Risk Of Node Involvement Research Articles

Predictive Score of Nodal Involvement in Endometrial Cancer Patients: A Large Multicentre Series.

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is considered the standard of care in early-stage endometrial cancer (EC). For SLN failure, a side-specific lymphadenectomy is recommended. Nevertheless, most hemipelvises show no nodal involvement. The authors previously published a predictive score of lymphovascular involvement in EC. In case of a negative score (value 3-4), the risk of nodal metastases was extremely low. This multicenter study aimed to analyze a predictive score of nodal involvement in EC patients. The study enrolled patients with EC who had received comprehensive surgical staging with nodal assessment. A preoperative predictive score of nodal involvement was calculated for all the patients before surgery. The score included myometrial infiltration, tumor grading (G), tumor diameter, and Ca125 assessment. The STARD (standards for Reporting Diagnostic accuracy studies) guidelines were followed for score accuracy. The study analyzed 1038 patients and detected 155 (14.9%) nodal metastases. The score was negative (3 or 4) for 475 patients and positive (5-7) for 563 of these patients. The score had a sensitivity of 83.2%, a specificity of 50.8%, a negative predictive value of 94.5%, and a diagnostic value of 55.7%. The area under the curve was 0.75. The logistic regression showed a significant correlation between a negative score and absence of nodal metastasis (odds ration [OR], 5.133, 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.30-7.98; p < 0.001). The proposed predictive score is a useful test to identify patients at low risk of nodal involvement. In case of SLN failure, the application of the current score in the SLN algorithm could allow avoidance of unnecessary lymphadenectomies.

Development of a Radiomic-Based Model Predicting Lymph Node Involvement in Prostate Cancer Patients.

Simple SummaryIn patients with prostate cancer, lymph node involvement is a risk factor of relapse. Current guidelines recommend extended lymph node dissection to better stage the disease. However, such a surgical procedure is associated with a higher morbidity than limited lymph node dissection. A better selection of patients is thus essential. Radiomics features are quantitative features automatically extracted from medical imaging. Combining clinical and radiomics features, a machine learning-based model seemed to provide added predictive performance compared to state of the art models regarding the risk prediction of lymph-node involvement in prostate cancer patients.Significant advances in lymph node involvement (LNI) risk modeling in prostate cancer (PCa) have been achieved with the addition of visual interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, but it is likely that quantitative analysis could further improve prediction models. In this study, we aimed to develop and internally validate a novel LNI risk prediction model based on radiomic features extracted from preoperative multimodal MRI. All patients who underwent a preoperative MRI and radical prostatectomy with extensive lymph node dissection were retrospectively included in a single institution. Patients were randomly divided into the training (60%) and testing (40%) sets. Radiomic features were extracted from the index tumor volumes, delineated on the apparent diffusion coefficient corrected map and the T2 sequences. A ComBat harmonization method was applied to account for inter-site heterogeneity. A prediction model was trained using a neural network approach (Multilayer Perceptron Network, SPSS v24.0©) combining clinical, radiomic and all features. It was then evaluated on the testing set and compared to the current available models using the Receiver Operative Characteristics and the C-Index. Two hundred and eighty patients were included, with a median age of 65.2 y (45.3–79.6), a mean PSA level of 9.5 ng/mL (1.04–63.0) and 79.6% of ISUP ≥ 2 tumors. LNI occurred in 51 patients (18.2%), with a median number of extracted nodes of 15 (10–19). In the testing set, with their respective cutoffs applied, the Partin, Roach, Yale, MSKCC, Briganti 2012 and 2017 models resulted in a C-Index of 0.71, 0.66, 0.55, 0.67, 0.65 and 0.73, respectively, while our proposed combined model resulted in a C-Index of 0.89 in the testing set. Radiomic features extracted from the preoperative MRI scans and combined with clinical features through a neural network seem to provide added predictive performance compared to state of the art models regarding LNI risk prediction in PCa.

