 gastric adenocarcinoma who had undergone surgical resection without neoadjuvant therapy. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were conducted to determine pre-operative factors associated with pathological upstaging. Candidate variables examined included age, sex, race, tumor size, histology, grade, tumor location, days to surgery, and lymphovascular invasion. Results: Analysis was conducted on 8,015 clinical stage 1 patients. Overall 1,981 (25%) patients were upstaged. On multivariable logistic regression analysis, significant predictors of upstaging included increasing tumor size [ref : size < 1 cm, 1-2 cm aOR=3.8 (95% CI 2.3-6.1); 2-4 cm aOR=12.4 (7.9-19.5); > = 4cm aOR=25.9 (22.9-56.4)], younger age [ref: > = 75, < 50 aOR=1.7 (1.4-2.1), 50-65 aOR=1.4 (1.2-1.6), 65-75 aOR=1.2 (1.1-1.5)], male gender [aOR=1.16 (1.0-1.3)], presence of diffuse type gastric cancer [aOR=2.3 (1.7-3.2)], mucinous type [aOR=1.7 (1.1-2.5)], or signet ring cell histology [aOR=1.6 (1.3-2.0)] compared to intestinal histology, presence of lymphovascular invasion [aOR=6.0 (5.0-7.1)], and increasing grade [ref: grade 1, grade 2 aOR=2.30 (1.7-3.5); grade 3 aOR=4.9 (3.6- 6.7)]. Conclusions: A quarter of all patients thought to have stage 1 gastric cancer prior to surgery had higher pathologic stage at time of resection. Patients with the above risk factors may be understaged with currently available diagnostic tools. The addition of neoadjuvant therapy should be considered when the above risk factors are present in clinical stage 1 patients.

Trans-intra-arterial gemcitabine versus continuation of IV gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel following radiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (TIGeR-PaC)

TPS529

Background: Treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) remains a challenge, and novel therapy options for local treatment of disease beyond systemic therapy are needed. Recently published data of intra-arterial delivery of gemcitabine (IAG) for local disease control has shown this approach to be safe (J. Pancreatic Cancer 3(1) 58:65). Furthermore, in patients who have received prior radiation for LAPC, there seems to be an effect on the local microvasculature that enhances the clinical efficacy of IAG. TIGeR-PaC is a randomized Phase 3 trial designed to test if the combination of induction systemic chemotherapy plus radiation followed by IAG is superior to systemic chemotherapy plus radiation alone (NCT03257033). Methods: All subjects with biopsy proven, and imaging-confirmed LAPC (by the NCCN guidelines) will receive induction therapy with IV gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel, for approximately four months, during which time a course of radiation therapy will also be incorporated. Subjects without evidence of disease progression will then be randomized to receive either IAG (test group); or continue only IV gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (control group). Subjects will receive the randomized treatments for up to 16 weeks or until progression. Non-progressing patients from both groups will then receive, at the discretion of the investigator, either a continuation of IV gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, or oral capecitabine until disease progression. The primary endpoint is progression free survival; secondary endpoints will include overall survival, neutropenia, quality of life, and neuropathy assessed over 2 years. Based on an assumed superiority of IAG therapy, which will lead to an increased PFS from 6 months (control group) up to 12 months (IAG group), with an alpha-error of 0.05 and a 90% power, 132 patients will be randomized; assuming a 30% dropout during the induction phase prior to randomization, 200 patients will be recruited. TIGeR-PaC will test the hypothesis that IAG local therapy, after induction systemic chemotherapy plus radiation in patients with LAPC is superior to systemic therapy plus radiation alone. Clinical trial information: NCT03257033.

Gastric cancer diagnosis after presentation to the ED: The independent association of presenting location and outcomes

BACKGROUND

The impact of diagnosis location on gastric cancer (GC) outcomes is poorly defined.

METHODS

Detailed chart review was conducted to identify presenting location leading to diagnosis and treatment for GC patients at a single institution (2009-2013). Patients treated non-emergently following a diagnosis prompted by an ED visit (EDdx) were compared with those diagnosed at other locations (non-EDdx).

RESULTS

EDdx patients comprised 52% of 263 GC patients. They were older, had later cancer stages (stage IV: 50% vs. 24%), more comorbidities (≥3: 68% vs. 47%), and presented with non-specific symptoms like bleeding (21% vs. 5%). Both groups were of similar race and insurance status. In a model adjusted for stage, EDdx was associated with increased mortality (aHR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2-2.9).

