Treatment strategies and clinical outcomes in consecutive patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer: A multicenter prospective cohort

INTRODUCTION

Since current studies on locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) mainly report from single, high-volume centers, it is unclear if outcomes can be translated to daily clinical practice. This study provides treatment strategies and clinical outcomes within a multicenter cohort of unselected patients with LAPC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Consecutive patients with LAPC according to Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group criteria, were prospectively included in 14 centers from April 2015 until December 2017. A centralized expert panel reviewed response according to RECIST v1.1 and potential surgical resectability. Primary outcome was median overall survival (mOS), stratified for primary treatment strategy.

RESULTS

Overall, 422 patients were included, of whom 77% (n = 326) received chemotherapy. The majority started with FOLFIRINOX (77%, 252/326) with a median of six cycles (IQR 4-10). Gemcitabine monotherapy was given to 13% (41/326) of patients and nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine to 10% (33/326), with a median of two (IQR 3-5) and three (IQR 3-5) cycles respectively. The mOS of the entire cohort was 10 months (95%CI 9-11). In patients treated with FOLFIRINOX, gemcitabine monotherapy, or nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine, mOS was 14 (95%CI 13-15), 9 (95%CI 8-10), and 9 months (95%CI 8-10), respectively. A resection was performed in 13% (32/252) of patients after FOLFIRINOX, resulting in a mOS of 23 months (95%CI 12-34).

CONCLUSION

This multicenter unselected cohort of patients with LAPC resulted in a 14 month mOS and a 13% resection rate after FOLFIRINOX. These data put previous results in perspective, enable us to inform patients with more accurate survival numbers and will support decision-making in clinical practice.

Recurrence and survival after resection of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia. Rotterdam Esophageal Tumor Study Group

In a retrospective study, the results after resection of carcinoma of the gastric cardia in the era without neoadjuvant therapy or extended lymph node dissection were evaluated. All 184 patients who underwent resection between January 1983 and December 1993 were included. Recurrence of disease, survival and prognostic factors were determined. The overall cumulative 5-year recurrence rate was 71% and the survival rate 23%. Multivariate analysis identified locoregional lymph node and distant metastases as the crucial prognosticators of recurrence of disease and survival. These results were similar to those from a previous study concerning our patients operated during the years 1983-88. The prognosis of a resected cardiacarcinoma has remained unchanged in our hands over the past 10 years. These results stress the importance of exploring new ways, such as the use of new diagnostic tools, to optimize preoperative patient selection and more aggressive treatment regimens to improve final outcome.

Inguinal hernias containing the uterus, fallopian tube, and ovary in premature female infants

Inguinal hernias were diagnosed at 42 and 38 weeks' postconceptional age in 2 premature girls. The hernial sac contained the uterus, one Fallopian tube, and one ovary. The diagnosis was made by physical and sonographic examination and was confirmed during surgical correction. We suggest sonography in the diagnostic workup in (premature) female infants with an inguinal hernia.

Prognostic value of negative intraoperative ultrasonography in primary colorectal cancer

The risk of developing recurrent tumour was assessed in a group of 85 patients with primary colorectal cancer who had a negative intraoperative ultrasonographic examination at the time of primary tumour resection. At a median follow-up of 40 months liver metastases had developed in 14 patients (16 per cent). Dukes classification of the primary tumours was stage A, B and C in one, three and ten patients respectively. The interval between primary tumour resection and detection of metastases varied from 6 to 24 months but all became evident within 2 years. Sixteen patients (19 per cent) presented with extrahepatic recurrence, one of whom also developed liver metastases. A negative intraoperative ultrasonographic examination did not prove to be a favourable prognostic factor which allowed exclusion from follow-up or adjuvant chemotherapy.

Detection of occult liver metastases by measurement of biliary carcinoembryonic antigen concentrations

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether biliary CEA concentrations can be used as early markers of occult liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer.

DESIGN

Consecutive open study.

SETTING

University hospital, The Netherlands.

SUBJECTS

76 patients with a primary colorectal carcinoma (group 1) and 19 patients who had recently undergone a curative resection of a locally advanced carcinoma (group 2).

