Takayuki Tajima

Comparison of hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery and conventional laparotomy for colorectal cancer: Interim results from a single institution

The present study aimed to compare the results of hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) and conventional laparotomy (CL) at a single institution in Japan. Of the 212 patients with stage I/II/III colorectal cancer who received a curative resection, 98 patients underwent HALS and 114 patients underwent CL. The clinical background and post-operative management did not differ between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the 3-year relapse-free and 3-year overall survival rates between the HALS and CL groups for the patients in any stage. Blood loss during surgery was 250.1 and 135.5 ml (mean and median; the same hereafter) in stage I patients receiving HALS versus 608.2 and 315.5 ml in stage I CL patients (P=0.006), while it was 277.6 and 146 ml in stage II patients receiving HALS versus 548.6 and 347 ml in stage II CL patients (P=0.004). Post-operative hospital stay was recorded at 16.8 and 15 days in stage III patients receiving HALS versus 23.1 and 21 days in stage III CL patients (P=0.001). There were no significant differences in the operating time or complications between the two groups. These results indicate that the survival rate was comparable for HALS and CL, while HALS caused less surgical stress and achieved a better cosmetic outcome. The results of the final analysis of this cohort are awaited.

Stage II/III cancer of the rectosigmoid junction: An independent tumor type?

The 5-year relapse-free survival rate (5Y-RFS) and 5-year overall survival rate (5Y-OS) were investigated in 766 patients with stage II/III colorectal cancer (CRC). The Stage II group included 283 patients with colon cancer (CC), 40 patients with rectosigmoid junction cancer (RSC), and 74 patients with rectal cancer (RC), while the Stage III group comprised 226 patients with CC, 52 patients with RSC, and 91 patients with RC. Stage III patients with RC were further divided into 68 patients with Ra cancer (Ra, rectum/above the peritoneal reflection) and 23 patients with Rb cancer (Rb, rectum/below the peritoneal reflection). Then the 5Y-RFS and 5Y-OS were calculated for each category or subcategory. The 5Y-RFS/5Y-OS was 80.3/80.6% for Stage II patients and 63.7% (p<0.001)/66.2% (p<0.001) for Stage III patients. In the Stage II group, the survival rates were 82.9/81.2% for CC, 77.6/74.8% for RSC, and 72.9/80.5% for RC, with no significant differences between each category. In the Stage III group, the survival rates were 69.3/72.8% for CC, 71.6/77.7% for RSC, and 46.5/46.2% for RC. There was no significant difference of survival for CC vs. RSC, but significant differences were noted for CC vs. RC (p<0.001/p<0.001) and RSC vs. RC (p=0.008/p=0.007). In the Stage III group, survival rates were 71.6/77.7% for RSC, 47.6/44.8% for Ra, and 45.7/51.3% for Rb, with significant differences for RSC vs. Ra (p=0.013/p=0.005) and RSC vs. Rb (p=0.026/p=0.180), but not for Ra vs. Rb. These results suggest that Stage II/III RS cancer should be classified as colon cancer and should not be considered an independent tumor type.

TYPE 1 GASTRIC CANCER PRESENTING AS PROTEIN‐LOSING GASTROENTEROPATHY AND BALL‐VALVE SYNDROME

A 70-year-old woman visited Tokai University Hachioji Hospital due to increasing bilateral pretibial edema and occasional nausea. Blood chemistry revealed low serum concentrations of total protein (4.6 g/dL), albumin (2.4 g/dL), and IgG (468 mg/dL). Heart, liver, renal, or thyroid diseases were denied. Abdominal contrast computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a 7 cm-diameter tumor in the duodenal bulbi with a stalk arising from the distal stomach (Fig. 1). Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a deformed pyloric ring (scarfring sign, Fig. 2A) and a tumor in the duodenal bulbi (Fig. 2B), suggesting ball-valve syndrome. The head of the tumor was endoscopically pulled back into the stomach with grasping forceps. Alfa1-antitrypsin clearance test (205 mL/ day; normal 20 mL/day) and Tc-labeled albumin scintigraphy localized the site of protein loss to the gastric tumor. Distal gastrectomy was carried out. The relatively soft tumor had invaded up to the submucosal layer without lymph node metastasis. Dilated lymphatic vessels were occasionally observed. This tumor was pathologically well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma with cauliflower-like shape, the features of which are characteristic of gastric cancers with protein-losing gastroenteropathy. After surgery, total protein and albumin levels normalized, and the patient’s complaints disappeared. The causes of protein-losing gastroenteropathy include erosive and non-erosive gastrointestinal disorders, and disorders involving increased central venous pressure or mesenteric lymphatic obstruction. Amount of protein loss parallels with surface area in gastric cancers. The present type 1 gastric cancer might be large enough to manifest protein loss. Although the effect of ball-valve syndrome on protein-losing gastroenteropathy is unclear, constriction of the tumor stalk by the pyloric ring might have caused ischemia or lymphatic obstruction, resulting in protein loss. As far as we know, this is the first case with gastric cancer presenting protein-losing gastroenteropathy and ball-valve syndrome. Clinicians should think of gastrointestinal diseases presenting as protein loss as a differential diagnosis when they see patients with edema.

