Objective To explore the safety of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy combined with sphincter-preserving operation in treatment of locally advanced low rectal cancer. Methods The clinical data of thirty-four patients admitted into our hospital between June 2007 and June 2009 with T3 and T4 low rectal cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and sphincter-preserving operation were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Routine fraction of radiation was given with total dose of 40 Gy, five times a week, 2 Gy per fraction. Patients received oxaliplatin （150 mg/d1）, plus folinic (100 mg/d1-3) and 5FU (750 mg/d1-3) for total 1 cycles started from the 4th week of irradiation. Operation was performed 4 weeks after neoadjuvant therapy. Results After neoadjuvant therapy, all patients underwent surgical resection with average tumor size decreased by 41.2%, tumor T stage decreased in 67.6% （23/34) patients, and lymph nodenegative change rate was 58.8% (10/17). One patient had liver metastasis and one had local recurrence, but without stomal leak. And 88.2% (30/34) patients showed good function of sphincter. Conclusions Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in advanced lower rectal cancer patients has shown its efficacy in down-staging, which is safe without increasing operation complications when combined with sphincterpreserving surgery.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus sequential chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. MethodsThe relevant literature was searched in PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang databases from the inception to October 15, 2023, and the literature was screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis of the literature, and the Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the literature. Results Finally, 14 randomized controlled studies were included covering a total of 1048 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the overall response rate [OR=2.39, 95%CI (1.83, 3.11)], 1-year survival rate [OR=1.81, 95%CI (1.39, 2.35)], 2-year survival rate [OR=1.75, 95%CI (1.27, 2.42)] and 3-year survival rate [OR=2.33, 95%CI (1.49, 3.66)] were superior to sequential chemoradiotherapy (P<0.001). In terms of safety, concurrent chemoradiotherapy increased the incidence of radiation esophagitis (P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference in the incidence of leukopenia and radiation pneumonia (P>0.05). Conclusion For patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, the short-term efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy is better than that of sequential chemoradiotherapy and can improve the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates, but the toxic side effects of the treatment are slightly greater than those of the sequential chemoradiotherapy.
Objective To investigate the risk factors of liver metastasis in patients with middle and low rectal cancer of Ⅱ–Ⅲ stage after preoperative short course radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. MethodsThe clinical data of 89 patients with middle and low rectal cancer of Ⅱ–Ⅲ stage admitted to the Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University from January 2019 to June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with short-course radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy before operation. The risk factors of postoperative liver metastasis were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. ResultsThe 89 patients were followed up for 7–53 months, with a median follow-up time of 33 months. During the follow-up period, 25 patients developed liver metastasis, the onset time was 7–35 months, and the median time of liver metastasis was 17 months. Among them, 5 patients (5.6%) developed liver metastasis in the first year after surgery, 15 patients (16.8%) developed liver metastasis at the second year after surgery, 5 patients (5.6%) developed liver metastasis at the 3rd year after surgery. Multivariate logistic regression results showed that lymph node metastasis [OR=3.550, 95%CI (1.425, 8.953), P=0.041], vascular invasion [OR=3.335, 95%CI (1.011, 11.001), P=0.048], maximum tumor diameter ≥5 cm [OR=4.477, 95%CI (1.273, 15.743), P=0.019], and peri-tumor diameter ≥1/2 [OR=4.633, 95%CI (1.387, 15.475), P=0.013] were risk factors for liver metastasis. ConclusionsLymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, maximum tumor diameter ≥5 cm, and circumferential tumor diameter ≥1/2 are risk factors for liver metastasis in patients with middle and low rectal cancer of Ⅱ–Ⅲ stage after preoperative short course radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy.
