Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic staging and surgery for patients with cervical cancer. Methods We searched The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMbase, CBM (from inception to 2009). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and then the quality of included trials was accessed, and the data were extracted. Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.0.2 software. Results Two RCTs involving 120 participants were included. The results of meta-analyses showed laparoscopic surgery, compared with open surgery, shortened postoperative ileus time (MD= –18.20, 95%CI –22.20 to –14.20, Plt;0.001), reduced the postoperative pain (MD= –1.30, 95%CI –1.86, to –0.74, Plt;0.001) and shortened the overall hospital stay (MD= –1.30, 95%CI –1.59 to –1.01, Plt;0.001). Currently, no evidence supported the superiority of laparoscopic surgery on duration of surgery, number of harvested lymph node and intraoperative blood loss over open surgery. Moreover, the laparoscopic surgery neither increased nor decreased the risk of postoperative complications. Conclusion The laparoscopic staging and surgery could shorten the recovery time of gastrointestinal function, shorten hospital stay, reduce pain in patients, but have no advantages in postoperative complications, operative time, number of lymph node biopsy, and intraoperative blood loss, compared with open surgery. However, the evidence is not b enough because of the low quality of the included studies. Thus, more high-quality RCTs are required in future.
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 determine the relationships between the preoperative and postoperative Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and short-term prognosis in colorectal cancer. Methods Patients pathologically verified colorectal cancer were prospectively enrolled at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from April 2009 to June 2009. C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin (Alb) were examined on the third day before operation and the first day after operation. We calculated the value of GPS and analyzed the relationships between GPS and short-term prognosis. Results This study enrolled 38 patients. Preoperative GPS was significantly related with pathological M stage (P=0.007) and TNM stage (P=0.013), and was not related with T stage and N stage (Pgt;0.05). Postoperative GPS was not related with pathological T, M, N and TNM stages (Pgt;0.05). Moreover, there was no relationship between GPS and postoperative quality of life or complications (Pgt;0.05). Conclusions Preoperative GPS correlates with pathologically M stages and TNM stages. Systematic inflammatory response maybe not the determinant factor for the short-term prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.
Objective To determine the influence and significance of combinative assessment of 64 multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) with serum amyloid A protein (SAA) or C-reactive protein (CRP) on the selection of operative procedures of rectal cancer under the multi-disciplinary team. Methods Prospectively enrolled patients diagnosed definitely as rectal cancer at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from February to August 2009 were randomly assigned into two groups. In one group named MSCT+SAA group, both 64 MSCT and SAA combinative assessment were made for the preoperative evaluation. In another group named MSCT+CRP group, both MSCT and CRP combinative assessment were made for preoperative evaluation. Furthermore, the preoperative staging and predicted operation procedures were compared with postoperative pathologic staging and practical operation procedures, respectively, and the relationship between the choice of operation procedures and clinicopathologic factors was analyzed. Results All 165 patients were randomly assigned into MSCT+SAA group (n=83) and MSCT+CRP group (n=82). The baseline characteristics of two groups were statistically similar (Pgt;0.05). For MSCT+SAA group, the accuracies of preoperative staging T, N, M and TNM were 74.7%， 68.7%, 100% and 66.3%, respectively. For MSCT+CRP group, the accuracies of preoperative staging T, N, M and TNM were 72.0%, 86.6%, 100% and 81.7%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the accuracies of N staging and TNM staging between two groups (P＜0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference of the accuracy of prediction to operative procedures between two groups (90.4% vs. 95.1%, Pgt;0.05). The pathological T staging (P＜0.001), N staging (P＜0.001), TNM staging (P＜0.001), preoperative serum level of SAA (P=0.010), serum level of CRP (P=0.042), and distance of tumor to the dentate line (P=0.011) were associated with the operative procedures. Conclusion Combinative assessment of MSCT+CRP could improve the accuracy of preoperative staging and operative procedures prediction, which may be superior to MSCT+SAA.