CONCLUSION

Half of GC patients had an ED visit prompting diagnosis, which is independently associated with increased mortality. Efforts should focus on reducing EDdx rates to improve GC outcomes.

Poor Outcomes of Gastric Cancer Surgery After Admission Through the Emergency Department

BACKGROUND

Outcomes after nonelective surgery for gastric cancer (GC) are poorly defined. Our objective was to compare outcomes of patients undergoing nonelective GC surgery after admission through the emergency department (EDSx) with patients receiving elective surgery or surgery after planned admission (non-EDSx) nationally.

METHODS

The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was used to examine patients undergoing GC surgery between 2008 and 2012. Demographics and outcomes were compared between EDSx and non-EDSx. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine predictors of discharge to home.

RESULTS

Of 9279 patients, 1143 (12%) underwent EDSx. They were more likely to be female (42 vs. 35%), nonwhite (56 vs. 33%), aged ≥75 years (40 vs. 26%), in the lowest quartile for household income (31 vs. 25%), have one or more comorbidities (87 vs. 70%), treated at a nonteaching hospital (46 vs. 25%), and have a concomitant diagnosis of obstruction, perforation, or bleeding (30 vs. 6%). They had longer total length of stay (LOS; 16 vs. 9 days), longer median postoperative stays (10 vs. 9 days), higher in-hospital mortality (8 vs. 3%), and were less likely to be discharged home (63 vs. 82%). EDSx was more expensive ($125,300 vs. $83,604). EDSx was associated with a lower likelihood of discharge to home (odds ratio 0.52, 95% CI 0.43-0.62).

CONCLUSIONS

Nationally, 12% of GC surgeries are performed after emergency department admission, which occurs more frequently in vulnerable populations and results in worse outcomes. Understanding factors leading to increased EDSx and developing strategies to decrease EDSx may improve GC surgery outcomes.

Routine Cyst Fluid Cytology Is Not Indicated in the Evaluation of Pancreatic Cystic Lesions

BACKGROUND

The work-up of cystic lesions of the pancreas often involves endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with fine needle aspiration (FNA). In addition to CEA and amylase measurement, fluid is routinely sent for cytologic examination. We evaluated the utility of cytologic findings in clinical decision-making.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Records of patients who underwent EUS-guided pancreatic cyst aspiration were reviewed. Findings from axial imaging and EUS were compared to cyst fluid cytology as well as fluid amylase and CEA. All results were then compared to final diagnosis, determined by clinical analysis for those patients not resected, and surgical pathology report for those who underwent resection.

RESULTS

A total of 167 patients were reviewed. Of 48 patients with suspicious findings on imaging, cytology yielded diagnostic information in 89.6 % of cases (43 patients). However, in the 119 patients where no suspicious components were revealed on imaging, fluid cytology yielded no significant diagnostic results in any case. In all cases where mucin was noted on cytologic review, thick fluid was also seen at the time of aspiration.

DISCUSSION

In our cohort of patients with cystic pancreatic lesions, cytologic analysis of pancreatic cyst fluid yielded no diagnostic benefit over radiologic findings alone. In such cases where fluid is to be aspirated, specimens that would otherwise be sent for cytologic evaluation would be better served for other purposes, such as molecular analysis or banking for future research.

The Community Preceptor Crisis: Recruiting and Retaining Community-Based Faculty to Teach Medical Students-A Shared Perspective From the Alliance for Clinical Education

ISSUE

Community-based instruction is invaluable to medical students, as it provides "real-world" opportunities for observing and following patients over time while refining history taking, physical examination, differential diagnosis, and patient management skills. Community-based ambulatory settings can be more conducive to practicing these skills than highly specialized, academically based practice sites. The Association of American Medical Colleges and other national medical education organizations have expressed concern about recruitment and retention of preceptors to provide high-quality educational experiences in community-based practice sites. These concerns stem from constraints imposed by documentation in electronic health records; perceptions that student mentoring is burdensome resulting in decreased clinical productivity; and competition between allopathic, osteopathic, and international medical schools for finite resources for medical student experiences.

EVIDENCE

In this Alliance for Clinical Education position statement, we provide a consensus summary of representatives from national medical education organizations in 8 specialties that offer clinical clerkships. We describe the current challenges in providing medical students with adequate community-based instruction and propose potential solutions.

