Annals of surgical oncology
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Comparative Study
Robotic coloanal anastomosis with or without intersphincteric resection for low rectal cancer: starting with the perianal approach followed by robotic procedure.
Coloanal anastomosis (CAA)/intersphincteric resection (ISR) is a promising method of sphincter-preserving surgery for very low rectal cancer. Recently, a robotic system has been attempted in CAA/ISR. By means of a robotic system, an excellent stereoscopic view may be obtained with high illumination, and adequate traction and countertraction can be easily performed in a narrow pelvis using the Endowrist function. During robotic CAA/ISR, although the robotic system is necessary to perform pelvic dissection that comes before the perianal approach, the huge robotic arms located in the low abdominal region could interfere with comfortable perianal dissection for the surgeon. Therefore, the robotic system has to be withdrawn and then set up again above the patient's abdomen, which is time-consuming. Moreover, this process also makes it difficult to maintain the aseptic circumstance of the robotic system. To address this problem, it is necessary to change the sequence of the procedure. ⋯ Robotic CAA/ISR can be performed with good technical efficiency and acceptable morbidity. Further randomized, controlled studies assessing long-term survival, pelvic autonomic nerve function, and bowel function are needed before robotic CAA/ISR becomes widely accepted. Changing the sequence of the procedure, and thus performing the perianal approach before robotic dissection, may be a feasible method to avoid interference of the robotic system in the surgeon's moves using nonrobotic instruments while performing robotic CAA/ISR.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A randomized trial comparing postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil versus preoperative chemotherapy for localized advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus (JCOG9907).
Patients with esophageal carcinoma receiving postoperative chemotherapy showed superior disease-free survival than those receiving surgery alone in a Japan Clinical Oncology Group trial (JCOG9204). The purpose of this study was to evaluate optimal perioperative timing-that is, before or after surgery-for providing chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. ⋯ Preoperative chemotherapy with cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil can be regarded as standard treatment for patients with stage II/III squamous cell carcinoma.
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Results are conflicting and no population-based studies are available regarding the postoperative mortality after intrathoracic anastomotic leakage. The current study addressed the unselected and independent fatality rate of intrathoracic esophageal anastomotic leaks after resection for cancer. ⋯ Intrathoracic anastomotic leakage after esophageal resection for cancer remains a major risk factor for short-term postoperative death in an unselected, population-based setting.
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In melanoma patients, we define incomplete sentinel node biopsy (I-SNB) as when fewer lymph nodes are removed during sentinel node biopsy (SNB) than identified on preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (LS). This study quantifies the frequency of I-SNB and evaluates any correlation with patient outcomes. ⋯ This study demonstrates no statistically significant relationship between I-SNB and patient outcomes when adjusting for known prognostic factors. These data do not exclude the possibility that I-SNB may have a weak association with worse outcomes.
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Prophylactic central neck dissection (CND) remains controversial in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Because postsurgical stimulated thyroglobulin (sTg) level is a good surrogate for recurrence, the study aimed to evaluate the impact of prophylactic CND on preablative and postablative sTg levels after total thyroidectomy. ⋯ Although performing prophylactic CND in total thyroidectomy may offer a more complete initial tumor resection than total thyroidectomy alone by minimizing any residual microscopic disease, such a difference becomes less noticeable 6 months after ablation.