Comparison of hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) and conventional laparotomy in patients with colorectal cancer: Final results from a single center

In recent years, the use of laparoscopic surgery has been expanded to include radical curative resection. In a previous study, 212 patients with primary colorectal cancer (stages I-III) underwent radical curative resection by hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) (n=98) or conventional laparotomy (CL) (n=114) and were compared with respect to 3-year relapse-free survival (3Y-RFS) and 3-year overall survival (3Y-OS). The study included 210/212 patients who were followed up to 5 years, including 96 patients who underwent HALS and 114 treated with CL. The two groups were matched for stage, clinical background, and postoperative management. Patient characteristics were compared and the 5Y-RFS and 5Y-OS were determined. The 5-year follow-up rate was 97.6%. In stage I-III patients, 5Y-RFS and 5Y-OS showed no significant differences between HALS and CL. The patients with stage I disease accounted for 41.7% (40/96) of the patients undergoing HALS, while stage I patients only accounted for 23.7% (27/114) of the patients undergoing CL, and the difference was significant (P=0.005). Stage II patients undergoing CL were older than those treated with HALS (P=0.017). However, there were no differences in the characteristics of stage III patients undergoing HALS or CL. In conclusion, HALS achieved a similar survival to CL in patients with stage I to III colorectal cancer. Compared with CL, HALS was performed more safely and achieved superior cosmetic results.

Single-center analysis of appendiceal neoplasms

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the recent trend of diagnosing appendiceal diseases through the analysis of appendectomy materials, stressing the importance of their pathological examination. A clinicopathological assessment of patients undergoing an appendectomy was conducted, based on the pathological examination of resected appendiceal lesions. Using a pathological database of surgical specimens from patients who underwent an appendectomy between March 2002 and September 2014, a retrospective, single-center analysis was performed. Among the 803 patients identified, 752 with appendiceal disease were selected for clinicopathological analysis. The diagnosis was inflammation (i.e. appendicitis) in 97.7% (n=735) and appendiceal neoplasm in 2.3% (n=17) of the patients. The most frequent type of appendiceal neoplasm was an intramucosal neoplasm (23.5%, n=4). In conclusion, the incidence of appendiceal neoplasms has increased in recent years, potentially due to increased and earlier detection by newer imaging modalities.

Perforated gastrointestinal stromal tumor in the small intestine: A rare case of Torricelli-Bernoulli sign

The Torricelli-Bernoulli sign is a computed tomography (CT) finding that occurs when ulceration/necrosis of a submucosal gastrointestinal tumor releases a stream of air bubbles into the intestinal lumen. A 75-year-old man developed acute abdominal pain at night and presented to a local doctor. Acute abdomen was diagnosed and he was referred to the Emergency Department at Tokai University Oiso Hospital. On CT scans, disseminated intestinal tumor-like lesions were seen in the right lower abdomen. The Torricelli-Bernoulli sign and free intraabdominal gas were observed, so perforation of an intestinal tumor was diagnosed and emergency surgery was performed. At operation, there was scanty opaque ascites in the right lower abdomen and an ileal tumor associated with nodules that suggested peritoneal dissemination. Partial resection of the ileum was performed and peritoneal lavage was conducted. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 11. Histopathological examination revealed a high risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The abdominal nodules were metastases, indicating that the tumor was Stage IV. The patient is currently on treatment with an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (imatinib).

Occult neoplastic cells in lymph node sinuses and recurrence/metastasis of stage II/III gastric cancer

In the present study, we investigated the correlation between the presence of occult neoplastic cells (ONCs) in lymph node sinuses and recurrence/metastasis of stage II/III gastric cancer in 164 patients who underwent radical curative resection. We calculated the five-year relapse-free survival rate (5Y-RFS) and five-year overall survival rate (5Y-OS) of the ONC(+) and ONC(−) groups. The 5Y-RFS was 71.4% in the ONC(−) group and 47.5% in the ONC(+) group (P=0.003). The 5Y-OS was 68.8 and 48.4%, respectively (P=0.008). ONCs were found in 34.8% of stage II patients and were also detected in 66.7% of stage III patients. For distinguishing between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups, the sensitivity of ONC(+) was 64.5% (40/62; P=0.003), the positive predictive value (PPV) was 49.4% (40/81), the specificity was 59.8% (61/102) and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 73.5% (61/83). This high sensitivity indicates that ONC positivity may be a significant indicator for high-risk patients in the early postoperative period, and a lack of ONCs may be a useful indicator for identifying low-risk patients, as patients without ONCs had a high NPV.