Pathologic Primary Tumor Factors Associated With Risk of Lymph Node Involvement in Patients With High-Risk Endometrial Cancer

National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend adjuvant systemic therapy with or without external beam radiation and/or intravaginal brachytherapy for high-risk endometrial cancer histologies. Being able to estimate the risk of pelvic/para-aortic lymph node (LN) involvement could assist in making clinical decisions regarding whether to treat with external beam versus brachytherapy alone. The National Cancer Data Base was queried to develop predictive nomograms based on primary uterine factors to estimate the risk of pathologic LN involvement.Patients diagnosed with pathologic T1-T2 clear cell, uterine papillary serous (UPS), carcinosarcoma, or mixed endometrial cancer between 2004-2016 undergoing primary surgery with at least 10 LNs sampled in the National Cancer Data Base were identified. Logistic regression was performed to identify primary pathologic tumor predictors of LN positivity. Pathologic variables assessed included primary tumor histology, pathologic tumor stage, tumor size, and presence/absence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI). Nomograms were created to predict overall, pelvic only, and paraaortic and/or pelvic LN involvement.Among 7,918 patients included, 1,407 (18%) were node positive. On multivariable analysis, relative to carcinosarcoma, both clear cell (odds ratio [OR] 1.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-2.32, P < 0.001) and UPS (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.46-2.13, P < 0.001) histology were significantly associated with a higher risk of LN positivity while mixed histology was not (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.95-1.37, P = 0.16). Furthermore, increasing pathologic tumor stage (pT2 versus pT1a, OR 3.62, 95% CI 3.04-4.28, P < 0.001), increase in tumor size per centimeter (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.06-1.11, P < 0.001), and presence of LVI (OR 5.23, 95% CI 4.58-6.02, P < 0.001) were predictive of overall LN positivity. Nomograms demonstrated that the impact of primary tumor pathologic variables was comparable for predicting any LN involvement, pelvic only, and paraaortic with or without pelvic LN involvement.Among endometrial cancer patients with high-risk histologies, predictors of LN positivity are similar to those with endometrial adenocarcinoma. Patients with carcinosarcoma are the least likely to be diagnosed with node positive disease relative to other high-risk histologies. Predictive nomograms can help to individualize the risk of pelvic and paraaortic LN involvement and may assist in adjuvant treatment decisions.E. Anderson: None. M. Luu: None. D.J. Lu: None. E.M. Chung: None. M. Kamrava: American Board of Radiology, Brachytherapy Journal, American Brachytherapy Society Board of Directors. Co-Editor; Journal of Contemporary Brachytherapy.

Lymph node involvement in gastric adenocarcinoma.

Endoscopic management of early gastric cancer is limited by the risk of lymph node metastasis. We aimed to examine the incidence and predictors of nodal metastasis in early gastric adenocarcinoma in a large national US cohort. Cases were abstracted from the National Cancer Database from 2004 to 2016. The incidence and predictors of lymph node involvement for patients with Tis, T1a, and T1b tumors were examined. A total of 202,216 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma were identified in the NCDB. Cases with unknown patient or tumor characteristics, presence of other cancers, and prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy were excluded. 1839 cases of Tis, T1a, and T1b tumors were identified. Lymph node metastases were present in 18.1% of patients. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI), high-grade histology, stage T1b, and larger size (> 3cm) were independently associated with an increased risk of nodal metastasis on multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). The presence of LVI was the strongest predictor of nodal metastasis with an OR (95% CI) of 5.7 (4.3-7.6), P < 0.001. No lymph node metastasis was found in any Tis tumors. Small T1a low-grade tumors with no LVI had a low risk of nodal metastasis (0.6% < 2cm and 0.9% < 3cm). In this large national cohort, size, lymphovascular invasion, higher grade histology, and T stage were independently associated with lymph node metastasis. For patients with low-grade tumors, < 3cm, without lymphovascular invasion, the risk of nodal involvement was very low, suggesting that this Western cohort could be considered for endoscopic resection.

Macrometastasis at selective lymph node biopsy: A practical going-for-the-one clinical scoring system to personalize decision making.

