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Background: Prehabilitation is a crucial component of tumor rehabilitation that attempts to improve patients' preoperative health, although its efficacy in treating patients with cancers of the digestive system is still up for debate., Methods: The records from PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Scopus, CNKI and Wan fang database up to November 2024 were systematically searched. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was employed for evaluating the risk of bias in each study, and the PRISMA 2020 checklist provided by the EQUATOR network was utilized., Results: Through quality analysis, 20 articles were included, involving 1719 patients. Although its effect on severe complications is still unknown, the prehabilitation significantly decreased overall postoperative complications when compared to standard care, with a risk ratio (RR) of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.65 to 0.84). Despite not shortening the postoperative hospital stay (MD: -0.13, 95% CI: -0.29 to 0.03), prehabilitation demonstrated notable improvements in the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), with preoperative gains (MD: 25.87, 95% CI: 14.49 to 37.25) and sustained benefits at 4 weeks postoperatively (MD: 22.48, 95% CI: 7.85 to 37.12). However, no significant differences in 6MWD were observed at 6 or 8 weeks postoperatively. The average improvement in 6MWD from baseline to preoperative was 28.99 (95% CI: 10.89 to 47.08, P = 0.002), and from 4 weeks postoperative to baseline, it was 25.95 (95% CI: 6.84 to 45.07, P = 0.008), with no significant change at 8 weeks. The acceptance and completion rates of prehabilitation were commendably high at 61% (95% CI: 47-75%) and 90% (95% CI: 87-93%), respectively, alongside a relatively low dropout rate of 10% (95% CI: 7% to13%)., Conclusions: Prehabilitation reduces postoperative complications and improves short-term physical function in digestive surgery patients, with good patient acceptance; however, the long-term effects are unknown due to a lack of follow-up data., Registration: It was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with the identification code CRD42022361100., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval and participation consent are irrelevant since this is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, and we were in accordance with the 1975 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Consent for publication: Not relevant. There are no human subjects in this study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) mortality in Chile is among the highest worldwide. In 2006, the Chilean government launched a programme guaranteeing access to gallbladder surgery (cholecystectomy) for patients aged 35-49 years. We evaluated the impact of this programme on digestive cancer mortality. After conducting an interrupted time series analysis of hospitalisation and mortality data from 2002 to 2018 publicly available from the Chilean Department of Health Statistics and Information, we calculated the change in the proportion of individuals without gallbladder since 10 years. We then estimated age, gender, region, and calendar-year standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) as a function of the change in the proportion of individuals without gallbladder. The cholecystectomy rate increased by 45 operations per 100,000 persons per year (95%CI 19-72) after the introduction of the health programme. Each 1% increase in the proportion of individuals without gallbladder since 10 years was associated with a 0.73% decrease in GBC mortality (95% CI -1.05% to -0.38%), but the negative correlation was limited to women, southern Chile and age over 60. We also found decreasing mortality rates for extrahepatic bile duct, liver, oesophageal and stomach cancer with increasing proportions of individuals without gallbladder. To conclude, 12 years after its inception, the Chilean cholecystectomy programme has markedly and heterogeneously changed cholecystectomy rates. Results based on aggregate data indicate a negative correlation between the proportion of individuals without gallbladder and mortality due to gallbladder and other digestive cancers, which requires validation using individual-level longitudinal data to reduce the potential impact of ecological bias., (© 2024 The Author(s). International Journal of Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of UICC.)

Background: Primary care (PC) is essential to overall wellness and management of comorbidities. In turn, patients without adequate access to PC may face healthcare disparities. We sought to characterize the impact of established PC on postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing a surgical procedure for a digestive tract cancer., Methods: Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis of hepatobiliary, pancreas, and colorectal cancer between 2005 and 2019 were identified within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and Medicare-linked database. Individuals who did versus did not have PC encounters within 1-year before surgery were identified. A postoperative textbook outcome (TO) was defined as the absence of complications, no prolonged hospital stay, no readmission within 90 days, and no mortality., Results: Among 63,177 patients, 50,974 (80.7%) had at least one established PC visit before surgery. Patients with established PC were more likely to achieve TO (odds ratio [OR], 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.19) with lower odds for complications (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-0.89), extended hospital stay (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.81-0.94), 90-day readmission (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.99), and 90-day mortality (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79-0.96). In addition, patients with established PC had a 4.1% decrease in index costs and a 5.2% decrease in 1-year costs. Notably, patients who had one to five visits with their PC in the year before surgery had improved odds of TO (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.16-1.27), whereas individuals with more than 10 visits had lower odds of a postoperative TO (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.98)., Conclusion: Most Medicare beneficiaries with digestive tract cancer had established PC within the year before their surgery. Established PC was associated with a higher probability of achieving ideal outcomes and lower costs. In contrast, patients with more than 10 PC appointments, which was likely a surrogate of overall comorbidity burden, experienced no improvement in postoperative outcomes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To report the 90-day mortality benefit associated with the implementation of the new regulatory reform on oncological surgical digestive authorizations., Summary Background Data: New thresholds in digestive cancer surgery were applied in 2023, accrediting centers for major interventions. No evidence has been provided to support their justification., Methods: Any French adult operated for digestive cancer from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021 was included from the PMSI. A 90-day mortality logistic regression was performed by adjusting by age, sex, Charlson score, Frailty index, hospital-volume (<5 or ≥5 interventions/year), emergency intervention, specialty., Results: 143,582 patients were identified. Of these, 64,268 underwent surgery of one of the subspecialties subject to the new thresholds (stomach N = 8283, liver N = 18,668, pancreas N = 11,220, esophagus N = 3704, rectum N = 22,393). 4808 (7.5 %) patients underwent surgery in low-volume centers, distributed as follows: stomach 1757/8283 (22.94 %), liver 970/18,668 (5.19 %), pancreas 895/11,220 (7.98 %), esophagus 672/3704 (18.14 %) and rectum 514/22,393 (2.29 %). In univariate analysis, the 90-day mortality rate was significantly lower in high-volume centers, for all subspecialties, gastric: 127/1757 (7.23 %) vs 330/6526 (5.06 %), p = 0.0004, hepatic: 64/970 (6.6 %) vs 824/17,698 (4.66 %), p = 0.006, pancreatic: 74/895 (8, 27 %) vs 608/10,325 (5.89 %), p = 0.004, esophageal: 58/672 (8.63 %) vs 195/3032 (6.43 %), p = 0.04, rectal 26/514 (5.06 %) vs 639/21,879 (2.92 %), p = 0.005. The multivariate analysis, showed a mortality reduction for high-volume centers: OR = 0.78 CI95[0.71-0.87], p < 0.001., Conclusion: The recent implementation of regulatory decrees appears to be justified. The enforcement of these hospital volume thresholds is likely to contribute to a reduction in postoperative mortality following digestive cancer surgery., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Background: Preoperative geriatric-specific variables (GSV) influence short-term morbidity in surgical patients, but their impact on long-term survival in elderly patients with cancer remains undefined., Study Design: This observational cohort study included patients ≥65 years who underwent hepatopancreatobiliary or colorectal operations for malignancy between 2014 and 2020. Individual patient data included merged ACS NSQIP data, Procedure Targeted, and Geriatric Surgery Research variables. Patients were stratified by age: 65-74, 75-84, and ≥85 and presence of these GSVs: mobility aid, preoperative falls, surrogate signed consent, and living alone. Bivariable and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate 1-year mortality and postoperative discharge to facility., Results: 577 patients were included: 62.6 % were 65-74 years old, 31.7 % 75-84, and 5.7 % ≥ 85. 96 patients were discharged to a facility with frequency increasing with age group (11.4 % vs 22.4 % vs 42.4 %, respectively, p < 0.001). 73 patients (12.7 %) died during 1-year follow-up, 32.9 % from cancer recurrence. One-year mortality was associated with undergoing hepatopancreatobiliary operations (p = 0.017), discharge to a facility (p = 0.047), and a surrogate signing consent (p = 0.035). Increasing age (p < 0.001), hepatopancreatobiliary resection (p = 0.002), living home alone (p < 0.001), and mobility aid use (p < 0.001) were associated with discharge to a facility., Conclusion: Geriatric-specific variables, living alone and use of a mobility aid, were associated with discharge to a facility. A surrogate signing consent and discharge to a facility were associated with 1-year mortality. These findings underscore the importance of preoperative patient selection and optimization, efficacious discharge planning, and informed decision-making in the care of elderly cancer patients., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Postoperative infectious complications are extremely important to surgeons and the entire medical care team. Among these complications, surgical site infection (SSI) appears to be one of the earliest and most prevalent events and is considered an inherent complication of surgical procedures. In oncological patients submitted to resections of digestive system tumors, there is a confluence of several risk factors for SSI, making it necessary to establish measures to maximize the control of this condition to provide a better prognosis for these patients. Some risk factors for SSI are the manipulation of structures hosting the highest density of pathogenic microorganisms, such as the colon, the patient's performance status, the patient's nutritional status, the use of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, and the surgical procedure itself, which tends to last longer and be more complex than surgeries for benign conditions of the digestive system. Therefore, this review sought to provide a qualitative analysis and a summary of the literature regarding the SSI of postoperative tumor patients who underwent surgical resection and were well-structured postoperatively, to provide objective data on this problem, and alert about the well-structured needs of individualized pre-, peri-, and post-protocols to avoid the development of these events.