Objective To determine the role of multimodal preoperative evaluation (MPE) system of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), 64 multi-slice spiral computer tomography (MSCT) and serum amyloid A protein (SAA) in assessment of preoperative staging and selection of operative procedures of the lower and middle rectal cancer in multi-disciplinary team. Methods Prospectively enrolled 150 patients, who were diagnosed definitely as lower and middle rectal cancer (distance of tumor to the dentate line ≤10 cm) at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from November 2008 to March 2009, randomly assigned into two groups. In one group named MPE group, MPE consisting of TRUS, MSCT and SAA were made for the preoperative evaluation. In another group named MSCT+SAA group, both MSCT and SAA were made preoperatively. Then, the preoperative staging and predicted operative procedures were compared with postoperative pathologic staging and practical operative procedures, respectively. Furthermore, the pooled data were analyzed for the correlative relationship between the choice of surgery strategy and clinicopathological factors. Results According to the criteria, 146 patients with lower and middle rectal cancer were randomly assigned into MPE group (n=74) and MSCT+SAA group (n=72). The baselines characteristics of two groups were statistically identical. For MPE group the accuracy of preoperative staging T, N, M and TNM were 94.6% (70/74), 85.1% (63/74), 100% （74/74） and 82.4% (61/74), respectively; For MSCT+SAA group the corresponding rates were 77.8% (56/72), 84.7% (61/72), 100% （72/72） and 81.9% (59/72), respectively. The analysis showed a statistically difference in the accuracy of preoperative T staging between two groups (P=0.003) while there was no statistically significant difference of the accuracies of preoperative N, M and TNM staging between two groups (Pgt;0.05). There wasn’t a statistically significant increasing of the accuracy of prediction to operative procedures in MPE group compared with MSCT+SAA group 〔95.9% (71/74) vs.88.9% (64/72), P=0.106〕. When analyzing the relationship between multiple clinicopathologic factors and the operative procedures of lower and middle rectal cancer, there were statistical correlations between the pathological T staging (r=0.216， P=0.009), N staging (r=0.264， P=0.001), TNM staging (r=0.281， P=0.001), serum level of SAA before operation (r=0.252， P=0.002) or the distance of tumor to the dentate line (r=－0.261， P=0.001) and the operative procedures. Conclusion MPE system could display the accurate preoperative staging for lower and middle rectal cancer, on which the prediction of operative procedures can rest convincingly.
Objective To establish the optimal morphological criteria combined with fibrinogen level for evaluation of lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer. Methods A consecutive series of 690 patients who underwent curative surgery for colorectal cancer, were examined by abdominopelvic enhanced multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) scan. If regional lymph nodes appeared, the maximal long-axis diameter (MLAD), maximal short-axis diameter (MSAD), and axial ratio (MSAD/MLAD) were recorded. At each lymph node size cut-off value, the following were calculated: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). Moreover, preoperative plasma level of fibrinogen was retrospectively examined to identify metastatic or inflammatory lymph node combined with MSCT image. Both modalities, MSCT plus fibrinogen and MSCT alone, were compared based on the pathologic findings. Results The study population consisted of 100 patients with regional lymph nodes show. No significant difference was found between metastatic and inflammatory lymph nodes in imaging characteristics (Pgt;0.05). The best cut-off value of MSAD was 6 mm for lymph node metastasis with the sensitivity of 46.8%, specificity of 68.4%, accuracy of 55.0%, PPV of 70.7% and NPV of 44.1%. The best cut-off value of MLAD was 8 mm with the sensitivity of 43.5%, specificity of 63.2%, accuracy of 51.0%, PPV of 65.9% and NPV of 40.7%. Using hyperfibrinogenemia (FIB ≥3.5 g/L) to identify small metastatic lymph node, of which MSAD lt;6 mm or MLAD lt;8 mm, showed statistical diagnostic value (Kappa=0.256, P=0.047). Compared with MSAD (6 mm) alone, MSAD (6 mm) combined with hyperfibrinogenemia had a higher sensitivity (79.0% vs. 46.8%, Plt;0.001), but a similar accuracy (66.0% vs. 55.0%, Pgt;0.05) and a lower specificity (44.7% vs. 68.4%, P=0.037). MLAD (8 mm) combined with hyperfibrinogenemia led to a greater diagnostic value in sensitivity (80.6% vs. 43.5%, Plt;0.001) and accuracy (66.0% vs. 51.0%, P=0.031) than MLAD (8 mm) alone, with a no-significantly decreasing specificity (42.1% vs. 63.2%, Pgt;0.05). Conclusions This present study recommend MSAD ≥6 mm or MLAD ≥8 mm as the optimal criteria for preoperative N staging in colorectal cancer. Moreover, the sensitivity and even accuracy could be improved by combining hyperfibrinogenemia for lymph node metastasis identification.