BACKGROUNDAxillary sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is standard treatment for patients with clinically and pathological negative lymph nodes. However, the role of completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) following positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is debated.AIMTo identify a subgroup of women with high axillary tumor burden undergoing SLNB in whom cALND can be safely omitted in order to reduce the risk of long-term complications and create a Preoperative Clinical Risk Index (PCRI) that helps us in our clinical practice to optimize the selection of these patients.METHODSPatients with positive SLNB who underwent a cALND were included in this study. Univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic and predictive factors were used to create a PCRI for safely omitting cALND.RESULTSFrom May 2007 to April 2014, we performed 1140 SLN biopsies, of which 125 were positive for tumor and justified to practice a posterior cALND. Pathologic findings at SLNB were micrometastases (mic) in 29 cases (23.4%) and macrometastasis (MAC) in 95 cases (76.6%). On univariate analysis of the 95 patients with MAC, statistically significant factors included: age, grade, phenotype, histology, lymphovascular invasion, lymph-node tumor size, and number of positive SLN. On multivariate analysis, only lymph-node tumor size (≤ 20 mm) and number of positive SLN (> 1) retained significance. A numerical tool was created giving each of the parameters a value to predict preoperatively which patients would not benefit from cALND. Patients with a PCRI ≤ 15 has low probability (< 10%) of having additional lymph node involvement, a PRCI between 15-17.6 has a probability of 43%, and the probability increases to 69% in patients with a PCRI > 17.6.CONCLUSIONThe PCRI seems to be a useful tool to prospectively estimate the risk of nodal involvement after positive SLN and to identify those patients who could omit cALND. Further prospective studies are necessary to validate PCRI clinical generalization.

Tumor diameter as a predictor of lymph node involvement in endometrioid type endometrial adenocarcinomas.

To analyze the risk factors of lymph node involvement in pure endometrioid type endometrial cancer and assess factors that necessitate lymphadenectomy. Patients who had been operated on due to endometrial cancer and whose final pathology was reported as pure endometrioid carcinoma between January 2014 and January 2020 were assessed. Hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and systematic lymphadenectomy were performed in all patients. All specimens were reported by expert gynecopathologists. The lymph node positivity rate was 14.4%. When the study population was classified according to the Mayo risk criteria; lymph node involvement in the low-risk and high-risk groups was 9.1% and 14.8%, respectively and there was no statistically difference (p > 0.05). The median of tumor size and the rate of deep myometrial invasion, lymphovascular space invasion, adnexal involvement, FIGO grade 3 tumor were found significantly higher in the positive lymph node group in univariate analysis. In the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the cut-off value of the tumor diameter was determined as 47.5 mm (sensitivity 85%, specificity 62%). Every 10 mm increase in tumor diameter increased the risk of lymph node involvement 10 times. This study defined that the tumor diameter is an independent predictor for lymphatic dissemination. In the future, it could be shown that even with new modeling based on tumor diameter, lymphadenectomy or adjuvant radiotherapy requirements would be reevaluated.

Risk of recurrence in patients with MELF (microcystic, elongated and fragmented) pattern of invasion based on lymph node evaluation status

Objectives: Background. Myometrial invasion with an infiltrative gland pattern has been recently associated with higher stage, lymphovascular invasion, and recurrence. Additionally, a readily recognizable pattern of myometrial invasion characterized by microcystic elongated and fragmented (MELF) glands surrounded by myxoid and inflamed stroma has been associated with lymphovascular invasion (LVSI) and lymph node metastases. Although it is known that MELF increases the risk of a patient having lymph node metastases as well as MELF being associated with LVSI, we sought to understand whether MELF without lymph node metastases or lymphadenctomy portends a worse oncologic prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with endometrial cancer who underwent hysterectomy at a single institution between Jan 1, 2010 to Aug 1, 2020 with MELF pattern of invasion identified. Pathology was reviewed by a single reviewer (RM) with subspecialty training in gynecologic pathology. The electronic medical record was utilized to obtain preoperative, perioperative, and follow-up data. These patients were divided based on if they had not had a lymph node evaluation (Group A) or by the performance of lymph node evaluation (Group B). Results: Forty-one patients were identified as having MELF on their hysterectomy specimen. All patients had well-differentiated to moderately differentiated tumors. There was a similar proportion of patients how had LVSI in either group (Group A 80% vs Group B 92.3%). In this cohort, 63.4% underwent an evaluation of the retro-peritoneal lymph nodes, with 92.3% having a complete lymphadenectomy [Table 1]. As compared to Group B where only 7.7% had no adjuvant treatment, 53.3% in Group A were observed. No patients recurred in Group B, while 20% recurred in those without any lymph node evaluation. Looking specifically at the patients who had MELF without lymphadenectomy and recurred, all 3 patients had LVSI and were early stage, thus were at high risk for lymph node involvement. Download : Download high-res image (332KB) Download : Download full-size image Conclusions: In our study, patients with MELF pattern of invasion without lymph node evaluation at the time of hysterectomy were more likely to have no adjuvant therapy and recur than those who underwent lymphadenectomy. Additional multi-institution study should be done to further elucidate the nuances associated with MELF with and without LVSI in patients with early stage endometrial cancer who have undergone lymphadenectomy as this uterine characteristic is not factored in to any of our phase III randomized data.