IMPLICATIONS

Our recommendations are designed to assist clerkship directors and medical school leaders overcome current challenges and ensure high-quality, community-based clinical learning opportunities for all students. They include suggesting ways to orient community clinic sites for students, explaining how students can add value to the preceptor's practice, focusing on educator skills development, recognizing preceptors who excel in their role as educators, and suggesting forms of compensation.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma, version 2.2014: featured updates to the NCCN guidelines

The NCCN Guidelines for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma discuss the diagnosis and management of adenocarcinomas of the exocrine pancreas and are intended to assist with clinical decision-making. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize major discussion points from the 2014 NCCN Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Panel meeting. The panel discussion focused mainly on the management of borderline resectable and locally advanced disease. In particular, the panel discussed the definition of borderline resectable disease, role of neoadjuvant therapy in borderline disease, role of chemoradiation in locally advanced disease, and potential role of newer, more active chemotherapy regimens in both settings.

Neoadjuvant modified (m) FOLFIRINOX for locally advanced unresectable (LAPC) and borderline resectable (BRPC) adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

BACKGROUND

For patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin [LV], irinotecan [IRI], and oxaliplatin) has shown improved survival rates compared with gemcitabine but with significant toxicity, particularly in patients with a high tumor burden. Because of reported response rates exceeding 30 %, the authors began to use a modified (m) FOLFIRINOX regimen for patients with advanced nonmetastatic disease aimed at downstaging for resection. This report describes their experience with mFOLFIRINOX and aggressive surgical resection.

METHODS

Between January 2011 and August of 2013, 43 patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC, n = 18) or locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC, n = 25) were treated with mFOLFIRINOX (no bolus 5-FU, no LV, and decreased IRI). Radiation was used based on response and intended surgery. Charts were retrospectively reviewed to assess response, toxicities, and extent of resection when possible.

RESULTS

The most common grade 3/4 toxicity was diarrhea in six patients (14 %) with no grade 3/4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. Resection was attempted in 31 cases (72 %) and accomplished in 22 cases (51.1 %) including 11 of 25 LAPC cases (44 %). Vascular resection was required in 4 cases (18 %), with R0 resection in 86.4 % of the resections. Complications occurred in 6 cases (27 %), with no perioperative deaths. The median progression-free survival period was 18 months if the resection was achieved compared with 8 months if no resection was performed (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX is an effective, well-tolerated regimen for patients with advanced nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer. When mFOLFIRINOX is coupled with aggressive surgery, high resection rates are possible even when the initial imaging shows locally advanced disease. Although data are still maturing, resection appears to offer at least a progression-free survival advantage.

Intraoperative Use of a Portable Large Field of View Gamma Camera and Handheld Gamma Detection Probe for Radioguided Localization and Prediction of Complete Surgical Resection of Gastrinoma: Proof of Concept

BACKGROUND

Surgical management of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) relies on localization and resection of all tumor foci. We describe the benefit of combined intraoperative use of a portable large field of view gamma camera (LFOVGC) and a handheld gamma detection probe (HGDP) for indium-111 ((111)In)-pentetreotide radioguided localization and confirmation of gastrinoma resection in ZES.

STUDY DESIGN

Five patients (6 cases) with (111)In-pentetreotide-avid ZES were evaluated. Patients were injected with (111)In-pentetreotide for diagnostic imaging the day before surgery. Intraoperatively, an HGDP and LFOVGC were used to localize (111)In-pentetreotide-avid lesions, guide resection, assess specimens for (111)In-pentetreotide activity, and to verify lack of abnormal post-resection surgical field activity.

RESULTS

Large field of view gamma camera imaging and HGDP-assisted detection were helpful for localization and guided resection of tumor and removal of (111)In-pentetreotide-avid tumor foci in all cases. In 3 of 5 patients (3 of 6 cases), these techniques led to detection and resection of additional tumor foci beyond those detected by standard surgical techniques. The (111)In-pentetreotide-positive or-negative specimens correlated with neuroendocrine tumors or benign pathology, respectively. In one patient with mild residual focal activity on post-resection portable LFOVGC imaging, thought to be artifact, had recurrence of disease in the same area 5 months after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Real-time LFOVGC imaging and HGDP use for surgical management of gastrinoma improve success of localizing and resecting all neuroendocrine tumor-positive tumor foci, providing instantaneous navigational feedback. This approach holds potential for improving long-term patient outcomes in patients with ZES.

Surgeon and nonsurgeon personalities at different career points

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have demonstrated correlations between personality traits and job performance and satisfaction. Evidence suggests that personality differences exist between surgeons and nonsurgeons, some of which may develop during medical training. Understanding these personality differences may help optimize job performance and satisfaction among surgical trainees and be used to identify individuals at risk of burnout. This study aims to identify personality traits of surgeons and nonsurgeons at different career points.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We used The Big Five Inventory, a 44-item measure of the five factor model. Personality data and demographics were collected from responses to an electronic survey sent to all faculty and house staff in the Departments of Surgery, Medicine, and Family Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Data were analyzed to identify differences in personality traits between surgical and nonsurgical specialties according to level of training and to compare surgeons to the general population.

