China is one of the countries in the world with the highest rate of esophageal cancer. Early detection, accurate diagnosis, and treatment of esophageal cancer are critical for improving patients’ prognosis and survival. Machine learning technology has become widely used in cancer, which is benefited from the accumulation of medical images and advancement of artificial intelligence technology. Therefore, the learning model, image type, data type and application efficiency of current machine learning technology in esophageal cancer are summarized in this review. The major challenges are identified, and solutions are proposed in medical image machine learning for esophageal cancer. Machine learning's potential future directions in esophageal cancer diagnosis and treatment are discussed, with a focus on the possibility of establishing a link between medical images and molecular mechanisms. The general rules of machine learning application in the medical field are summarized and forecasted on this foundation. By drawing on the advanced achievements of machine learning in other cancers and focusing on interdisciplinary cooperation, esophageal cancer research will be effectively promoted.
Objective To evaluate the effect of frailty on postoperative complications in elderly patients with esophageal cancer.Methods We enrolled the patients aged≥65 years and with esophageal cancer who underwent surgical treatment in Shanghai Chest Hospital in 2021. The modified frailty index (mFI) was calculated and the patients were divided into a non-frailty group and a frailty group. The primary outcomes were the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection, arrhythmia, anastomotic fistula and chylothorax complications. Secondary outcomes were the time of extubation, the rate of unplanned re-intubation, the length of ICU stay, hospital stay, rate of readmission within 30 days after discharge and the mortality within 30 days after operation.Results Finally 607 patients were collected. There were 273 patients in the non-frailty group and 334 patients in the frailty group. The non-frailty group had lower rates of complications including pulmonary infection (5.5% vs. 13.5%), arrhythmia (3.7% vs. 9.3%), anastomotic fistula (2.9% vs. 7.5%), and shorter ICU stay [2.0 (0.0, 4.0) d vs. 4.0 (1.0, 6.0) d] and in-hospital stay [11.5 (9.5, 13.0) d vs. 13.0 (11.0, 18.0) d],lower rates of the readmission within 30 days (2.9% vs. 6.6%) and the mortality within 30 days (0.4% vs. 1.2%) compared with the frailty group (P<0.05).Conclusion Frail elderly patients with esophageal cancer have higher rates of postoperative complications. mFI can be used as an objective index to identify high-risk elderly patients with esophageal cancer.
Objective To compare the outcome of tubular stomach and cervical esophagus laminated anastomosis and mechanical anastomosis. Methods A total of 128 patients with middle and upper esophageal cancer in our hospital from January 2013 to January 2016 were randomly divided into two groups, 64 patients in each group and all patients underwent esophagectomy. In the group A, there were 46 males and 18 females with age of 40–75 years, treated with tubular stomach and cervical esophagus layered anastomosis. There were 51 males and 13 females with age of 43–71 years in the group B receiving mechanical anastomosis. We observed the short-term and long-term efficacy as well as complications. Results In the group A, there was cervical anastomotic fistula in 1 patient, anastomotic stenosis in 2 patients and reflux esophagitis in 12 patients. In the group B, 1 patient suffered chylothorax, 8 patients cervical anastomotic fistula, 4 patients anastomotic stenosis and 14 patients reflux esophagitis. Conclusion Layered anastomosis can effectively reduce the incidence of anastomotic fistula and stenosis. Tubular stomach can effectively prevent and reduce the reflux esophagitis, and the high long-term quality of life will be achieved after the operation.
Esophageal cancer is an aggressive malignancy with high morbidity and poor prognosis. Symptoms of early esophageal cancer are insidious and difficult to detect, while advanced esophageal obstruction, lesion infiltration and metastasis seriously affect patients’ quality of life. Early detection and treatment can help to increase the survival chance of patients. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has shown remarkable success in diagnosis of esophageal cancer, highlighting the great potential of new AI-assisted diagnostic modalities. This paper aims to review recent progress of AI in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer and to prospect its clinical application.