Objective: This study aims to use structural equation modeling to explore the pathways and effect sizes of factors influencing the adherence of postoperative patients with digestive tract tumor to oral nutritional supplements, providing a theoretical basis for future nursing intervention measures., Methods: A total of 300 postoperative patients with digestive tract tumor within 30 days after surgery were conveniently sampled. Surveys were conducted using a General Information Questionnaire, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, Digestive System Tumor Patient Nutrition Knowledge-Attitude-Behavior Questionnaire, Multidimensional Social Perception Scale, Beliefs about Medical Questionnaire, and General Self-Efficacy Scale. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the factors and pathways affecting adherence with oral nutritional supplements., Results: The adherence score of postoperative patients with digestive tract tumor to oral nutritional supplements was 1.61 ± 1.38. The structural equation model had a good fit (χ 2 /df = 2.685, GFI = 0.930, CFI = 0.913, AGFI = 0.887, IFI = 0.915, and RMSEA = 0.075). Nutrition knowledge, social support, medication beliefs, and self-efficacy were found to be factors influencing adherence with oral nutritional supplements in postoperative patients with digestive tract tumor, with total effects of 0.539, 0.264, 0.215, and 0.180, respectively. Nutrition knowledge indirectly affected adherence through self-efficacy and medication beliefs, while social support indirectly affected adherence through self-efficacy., Conclusion: Adherence with oral nutritional supplements in postoperative patients with digestive tract tumor is at a low level. Improving social support, enhancing patients nutrition knowledge, increasing self-efficacy, and strengthening medication beliefs are effective ways to improve patient adherence., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: French policymakers recently chose to regulate high-risk digestive cancer surgery (DCS). A minimum of five cases per year should be performed for each of the following types of curative cancer surgery: esophagus/esogastric junction (ECS), stomach (GCS), liver (LCS, metastasis included), pancreas (PCS), and rectum (RCS). This study aimed to evaluate the hypothetical beneficial effects of the new legal minimal volume thresholds on the rates of 90-day postoperative mortality (90POM) for each high-risk DCS., Methods: This nationwide observational population-based cohort study used data extracted from the French National Health Insurance Database from 1 January 2015-31 December 2017. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were performed to estimate the independent effect of hospital volume., Results: During the study period, 61,169 patients (57.1 % male, age 69.7 ±12.2 years) underwent high-risk DCS including ECS (n = 4060), GCS (n = 5572), PCS (n = 8598), LCS (n = 10,988), and RCS (n = 31,951), with 90POM of 6.6 %, 6.9 %, 6.0 %, 5.2 %, and 2.9 %, respectively. For hospitals fulfilling the new criteria, 90POM was lower after adjustment only for LCS (odds ratio [OR],15.2; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 9.5-23.2) vs OR, 7.6; 95 % CI, 5.2-11.0; p < 0.0001) and PCS (OR, 3.6; 95 % CI, 1.7-7.6 vs OR, 2.1; 95 % CI, 1.0-4.4; p<0.0001). With higher thresholds, all DCSs showed a lower adjusted risk of 90POM (e.g., OR, 0.38; 95 % CI, 0.28-0.51) for PCS of 40 or higher., Conclusion: Based on retrospective data, thresholds higher than those promulgated would better improve the safety of high-risk DCS. New policies aiming to further centralize high-risk DCS should be considered, associated with a clear clinical pathway of care for patients to improve accessibility to complex health care in France., (© 2024. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background: Structural racism within the U.S. health care system contributes to disparities in oncologic care. This study sought to examine the socioeconomic factors that underlie the impact of racial segregation on hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) cancer inequities., Methods: Both Black and White patients who presented with HPB cancer were identified from the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database (2005-2015) and 2010 Census data. The Index of Dissimilarity (IoD), a validated measure of segregation, was examined relative to cancer stage at diagnosis, surgical resection, and overall mortality. Principal component analysis and structural equation modeling were used to determine the mediating effect of socioeconomic factors., Results: Among 39,063 patients, 86.4 % (n = 33,749) were White and 13.6 % (n = 5314) were Black. Black patients were more likely to reside in segregated areas than White patients (IoD, 0.62 vs. 0.52; p < 0.05). Black patients in highly segregated areas were less likely to present with early-stage disease (relative risk [RR], 0.89; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.82-0.95) or undergo surgery for localized disease (RR, 0.81; 95% CI 0.70-0.91), and had greater mortality hazards (hazard ratio 1.12, 95% CI 1.06-1.17) than White patients in low segregation areas (all p < 0.05). Mediation analysis identified poverty, lack of insurance, education level, crowded living conditions, commute time, and supportive income as contributing to 25 % of the disparities in early-stage presentation. Average income, house price, and income mobility explained 17 % of the disparities in surgical resection. Notably, average income, house price, and income mobility mediated 59 % of the effect that racial segregation had on long-term survival., Conclusion: Racial segregation, mediated through underlying socioeconomic factors, accounted for marked disparities in access to surgical care and outcomes for patients with HPB cancer., (© 2023. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background and Objectives: Despite quality evidence supporting postoperative extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (eVTEp) following abdominopelvic cancer surgery, baseline use of eVTEp at our institution was 3%. Our project aim was to improve the proportion of patients prescribed eVTEp following surgery for gynecologic, hepatobiliary, and colorectal cancers by a 30% absolute increase., Methods: We performed an interrupted time series study using quality improvement methodology. Postoperative order sets, pre-printed prescriptions, process checklists, and multimodal education were introduced. Process and outcome data were collected and analyzed on statistical process control charts., Results: We included 324 patients with gynecologic and hepatobiliary cancers. Despite efforts to include them, the colorectal team did not participate. The monthly mean order set-use was 58% (SD = 14%), by specialty: gynecology 79%, hepatobiliary 47%. The proportion of patients prescribed eVTEp increased from 3% to 70% (SD = 14%). The target goal was surpassed and sustained by both cohorts. Patient compliance was 73% (n = 117/160, SD = 16%). Of those who stopped eVTEp early, 45% (n = 14/31) objected because of the injectable nature. Bleeding events were infrequent (0.6%, n = 2/324)., Conclusions: Three process changes and multimodal education resulted in a significant increase in eVTEp use. Failure to identify improvement champions limited project expansion to colorectal patients. Patient compliance was largely limited by the injectable nature of the medication., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: Conversion of normal cells to cancer cells is often accompanied by abnormal synthesis of serum enzymes. Both alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) have been reported to have prognostic value in a variety of malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of preoperative serum ALP and LDH levels on the prognosis of patients with periampullary carcinoma who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy (PD)., Methods: According to the preoperative ALP or LDH values, 856 cancer patients receiving PD treatment from January 2001 to January 2019 were divided into high-ALP group and low-ALP group or high-LDH group and low-LDH group. Statistical analysis was carried out to study the differences between the high-ALP and low-ALP groups or the high-LDH and low-LDH groups. Furthermore, the possibility of preoperative ALP or LDH as prognostic factor of periampullary carcinoma was investigated., Results: In both the high-ALP and the high-LDH groups, the prognosis of patients with periampullary carcinoma who underwent PD was worse than that of the low-ALP and low- LDH group. Even through risk factor analysis, it was found that preoperative ALP and LDH could be independent prognostic factor for patients with periampullary carcinoma who underwent PD., Conclusion: Preoperative ALP or LDH is an independent risk factor for periampullary carcinoma., (© 2021. Huazhong University of Science and Technology.)