ObjectiveTo investigate effect of carbon nanoparticles on number of lymph nodes harvested in radical operation of rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. MethodsOne hundred and five patients diagnosed with low and middle rectal cancer and received radical operation after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from March 1, 2014 to October 31, 2015 were included. Thirtysix patients were injected with carbon nanoparticles by colonoscopy before surgery and were classified as study group, and the rest patients were classified as control group. According to the same principle of surgery and procedure of pathological specimen handling, the effect of carbon nanoparticles on lymph node harvested in resected specimens was analyzed. ResultsThe total lymph nodes harvested were 764 in the study group and 1 242 in the control group. Among them, the metastatic lymph nodes were 19 in the study group, 58 in the control group. Although the average lymph nodes harvested in each patient had no significant difference between the study group and the control group (21.22±7.13 versus 18.00±9.84, t=1.739, P=0.085), the proportion of patients with 12 or more than 12 lymph nodes harvested in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group [88.9% (32/36) versus 71.0% (49/69), χ2=4.287, P=0.038]. The ratio of patients with metastatic lymph nodes [27.8% (10/36) versus 33.3% (23/69), χ2=0.339, P=0.561] and the average metastatic lymph nodes harvested in each patient (1.90±1.29 versus 2.52±2.33, t=0.788, P=0.437) all had no significant differences between the study group and the control group. ConclusionThe injection of carbon nanoparticles by colonoscopy before surgery could increase detection rate of 12 or more than 12 lymph nodes in resected specimens of patients who were diagnosed with low and middle rectal cancer and received radical operation after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
Objective To investigate efficacy and toxicity of XELOX or FOLFOX4 regimen as neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy for stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ middle and low rectal cancer. Methods From June 2011 to March 2014, 120 patients with stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ middle and low rectal cancer who underwent the surgical treatment were enrolled in The Fifth People’s Hospital of Qinghai Province, then were randomly divided into radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group and radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group. The radiotherapy and chemotherapy were performed simultaneously before the radical resection of rectal cancer. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy: 1.8–2.0 Gy/times, 5 times/week, a total of 25 times, the total dose was 45.0–50.0 Gy. At the same time, 2 cycles of chemotherapy were performed according to the FOLFOX4 program (oxaliplatin+leucovorin+5-fluorouracil) or XELOX regimen (capecitabine tablet+oxaliplatin). The radical surgery was performed on 4 to 8 weeks after the preoperative chemoradiotherapy, then 8 to 12 cycles of FOLFOX4 chemotherapy and 4 to 6 cycles of XELOX chemotherapy were completed in the radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group and the radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group respectively on 1 month after the radical surgery. The curative effect and the occurrence of acute toxicity were observed. Results ① There were no significant differences in thegeneral data such as the gender, age, cT stage, cN stage, TNM stage, histological type, differentiation degree, etc. between the two groups(P>0.05). ② The reduced staging rates of cT and cN in the radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group was 63.3% (38/60) and 86.7% (52/60), respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group〔38.3% (23/60) and 53.3% (32/60), respectively〕 , the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). ③ The complete response rate and the effective rate (complete response rate+partial response rate) in the radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group were significantly higher than those in the radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group (P<0.05). ④ The overall 3-year survival rate in the radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group was significantly higher than that in the radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the 3-year disease-free survival rate, distant metastasis rate, and local recurrence rate between the two groups (P>0.05). ⑤ All the patients suffered from 3 to 4 degrees toxicities, however, the incidence rates of the overall toxicity and the diarrhea toxicity in the radiotherapy+XELOX regimen group were significantly lower than those in the radiotherapy+FOLFOX4 regimen group (P<0.05). Conclusion Preliminary results of limited cases in this study show that XELOX regimen is more effective and less acute toxicity than FOLFOX4 regimen for preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for patients with stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ middle and low rectal cancer.
Objective To evaluate the effects of neoadjuvant long-course chemoradiotherapy (CRT), neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy (SCRT), and total neoadjuvant treatment (TNT) on chemoradiotherapy related complications and perioperative safety in mid-low rectal cancer patients. Methods The clinical data of 63 rectal cancer patients who received neoadjuvant (chemo) radiotherapies and surgery treatment in West China Hospital from Jul. 2014 to Feb. 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the neoadjuvant regimen, the patients were divided into CRT group (n=15), SCRT group (n=30), and TNT group (n=18), and then the effects of these 3 kinds of neoadjuvant regimen on chemoradiotherapy related complications and perioperative safety were compared. Results ① Chemoradiotherapy related complications: among all the included 63 patients, 29 patients (46.0%) occurred chemoradiotherapy related complications, including radiation enteritis in 9 patients and bone marrow suppression in 25 patients. There were significant differences in the overall incidence of chemoradiotherapy related complications, incidence of radiation enteritis and bone marrow suppression (P≤0.001). The overall incidence of chemoradiotherapy related complications and incidence of bone marrow suppression of SCRT group were lower. ② Perioperative safety: no significant differences were found in the incidence of surgical complications, incidence of specific surgical complication, operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative flatus time (P<0.05), but there was significant difference in the postoperative hospital stay among 3 groups (P=0.033), the postoperative hospital stay of SCRT group was shorter. Conclusion CRT, SCRT, and TNT have similar effect on the safety in the mid-low rectal cancer patients, which suggests that SCRT is worthy of further research and promotion.
Objective To discuss the important role of preoperative chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of mid-low rectal cancer. Methods From the surgical point of view, the evidences from clinic trials in literatures of recent years and also from the results of our single institution were analyzed. Results Preoperative radiotherapy with total dosage of 50 Gy had showed more and more advantages in the past two decades. Preoperative radiotherapy with concomitant chemotherapy had definite effects in downing stage and improving local control, while its role in sphincter preserving kept in controversy. However, this combined preoperative therapies had not improved long-term survival in rectal cancer. By now, there were no proper indicators to predict the effects of therapies. Conclusion Preoperative chemoradiotherapy is still the only way to improve the rate of R0 resection and decrease the rate of local currence after surgery for patients with mid-low advanced rectal cancer.