External validation of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and Briganti nomograms for the prediction of lymph node involvement of prostate cancer using clinical stage assessed by magnetic resonance imaging.

To evaluate the impact of using clinical stage assessed by multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) on the performance of two established nomograms for the prediction of pelvic lymph node involvement (LNI) in patients with prostate cancer. Patients undergoing robot-assisted extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) from 2015 to 2019 at three teaching hospitals were retrospectively evaluated. Risk of LNI was calculated four times for each patient, using clinical tumour stage (T-stage) assessed by digital rectal examination (DRE) and by mpMRI, in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC; 2018) and Briganti (2012) nomograms. Discrimination (area under the curve [AUC]), calibration, and the net benefit of these four strategies were assessed and compared. A total of 1062 patients were included, of whom 301 (28%) had histologically proven LNI. Using DRE T-stage resulted in AUCs of 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70-0.72) for the MSKCC and 0.73 (95% CI 0.72-0.74) for the Briganti nomogram. Using mpMRI T-stage, the AUCs were 0.72 (95% CI 0.71-0.73) for the MSKCC and 0.75 (95% CI 0.74-0.76) for the Briganti nomogram. mpMRI T-stage resulted in equivalent calibration compared with DRE T-stage. Combined use of mpMRI T-stage and the Briganti 2012 nomogram was shown to be superior in terms of AUC, calibration, and net benefit. Use of mpMRI T-stage led to increased sensitivity for the detection of LNI for all risk thresholds in both models, countered by a decreased specificity, compared with DRE T-stage. T-stage as assessed by mpMRI is an appropriate alternative for T-stage assessed by DRE to determine nomogram-based risk of LNI in patients with prostate cancer, and was associated with improved model performance of both the MSKCC 2018 and Briganti 2012 nomograms.

Pathologic nodal staging for clinically node negative soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities.

Synovial, clear cell, angiosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and epithelioid (SCARE) soft tissue sarcoma are at risk for nodal involvement, although the nodal positivity rates and impact on prognostication in clinically node negative patients are not well described. Patients with extremity SCARE sarcoma without clinical nodal involvement undergoing surgical resection in the National Cancer Database (2004-2017) were included. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the likelihood of nodal surgery and nodal positivity. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were used to assess associations of nodal status to overall survival. We included 4158 patients, and 669 patients (16%) underwent regional lymph node surgery (RLNS). On multivariable logistic analysis, patients with epithelioid (odds ratio [OR]: 3.77; p < .001) and clear cell (OR: 6.38; p < .001) were most likely to undergo RLNS. Forty-five patients (7%) had positive nodes. Clear cell sarcoma (14%) and angiosarcoma (13%) had the highest rates of nodal positivity. Patients with positive nodes had reduced 5-year overall survival, and the stratification was largest in clear cell and angiosarcoma. Discordance exists between selection for pathologic nodal evaluation and factors associated with nodal positivity. Clinically node negative patients with clear cell and angiosarcoma should be considered for pathologic nodal evaluation.

Preoperative predictive model of surgical planning in endometrial carcinoma using MRI and tumor grade in endometrial biopsy

Introduction: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological cancer in developed countries. Histological grade (G) and myometrial invasion (MI) are important risk factors, and together with the histological type and other postoperative data establish the risk of lymph node involvement and guide the adjuvant treatments. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of a preoperative stratification model that combines preoperative histological grade and MI as identified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to select candidates for lymph node staging and optimize surgical planning for our patients. Material and methods: It´s an observational retrospective cohort study including 294 patients diagnosed with EC at Donostia University Hospital from January 2012 to December 2017. Preoperative endometrial biopsy, including histological type and grade, preoperative MRI was compared with the definitive histological diagnosis. Sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the MRI-based diagnosis were calculated. Results: After inclusion and exclusion criteria 242 cases of type I or II EC were analyzed. Our model was found to have a Se of 91.4% (95% CI 83.2-95.8) and a Sp of 90.7% (95% CI 85.2-94.3). Percentage of down staging was 6.2% (15 unnecessary lymphadenectomies) and the upstaging rate was 2.9%. The NPV of the model was very high (95.4%, 95% CI 90.9-97.8). The diagnostic odds ratio for our model was 147.95 (95% CI 52.9-410.5), with a diagnostic accuracy of 91.7% (95% 87.6-94.6). Conclusions: A preoperative strategy that includes the determination of the tumor grade based on an endometrial biopsy and an assessment of MI by MRI is of great help in pre-surgical planning for endometrial cancer surgery, allowing an extra peritoneal approach and optimizing the use of physical and human resources. MRI presents excellent discriminatory power in the detection of MI in EC, with no significant variation by pathological subtype.