RESULTS

One hundred ninety-two house staff and faculty in surgery and medicine completed the survey. Surgeons scored significantly higher on conscientiousness and extraversion but lower on agreeableness compared to nonsurgeons (all P < 0.05). Surgery faculty scored lower in agreeableness compared with that of surgery house staff (P = 0.001), whereas nonsurgeon faculty scored higher on extraversion compared with that of nonsurgeon house staff (P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

There appears to be inherent personality differences between surgical and nonsurgical specialties. The use of personality testing may be a useful adjunct in the residency selection process for applicants deciding between surgical and nonsurgical specialties. It may also facilitate early intervention for individuals at high risk for burnout and job dissatisfaction.

Adjuvant therapy (Adj) in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm cancer (IPMN-Ca) versus pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC): Comparison of survival analyses

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Background: Incidence of IPMN-Ca is increasing and due to lack of large prospective trials to evaluate optimal management of IPMN-Ca following resection, benefit of Adj is unknown. Methods: Retrospective review of patients (pts) who underwent pancreatic resection for invasive cancer from 2004 to 2012 at a single institution. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to determine association between different characteristics and survival. Results: From a total of 225 pancreatic resections (IPMN-Ca = 39, PDAC = 186), data regarding Adj was available in 179 pts (IPMN-Ca = 30, PDAC = 149). As shown in the Table, IPMN-Ca pts were less likely to receive Adj than PDAC (53% vs. 85% p = <0.001). There was no significant difference in tumor stage (stg) (early T vs advanced T) and Nodal stg (N0 vs. N1) distribution between pts who received Adj with IPMN-Ca or PDAC. Univariable survival analysis (SA): In PDAC, Adj improved overall survival (OS) (Hazard ratio [HR]: 0.46, 95% CI 0.28, 0.77), but there was no improvement in OS in IPMN-Ca pts with Adj (HR: 1.6, 95% CI 0.56, 4.64). Multivariable SA adjusting for age, Adj, resection margin, T, N stg: For PDACs, Adj was singularly associated with improved OS (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.30, 0.82). In contrast, SA for IPMN-Ca did not reveal any significant contributing variable. For all pancreatic cancers, multivariable SA adjusting for IPMN-Ca vs. PDAC, age, Adj, resection margin, T, N stg revealed that a diagnosis of IPMN-Ca (HR: 0.52, 95% CI 0.30, 0.91) and a negative resection margin (HR: 0.65, 95% CI 0.43, 0.96) were significantly associated with better OS. Conclusions: Post resection, although pts with IPMN-Ca have better OS than PDACs, Adj fails to influence OS in IPMN-Ca pts. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings. [Table: see text]

Abstract 5314: A proteomic signature predicts response to a therapeutic vaccine in pancreas cancer; analysis from the GI-4000-02 trial

Background:

We have previously reported that adjuvant treatment with a therapeutic vaccine targeting the mutated Ras oncogene product generated mutation-specific T cell responses associated with a trend toward improved survival in patients with post-operative residual disease (R1 resections) but no improvement in the overall population1. Initial analysis of 90 pretreatment plasma samples using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) showed the potential to predict improved RFS and OS for treatment with GI-4000/gemcitabine, but not placebo/gemcitabine.

Methods:

We have developed a novel technique, combining methods used in recent advances in learning theory (‘deep learning’) with newly-refined MS techniques that allow exploration deeper into the proteome to create diagnostic tests. Using 500,000 laser shot Deep MALDI spectra2 more than 700 mass spectral features were identified. A subset of these was used to create many multivariate classifiers that were filtered for performance and combined using dropout regularization. This method allows the use of smaller training sets and so left a test set with which performance of the signature could be independently assessed. This new methodology was used to create a test (BDX-001) to identify patients likely to benefit from the addition of GI-4000 to gemcitabine.

Results:

Using BDX-001 for stratification, subjects who are BDX-001(+) demonstrated a 499 day advantage in median OS when treated with GI-4000/gemcitabine vs. placebo/gemcitabine. Additionally, these subjects demonstrated a 351 day improvement in median RFS. BDX-001 did not predict response for placebo/gemcitabine treated subjects. These results were obtained using only test set data, and although the small sample size prohibited statistical significance, it should give an unbiased test performance estimate to be validated independently.