Low preoperative aerobic fitness is associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications and delayed recovery in patients with abdominal cancer. Surgical prehabilitation aims to increase aerobic fitness preoperatively to improve patient- and treatment-related outcomes. However, an optimal physical exercise training program that is effective within the short time period available for prehabilitation (<6 weeks) has not yet been established. In this comparative review, studies (n = 8) evaluating the effect of short-term (<6 weeks) moderate-intensity exercise training (MIET) or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on objectively measured aerobic fitness were summarized. The content of exercise interventions was critically appraised regarding the frequency, intensity, time, type, volume, and - monitoring of - progression (FITT-VP) principles. Three out of four studies evaluating HIIT showed statistically significant improvements in oxygen uptake at peak exercise (VO 2peak ) by more than 4.9%, the coefficient of variation for VO 2peak . None of the two studies investigating short-term MIET showed statistically significant pre-post changes in VO 2peak . Although short-term HIIT seems to be a promising intervention, concise description of performed exercise based on the FITT-VP principles was rather inconsistent in studies. Hence, interpretation of the results is challenging, and a translation into practical recommendations is premature. More emphasis should be given to individual responses to physical exercise training. Therefore, adequate risk assessment, personalized physical exercise training prescription using the FITT-VP principles, full reporting of physical exercise training adherence, and objective monitoring of training progression and recovery is needed to ensure for a personalized and effective physical exercise training program within a multimodal prehabilitation program., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Extensive abdominal surgery is associated with the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. This study aims to explore the incidence and risk factors for developing postoperative pulmonary complications after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and to analyze how these complications affect overall survival., Methods: Data were collected on 417 patients undergoing surgery between 2007 and2017 at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. Postoperative pulmonary complications were graded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification system where Grade ≥ 3 was considered a severe complication. A logistic regression analysis was used to analyze risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications and a Cox proportional hazards model to assess impact on survival., Results: Seventy-two patients (17%) developed severe postoperative pulmonary complications. Risk factors were full thickness diaphragmatic injury and/or diaphragmatic resection [OR 5.393, 95% CI 2.924-9.948, p = < 0.001]. Severe postoperative pulmonary complications, in combination with non-pulmonary complications, contributed to decreased overall survival [HR 2.285, 95% CI 1.232-4.241, p = 0.009]., Conclusions: Severe postoperative pulmonary complications were common and contributed to decreased overall survival. Full thickness diaphragmatic injury and/or diaphragmatic resection were the main risk factors. This finding emphasizes the need for further research on the mechanisms behind pulmonary complications and their association with mortality., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Frailty is common in patients who undergo digestive system tumor surgery. This review aimed to explore the effects of preoperative frailty on multiple outcomes following surgery among patients with digestive system tumors., Methods: PubMed (Medline), Embase, Web of Science, and other databases were searched from the inception of each database to April 2021. Meta-analysis or qualitative synthesis was performed to examine the relationship between preoperative frailty and adverse postoperative outcomes., Results: A total of 29 studies encompassing 122,548 patients were included. Through meta-analysis, frailty was associated with an increased risk of total complications (risk ratio [RR] 1.44; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.39 to 1.50), major complications (RR 1.72; 95 % CI 1.51 to 1.95), 30-d mortality (RR 2.40; 95 % CI 2.14 to 2.70), and 5-year mortality (RR 1.74; 95 % CI 1.35 to 2.24). Through qualitative synthesis, compared with non-frail patients, two studies found that frail patients had a worse quality of life, and three studies reported that frail patients experienced greater rates of non-home discharge. However, two studies demonstrated inconsistent conclusions regarding the relationship between frailty and functional status., Conclusions: Preoperative frailty was an important risk factor for multiple adverse postoperative outcomes of patients with digestive system tumors, including objective clinical outcomes and patient-centered outcomes. Future studies focusing on the effects of frailty on patient-centered outcomes such as quality of life and functional status are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Owing to its rarity and heterogeneity, the biological behavior and optimal therapeutic management of mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasm (MiNEN) have not been established. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and metastatic patterns of MiNEN., Methods: Continuous clinicopathological data of MiNEN patients treated at our hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed., Results: This study had enrolled 169 patients since January 2010 to January 2020. Pathological components were assessed in 129 patients with MiNEN (76.3%), and a focal (non-)neuroendocrine component was observed in 40 patients (23.7%; <30% of the tumor). Among the enrolled patients, 80 underwent surgical removal of the primary tumor and lymph nodes (LNs), and 34 with distant metastasis underwent biopsy of both primary tumor and metastatic lesions. In patients with LN metastasis, 68.8% (55/80) exhibited a pure component of either neuroendocrine (NE) or adenocarcinoma/squamous carcinoma (AS) in metastatic LNs, while 20% (16/80) showed different components in different LNs, and only 11.2% (9/80) exhibited both NE and AS components in the same LN. In patients with distant metastases, 26.5% (9/34) possessed coexisting NE and AS components in the distant metastases, 70.6% (24/34) were regarded as a pure NE component, and 2.9% (1/34) were comprised of a pure AS component., Conclusion: Lymph node and distant metastases exhibited distinct metastatic patterns in patients with MiNEN. The major pathological component in regional LNs may have influenced the proportion of the two components within the primary tumor, but distant metastases were dominated by the NE component., (© 2021 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Because vitamin D responsive elements have been found to be located in the PD-L1 gene, vitamin D supplementation was hypothesized to regulate serum PD-L1 levels and thus alter survival time of cancer patients. A post hoc analysis of the AMATERASU randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of postoperative vitamin D3 supplementation (2000 IU/day) in 417 patients with stage I to stage III digestive tract cancer from the esophagus to the rectum was conducted. Postoperative serum PD-L1 levels were measured by ELISA and divided into quintiles (Q1-Q5). Serum samples were available for 396 (95.0%) of the original trial. Vitamin D supplementation significantly ( p = 0.0008) up-regulated serum PD-L1 levels in the lowest quintile (Q1), whereas it significantly ( p = 0.0001) down-regulated them in the highest quintile (Q5), and it did not either up- or down-regulate them in the middle quintiles (Q2-Q4). Significant effects of vitamin D supplementation, compared with placebo on death (HR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.12-0.92) and relapse/death (HR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15-0.89) were observed in the highest quintile (Q5) of serum PD-L1, whereas significant effects were not observed in other quintiles (P interaction = 0.02 for death, P interaction = 0.04 for relapse/death). Vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced the risk of relapse/death to approximately one-third in the highest quintile of serum PD-L1.

