Objective To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with argon-helium cryotherapy system (AHCS) for primary hepatic carcinomas (PHC), and to provide references for clinical practice and research. Methods Such databases as The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were searched, and other sources like the relavant references were also retrieved to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about TACE combiend with AHCS for PHC published by May 1st, 2012. After literature screening, data extraction and quality evaluation performed by two reviewers independently according to the inclusion criteria, the meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.1 software. Results A total of 16 RCTs involving 1 467 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed: a) The TACE+AHCS group was superior to the TACE alone group in total effective rate, complete necrosis rate, 0.5-, 1-, 1.5-, 2- and 2.5-year survival rates, AFP, CD4 and Th/Ts cells, and there were significant differences (Plt;0.05); and b) The TACE+AHCS group was superior to the AHCS alone group in 0.5-, 1.5-, 2- and 2.5-year survival rates, AFP and Th/Ts cells, and there were significant differences (Plt;0.05). Conclusion Compared with the TACE or AHCS alone, TACE combined with AHCS can improve long-term survival rate and short-term curative effect, and improve PHC patients’ immunity. However, its long-term curative effect and safety still needs to be further verified by more large sample and high quality RCTs.
ObjectiveTo study the gastric function of vagus-preserved patients after esophagectomy, and to evaluate the significance of keeping vagus and the value of gastric tube with vagal-sparing esophagectomy. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 15 patients in West China Hospital between June 2012 and January 2014. They were divided into two groups. There were 8 patients with 6 males and 2 females with average age of 57 years ranging from 44 to 77 years, in a gastric pull-up group with vagal-sparing esophagectomy. There were 7 patients with 6 males and 1 female at average age of 60 years ranging from 50 to 70 years in a gastric tube group with vagal-sparing esophagectomy. We chose 8 patients with 7 males and 1 female at average age of 62 years ranging from 47 to 69 years as a control group with a classical esophagectomy and a gastric pull-up. Then we evaluated the function of the vagal nerves and gastric reservoir after vagal-sparing esophagectomy. ResultsAll 23 surgeries were successfully performed. In subjective symptom, diarrhea was rare in the vagal-sparing esophagectomy patients and statistically more common in patients with a standard esophagectomy. Dumping and early satisfaction situation were similar among 3 groups. The 60 minutes gastric emptying rate was much better in the vagal-sparing group than that in the control group. And the esophageal manometry of the vagal-sparing group was statistically hihger than that in the control group. The gastroscope showed that the incidence of reflux esophagitis in the vagal-sparing group was statistically lower than that of the control group. There was no statistic difference in weight in the vagus-preserved group before and after the surgery while the weight decreased statistically in the control group. ConclusionsFor both esophageal replacement and gastric tube, preserving the vagus can reduce the functional dyspepsia after esophagectomy.
Objective To assess the effectiveness and safety of hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. Methods Databases such as CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, CBM, EMbase, PubMed and The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2012) were electronically searched from the date of their establishment to June, 2012, and the relevant literature and conference proceedings were also manually searched to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on comparison of chemotherapy with hyperthermia plus chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Then the meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.1 software. Results A total of 11 RCTs involving 708 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: a) as for effectiveness, the chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia group was superior to the chemotherapy group in the partial improve rate (OR=1.65, 95%CI 1.39 to 1.97, Plt;0.000 01) and the total effective rate (OR=3.59, 95%CI 2.51 to 5.12, Plt;0.000 01), with significant differences; b) as for safety, the chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia group was lower than the chemotherapy group in the incidence of neurotoxicity (OR=0.50, 95%CI 0.33 to 0.75, P=0.000 8). Conclusion Compared with chemotherapy, chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia can increase partial improve rate and total effective rate and reduce the incidence of neurotoxicity. Due to the limitation of the included studies, large sample size, multicenter, high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion. We recommend that chemotherapy combined with hyperthermia therapy could be applied to clinic combining individual conditions of patients.
Objective To assess the safety and effect of different intravenous chemotherapic regimens in patients with gastric carcinomas who had received gastrectomy. Method A systematic review of all the relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. RCTs were identified from Medline and Embase (1980-2001.4), Chinese Bio-medicine Database (1990-2001.1). Literature references were checked at the same time. We included randomized andquasi-randomized trials in patients with confirmed gastric carcinomas who had received gastrectomy comparing the effect of intravenous chemotherapy after gastrectomy with that of gastrectomy alone.Results Twenty trials involving 4 171 patients were included. Meta-analysis was done with fixed effects model. Heterogeneity analyses was performed also. The effects of intravenous chemotherapy with 5FU + MCCNU, 5FU + MMC, 5FU + BCNU or FAM after gastrectomy were failed to show have better effects than that of surgery alone. There were eleven trials which detailed the side effects according to the toxicity grade by WHO standard. The side effects halting treatment were haematologic and biochemical toxicity, debilitating nausea and vomiting. There were twenty-two patients died of chemotherapic toxicity. Conclusions Based on the review, there is no enough evidence to show that intravenous chemotherapy after gastrectomy have positive treatment effect on gastric cancer.
Objective To systematically evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of raltitrexed plus cisplatin in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) when compared with other chemotherapy regimens. Methods We electronically searched PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library and Chinese Biomedicine Database to March, 2007. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs were identified, and Revman 4.2.10 was applied for statistical analyses. Results One RCT involving 250 patients was included, which compared raltitrexed plus cisplatin versus cisplatin alone in the treatment of MPM. In the intention-to-treat population, the median survival time was statistically longer in the raltitrexed plus cisplatin group as compared to cisplatin alone group. (11.4 versus 8.8 months, P=0.048). The incidence of grade 3/4 toxicities was similar between the two groups. Conclusion The current evidence available showed that, the combination of raltitrexed and cisplatin may prolong the survival time for MPM patients, with a low incidence of grade 3/4 toxicities. However, more high-quality RCTs are required to further define its clinical effectiveness.
