The British journal of surgery
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Multicenter Study
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study.
Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. ⋯ As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Omitting completion axillary lymph node dissection after detection of sentinel node micrometastases in breast cancer: first results from the prospective SENOMIC trial.
Completion axillary lymph node dissection has been abandoned widely among patients with breast cancer and sentinel lymph node micrometastases, based on evidence from prospective RCTs. Inclusion in these trials has been subject to selection bias, with patients undergoing mastectomy being under-represented. The aim of the SENOMIC (omission of axillary lymph node dissection in SENtinel NOde MICrometases) trial was to confirm the safety of omission of axillary lymph node dissection in patients with breast cancer and sentinel lymph node micrometastases, and including patients undergoing mastectomy. ⋯ After 3 years, event-free survival was excellent in patients with breast cancer and sentinel node micrometastases despite omission of axillary lymph node dissection. Long-term follow-up and continued enrolment of patients having mastectomy, especially those not receiving adjuvant radiotherapy, are of utmost importance.
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Multicenter Study
Actual malignancy risk of either operated or non-operated presumed mucinous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas under surveillance.
Despite the low malignant potential of pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCNs), surgery is still performed. The aim of this pragmatic study was to assess the outcome of surgery and surveillance for patients presenting with a presumed MCN at the first evaluation. ⋯ Malignant degeneration of presumed pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms takes several years, if it occurs at all. Mural nodules, enhancing walls or cysts of 50 mm or larger call for surgical resection owing to an increased risk of malignancy; otherwise, surveillance seems a good option.
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Multicenter Study
Axillary evaluation in ductal cancer in situ of the breast: challenging the diagnostic accuracy of clinical practice guidelines.
Staging of the axilla is not routine in ductal cancer in situ (DCIS) although invasive cancer is observed in 20-25 per cent of patients at final pathology. Upfront sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) is advocated in clinical practice guidelines in certain situations. These include expected challenges in subsequent SLN detection and when the risk for invasion is high. Clinical practice guidelines are, however, inconsistent and lead to considerable practice variability. ⋯ The decision whether to operate on the axilla in women with a diagnosis of ductal cancer in situ (DCIS) is based on the risk of an undiagnosed underlying invasive cancer and on the concern that resection of the breast will not allow for accurate axillary mapping afterwards. Guidelines stem from older knowledge and are heterogeneous. In this study, different breast cancer guidelines were tested in a patient cohort from the SentiNot prospective trial for uniformity of interpretation and diagnostic accuracy. Results show that guidelines did not allow for easy and uniform interpretation and had the predictive ability of the toss of a coin. This suggests that guidelines regarding the need of axillary evaluation in patients operated for DCIS need to be revised and that techniques that will address the conundrum should be developed.
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This study aims to assess the learning curve of robotic distal gastrectomy (RDG) and robotic total gastrectomy (RTG) for gastric cancer. ⋯ The present study demonstrated a substantial influence of surgical cumulative volume on improved surgical outcomes in robotic gastrectomy. Increased experience in RDG may help surgeons to achieve proficiency faster in RTG.