Organ preservation after neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer has gained significant attention. While the CROSS trial established neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by surgery as standard care, approximately 30% of patients achieve pathological complete response (pCR), prompting exploration of active surveillance (AS). The landmark SANO phase Ⅲ trial (2025) demonstrated non-inferior 2-year overall survival (74% AS vs. 71% surgery), with 31% of patients avoiding surgery. Multimodal assessment (endoscopic deep biopsy+EUS+PET-CT) reduced residual disease misdiagnosis to 10%. The Asian-led NEEDS trial is evaluating definitive chemoradiotherapy with salvage surgery. Although immunotherapy boosts pCR rates to 40%-55%, challenges persist, including 8%-12% false-negative cCR assessments, limited long-term data, and East-West histological disparities. The 2024 NCCN guidelines conditionally recommend AS (Category 2B, prioritized for squamous cell carcinoma), emphasizing centralized implementation. Future directions involve ctDNA and radiomics for risk stratification to advance precision organ-preserving strategies.
ObjectiveTo study the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in predicting and evaluating the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) in the middle-low locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).MethodsThe patients were included prospectively who were clinically diagnosed as the LARC and were scheduled to undergo the NCRT and total mesorectal excision (TME) in the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital from February 2018 to November 2019. The routine MRI and DCE-MRI were performed before and after the NCRT, then the TME was performed. According to the score of tumor regression grade (TRG), the patients with TGR score of 0, 1 or 2 were classified as the response to NCRT group, and those with TRG score of 3 were classified as the non-response to NCRT group; in addition, the patients with TGR score of 0 or 1 were classified as the good-response group, with TRG score of 2 or 3 were classified as the poor-response group. The differences of quantitative perfusion parameters of DCE-MRI between two groups were compared, including the volume transfer constant (Ktrans), flux rate constant (Kep), and extravascular extracellular volume fraction (Ve) and the change rates of these parameters (ΔKtrans, ΔKep, and ΔVe).ResultsForty-one patients who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study, including 27 cases in the response to NCRT group and 14 cases in the non-response to NCRT group; 11 cases in the the good-response group and 30 cases in the poor-response group. ① The values of Ktrans before the NCRT and the ΔKtrans in the response to NCRT group were higher than those in the non-response to NCRT (P<0.05), while the other indexes had no significant differences between these two groups (P>0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of Ktrans and ΔKtrans in predicting the efficacy of NCRT were 0.954 and 0.709, respectively. When the optimal thresholds of Ktrans and ΔKtrans were 0.122/min and –24.2%, the specificity and sensitivity were 85.7%, 96.3% and 100%, 51.7%, respectively. ② The Ktrans value in the good-response group was higher before NCRT and which was lower after NCRT as compared with the poor-response group (P<0.05). The absolute value of the the ΔKtrans and ΔKep in the good-response group were higher than those in the poor-response group (P<0.05). The other indexes had no significant differences between these two groups (P>0.05). The AUC of Ktrans before NCRT in predicting the efficacy of NCRT was 0.953. When the optimal thresholds of Ktrans before NCRT was 0.158 /min, the specificity and sensitivity were 88.7% and 90.9%, respectively. The AUC of ΔKtrans in predicting the efficacy of NCRT was higher than that of the ΔKep (0.952 versus 0.764, Z=2.063, P=0.039). When the optimal threshold of ΔKtrans was –38.8%, the specificity and sensitivity were 76.7% and 100%, respectively.ConclusionsDCE-MRI can predict and evaluate the effect of NCRT in patients with middle-low LARC, especially Ktrans and ΔKtrans (change rate before and after NCRT) have a high diagnostic efficiency.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignant tumor worldwide. With the development of medical technology, the treatment strategies of CRC are constantly improving and updating. The aim of treating CRC is not only to improve outcomes but also to maintain organ function and enhance quality of life. For patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, a variety of neoadjuvant treatment options are available and it is important to choose an individualized strategy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have become an important part of the first- and posterior-line treatment for patients with deficient mis-match repair or high microsatellite instability colorectal cancer in metastatic colorectal cancer, and the emergence of new targets and drugs has further improved treatment efficacy and long-term survival. Furthermore, an increasing number of studies have confirmed the potential the value of predicting and guiding treatment for minimal residual disease. This article summarizes the representative research results, guideline updates, and important academic conference reports in the field of colorectal cancer.