Importance: Intraoperative anesthesiology care is crucial to high-quality surgical care. The clinical expertise and experience of anesthesiologists may decrease the risk of adverse outcomes., Objective: To examine the association between anesthesiologist volume and short-term postoperative outcomes for complex gastrointestinal (GI) cancer surgery., Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort study used administrative health care data sets from various data sources in Ontario, Canada. Adult patients who underwent esophagectomy, pancreatectomy, or hepatectomy for GI cancer from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2018, were eligible. Patients with an invalid identification number, a duplicate surgery record, and missing primary anesthesiologist information were excluded., Exposures: Primary anesthesiologist volume was defined as the annual number of procedures of interest (esophagectomy, pancreatectomy, and hepatectomy) supported by that anesthesiologist in the 2 years before the index surgery. Volume was dichotomized into low-volume and high-volume categories, with 75th percentile or 6 or more procedures per year selected as the cutoff point., Main Outcome and Measures: The primary outcome was a composite of 90-day major morbidity (with a Clavien-Dindo classification grade 3-5) and readmission. Secondary outcomes were individual components of the primary outcome. The association between exposure and outcomes was examined using multivariable logistic regression models, accounting for potential confounders., Results: Of the 8096 patients included, 5369 were men (66.3%) and the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 65 (57-72) years. Operations were supported by 842 anesthesiologists and performed by 186 surgeons, and the median (IQR) anesthesiologist volume was 3 (1.5-6) procedures per year. A total of 2166 patients (26.7%) received care from high-volume anesthesiologists. Primary outcome occurred in 36.3% of patients in the high-volume group and 45.7% of patients in the low-volume group. After adjustment, care by high-volume anesthesiologists was independently associated with lower odds of the primary outcome (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.94), major morbidity (aOR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.75-0.91), unplanned intensive care unit admission (aOR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76-0.94), but not readmission (aOR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.73-1.05) or mortality (aOR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.84-1.31). E-values analysis indicated that an unmeasured variable would unlikely substantively change the observed risk estimates., Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that, among adults who underwent complex gastrointestinal cancer surgery, those who received care from high-volume anesthesiologists had a lower risk of adverse postoperative outcomes compared with those who received care from low-volume anesthesiologists. These findings support organizing perioperative care to increase anesthesiologist volume to optimize patient outcomes.

Objective: Patients with digestive neoplasms have both iron deficiency and chronic inflammatory anemia with hepcidin upregulation, which may be aggravated in the postoperative period. Vitamin D impacts hepcidin levels. We aimed to investigate the correlations between vitamin D and iron status vs. hepcidin levels in patients with digestive tumors undergoing open abdominal surgery., Patients and Methods: This prospective observational study was performed during 2016-2018 in a University teaching hospital. After obtaining the Ethical Approval and the patients' informed consent, 30 adult patients with digestive tumors were included. Hepcidin, vitamin D and iron levels were measured in the first 24 hours after surgery., Results: We observed a negligible/weak correlation between serum iron and hepcidin levels in the first 24 hours after surgery, with a correlation coefficient of 0.24 and a weak/low correlation between hepcidin and vitamin D levels, with a correlation coefficient of 0.37., Conclusions: The correlations between vitamin D and hepcidin levels, as well as between hepcidin and serum iron levels, are weak. Interindividual variability in iron-hepcidin-vitamin D regulation might be wide and other regulatory mechanisms might also play important roles in inflammatory anemia modulation in the perioperative period.

Background: Blood transfusion can cause immunosuppression and lead to worse outcomes in patients with digestive tract malignancies; however, the specific mechanism behind this is not completely understood. One theory is that increased numbers of regulatory CD3 + CD4 + CD25 + FOXP3 + T cells (Tregs) and forkhead box protein-3 mRNA (FOXP3) expression in the blood after transfusion contribute to these outcomes. The effect of blood transfusion on immune function in patients with different ABO blood types is variable. This study investigates the effect of intraoperative blood transfusion on the number of Tregs and the expression of FOXP3 in the blood of patients with different ABO blood types and digestive tract malignancies., Methods: Patients with digestive tract malignancies who underwent radical resection and received intraoperative blood transfusion were divided into four groups according to their blood types:blood group A, blood group B, blood group O and blood group AB (n = 20 for each group). Blood was collected from all patients before surgery, immediately after transfusion, 1 day after transfusion, and 5 days after transfusion. The number of Tregs was measured by flow cytometry. The expression of FOXP3 was detected by real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)., Results: There was no significant difference in the number of Tregs or expression of FOXP3 mRNA among patients with different blood types before surgery. However, the number of Tregs and the expression of FOXP3 increased after blood transfusion in all blood type groups. This increase was especially evident and statistically significant on the first day after blood transfusion when compared with measures obtained before the surgery. Measures returned to the preoperative level five days after surgery. There were significant differences in the increase of Tregs and expression of FOXP3 among patients with different blood types. The greatest increase was seen in patients with blood group B and the least in blood group A., Conclusions: Intraoperative blood transfusion can lead to an increase in blood Tregs and FOXP3 expression in patients with digestive tract malignancies. Increases were greatest on the first day after surgery and differed among patients with different blood types. Increases were greatest in blood type B and least in blood type A.