Malignant Cutaneous Adnexal Tumors and Role of SLNB

Malignant cutaneous adnexal tumors (MCATs) are rare and their natural history is poorly understood. Available literature indicates aggressive behavior with a significant risk of metastasis. Retrospective review of our institutional surgical oncology databases was performed for patients diagnosed with MCATs (2001-2020). We hypothesized that most patients have a low risk of lymph node involvement, recurrence, and death. Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis was used to assess risk of recurrence and 5-year survival. We identified 41 patients diagnosed with MCATs (median age 59 years, 68% were men). Most patients had long-standing cutaneous lesions (median 24 months) and no palpable adenopathy. Most patients had stage I or II disease (98%). Primary tumors were treated with wide local excision (n= 28 [68%]), Mohs surgery (n= 5 [12%]), or amputation (n= 8 [19%]). Of 25 patients who underwent SLNB (61%), 1 had lymphatic metastasis. These include apocrine carcinoma (1 of 3), digital papillary adenocarcinoma (0 of 8), porocarcinoma (0 of 4), and additional MCAT sub-types (0 of 10). Three patients (7%) had disease recurrence at a median interval of 3.6 years (interquartile range 1.5 to 4.4 years). Five patients (12%) died at a median interval of 7 years (interquartile range 6.7 to 9.2 years), but only 1 patient was known to have succumbed to MCAT. Overall 5-year survival rate was 96% (95% CI, 75% to 99%). Despite the historical impression that MCATs have a high metastatic potential, most patients have low recurrence rates and excellent 5-year survival rates. Lymphatic disease identified after SLNB in early-stage tumors is rare and the value of this staging procedure in MCAT remains unclear.

Association between percentage of positive biopsy cores and risk of pelvic lymph node involvement in prostate cancer.

205 Background: Commonly used tools for predicting the risk of pelvic lymph node involvement (LNI) in prostate cancer often do not incorporate information on the percentage of positive biopsy cores (PPB). To better inform the use of elective nodal irradiation in the definitive treatment of prostate cancer, we examined the association between PPB and risk of pathologic pelvic LNI in men with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP). Methods: We identified 109,577 men from the National Cancer Database who were diagnosed in 2010-2015 with cN0M0 prostate cancer, had 6-24 cores sampled at biopsy, and underwent RP with pathologic nodal evaluation. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between PPB and the likelihood of having ≥1 positive pelvic lymph node, adjusting for other known clinicopathologic prognostic variables. Results: Overall, 4.0% (4,340) of the cohort was found to have pelvic LNI at the time of RP. Higher PPB was associated with an increased risk of pelvic LNI (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.75 for 25.1-50.0% PPB, 2.63 for 50.1-75.0% PPB, and 4.49 for 75.1-100.0% PPB vs. ≤25.0% PPB, all P&lt;0.001). Notably, men with Gleason 8 disease and ≤25.0% PPB only had a 3.6% risk of pelvic LNI, whereas men with Gleason 9-10 disease and 75.1-100.0% PPB had a 32.6% risk (Table). Other factors associated with the likelihood of pelvic LNI included a higher biopsy Gleason score (AOR 1.43 for Gleason 8 and 2.84 for Gleason 9-10 vs. Gleason 4+3, both P&lt;0.001), more advanced clinical tumor stage (AOR 1.48 for cT2, 1.97 for cT3, and 3.87 for cT4 vs. cT1, all P&lt;0.001), and a higher PSA (AOR 1.90 for 10.0-19.9 ng/mL, 2.40 for 20.0-39.9 ng/mL, and 2.60 for ≥40.0 ng/mL vs. &lt;10.0 ng/mL, all P&lt;0.001), but not more advanced age (AOR 0.98 for &gt;62 years [median] vs. ≤62 years, P=0.59) or black vs. white race (AOR 0.99, P=0.92). Conclusions: There was a statistically significant and clinically relevant association between increasing PPB and a higher risk of pelvic LNI. As the ongoing RTOG 0924 randomized trial matures, clinicians should consider incorporating information on PPB in determining which patients with prostate cancer may benefit from receiving radiation therapy to the pelvic lymph nodes. [Table: see text]