Conclusions:

BDX-001 is a test developed using novel proteomic and learning theory methods that appears to predict treatment response to GI-4000 in resected pancreas cancer patients, potentially identifying patients with improved RFS and OS in the GI-4000/gemcitabine arm. We plan to prospectively validate BDX-001 as a companion diagnostic in a future study of GI-4000 in pancreas cancer.

References

1. Richards et al, ESMO GI. Annals of Oncology, June 2012 23 (suppl 4)

2. Duncan et al, ASMS 2013, http://asms.inmerge.com/Proceedings/2013Proceedings.aspx.

Citation Format: Donald A. Richards, Peter Muscarella, Tanios Bekaii-Saab, Lalan S. Wilfong, Vic Velanovich, Julian Raynov, Patrick J. Flynn, William E. Fisher, Samuel H. Whiting, Constana Timcheva, Tom Holmes, Claire Coeshott, Alicia Mattson, Heinrich Roder, Joanna Roder, Allen Cohn, Timothy C. Rodell. A proteomic signature predicts response to a therapeutic vaccine in pancreas cancer; analysis from the GI-4000-02 trial. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5314. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5314

Near-infrared fluorescent cholangiography facilitates identification of biliary anatomy during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND

Intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) is the current gold standard for biliary imaging during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). However, utilization of IOC remains low. Near-infrared fluorescence cholangiography (NIRF-C) is a novel, noninvasive method for real-time, intraoperative biliary mapping. Our aims were to assess the safety and efficacy of NIRF-C for identification of biliary anatomy during LC.

METHODS

Patients were administered indocyanine green (ICG) prior to surgery. NIRF-C was used to identify extrahepatic biliary structures before and after partial and complete dissection of Calot's triangle. Routine IOC was performed in each case. Identification of biliary structures using NIRF-C and IOC, and time required to complete each procedure were collected.

RESULTS

Eighty-two patients underwent elective LC with NIRF-C and IOC. Mean age and body mass index (BMI) were 42.6 ± 13.7 years and 31.5 ± 8.2 kg/m(2), respectively. ICG was administered 73.8 ± 26.4 min prior to incision. NIRF-C was significantly faster than IOC (1.9 ± 1.7 vs. 11.8 ± 5.3 min, p < 0.001). IOC was unobtainable in 20 (24.4 %) patients while NIRF-C did not visualize biliary structures in 4 (4.9 %) patients. After complete dissection, the rates of visualization of the cystic duct, common bile duct, and common hepatic duct using NIRF-C were 95.1, 76.8, and 69.5 %, respectively, compared to 72.0, 75.6, and 74.3 % for IOC. In 20 patients where IOC could not be obtained, NIRF-C successfully identified biliary structures in 80 % of the cases. Higher BMI was not a deterrent to visualization of anatomy with NIRF-C. No adverse events were observed with NIRF-C.

CONCLUSIONS

NIRF-C is a safe and effective alternative to IOC for imaging extrahepatic biliary structures during LC. This technique should be evaluated further under a variety of acute and chronic gallbladder inflammatory conditions to determine its usefulness in biliary ductal identification.

Biomarkers as predictors of recurrence following curative resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a review

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is the fourth most common cancer causing death in the United States. Early tumor recurrence is an important contributor to the dismal prognosis. The availability of an accurate prognostic biomarker for predicting disease recurrence following curative resection will be beneficial for patient care. Most of the currently studied biomarkers remain in the investigational phase, with CA 19-9 being the only biomarker currently approved by the FDA. Herein, we review the utility of CA 19-9 and other investigational cellular, gene, and molecular tumor markers for predicting PDA recurrence following curative surgical resection.

A randomized prospective multicenter trial of pancreaticoduodenectomy with and without routine intraperitoneal drainage

OBJECTIVE

To test by randomized prospective multicenter trial the hypothesis that pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) without the use of intraperitoneal drainage does not increase the frequency or severity of complications.

BACKGROUND

Some surgeons have abandoned the use of drains placed during pancreas resection.

METHODS

We randomized 137 patients to PD with (n = 68, drain group) and without (n = 69, no-drain group) the use of intraperitoneal drainage and compared the safety of this approach and spectrum of complications between the 2 groups.

