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Background: Early-stage colorectal cancer had excellent outcomes after curative resection, typically. However, a perplexing survival paradox between stage II and stage III was noted. This paradox could be influenced by the administration of routine postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and the presence of high-risk factors in stage II CRC. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of high-risk factors on patients with stage II CRC and assess the efficacy of oral tegafur/uracil (UFT) plus leucovorin as adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II CRC patients. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using propensity score matching at a single medical institution. A total of 1544 patients with stage II colorectal cancer who underwent radical surgery between January 2004 and January 2009 were included. The intervention used was tegafur/uracil plus leucovorin as adjuvant chemotherapy. The main outcome measures were disease-free survival and overall survival. Results: After propensity score matching, 261 patients were included in three groups: no-treatment, half-year treatment, and one-year treatment. The clinical characteristics of each group tended to be more consistent. The Cox proportional hazard models showed that tegafur/uracil treatment or not was a significant independent factor for oncological outcome. Kaplan–Meier analysis also showed significantly better disease-free survival and overall survival. Further investigation revealed that tegafur/uracil duration was an independent factor for oncological outcome. While the survival curve did not reach statistical significance, the one-year UFT treatment group demonstrated the best treatment trend. Conclusions: This study suggests that tegafur/uracil plus leucovorin is a feasible adjuvant chemotherapy regimen for patients with stage II colorectal cancer after curative surgical treatment. Prolonged tegafur/uracil plus leucovorin treatment for 12 months showed a trend towards better outcomes in patients with stage II colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Targeted therapy and chemotherapy are the mainstays of treatment to improve the survival of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). When RAS and BRAF genes are normal, a molecular target treatment with an anti-EGFR antagonist is prescribed. Anti-EGFR antagonists induce skin responses in 50–70% of patients. There is an ongoing debate about whether the severe skin reactions brought on by anti-EGFR antagonists are associated with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). mCRC patients who received anti-EGFR therapy between October 2017 and October 2018 were retrospectively evaluated. Treatment with an anti-EGFR medication in the first-line setting was significantly associated with OS and PFS. In grades 1 and 2, there was no difference in the incidence of acne between males and females, although in grades 3 and 4, males were at a higher risk than females. In this study, skin toxicity did not predict the effectiveness of the anti-EGFR medication. The primary treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) consists of targeted therapy and chemotherapy to improve survival. A molecular target drug with an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antagonist is recommended when the RAS and BRAF genes are normal. About 50–70% of patients using anti-EGFR antagonists will experience skin reactions. Some studies have shown that severe skin reactions caused by anti-EGFR antagonists may be linked to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), but the results are still uncertain. These data of mCRC patients who underwent anti-EGFR therapy between October 2017 and October 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 111 patients were included in this study. The survival results showed that gender, age, body mass index, primary tumor site, and recurrence did not significantly affect OS and PFS. However, the first-line anti-EGFR inhibitor treatment was significantly associated with OS (p < 0.001) and PFS (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of acne between males and females in grades 1 and 2, while males have a greater risk in grades 3 and 4 than females (20.3 vs. 4.8%; p-value = 0.041). Skin toxicity was not a predictor of anti-EGFR treatment response in this investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Inflammatory reactions may lead to systemic inflammation and cancer growth. Some inflammatory indicators are effective predictors of colorectal cancer in ordinary clinical practice. The objective of this study is to evaluate the utility of a novel cancer-inflammation prognostic index (CIPI) marker derived from multiplying carcinoembryonic antigen by the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio value obtained for non-metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients who underwent radical resection for stage I to stage III primary colorectal cancer between January 1995 and December 2018 were included in this study for further investigation. The group with a high CIPI had considerably lower relapse-free survival and overall survival rates, as well as a greater incidence of recurrence. Both univariate and multivariate analyses found that a high CIPI was an independent prognostic factor for survival analysis. This research is the first to demonstrate that CIPI is an independent factor that can be used to predict the outcome of colorectal cancer. Inflammatory reactions play a crucial role in cancer progression and may contribute to systemic inflammation. In routine clinical practice, some inflammatory biomarkers can be utilized as