Predicting Lymph Node Involvement in Borderline Ovarian Tumors with a Quantitative Model and Nomogram: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

PurposeThis study aimed to establish a predictive model for lymph node involvement (LNI) in patients with borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) using clinicopathological factors.Patients and MethodsWe collected clinical data from consecutive patients who underwent lymphadenectomy for BOT between 2001 and 2018 and analyzed their clinicopathological features. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify all independent risk factors associated with LNI; these were then incorporated into the prediction model.ResultsIn total, we included 248 patients with BOT who were undergoing lymphadenectomy. These were divided into a training cohort (n=174) and a validation cohort (n=74). When considering histopathological data, 16 and 5 patients were identified to have LNI in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Overall, 13.5% (21/156) patients with serous BOT had LNI while 0% (0/92) patients with non-serous BOT had LNI. We identified several predictors of LNI: the largest tumor being ≥ 12.2cm in diameter, the presence of lesions on the ovarian surface, and the presence of pelvic or abdominal lesions. We created a prediction model and nomogram that incorporated these three risk factors for serous BOT. The model achieved good discriminatory abilities of 0.951 and 0.848 when predicting LNI in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The LNI-predicting nomogram had an area under curve (AUC) of 0.951 and generated well-fitted calibration curves.ConclusionNon-serous BOT may not require lymphadenectomy as part of surgical staging. The individual risk of LNI in patients with serous BOT can be accurately estimated using our prediction model and nomogram. The use of LNI criteria provides a practical way to support the clinician in making an optimal decision relating to surgical scope for patients with BOT.

Biochemical control after adjuvant radiation therapy for prostate cancer: a\xa0unicentric, retrospective analysis

PurposeTo retrospectively evaluate the biochemical no evidence of disease (bNED) and late side effects after adjuvant radiotherapy in prostate cancer patients.MethodsPatients (n = 85) treated with external beam radiotherapy between 1997 and 2013 following radical prostatectomy (RPE) with pathological tumour stage pT2c with positive surgical margins or pT3 and pT4 tumours with or without positive margins who presented with a postoperative and a preradiation prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level below 0.1 ng/ml. The mean dose applied was 66 Gy with conventional fractionation (4 field box-technique). No androgen deprivation therapy was administered, and patients with incomplete data (missing Gleason score, pT stage, or PSA values postoperatively and/or prior to radiation at the presentation at our department) have been excluded from the analysis. Biochemical recurrence was defined as reaching a PSA level > 0.2 ng/ml during follow-up and bNED rates were assessed. In addition, patients were divided into two groups according to the Roach formula for predicting the risk of pelvic node involvement at a cut-off value of 15%. Late urogenital and gastrointestinal side effects (EORTC/RTOG) were assessed.ResultsAfter a median follow-up of 60 months the bNED rate was 88% at 5 years and 72% at 10 years for all patients. Patients with low risk of lymph node involvement (group < 15%) had a 5 year and 10 year bNED of 97% and 85%, while patients with high risk of positive lymph node involvement (group > 15%) showed corresponding bNED rates of 77% and 52%, respectively. A significant difference according to the Roach stratification was detected (p ≤ 0.002). Late urogenital (UG) and gastrointestinal (GI) grade ≥ 2 side effects were detected in 10% and 15%, respectively.ConclusionPostoperative radiotherapy with an average dose of 66 Gy to the prostatic fossa following RPE provides excellent tumour control rates with acceptable side effects. Patients with a higher risk of positive lymph nodes (> 15%) according to the Roach formula show significant worse tumour control rates.

Colorectal malignant polyps: a modern approach.

Colorectal malignant polyps (MP) are polyps with invasive cancer into the submucosa harboring a variable risk of lymph node involvement, which can be estimated through evaluation of morphological, endoscopic, and histologic features. The recent advances in imaging endoscopic techniques have led to the possibility of performing an optical diagnosis of T1 colorectal cancer, allowing the selection of the best therapeutic modality to optimize outcomes for the patient. When MP are diagnosed after endoscopic removal, their management can be challenging. Differentiating low- and high-risk histologic features that influence the possibility of residual tumor, the risk of recurrence and the risk of lymph node metastasis, is crucial to further optimize treatment and surveillance plans. While the presence of high-risk features indicates a need for surgery in the majority of cases, location, comorbidities and the patient’s preference should be taken in account when making the final decision. This is a particularly important issue in the management of low rectal MP presenting with high-risk features, where chemoradiotherapy followed by a watch-and-wait strategy has demonstrated promising results. In this review we discuss the important prognostic features of MP and the most modern approaches regarding their management.