RESULTS

There were no differences between drain and no-drain cohorts in demographics, comorbidities, pathology, pancreatic duct size, pancreas texture, baseline quality of life, or operative technique. PD without intraperitoneal drainage was associated with an increase in the number of complications per patient [1 (0-2) vs 2 (1-4), P = 0.029]; an increase in the number of patients who had at least 1 ≥grade 2 complication [35 (52%) vs 47 (68%), P = 0.047]; and a higher average complication severity [2 (0-2) vs 2 (1-3), P = 0.027]. PD without intraperitoneal drainage was associated with a higher incidence of gastroparesis, intra-abdominal fluid collection, intra-abdominal abscess (10% vs 25%, P = 0.027), severe (≥grade 2) diarrhea, need for a postoperative percutaneous drain, and a prolonged length of stay. The Data Safety Monitoring Board stopped the study early because of an increase in mortality from 3% to 12% in the patients undergoing PD without intraperitoneal drainage.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides level 1 data, suggesting that elimination of intraperitoneal drainage in all cases of PD increases the frequency and severity of complications.

NF-κB-mediated Pax7 dysregulation in the muscle microenvironment promotes cancer cachexia

Cachexia is a debilitating condition characterized by extreme skeletal muscle wasting that contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. Efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of muscle loss have predominantly focused on events intrinsic to the myofiber. In contrast, less regard has been given to potential contributory factors outside the fiber within the muscle microenvironment. In tumor-bearing mice and patients with pancreatic cancer, we found that cachexia was associated with a type of muscle damage resulting in activation of both satellite and nonsatellite muscle progenitor cells. These muscle progenitors committed to a myogenic program, but were inhibited from completing differentiation by an event linked with persistent expression of the self-renewing factor Pax7. Overexpression of Pax7 was sufficient to induce atrophy in normal muscle, while under tumor conditions, the reduction of Pax7 or exogenous addition of its downstream target, MyoD, reversed wasting by restoring cell differentiation and fusion with injured fibers. Furthermore, Pax7 was induced by serum factors from cachectic mice and patients, in an NF-κB-dependent manner, both in vitro and in vivo. Together, these results suggest that Pax7 responds to NF-κB by impairing the regenerative capacity of myogenic cells in the muscle microenvironment to drive muscle wasting in cancer.

Tolerability and efficacy of modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) in patients with borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) and locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer (LAURPC)

275

Background: FOLFIRINOX exhibits a meaningful improvement in outcome measures in metastatic pancreatic cancer, making it an interesting regimen for BRPC and LAURPC. However, its use remains prohibitive due to toxicity. In this study, we examine the outcomes of mFOLFIRINOX as a neoadjuvant strategy for patients with BRPC and LAURPC. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of patients who received mFOLFIRINOX for BRPC or LAURPC at Ohio State University. mFOLFIRINOX is as follows: irinotecan at 165 mg/m2; oxaliplatin at 85 mg/m2; 5-fluorouracil (5FU) at 2,400 mg/m2 over 46 hours and pegfilgrastim on day 4 of each 2-week cycle. Cases were thoroughly reviewed by a multidisciplinary team prior to initiation of therapy and at each restaging scan. The primary outcomes of this analysis were resection rate and grade 3/4 (G3/4) toxicities. Results: Since 1/1/2011, 43 patients (20 BRPC; 23 LAURPC) have received mFOLFIRINOX. Patients received gemcitabine-based chemoradiation (36 Gy in 15 fractions) only if their best response was stable disease after 4 months of mFOLFIRINOX. At the time of this abstract, 39 patients are evaluable for primary outcome. Overall resection rate was 53.8% including 45% of patients with initially unresectable disease. R0 resection was achieved in 85.7% of the surgeries. See table for more results. The rate of G3/4 toxicity was remarkably low with no episodes of febrile neutropenia, G3/4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. Toxicities lead to dose reductions in 46% of patients. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX is an effective, well-tolerated regimen as part of an integrated, multimodality strategy in BRPC and LAURPC leading to high resection rates and high R0 resection frequency. [Table: see text]

The addition of radiation to chemotherapy does not improve outcome when compared to chemotherapy in the treatment of resected pancreas cancer: the results of a single-institution experience

BACKGROUND

Pancreas cancer is highly lethal even at early stages. Adjuvant therapy with chemotherapy (CT) or chemoradiation (CRT) is standard following surgery to delay recurrence and improve survival. There is no consensus on the added value of radiotherapy (RT). We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes in pancreas cancer patients treated with CT or CRT following surgery.

METHODS

Patients with resected pancreas adenocarcinoma were identified in our institutional database. Relevant clinicopathologic and demographic data were collected. Patients were grouped according to adjuvant treatment: group A: no treatment; group B: CT; group C: CRT. The primary endpoint of overall survival was compared between groups B vs. C. Univariate and multivariate analyses of potential prognostic factors were conducted including all patients.