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 R 2 ) 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 R 2 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., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Intestinal Ganglioneuromatosis (IG) is a rare disorder of the enteric nervous system. In pediatric age it is often associated with genetic syndromes such as Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN2B) and Cowden syndrome (PTEN mutation), and ganglioneuromas (GNs) may be sometimes the first sign of the disease. Isolated GNs are rare and sporadic. Clinical symptom vary and depend on the size and on the location of the GNs. This disorder affects intestinal motility and it, consequently, causes changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, occlusive symptoms and rarely lower gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to ulceration of the intestinal mucosa. On the other hand, patients can remain asymptomatic for many years., Case Presentation: We describe a 9-year-old boy referred to our emergency department for right lower quadrant abdominal pain. No familial history for gastrointestinal disorders. No history of fever or weight loss. At physical examination, he had diffused abdominal pain. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a hypoechoic formation measuring 41.8 mm by 35 mm in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. Routine blood tests were normal, but fecal occult blood test was positive. Abdominal TC confirmed the hypodense formation, of about 5 cm in transverse diameter, in the right hypochondrium that apparently invaginated in the caecum-last ileal loop. Colonoscopy showed in the cecum an invaginated polypoid lesion of the terminal ileal loop. Laparoscopic resection of the polypoid lesion was performed. Histological diagnosis of the large neoplasm observed in the terminal ileum was diffuse ganglioneuromatosis. NF1, RET and PTEN gene tests resulted negative for specific mutations. At the 1 year follow-up, the patient presented good general condition and blood tests, fecal occult blood test, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy and MR-enterography were negative., Conclusions: Only few cases are reported in literature of IG in pediatric age. Although rare, the present case suggests that this disorder must be taken in consideration in every patient with GI symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation, lower intestinal bleeding, in order to avoid a delayed diagnosis.

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic requires an analysis in the field of oncological surgery, both on the risk of infection, with very relevant clinical consequences, and on the need to generate plans to minimize the impact on possible restrictions on health resources. The AEC is making a proposal for the management of patients with hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) malignancies in the different pandemic scenarios in order to offer the maximum benefit to patients, minimising the risks of COVID-19 infection, and optimising the healthcare resources available at any time. This requires the coordination of the different treatment options between the departments involved in the management of these patients: medical oncology, radiotherapy oncology, surgery, anaesthesia, radiology, endoscopy department and intensive care. The goal is offer effective treatments, adapted to the available resources, without compromising patients and healthcare professionals safety., (Copyright © 2020 AEC. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: To date, the evidence on the safety and benefits of minimally invasive pancreatoduodenectomy (MIPD) in elderly patients is still controversy. This study aim to compare the risk and benefit between MIPD and open pancreatoduodenectomy (OPD) in elderly patients., Methods: From 2016 to 2020, we retrospective enrolled 26 patients underwent MIPD and other 119 patients underwent OPD. We firstly compared the baseline characteristics, 90-day mortality and short-term surgical outcomes of MIPD and OPD. Propensity score matching was applied for old age patient (≥ 65-year-old vs. < 65-year-old) for detail safety and feasibility analysis., Results: Patients received MIPD is significantly older, had poor performance status, less lymph node harvest, longer operation time, less postoperative hospital stay (POHS) and earlier drain removal. After 1:2 propensity score matching analysis, elderly patients in MIPD group had significantly poor performance status (P = 0.042) compared to OPD group. Patients receiving MIPD had significantly shorter POHS (18 vs. 25 days, P = 0.028), earlier drain removal (16 vs. 21 days, P = 0.012) and smaller delay gastric empty rate (5.9 vs. 32.4% P = 0.036). There was no 90-day mortality (0% vs. 11.8%, P = 0.186) and pulmonary complications (0% vs. 17.6%, P = 0.075) in MIPD group, and the major complication rate is comparable to OPD group (17.6% vs. 29.4%, P = 0.290)., Conclusion: For elderly patients, MIPD is a feasible and safe option even in patients with inferior preoperative performance status. MIPD might also provide potential advantage for elderly patients in minimizing pulmonary complication and overall mortality over OPD.

Background: Several postoperative outcome scoring systems have been developed and validated, combining both pre- and intraoperative factors. Among others are the Portsmouth Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity (P-POSSUM), the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Stress (E-PASS) and the Surgical Apgar Score combined with the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification (SASA). The aim of this study was to compare the above scoring systems in the prediction of 30-day postoperative outcome in older patients with cancer undergoing abdominal surgery., Methods: Consecutive patients ≥70 years were prospectively enrolled. Pre- and intraoperative variables were used to calculate the scores, the ROC and perform logistic regression analysis., Results: The study sample comprised 201 patients with a median age of 77 (range 70-93) years. The most common surgical procedure was for colorectal (75%), followed by gastric (10.4%) pancreas (7.0%), gall bladder (3.5%), small bowel (2.5%), and other (1.5%) types of cancer. All scores were independent predictors of 30-day postoperative mortality. In case of 30-day morbidity only SASA turned to be significant. The ROC curves were highly valid and area under the curve showed fair to good discriminatory ability (0.60-0.77) for 30-day postoperative mortality and fair (AUC 0.6) in case of SASA for the 30-day postoperative., Conclusion: The SASA, E-PASS, and P-POSSUM were confirmed to be predictive of 30-day postoperative mortality in older patients undergoing abdominal elective cancer surgery. Only SASA demonstrated as independent factor predicting postoperative 30-day major morbidity.