valuable predictors for colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to determine the usefulness of a novel cancer-inflammation prognostic index (CIPI) marker derived from calculating carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) multiplied by the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) values established for non-metastatic CRCs. Between January 1995 and December 2018, 12,092 patients were diagnosed with stage I to III primary CRC and had radical resection—they were all included in this study for further investigation. There were 5996 (49.6%) patients in the low-CIPI group and 6096 (50.4%) patients in the high-CIPI group according to the cutoff value of 8. For long-term outcomes, the high-CIPI group had a significantly higher incidence of recurrence (30.6% vs. 16.0%, p < 0.001) and worse relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates (p < 0.001). High CIPI was an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS in univariate and multivariate analyses. This research is the first to document the independent significance of CIPI as a prognostic factor for CRC. To ensure that it works, this CIPI needs to be tested on more CRC prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: As the effect of laparoscopic surgery on elderly patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear, this propensity score–weighted cohort study revealed that laparoscopic surgery is a favorable method for elderly patients with CRC than open surgery in terms of less pulmonary-related postoperative morbidity and mortality, less hospital stay and similar oncological outcomes. Advanced age is a risk factor for major abdominal surgery due to a decline in physical function and increased comorbidities. Although laparoscopic surgery provides good results in most patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), its effect on elderly patients remains unclear. This study aimed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes between open and laparoscopic surgeries in elderly patients with CRC. Total 1350 patients aged ≥75 years who underwent curative resection for stage I–III primary CRC were enrolled retrospectively and were divided into open surgery (846 patients) and laparoscopy (504 patients) groups. After propensity score weighting to balance an uneven distribution, a competing risk analysis was used to analyze the short-term and long-term outcomes. Postoperative mortality rates were lower in the laparoscopy group, especially due to pulmonary complications. Postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the laparoscopy group than in the open surgery group. Overall survival, disease-free survival, and competing risk analysis showed no significant differences between the two groups. Laparoscopic surgery for elderly patients with CRC significantly decreased pulmonary-related postoperative morbidity and mortality in this large cohort study. Laparoscopic surgery is a favorable method for elderly patients with CRC than open surgery in terms of less hospital stay and similar oncological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Elderly cancer patients usually suffer with malnutrition. Preoperative malnutrition has been considered a poorer prognostic factor in cancer treatment. The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a simple tool for predicting the risk of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients by using albumin, height, and body weight parameters. In this study, we evaluated whether GNRI is a reliable marker for postoperative complications and long-term survival. By retrospectively evaluating 1206 CRC patients aged over 75 years who underwent curative-intent surgery at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, there were significantly more postoperative complications in the low GNRI group (p < 0.001) and GNRI was an independent risk factor for postoperative complications (HR: 1.774, p = 0.037). Overall survival and disease-free survival were significantly worse in the low GNRI group (both p < 0.001) and a GNRI < 98 was statistically identified as an independent prognostic factor for survival. Conclusively, GNRI can be a reliable biomarker in clinical practice. Research on the relationship between the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and postoperative complications/oncological outcomes in elderly colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is limited. This study investigated the prognostic value of the GNRI in aged CRC patients. We retrospectively analyzed 1206 consecutive CRC patients aged over 75 years who underwent curative-intent surgery from January 2008 to December 2015 and categorized them into high GNRI (≥98) and low GNRI (<98) groups according to a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to explore the association of the GNRI with postoperative complications. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses and the Cox proportional hazard model were used to explore the association between GNRI and survival. We discovered that GNRI is an independent risk factor for postoperative complications (HR: 1.774, p = 0.037). Surgical site infection, wound dehiscence and pneumonia were more common in patients with GNRI < 98. Survival analysis showed significantly worse overall survival and disease-free survival in the low GNRI group (both p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, GNRI < 98 was an independent risk factor for OS (HR: 1.329, p = 0.031) and DFS (HR: 1.312, p = 0.034). Thus, preoperative GNRI can be effectively used to predict postoperative complications and long-term survival in elderly CRC patients after curative surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]