ObjectiveTo systematically review risk factors for esophagogastric anastomotic leakage (EGAL) after esophageal cancer surgery for adults to provide theoretical basis for clinical prevention and treatment.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, WanFang Data, VIP, CNKI and CBM were searched from inception to January 2020 to collect case control studies and cohort studies about risk factors for EGAL after esophageal cancer surgery. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies, and then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 33 studies were included, including 19 case-control studies and 14 cohort studies, all of which had a Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS)≥6. There were 26 636 patients, including 20 283 males and 6 353 females, and there were 9 587 patients in China and 17 049 patients abroad. The results of meta-analysis showed that the following factors could increase the risk for EGAL (P≤0.05), including patient factors (18): age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, smoking index (≥400), alcohol history, digestive tract ulcer, respiratory disease, lower ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, arrhythmia, diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, celiac trunk calcification and descending aortic calcification; preoperative factors (6): abnormal liver function, renal insufficiency, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grading, neoadjuvant radiotherapy and preoperative albumin<35 g/L, preoperative lower albumin; intraoperative factors (7): retrosternal route, cervical anastomosis, thoracoscopic surgery, operation time≥4.5 h, tubular stomach, upper segment tumor, splenectomy; postoperative factors (5): respiratory failure, postoperative arrhythmia, use of fiberoptic bronchoscopy, pulmonary infection, deep venous thrombosis. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy could reduce the risk for postoperative EGAL (P<0.05). However, age≥60 years, upper gastrointestinal inflammation, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO%), thoracic surgery history, abdominal surgery history, glucocorticoid drugs history, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, anastomotic embedding, end-to-end anastomosis, hand anastomosis, intraoperative blood loss and other factors were not significantly correlated with EGAL.ConclusionCurrent evidence suggests that the risk factors for postoperative EGAL include age, sex, BMI, smoking index, alcohol history, peptic ulcer, FEV1/FVC, COPD, diabetes, ASA grading, neoadjuvant radiotherapy, preoperative albumin<35 g/L, cervical anastomosis, thoracoscopic surgery, operation time≥4.5 h, tubular stomach, upper segment tumor, intraoperative splenectomy, postoperative respiratory failure, postoperative arrhythmia and other risk factors. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be the protection factor for EGAL. Due to limited study quality, more high quality studies are needed to verify the conclusion.
ObjectiveTo investige the effects of multidisciplinary perioperative nutrition management on nutrition and postoperative complications of patients with esophageal cancer.MethodsA total of 239 patients with esophageal cancer who received elective surgical treatment were included in the study. They were divided into a trial group (120 patients) and a control group (119 patients) according to the random number table method. There were 97 males and 23 females in the trial group with an average age of 63.78±9.13 years, and 94 males and 25 females in the control group with an average age of 64.12±7.91 years. The control group received routine diet management, and the trial group received multidisciplinary perioperative nutrition management. The differences of nutrition and postoperative complications between the two groups were compared.ResultsThe total protein and albumin levels on postoperative days 3 and 7 in the trial group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), patients' postoperative anal exhaust time was shorter than that in the control group (P<0.05), the incidence of postoperative gastrointestinal adverse reactions, lung infection, postoperative anastomotic fistula, hypoproteinemia on postoperative days 3 and 7 was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05), and hospitalization cost was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionMultidisciplinary nutrition management can effectively improve the nutrition of patients, promote the rapid recovery of postoperative gastrointestinal function, reduce postoperative complications, and reduce hospitalization costs. It has high clinical reference and promotion value.
ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of 3D single-portal inflatable mediastinoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.MethodsClinical data of 28 patients, including 25 males and 3 females, aged 51-76 years, with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing single-portal inflatable mediastinoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy from June 2018 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to different surgical methods including a 3D mediastinoscopic group (3D group, 10 patients) and a 2D mediastinoscopic group (2D group, 18 patients). The perioperative outcome of the two groups were compared.ResultsCompared with the 2D group, the 3D group had shorter operation time (P=0.017), more lymph nodes resected (P=0.005) and less estimated blood loss (P=0.015). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the main surgeon's vertigo and visual ghosting (P>0.05). The other aspects including the indwelling time, postoperative hospital stay, pulmonary infection, arrhythmia, anastomotic fistula, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury were not statistically significant between the two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionThe 3D inflatable mediastinoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, which optimizes the surgical procedures of 2D, is safe and feasible, and is worthy of clinical promotion in the future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the application value of modified gastric tube in surgery for mid- and lowerthoracic esophageal cancer compared with gastric tube. MethodsA total of 221 patients with mid- and lower-thoracic esophageal cancer who underwent esophagectomy between October 2009 and June 2013 in our hospital were recruited in the study. They were randomly divided into a modified gastric tube group (n=108) and a gastric tube group (n=113). There were 67 males and 41 females at age of 63.50±6.75 years (ranged 47-73 years) in the modified gastric tube group, including 62 cases of middle esophageal cancer and 46 cases of lower esophageal cancer. There were 69 males and 44 females at age of 63.38±7.21 years (ranged 49 to 76 years) in the gastric tube group, including 68 cases of middle esophageal cancer and 45 cases of lower esophageal cancer. The results of surgery and morbidities were recorded. The respiratory functions were recorded at 3 days before surgery, 1 week and 4 weeks after surgery, respectively. ResultsAll surgeries were successfully performed in two groups. There was 1 case of death and 1 case of anastomotic leakage in the gastric tube group. There was no death or anastomotic leakage occurred in the modified gastric tube group. There was statistical difference in the operation time between the modified gastric tube group and the gastric tube group (150.65±11.88 min vs. 174.58±11.99 min, P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in the amount of bleeding during operation or the length of hospital stay between two groups (P>0.05). There were no statistical differences in respiratory function between two groups at 1 week or 4 weeks after surgery (P>0.05). ConclusionFor patients with mid- and lower-thoracic esophageal cancer, modified gastric tube has a good clinical application value compared with gastric tube. It is easy and safe, and can decrease the operation time without aggravation of pulmonary function after operation. It is a better esophagus reconstruction method in esophagectomy for mid- and lower-thoracic esophageal cancer in primary hospitals.