Background and Aims: Self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) are used for palliation of malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). Studies comparing covered SEMSs (C-SEMSs) and uncovered SEMSs (U-SEMSs) have led to inconclusive results. We compared efficacy and safety of C-SEMSs versus U-SEMSs in patients with GOO., Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library from 2000 to 2019 to identify available studies comparing C-SEMSs versus U-SEMSs in patients with GOO. Primary outcomes were stent survival and patient survival, whereas secondary outcomes were clinical and technical success, Gastric Outlet Obstruction Score System (GOOSS) score after the procedure, overall adverse events, reintervention rate, dysfunction rate, stent occlusion, and stent migration., Results: Overall, 7 randomized controlled trials and 9 observational studies were identified that included 1741 patients. C-SEMSs were associated with higher stent survival (hazard ratio, .68; 95% confidence interval [CI], .48-.96), whereas patient survival did not statistically significantly differ between C-SEMS and U-SEMS groups (hazard ratio, .96; 95% CI, .75-1.23). Clinical and technical success were not statistically different between groups (odds ratios, 1.1 [95% CI, .76-1.61] and .69 [95% CI, .21-2.3], respectively). There were no differences in terms of overall adverse events, reintervention rate, dysfunction rate, and GOOSS rate ≥2 after SEMS placement. U-SEMSs were associated with a higher rate of occlusion (odds ratio, .34; 95% CI, .21-.53) and C-SEMSs with a higher rate of migration (odds ratio, 4.28; 95% CI, 2.79-6.57)., Conclusions: C-SEMSs were associated with higher stent survival (time between stent deployment and stent dysfunction) compared with U-SEMSs, whereas no differences in terms of patient survival (time between stent deployment and patient's death) emerged. However, U-SEMSs were associated with higher risk of occlusion and C-SEMSs with higher risk of migration. Further studies using new C-SEMSs with an antimigration system are needed., (Copyright © 2020 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the ability of eight frailty screening scores to predict short- (30-day major morbidity and mortality), long-term outcomes (12-month mortality) and to compare their accuracy for predicting frailty among older patients with cancer undergoing elective abdominal surgery with curative intent., Materials and Methods: Consecutive patients aged ≥70 years were enrolled prospectively. The diagnostic performance of eight screening tests were evaluated: The Vulnerable Elderly Survey (VES-13), Triage Risk Screening Tool (TRST), Geriatric 8 (G8), Groningen Frailty Index (GFI), abbreviated Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (aCGA), Rockwood, Balducci and Fried score. Frailty was defined based on the Geriatric Assessment (GA) with two (2ID) or three impaired domains (3ID)., Results: The study included 269 consecutive patients; median age 78 (range 70-94) years. The prevalence of frailty based on the reference GA was: 40.9% (2ID), 34.2% (3ID) and using screening tools 40-75.5%. The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting the postoperative outcome was: 0.58-0.75 (30-day morbidity), 0.54-0.71 (30-day mortality) and 0.59-0.74 (12-month mortality), respectively, being the highest for the G8. The AUC for the frailty screening tests was: 0.67-0.85 (at the 2ID) and 0.63-0.83 (at the 3ID), being the highest for the aCGA., Conclusion: The G8 was the best predictor of 30-day major morbidity, 30-day and 12-month mortality. It also had the highest sensitivity and negative predictive value in frailty screening, in case of both frailty definitions. In turn, the aCGA had the highest discriminatory ability in terms of frailty screening., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) continues to gain traction as a feasible approach for the operative management of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. The aim of this study is to quantify national trends, perioperative and oncologic outcomes of MIS for the most common GI malignancies including the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum. We hypothesize that with more widespread use of MIS techniques, perioperative outcomes and oncologic resection quality will remain preserved., Methods: The National Cancer Database (2010-2014) was utilized to assess perioperative outcomes and pathologic quality of MIS (robotic and laparoscopic) compared to open, in patients who underwent resection for cancers of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum. Multilevel logistic regression models were constructed to identify independent factors associated with postoperative and long-term outcomes., Results: Data from 11,023 esophageal, 30,664 gastric, 30,689 pancreas, 260,669 colon, and 52,239 rectal resections were analyzed. Although laparoscopy is the most prevalent MIS approach, the number of robotic resections increased nearly fourfold from 2010 to 2014 in all organ sites (increase by factor: esophagus: 3.8, stomach: 4.4, pancreas: 4.4, colon: 3.8 and rectum: 4). The number of laparoscopic resections increased at a slower rate (factor: 1.3-1.9), whereas the number of open resections decreased (factor: 0.67-0.77). Patients who underwent robotic-assisted resections were younger for stomach and colorectal resections and with lower Charlson Comorbidity Index across all sites. Patients who underwent robotic or laparoscopic resections had shorter hospitalizations, fewer readmissions (with the exception of rectal resections) and lower postoperative mortality at 90 days. Robotic-assisted resections had comparable negative margin resections and number of lymph nodes to laparoscopic and open resections across all sites., Conclusion: The utilization of robotic-assisted resections of GI cancers is rapidly increasing with more frequent use in younger and healthier patients. This study demonstrates that with the rising utilization of robotic-assisted resections, perioperative outcomes and oncologic safety have not been compromised.

Introduction: The majority of cancer patients report malnutrition, with a significant impact on patient's outcome. This study aimed to compare how nutritional assessment is conducted across different surgical oncology sub-specialties., Methods: Survey modules were designed for breast, hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB), upper-gastrointestinal (UGI), sarcoma, peritoneal and surface malignancies (PSM) and colorectal cancer (CRC) surgeries to describe 4 domains: participants' setting, evaluation of clinical factors, use of screening tools and clinical practice. Results were compared among sub-specialties and according to human development index (HDI) in the largest cohorts., Results: Out of 457 answers from 377 global participants (62% European), 35.0% were from breast and 28.9% were from CRC surgeons. Although MDTs management is consistently reported (64-88%), the presence of a nutritionist/dietician ranges from 14.1% to 44.2%. Breast surgeons seldom evaluate albumin (25.6%) and weight loss (30.6%), opposite to HPB, PSM and UGI groups (>70%, p 0.044). Overall, responders declared that the use of screening tools is largely neglected, that nutritional status is often assessed by the surgeons and that nutrition is not consistently modified according to risk factors (range among groups respectively: 1.9%-25.6%, 33.1%-51.4%, 33.1%-60.5%). Less than 20% of breast surgeons assess patients before/after surgery, comparing to >60% of PSM surgeons. However, no statistical differences were documented comparing groups for the majority of the items of the 4 domains. Nutritional evaluation is more often conducted by breast surgeons in medium/low HDI countries comparing very high/high HDI (p 0.04)., Conclusions: Nutritional assessment is largely neglected. These results identify target-issues for the implementation of clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors has any potential financial conflict of interest related to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous experimental and clinical studies have shown that anesthetic agents have varying effects on cancer prognosis; however, the results were inconsistent among these studies. The authors compared overall and recurrence-free survival in patients given volatile or intravenous anesthesia for digestive tract cancer surgery., Methods: The authors selected patients who had elective esophagectomy, gastrectomy, hepatectomy, cholecystectomy, pancreatectomy, colectomy, and rectal cancer surgery from July 2010 to March 2018 using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database. Patients were divided into a volatile anesthesia group (desflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane with/without nitrous oxide) and a propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia group. The authors hypothesized that total intravenous anesthesia is associated with greater overall and recurrence-free survival than volatile anesthesia. Subgroup analyses were performed for each type of surgery., Results: The authors identified 196,303 eligible patients (166,966 patients in the volatile anesthesia group and 29,337 patients in the propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia group). The numbers (proportions) of death in the volatile anesthesia and total intravenous anesthesia groups were 17,319 (10.4%) and 3,339 (11.4%), respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups in overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.07; P = 0.28) or recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96 to 1.03; P = 0.59), whereas instrumental variable analyses showed a slight difference in recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.98; P = 0.01). Subgroup analyses showed no significant difference in overall or recurrence-free survival between the groups in any type of surgery., Conclusions: Overall and recurrence-free survival were similar between volatile and intravenous anesthesia in patients having digestive tract surgery. Selection of the anesthetic approach for these patients should be based on other factors., (Copyright © 2020, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Introduction: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a well-established procedure that can provide curative resection of malignant and premalignant lesions endoscopically, thereby offering patients an effective non-operative option. Though ESD is safe and highly effective when performed in appropriately selected patients by an experienced ESD expert, it carries risks including intraprocedural and delayed perforation., Areas Covered: This review provides a practical approach to the initial management of perforation to minimize subsequent complications. The importance of prompt recognition of perforation and early intervention cannot be overstated. This review summarizes indications for closure, anatomic considerations impacting closure, and closure techniques. This article also highlights the do's and don'ts of various closure devices, focusing particularly on advanced closure methods, the-over-the-scope clips (OTSCs) and endoscopic suturing., Expert Opinion: As ESD offers surgery-sparing alternatives to patients, advanced closure techniques allow endoscopists to effectively and promptly manage associated complications, improving the possibility of the widespread implementation of ESD in the US. With continued improvements in OTSCs and endoscopic suturing, ESD will become a stalwart of endoscopic management of malignant and premalignant gastrointestinal lesions.