Objective To investigate the influence of preoperative assessment by transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) on the development of operative procedures for rectal cancer. Methods A total of 110 patients with pathologically proven rectal cancer and distance between tumor to dentate line ≤10 cm were enrolled and randomized into group A (n=55) and group B (n=55) according to a computer-generated random sequence. Both TRUS staging and Clinical Staging System (CS staging) were performed preoperatively in group A, while only CS staging was conducted in group B. Preoperative TRUS stage, CS stage, and proposed operative procedures were recorded to compare with the postoperative pathological stage and practical operative procedures. Results A total of 99 patients were assessed. They were randomized into group A (n=49) and B (n=50), and there were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. The difference in staging accuracy was statistically significant (P=0.000) between group A (91.8%) and group B (48.0%). Statistically significant improvement (P=0.013) in the accuracy of proposing operative procedures for rectal cancer was observed in group A (93.9%) compared with group B (76.0%). Conclusion TRUS is evidently superior to CS staging in preoperative assessment for rectal cancer, and may remarkably enhance the accuracy of proposing operative procedures. Therefore, TRUS is valuable in preoperative assessment which may help to guide the selection of operative procedures for rectal cancer surgery.
Objective To explore the advantage of transection the cervical muscles at sternal end and flip fixed in therapeutic bilateral huge thyroid surgery. Methods The transection of the cervical muscles at sternal end and flip fixed in 53 cases was observation group， 44 cases of the neck white line incision thyroid surgery completed for the control group. The completion of the surgery by the same group of physicians. The operative time， operation field of exposing effect， amount of bleeding in operation， postoperative complications， and postoperative drainage volume were compared between two groups. Results There was no statistically differences of sex， age， disease composition， and tumor size between two groups （P＞0.05）. Operative time， amount of bleeding， and postoperative drainage volume in observation group were shorter （less） than that in control group （P＜0.01）. The postoperative complication rate in observation group was lower than that in control group（P=0.04）. Surgical field exposure in observation group was better than that in control group （P＜0.01）. Conclusions The huge bilateral thyroid surgery with the sternal end approach is feasible and simple. The operation field exposure is better than the white line neck incision， complications after operation is less. It is worthy of clinical application.
Objective To evaluate the status of lymph node metastasis and reasonable procedure in gastric cancer. Methods The incidence of metastases from gastric cancer to various regional lymph node stations was studied in 1 505 patients with gastric cancer. The patients underwent surgical resection from January 1995 to December 2004.Results Lymph node metastasis were observed in 928 of 1 505 cases (61.7%). Lymph node metastasis frequency was found in groups No.1 （32.9%），No.3 （28.7%）， No.2 （20.4%）， and No.7 （18.6%） at upper third stomach cancer；in groups No.3 （32.5%）， No.4 （24.7%）， No.7 （20.6%）， and No.1 （17.3%） at middle third stomach cancer； in groups No.6 （33.7%）， No.3 （31.3%）， No.4 （25.6%）， and No.7 （21.5%） at lower third stomach cancer. Conclusions Distribution of metastatic lymph node is clearly related to the location of the tumor. Anatomical extent of lymph node metastases in gastric cancer provid surgical guidance for surgeons.
Objective To summarize the experience of single incision laparoscopic colorectal surgery and to discuss the operative techniques. Methods The clinical data of 21 cases who underwent single incision laparoscopic colorectal surgery in Shengjing Hospital from Jan. 2010 to Jun. 2011 were collected and analyzed. Results Of 21 cases underwent single incision laparoscopic surgery， right hemicolectomy performed in 5 cases， sigmoidectomy performed in 2 cases， rectal anterior resection performed in 9 cases， rectal abdominoperineal resection performed in 2 cases， total colectomy performed in 1 case， and colostomy performed in 2 cases. Twenty cases completed by single incision， but 1 case was added an extra 12 mm incision in order to dissect the lower segment of rectum. The operative time was （189±75） min （40-335min）；the postoperative hospitalization time was （11.5±3.4） d （7-16d）. There were no bleeding， anastomosis leakage or intestinal obstruction after operation， and no incision infection， rupture or hernia were founded. No recurrence was found within 6 months’ follow up after operation. Conclusions Under reasonable selection of indication， single incision laparoscopic colorectal surgery is safe and feasible， and it also has a satisfactory cosmetic effect and better minimally invasive effect.
ObjectiveTo analyze the CT features of solid pseudopapillary tumor of pancreas (SPTP). MethodsEight patients with SPTP received triple phasic contrast-enhanced CT, and its consistency with pathological findings was analyzed. ResultsSPTP manifested as a solitary and exogenous mass, with a heterogeneous pattern composed of solid and polycystic parts. The shape of SPTP was spherical in four patients, oval in two patients, and shallow lobulation in another two patients. In contrast-enhanced phase images, the solid parts showed mild to moderate enhancement in both arterial and portal phases. Complete capsule was showed in seven patients, and nodules were found in the wall of mass in five patients. Hemorrhage was seen in two patients and calcification was showed in five patients. The dilation of pancreatic duct was found in one patient, liver metastases was showed in one patient, and the invasion of tumor to posterior gastric wall was found in one patient. Pseudopapillary structure, hemorrhage, necrosis, and cystic degeneration were showed in all patients by histological study. ConclusionSPTP has certain characteristic CT imaging manifestations consistent with histological features, which is helpful for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of SPTP.