ObjectiveTo explore the effect of preoperative glucocorticoid on systemic inflammatory indexes and pulmonary inflammation after radical esophagectomy.MethodsA total of 44 patients with esophageal cancer treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from July 2019 to September 2020 were selected and randomly divided into an intervention group and an observation group by random number table. There were 22 patients in the intervention group, including 20 males and 2 females with an average age of 62.86±5.22 years and 22 patients in the observation group, including 19 males and 3 females with an average age of 63.00±6.19 years. Two groups were given thoracoscope-assisted incision via right chest, upper abdomen and left neck. The intervention group was given an intravenous infusion of methylprednisolone 500 mg before induction of anesthesia, and the observation group was given the same dose of normal saline. The second generation cephalosporins were routinely used to prevent infection in the two groups. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), lymphocyte and neutrophil count before operation and 1 day, 3 days and 5 days after operation were recorded and compared between the two groups. Utrecht Pneumonia Scoring System (UPSS) score 1 day after operation, the healing of the surgical incision and the anastomotic leakage within 2 weeks after the operation were evaluated.ResultsThe level of IL-6 in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the observation group at 1 hour and 1 day after operation (both P<0.05). CRP showed significant difference between the two groups 2 days after operation (P=0.044). The white blood cell count in the intervention group was significantly less than that in the observation group 1 day and 3 days after operation (both P<0.05). There was no significant difference in lymphocyte or neutrophil count between the two groups 1 day after operation. There was no significant difference in the rate of non-grade A wound healing or the incidence of anastomotic leakage between the two groups within 2 weeks after operation. The pneumonia score of UPSS in the intervention group was lower than that in the observation group 1 day after operation (P=0.027).ConclusionThe use of glucocorticoid before radical esophagectomy can reduce the systemic inflammatory reaction and improve the short-term postoperative pulmonary inflammation. At the same time, no adverse effect on the healing of surgical incision and anastomotic stoma is found, which has certain safety.
Objective To systematically evaluate the correlation between the expression of microRNA (miRNA)-21 and the prognosis of esophageal cancer. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP Databases were searched by for the literature on the correlation between miRNA-21 and the prognosis of esophageal cancer till July 10, 2022. Two researchers independently performed literature screening, quality evaluation, and data extraction. Statistical analysis was conducted with Stata 14.0. Results A total of 13 articles were included, including 1 204 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that: the overall survival (OS) of patients with high expression of miRNA-21 was lower than that of patients with low expression of miRNA-21 [hazard ratio (HR)=2.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.56, 2.84), P<0.001]. miRNA-21 expression was not associated with disease free survival [HR=2.53, 95%CI (0.67, 8.22), P=0.182]. The OS of Asian patients with high expression of miRNA-21 was significantly lower [HR=2.44, 95%CI (1.71, 3.49), P=0.005], while the OS of non-Asian patients was not related to miRNA-21 expression [HR=1.34, 95%CI (0.94, 1.91), P=0.363]. The high expression of miRNA-21 was correlated with the decreased OS in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma [HR=2.22, 95%CI (1.52, 3.26), P=0.001], while the OS in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma was not correlated with the expression of miRNA-21 [HR=1.39, 95%CI (0.63, 3.06), P=0.409]. Conclusion The overexpression of miRNA-21 is associated with poor prognosis and might be regarded as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with esophageal cancer.