The immune prognostic index (ipi) effectively predicts prognosis and the benefit of postoperative chemotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients following minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). Patients with a low ipi demonstrated significantly better 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) compared to those with a high ipi. Notably, adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III […]
Category: Upper Gastrointestinal Tract
Laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair enhances quality of life significantly
Health-related quality of life improves markedly for patients post-laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair with anterior 180° fundoplication. Over 12 months, physical functioning surged from 66.3 to 95.6, and bodily pain scores rose from 38.1 to 79.2 (p < 0.001). Notable enhancements in social functioning and mental health were also reported, with 72.5% of patients medication-free after […]
Pocket-creation method outperforms conventional method for gastric cancer
A systematic review indicates that the pocket-creation method of endoscopic submucosal dissection (pcm-esd) offers significant advantages over the conventional method (cm-esd) for treating early gastric cancer. The pcm-esd demonstrated a faster dissection speed (mean difference of 5.57 mm²/min) and resulted in fewer perforations without increasing the risk of delayed bleeding. No significant differences in en […]
Minimum lymph node count of 24 improves survival in gastric cancer
An international study involving 2,490 gastric cancer patients identifies a critical minimum of 24 retrieved lymph nodes post-neoadjuvant therapy for better staging and prognosis. This threshold correlates with improved overall and disease-specific survival rates, with 5-year survival significantly higher at 46.0% for those meeting or exceeding the threshold compared to lower counts. Enhanced predictive performance […]
Emerging therapies offer hope for improved gastric cancer survival
Gastric cancer poses a significant global health challenge, with nearly 1 million new cases and over 650,000 deaths annually. The disease shows geographical disparities and a troubling rise in early-onset cases among those under 50. Key risk factors include H. pylori infection and unhealthy lifestyles. While standard treatments include surgical resection and chemotherapy, advancements in […]
Neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy improves long-term outcomes in esophageal cancer.
The study reveals that neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy significantly enhances long-term survival for patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous carcinoma, particularly those with stage III disease or suspected lymph node involvement. An analysis of 397 patients showed that while pathologic complete response rates were similar between immunochemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy groups, the former led to better overall survival […]
Endoscopic resection proves effective for certain esophageal tumors
The study identifies significant clinicopathological differences between esophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (e-gist) and gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (g-gist), noting e-gist’s stronger male predominance, older median age, and increased tumor size and ulceration. Remarkably, endoscopic resection (ER) is found to be comparably effective to surgical resection for selected e-gist patients (tumors ≤5 cm without ulceration), with […]
Machine learning model predicts anastomotic strictures post-surgery
A novel machine learning model demonstrates the potential to predict anastomotic strictures in patients following esophageal cancer surgery. Analyzing data from 1,549 patients, the gradient boosting machine achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.886 in the training set and 0.872 in the validation set. Key predictive variables included anastomotic leakage, suture method, and […]
Refluxstop surgery shows promise for large hiatal hernia patients
A cohort study of 99 patients in Switzerland evaluated refluxstop surgery’s efficacy for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in those with small and large hiatal hernias (HH). The study reported no significant differences in adverse events between groups. Notable improvements in GERD-HRQL scores were found: 93.8% improvement for large HH and 85.7% for small HH […]
Laparoscopic and open surgery for T4A gastric cancer compared
A randomized controlled trial intends to evaluate the non-inferiority of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) versus open distal gastrectomy (ODG) in treating clinically resectable T4A gastric cancer. With 240 participants, the trial will assess 3-year disease-free survival alongside secondary outcomes such as morbidity, mortality, recovery, and quality of life. This pioneering study aims to establish LDG’s […]