The correlation between tumor size, lymph node status, distant metastases and mortality in rectal cancer patients without neoadjuvant therapy.

Tumor size has an effect on decision making for the treatment rectal cancer. Transanal local excision can be selected to remove rectal cancer with favorable histopathological features. It is generally recognized that the risk of lymph node involvement and distant metastases increases as the tumor enlarges. However, the majority of the studies classified patients into two groups using concrete value as a cutoff point. The coarse classification was not sufficient to reveal a correlation between the tumor size and lymph node status or distant metastases across the full range of sizes examined. Between 1988 and 2015, a total of 77,746 patients were diagnosed with first primary rectal cancer who had not received neoadjuvant therapy. These subjects were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. The association between tumor size, lymph node status, distant metastases and cancer-specific mortality was investigated. Tumor size was examined as a continuous (1-30 mm) and categorical variable (11 size groups; 10-mm intervals). A non-linear correlation between increasing tumor size and the prevalence of lymph node involvement was observed, while a near-positive correlation between tumor size and distant metastases was presented. In addition, the 5-year and 10-year rates of rectal cancer-specific mortality were increased as the tumor enlarged. For small tumors (under 30 mm), a positive correlation was noted between tumor size and lymph node involvement. The clinical value of the tumor size should be reevaluated by exact classification.

Relación entre los niveles séricos del factor de crecimiento endotelial-vascular C, la afectación ganglionar axilar y la sobrevida libre de enfermedad en pacientes con cáncer de mama operable sometidas a biopsia selectiva del ganglio centinela

ObjectivesTo investigate the association between serum levels of vascular-endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and axillary node involvement. Material and methodsWe performed a prospective study and subsequent analysis of 174 patients with early-stage breast cancer who had undergone sentinel node biopsy (SNB). ResultsThe mean VEGF-C plasma concentration was 6561.5 pg/ml. No association was found between VEGF-C plasma concentration and axillary node involvement in SNB (p=0.626). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum VEGF-C levels were not predictive of node involvement. The median interval to recurrence or last follow-up was 51 months (mean, 49 months), with a maximum of 80 months (25th percentile: 42 months, 75th percentile, 62 months). A reduction of 1000 points in serum VEGF-C levels (1k) increased instant risk, with HR 1.357 (95%CI: 1.004-1.838). This increased risk was 35% for each 1000-point decrease in serum levels, demonstrated in the Kaplan-Meier analysis. ConclusionsSerum VEGF-C levels are not related to risk of node involvement in early-stage breast cancer and, therefore, cannot be used to predict the presence of node involvement in SNB. Patients with serum VEGF-C levels above the mean have a lower risk of recurrence in the first 4 years of follow-up than those with levels below the mean. This difference was statistically significant in the multivariate analysis and consequently deserves confirmation in future studies designed specifically for this aim.

Organ Preservation after Endoscopic Resection of Early Esophageal Cancer with a High Risk of Lymph Node Involvement.