INTERVENTIONS

Bile sampling by transhepatic puncture of the gallbladder.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Recurrence of tumour.

RESULTS

Twenty-one of the 76 patients (28%) with primary colorectal carcinoma had liver metastases; all had a raised biliary CEA concentration. Of the remaining 55 patients 39 (71%) also had raised CEA concentrations. At a median follow-up of 30 months, only seven patients had developed liver metastases, indicating a high number of false-positive results. In Group 2 7/19 patients (37%) had a CEA concentration above the cut-off point. Six of them developed recurrent tumour; 2 patients had liver metastases and 4 others had extrahepatic recurrences. None of the 12 patients with biliary CEA concentrations within the reference range has developed recurrent tumour.

CONCLUSION

Biliary CEA concentrations do not predict the presence of occult liver metastases if bile samples are taken during resection of the primary tumour. If samples are taken some time afterwards, a raised CEA concentration seems to predict recurrence at an early stage, either in or outside the liver.

Quality of palliation and possible benefit of extra-anatomic reconstruction in recurrent dysphagia after resection of carcinoma of the esophagus

BACKGROUND

After "curative" resection of carcinoma of the esophagus, late secondary dysphagia almost invariably indicates locoregional tumor recurrence. The retrosternal reconstruction route is advocated to prevent ingrowth of tumor recurrence in the neoesophagus.

STUDY DESIGN

To evaluate the quality of palliation after "curative" resection of carcinoma of the esophagus and the possible benefit of the retrosternal reconstruction route, we retrospectively analyzed the records of patients who had resection of a malignant tumor of the esophagus, or the gastroesophageal junction, and a prevertebral reconstruction. The extra-anatomic route would have been only beneficial for patients with intrathoracic tumor recurrence distant from the anastomosis and causing gastrointestinal symptoms.

RESULTS

Between 1983 and 1989, 209 patients (mean age of 61.3 years at the time of operation) had "curative" resection and prevertebral reconstruction in the institution of this study. Seventy-three patients (35 percent) had locoregional tumor recurrence. Univariate and multivariate analysis of various risk factors for locoregional recurrence showed that the presence of positive lymph nodes (pN1), especially if located at the celiac trunk (pM1), and a macroscopically non-radical R2 resection were the most important risk factors. Forty-six patients (22 percent) had secondary dysphagia as a result of locoregional tumor recurrence, mostly (18 percent) within two years postoperatively. Dysphagia lasted on average 5.3 months (range of 0.3 to 21.5 months) before the patients died. In 27 patients (13 percent), dysphagia would probably have been prevented by using a retrosternal reconstruction route.

CONCLUSIONS

These data are an argument in favor of the extra-anatomic, retrosternal reconstruction route after limited transthoracic or transhiatal resection in the presence of positive lymph nodes. This method seems especially indicated if the nodes are located at the celiac trunk and in case of a macroscopically nonradical R2 resection.

Adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia. Recurrence and survival after resection

Between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 1988, operations were performed on 112 patients with adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia. Resection of the primary tumor was performed in 93 patients. For these 93 patients, follow-up until July 1, 1989, averaged 24 months, during which time 59 patients died. Positive resection margins carried a greater risk for the development of a local recurrence but did not correlate with survival. The cumulative overall 5-year actuarial recurrence rate was 69%. The cumulative 5-year recurrence rate for metastases was 64% and for locoregional recurrence it was 36%. The overall 5-year survival rate was 24%. Differences in survival were observed between patients with carcinomas of the various subgroups of the 1987 TNM classification system (T1-T2 versus T3-T4, N0 versus N1-N2, M0 versus M1, Stages I-II versus Stages III-IV, Grades 1-2 versus Grades 3-4). In particular, lymph node status as correlated with histopathologic grade showed remarkable differences in survival: patients with no positive lymph nodes in the resection specimen and a Grade 1 or 2 tumor had a significantly better 5-year survival rate (53%) than the other subgroups (N0/Grades 3-4: 21%; N1-N2/Grades 1-2: 12%; N1-N2/Grades 3-4: 14%).