RESULTS

A total of 146 evaluable patients were included (group A: n = 33; group B: n = 45; group C: n = 68). Demographics and pathologic characteristics were comparable. There was no significant survival benefit for CRT compared with CT (mOS 16.8 months vs. 21.5 months, respectively, p = 0.76). Local recurrence rates were similar in all three groups. Univariate analyses identified absence of lymph node involvement (hazards ratio [HR] 1.43, p = 0.0082) and administration of adjuvant therapy (HR 0.496, p = 0.0008) as significant predictors for improved survival. Multivariate analyses suggested that patients without nodal involvement derived the most benefit from adjuvant treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of RT to CT did not improve survival over CT. Lymph node involvement predicts inferior clinical outcome.

Perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic transhiatal esophagectomy with antegrade esophageal inversion for high-grade dysplasia and invasive esophageal cancer

BACKGROUND

We examined the safety and effectiveness of antegrade laparoscopic inversion esophagectomy (LIE) for patients with multifocal high-grade dysplasia and distal esophageal cancer.

METHODS

We reviewed our experience with antegrade LIE, using an institutional research board-approved prospective database.

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients with an average age of 64 years underwent LIE. Indications included multifocal high-grade dysplasia (n = 4), adenocarcinoma (n = 30), and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 2); 11 patients had undergone neoadjuvant chemoradiation. LIE was completed successfully in 34 (94%) patients, whereas 2 required a conversion to open transhiatal esophagectomy. LIE required 221 minutes to perform, with a median blood loss of 100 mL. R0 resection was achieved in 97% of cases with a median lymph node harvest 15. Median hospital stay was 8 days, and 61% of patients were discharged to their home. Postoperative complications included anastomotic leak (n = 11) and stricture (n = 18), atrial arrhythmia (n = 5), pneumonia (n = 4), and tracheoesophageal fistula (n = 2). Operative outcomes after neoadjuvant therapy did not differ from those for primary operative resection.

CONCLUSION

Antegrade LIE is a safe treatment approach for patients with high-grade dysplasia and distal esophageal cancer. Complete resection with an adequate lymph node harvest can be achieved consistently for primary operative resection or after neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, version 2.2012: featured updates to the NCCN Guidelines

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma discuss the workup and management of tumors of the exocrine pancreas. These NCCN Guidelines Insights provide a summary and explanation of major changes to the 2012 NCCN Guidelines for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. The panel made 3 significant updates to the guidelines: 1) more detail was added regarding multiphase CT techniques for diagnosis and staging of pancreatic cancer, and pancreas protocol MRI was added as an emerging alternative to CT; 2) the use of a fluoropyrimidine plus oxaliplatin (e.g., 5-FU/leucovorin/oxaliplatin or capecitabine/oxaliplatin) was added as an acceptable chemotherapy combination for patients with advanced or metastatic disease and good performance status as a category 2B recommendation; and 3) the panel developed new recommendations concerning surgical technique and pathologic analysis and reporting.

Genetic alterations of RD(INK4/ARF) enhancer in human cancer cells

Recent identification of an enhancer element, RD(INK4/ARF) (RD), in the prominent INK4/ARF locus provides a novel mechanism to simultaneously regulate the transcription of p15(INK4B) (p15), p14(ARF) , and p16(INK4A) (p16) tumor suppressor genes. While genetic inactivation of p15, p14(ARF) , and p16 in human tumors has been extensively studied, little is known about genetic alterations of RD and its impact on p15, p14(ARF) , and p16 in human cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential existence of genetic alterations of RD in human cancer cells. DNAs extracted from 17 different cancer cell lines and 31 primary pheochromocytoma tumors were analyzed for deletion and mutation of RD using real-time PCR and direct DNA sequencing. We found that RD was deleted in human cancer cell lines and pheochromocytoma tumors at frequencies of 41.2% (7/17) and 13.0% (4/31), respectively. While some of these RD deletion events occurred along with deletions of the entire INK4/ARF locus, other RD deletion events were independent of genetic alterations in p15, p14(ARF) , and p16. Furthermore, the status of RD was poorly associated with the expression of p15, p14(ARF) , and p16 in tested cancer cell lines and tumors. This study demonstrates for the first time that deletion of the RD enhancer is a prevalent event in human cancer cells. Its implication in carcinogenesis remains to be further explored.

Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, version 2.2012: featured updates to the NCCN Guidelines

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma discuss the workup and management of tumors of the exocrine pancreas. These NCCN Guidelines Insights provide a summary and explanation of major changes to the 2012 NCCN Guidelines for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. The panel made 3 significant updates to the guidelines: 1) more detail was added regarding multiphase CT techniques for diagnosis and staging of pancreatic cancer, and pancreas protocol MRI was added as an emerging alternative to CT; 2) the use of a fluoropyrimidine plus oxaliplatin (e.g., 5-FU/leucovorin/oxaliplatin or capecitabine/oxaliplatin) was added as an acceptable chemotherapy combination for patients with advanced or metastatic disease and good performance status as a category 2B recommendation; and 3) the panel developed new recommendations concerning surgical technique and pathologic analysis and reporting.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, multicenter phase II adjuvant trial of the efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety of GI-4000 plus gem versus gem alone in patients with resected pancreas cancer with activating RAS mutations/survival and immunology analysis of the R1 subgroup

e14501

Background: Patients with resected pancreas cancer treated with standard of care Gem have a median overall survival of 22 months (vs 20 months w/ observation). Activating mutations in ras occur in > 90% of pancreas cancer cases. GI-4000 is whole, heat-killed recombinant S. cerevisiae yeast that expresses mutated Ras proteins. This trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety of GI-4000 plus Gem in patients with Ras mutant + resected pancreas cancer. Methods: The study enrolled 176 Ras mutant + pancreas cancer subjects post resection randomized 1:1 to GI-4000 plus Gem or placebo plus Gem (stratified by resection status; R0 or R1). Three weekly injections of GI-4000 or placebo were followed by 6 cycles of Gem 1000 mg/m2 iv (day 1, 8, 15 every 28 days). Monthly GI-4000 or placebo were administered on the Gem off-weeks and continued monthly until intolerance, disease recurrence, or death. The primary endpoint is RFS. Data for the 39 R1 subjects (GI-4000 n=19, Placebo n=20) have been unblinded and analyzed. Results: The GI-4000 group had an 11.4 week advantage in median overall survival (524 Days vs 444 Days), 16% advantage in 1 year survival (72% vs 56%), and a 4.6 week advantage in median RFS (287 Days vs 255 days). The GI-4000 group showed a significantly higher rate of mutation specific T cell response to Ras by ELISpot assay; 7/15 (47%) vs 1/12 (8%), p=0.032,with a more pronounced survival benefit in GI-4000 treated immune responders; 21.7 week advantage in median survival (596 Days vs 444 Days) compared to placebo. No significant novel toxicities have been observed to date. Conclusions: GI-4000 in combination with adjuvant Gem showed a clinically meaningful point estimate for the treatment effect on survival in R1 subjects with Ras mutant + pancreas cancer. GI-4000 was immunogenic and well tolerated. Ras specific immune response was associated with a more pronounced benefit in median survival. These data warrant further study in a definitively powered clinical trial for GI-4000 in the adjuvant setting in R1 subjects.

Retrospective analysis of treatment effects and prognostic factors associated with overall survival in patients with resected adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

359

Background: The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in pancreas cancer has been well established. The role of radiation therapy however remains controversial. The ESPAC-1 study showed a possible deleterious effect for radiation on survival of patients with resected pancreas cancer, although the study was limited by lack of compliance and quality control.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent curative resection of their cancer of the pancreas over the last 2 decades at the Ohio State University. 333 patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were identified from our database and 148 subjects were found with complete treatment information available. Thirty patients had no treatment after resection. Log-rank test was used to compare the overall survival (OS) of two groups of patients: treated with chemotherapy (C, N=68) or fluoropyrimidine-based chemoradiation (CRT, N=50). Demographics of the CT and CRT groups were balanced. Patient characteristics including age, sex, tumor size, tumor location, tumor grade, nodal status, margins (R0 vs. R1) and number of hospitalizations within a six-month period of discharge from the hospital after surgery were compared across all groups. The effect of these variables on OS was assessed using log-rank test.

Results: The mOS for C (21.5 months, 95% CI; 13.5, 24.6) and CRT (16.8 months, 95% CI; 13.9, 23.1) were similar. There was no statistically significant difference observed for C vs. CRT (p>0.8). Out of all the characteristic variables tested (N= 148), only the presence of at least one positive lymph node vs. none had a statistically significant negative effect on survival (mOS of 12.20 months vs. 23.10 months; p=0.0053).

Conclusions: In patients with resected adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, the addition of radiation does not seem to add benefit. The presence of positive lymph nodes is an adverse prognostic factor on overall survival.