In the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, governmental agencies, state medical boards, and healthcare organizations have called for restricting "elective" operations to mitigate the risk of transmission of the virus amongst patients and healthcare providers and to preserve essential resources for potential regional surges of COVID patients. While the fear of delaying surgical care for many of our patients is deeply challenging for us as cancer care providers, we must balance our personal commitment to providing timely and appropriate oncologic care to our cancer patients with our societal responsibility to protect our patients (including those on whom we are operating), co-workers, trainees, families, and community, from undue risks of contracting and propagating COVID-19. Herein, we present guidelines for surgical decision-making and case prioritization developed among all adult disease specialties in the MD Anderson Cancer Center Departments of Surgical Oncology and Breast Surgical Oncology in Houston, Texas., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A 62-year-old man was referred to the Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) surgeons with left upper quadrant discomfort. The initial investigations and CT scans revealed a tumour in the pancreatic tail with liver metastases, confirmed on MRI. It was initially thought to be an adenocarcinoma; however, further investigations found that it was a grade 1 neuroendocrine tumour with Ki 67 at 1% and it was agreed that he would undergo a total robotic surgery involving resection of the locally advanced tumour of the tail of pancreas, with the involvement of the stomach, and splenic flexure of the colon with liver metastases. The resulting procedure was a total robotic distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, sleeve resection of stomach, cholecystectomy, atypical resection of two liver lesions and microwave ablation of multiple liver lesions. Four days post-operatively, he was discharged from hospital and commenced adjuvant chemotherapy. He currently enjoys a good quality of life., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Digestive tumors are malignant tumors of epithelial origin with high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. At present, surgery is the main treatment for patients with digestive tumors. In this study, we conducted a survey of patients with digestive cancers to explore the influence of family support on postoperative quality of life, with the aim of providing a basis of reference for further improvement of the quality of life of such patients., Methods: A total of 82 patients with digestive cancer who underwent surgery in Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between October, 2018 and April, 2019 were selected to take part. The self-made questionnaire, the European Cancer Research and Treatment Organization's Core Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients, and the Family Support Scale were used to investigate the patients, and the collected data were statistically analyzed., Results: The family support scores of the 82 enrolled patients ranged from 5 to 15 points, with an average score of (8.86±2.47) points; 60 cases (73.17%) scored ≥10 points and 12 cases (26.83%) scored <10 points. Patients who were married, aged under 30 years old, or employed as civil servants had higher family support scores than other patients (P<0.05). The scores for physical function, emotional function, and overall health status/quality of life in patients who had a high family support score were higher than those in patients who had a low family support score (P<0.05). According to the logistic regression model, Patients with higher age, getting married, with education level of bachelor degree or above, occupation as farmer and with other digestive tract tumor got higher family support score. (P<0.05)., Conclusions: Good family support can effectively improve quality of postoperative life for patients with digestive cancer. Education, age, occupation and marriage are all independent factors that affect family support.

Background: Hepatopancreaticobiliary malignancies with peritoneal carcinomatosis exhibit poor survival with current therapies: hepatocellular carcinoma 11 months with sorafenib, and pancreaticobiliary 9-14 months with systemic chemotherapy. However, limited data exist on the utility of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in these patients., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our institutional hepatopancreaticobiliary malignancies with peritoneal carcinomatosis which underwent cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy from 2007 to 2017 and analyzed perioperative and oncologic outcomes., Results: Seventeen patients were included: 9 hepatocellular carcinoma, 8 pancreaticobiliary (4 cholangiocarcinoma, 3 gallbladder, 1 pancreatic). Peritoneal cancer index, number of organs resected, completeness of cytoreduction, and 30-day morbidity were equivalent. Hepatocellular carcinoma received significantly less neoadjuvant therapy (11%, p = 0.008), though adjuvant therapy rates were similar. At a median follow-up of 15 months, progression-free survival was similar amongst all cohorts. However, overall survival was longer in hepatocellular carcinoma (42 months vs. cholangiocarcinoma 19 months, gallbladder 8 months, pancreatic 15 months, p = 0.206) with 59% 3-year overall survival (vs. 0% cholangiocarcinoma, 0% gallbladder, 0% pancreatic)., Conclusions: Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy may offer a survival benefit in select hepatocellular carcinoma patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis, though has dubious utility in pancreaticobiliary malignancies.