Simple SummaryVirtually all early (T1) esophageal cancers can be resected endoscopically. However, the presence of histologic criteria on the resection specimen (deep submucosal invasion, lymphovascular involvement, poor tumor differentiation) are believed to be associated with a high risk (> 10%) of lymph node involvement. Therefore, the presence of such histoprognostic criteria currently require an esophagectomy. However, some patients are unfit for surgery or decline surgery, and undergo close follow-up or chemoradiotherapy. We analyzed the outcomes of these patients. We included 41 patients, of which thirteen (32%) were closely monitored, and 28 (68%) were treated by chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone. After a mean follow-up of 19 and 28 months, cancer specific survival was 100% and 96%, respectively. Our study shows that close follow-up may be an alternative to esophagectomy after endoscopic resection of an early esophageal cancer with a predicted high risk of lymph node involvement.Background: Esophagectomy is recommended after endoscopic resection of an early esophageal cancer when pejorative histoprognostic criteria indicate a high risk of lymph node involvement. Our aim was to analyze the clinical outcomes of a non-surgical, organ preserving management in this clinical setting. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was performed in two tertiary centers from 2015 to 2020. Patients were included if they had histologically complete resection of an early esophageal cancer, with poor differentiation, lymphovascular invasion or deep submucosal invasion. Endoscopic resection was followed by chemoradiotherapy or follow-up in case of surgical contraindications or patient refusal. Outcome measures were disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), cancer specific survival (CSS) and toxicity of chemoradiotherapy. Results: Forty-one patients (36 with squamous cell carcinoma and 5 with adenocarcinomas) were included. The estimated high risk of lymph node involvement was based on poor differentiation (10/41; 24%), lympho-vascular invasion (11/41; 27%), muscularis mucosa invasion or deep sub-mucosal invasion (38/41; 93%). Thirteen patients (13/41; 32%) were closely monitored, and 28 (28/41; 68%) were treated by chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone. In the close follow-up group, DFS, OS and CSS were 92%, 92% and 100%, respectively vs. 75%, 79% and 96%, respectively in the chemoradiotherapy group at the end of the follow-up. Serious adverse events related to chemoradiotherapy occurred in 10% of the patients. There were no treatment-related deaths. Conclusions: Our study shows that close follow-up may be an alternative to systematic esophagectomy after endoscopic resection of early esophageal cancer with a predicted high risk of lymph node involvement.

A narrative review of pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate cancer.

Pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is an important component in the staging and prognostication of prostate cancer. We performed a narrative review to assess the literature surrounding PLND: (I) the current guideline recommendations and contemporary utilization, (II) the calculation of patient-specific risk to perform PLND using available nomograms, (III) to review the extent of dissection, and its associated outcomes and complications. Due to the improved lymph node yield, better staging, and theoretical improvement in the control of micro-metastatic disease, guidelines have supported the use of (extended-) PLND in patients deemed to be at intermediate or high risk of lymph node involvement (often at a threshold of 5% on modern risk nomograms). However, in practice, real-world utilization of PLND varies considerably due to multiple reasons. Conflicting evidence persists with no clear oncological benefit to PLND, and a small, but important, risk of morbidity. Complications are rare, but include lymphoceles; thromboembolic events; and more rarely, obturator nerve, vascular, and ureteric injury. Furthermore, changing disease incidence and stage migration in the context of earlier detection overall have led to a decreased risk of nodal disease. The trade-offs between the benefits, harms, and risk tolerance/threshold must be carefully considered between each patient and their clinician.

Optimizing the risk threshold of lymph node involvement for performing extended pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate cancer patients: a cost-effectiveness analysis

BackgroundExtended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) may be omitted in prostate cancer (CaP) patients with a low predicted risk of lymph node involvement (LNI). The aim of the current study was to quantify the cost-effectiveness of using different risk thresholds for predicted LNI in CaP patients to inform decision making on omitting ePLND. MethodsFive different thresholds (2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 100%) used in practice for performing ePLND were compared using a decision analytic cohort model with the 100% threshold (i.e., no ePLND) as reference. Compared outcomes consisted of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs. Baseline characteristics for the hypothetical cohort were based on an actual Dutch patient cohort containing 925 patients who underwent ePLND with risks of LNI predicted by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center web-calculator. The best strategy was selected based on the incremental cost effectiveness ratio when applying a willingness to pay (WTP) threshold of €20,000 per QALY gained. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed with Monte Carlo simulation to assess the robustness of the results. ResultsCosts and health outcomes were lowest (€4,858 and 6.04 QALYs) for the 100% threshold, and highest (€10,939 and 6.21 QALYs) for the 2% threshold, respectively. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio for the 2%, 5%, 10%, and 20% threshold compared with the first threshold above (i.e., 5%, 10%, 20%, and 100%) were €189,222/QALY, €130,689/QALY, €51,920/QALY, and €23,187/QALY respectively. Applying a WTP threshold of €20.000 the probabilities for the 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 100% threshold strategies being cost-effective were 0.0%, 0.3%, 4.9%, 30.3%, and 64.5% respectively. ConclusionApplying a WTP threshold of €20.000, completely omitting ePLND in CaP patients is cost-effective compared to other risk-based strategies. However, applying a 20% threshold for probable LNI to the Briganti 2012 nomogram or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center web-calculator, may be a feasible alternative, in particular when higher WTP values are considered.