No study has evaluated the feasibility of enteral tube feeding (ETF) in undernourished patients with newly diagnosed gastrointestinal (GI) cancer., Objectives: Evaluate the acceptability of ETF in patients unable to increase their dietary intake and with a weight loss >10% or albuminemia <30 g/L or BMI <18.5 before surgery, or a weight loss >5% during chemotherapy. The feasibility of self-insertion of a nasogastric tube was also assessed., Results: A total of 308 patients were nutritionally screened during a one-year period. ETF was indicated in 123 cases. Overall acceptability was 78.9% and was higher when weight loss was >10% (p < 0.0001) and before surgery (p < 0.0001), lower during chemotherapy (p < 0.0001), while not influenced by dietary intake or location of the cancer. Forty patients managed a daily self-insertion of the feeding tube (45.5%) and 48 had a nasogastric tube maintained in place. All Quality of Life (QoL) parameters were significantly improved, notably physical role functioning (+20.9% ± 24.0, p < 0.005) and mental health (+21.0% ± 17.7 p < 0.005)., Conclusion: According to the present algorithm, ETF was indicated in 39.9% of cases and accepted in 78.9% of newly diagnosed patients with primary GI cancer while improving QoL. This study strengthens the place of self-insertion of feeding tubes in clinical practise., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Background: The study aim is to analyze the evolution over the last 25 years of the results reported after abdominal oncological surgery in patients aged 80 years of age and older. The primary endpoint was morbidity and mortality in this group of patients; the secondary endpoint was overall survival., Methods: A systematic search strategy was used to browse through Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials using a combination of standardized index terms. Studies published between 1997 and 2017 were selected. Only those studies that showed morbidity and mortality after digestive and hepatobiliary tract oncological surgery in individuals aged 80 years and older were included. The PROSPERO registration number is CRD42018087921. PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines were applied., Results: A total of 79 studies were included, categorized by origin of malignancy: esophageal (7), stomach (26), liver (4), pancreas (19), and colorectal (23). Compared with the non-elderly group, the elderly group had similar esophageal morbidity with higher mortality (RR 2.51, 1.50 to 4.21; P = 0.0005); higher gastric morbidity (RR 1.25, 1.09 to 1.43; P = 0.001), and mortality (RR 2.51, 1.81 to 3.49; P = 0.0001); similar liver morbidity and mortality; higher pancreatic morbidity (RR 1.17, 1.03 to 1.33; P = 0.02) and mortality (RR 2.37, 1.86 to 3.03; P < 0.00001); and similar colorectal morbidity with higher mortality (RR 4.44, 1.91 to 10.32; P = 0.005)., Conclusion: Oncological surgery of most abdominal visceral tumors is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients older than 80 years., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare no conflict of interest, funding or financial disclosures., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the organization of healthcare and has a direct impact on digestive surgery. Healthcare priorities and circuits are being modified. Emergency surgery is still a priority. Functional surgery is to be deferred. Laparoscopic surgery must follow strict rules so as not to expose healthcare professionals (HCPs) to added risk. The question looms large in cancer surgery-go ahead or defer? There is probably an added risk due to the pandemic that must be balanced against the risk incurred by deferring surgery. For each type of cancer-colon, pancreas, oesogastric, hepatocellular carcinoma-morbidity and mortality rates are stated and compared with the oncological risk incurred by deferring surgery and/or the tumour doubling time. Strategies can be proposed based on this comparison. For colonic cancers T1-2, N0, it is advisable to defer surgery. For advanced colonic lesions, it seems judicious to undertake neoadjuvant chemotherapy and then wait. For rectal cancers T3-4 and/or N+, chemoradiotherapy is indicated, short radiotherapy must be discussed (followed by a waiting period) to reduce time of exposure in the hospital and to prevent infections. Most complex surgery with high morbidity and mortality-oesogastric, hepatic or pancreatic-is most often best deferred., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: The objective of the current study was to define and compare rates of textbook outcomes (TO) among patients undergoing colorectal, lung, esophagus, liver, and pancreatic surgery for cancer at U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) ranked hospitals., Methods: Medicare Inpatient Standard Analytic Files 2013-2015 were utilized to examine the relationship of TO and USNWR hospital ratings following surgery for colorectal, lung, esophageal, pancreatic, and liver cancer. TO was defined as no postoperative surgical complications, no prolonged length of hospital stay, no readmission within 90 days after discharge, and no postoperative mortality within 90 days after surgery., Results: Among the 35,352 Medicare patients included in the cohort, 16,820 (47.6%) underwent surgery at honor roll hospitals, whereas 18 532 (52.4%) underwent surgery at non-honor roll hospitals. The overall proportion of patients who achieved TO was 50.1%. In examining the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent surgery, there was no difference in the odds of achieving TO at honor roll vs non-honor roll hospitals (colorectal: odds ratio [OR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-1.10; lung: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.87-1.32; esophagus: OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.72-2.89; liver: OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.87-1.84; pancreas: OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.67-1.62)., Conclusion and Relevance: Patients undergoing surgery for lung, esophageal, liver, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer had comparable rates of TO at honor roll vs non-honor roll hospitals. No linear association was observed between hospital position in the rank and postoperative outcomes such as TO indicating that patients should not overly focus on the exact position within USNWR ranked hospitals. These data highlight to patients and physicians that up to one-half of patients undergoing surgery for cancer should anticipate at least one adverse outcome., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Surgical Oncology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, at the end of 2019, and spread rapidly across the country. After the outbreak of this disease, the overwhelming majority of cities have launched the "first level response" and the regular diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients are greatly affected. The digestive systemic cancer is the most common malignancy. Most patients are diagnosed in the advanced stage with poor prognosis. The epidemic of COVID-19 poses new challenges to diagnosis and treatment of the patients with digestive system malignancies. Based on the fully understanding of the characteristics of digestive system tumors, we should change the treatment strategy and adopt more reasonable treatment strategy timely during the epidemic period to minimize the adverse effects of the epidemic of COVID-19 on the treatment.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancer have been facing great challenges. Although oncologists are not fighting on the front line to against the epidemic, during this special period, we should not only protect patients, their families and medical staff from the infection of novel coronavirus, but also minimize the impact of the epidemic on the diagnosis and the treatment of patients with cancer. Combining the guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of tumors with our clinical experience, in this epidemic period, we discuss the strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of malignant tumors of the digestive system in this article.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical use of tumor abnormal protein (TAP) in the diagnosis of different cancers.Totally 394 patients were divided into 4 groups, namely 100 healthy volunteers, 167 patients with cancer, 20 subjects with precancerous lesions, and 107 subjects with benign lesions. TAP was detected in 4 groups of research subjects using a TAP testing kit and examination system. We correlated TAP levels with a wide variety of clinical indicators as well as established cancer markers, including alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Besides, the changes of TAP level in 51 patients with liver cancer before and after surgery, and overall survival of patients with high or low TAP expression in pancreatic, gallbladder, bile duct, and liver cancers were analyzed.Statistically significant difference was observed in the TAP-positive ratio among subjects with cancer (79.6%) and precancerous lesions (45.0%) compared to the healthy volunteers (4.0%). TAP expression in different cancers was characterized by high sensitivity (79.64%), specificity (89.87%), positive and negative predictive value (85.25% and 85.71%), overall compliance rate (85.53%) but low omission and mistake diagnostic rate (20.36% and 10.13%), Youden index (0.6951). In addition, there was no significant difference among patients with different types of cancer (χ = 2.886, P = .410), and TAP expression was shown to be correlated with AFP in liver cancer (P = .034) but not with CA19-9 in pancreatic cancer (P = .241). Moreover, the overall survival of patients with low expression of TAP in pancreatic, gallbladder, bile duct, and liver cancers were significantly higher than of patients with high expression of TAP. Compared with the preoperative patients with cancer, TAP levels decreased dramatically among postoperative subjects (P < .001).In summary, TAP might hold promise in serving as universal indicator for the diagnosis of different cancers.

Estimated blood loss (EBL) is an increasingly important factor used to predict outcomes, such as morbidity and mortality, length of stay, and readmissions, after major abdominal operations. However, blood loss is difficult to estimate, with frequent under- and overestimations, consequences of which can be potentially dangerous for individual patients and confounding for scoring systems relying on EBL. We hypothesized that EBL is often inaccurate and have prospectively enrolled consecutive patients undergoing major elective intra-abdominal operations. Actual hemoglobin levels were measured and used to calculate the measured blood loss (MBL), which was compared with the EBL, as estimated both by surgeons (sEBL) and anesthesiologists (aEBL). Of 23 eligible cases at interim analysis, pancreaticoduodenectomy (n = 8) was the most common, followed by colectomy (n = 3), hepatectomy (n = 3) and gastrectomy (n = 2), biliary excision and reconstruction (n = 2), combined gastrectomy + colectomy (n = 1), radical nephrectomy (n = 1), open cholecystectomy (n = 1), pancreatic debridement (n = 1), and exploratory laparotomy (n = 1). aEBL overestimated MBL by 192 mL (143%) on average. The aEBL was significantly greater than the MBL ( P = 0.004), whereas the sEBL was significantly less than the MBL ( P = 0.009). In conclusion, surgeons significantly underestimate and anesthesiologists significantly overestimate EBL. This finding impacts not only immediate patient care but also the interpretation of scoring systems relying on EBL.

Background: Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) is a feasible option in selected patients. However, its use has not yet been generalized since it is time-consuming, physically demanding, and technically challenging. It might be essential to share the experience of high-volume centers to understand its use., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 500 consecutive patients who underwent LPD at a single institution between January 2007 and December 2017., Results: The patients included 272 women and 228 men (mean age, 57.1 years). The most common indication for LPD was intraductal papillary neoplasm (n = 104, 20.8%). Overall and major (Clavien-Dindo grades III-V) complication rates were 37.2% and 4.8%, respectively. Fifty-four patients (10.8%) had clinically relevant (grade B/C) pancreatic fistulas. There were 3 (0.6%) 90-day mortalities. The most common late complication was bilioenteric stricture (25, 5%). Two hundred thirty patients were diagnosed with periampullary cancer. The 5-year overall survival rates of pancreatic cancer, common bile duct cancer, ampulla of Vater cancer, and duodenal cancer were 37.4, 63.2, 78, and 88.9%, respectively. We analyzed learning curves of first-generation and second-generation surgeons. A risk-adjusted cumulative sum analysis demonstrated a learning curve of 55 cases for LPD with the first-generation surgeon and earlier competency with the second-generation surgeon., Conclusions: LPD has the potential to become an alternative surgery to open pancreaticoduodenectomy for periampullary tumors with acceptable outcomes. We could reduce the steep learning curve with structured training, close supervision, and well-trained operation teams. Perioperative and oncologic outcomes of LPD will be optimized after overcoming the learning curve.