Objective To explore the predictive value of peripheral blood cells in the efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (clinical stages Ⅱ-Ⅳa) who underwent neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from April 2020 to November 2023. According to whether the pathology was completely relieved after treatment, patients were divided into a pathological complete remission group and a pathological incomplete remission group. The College of American Pathologists criteria were used to evaluate the tumor pathological regression grade (TRG) after neoadjuvant therapy (TRG=0, 1 defined as a good efficacy group, TRG=2, 3 defined as a poor efficacy group). Results A total of 92 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were collected, including 72 males and 20 females. The average age was (65.86±7.66) years. The complete remission of pathology was closely related to the number of lymphocytes in the blood before treatment (P=0.019). The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting complete remission of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy was 0.678, the maximum Youden index was 0.328, and the optimal cutoff value was 1.845. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection in the pathological incomplete remission group was higher than that in the pathological complete remission group (25.0% vs. 5.6%, P=0.030). Using the optimal cutoff value, there were statistically significant differences in pathological N stage and pathological TNM stage between patients with lymphocyte counts <1.845×109/L and ≥1.845×109/L (P<0.05). Treatment response (by TRG) was significantly associated with the pretreatment red blood cell count (P=0.009). The AUC for predicting a good TRG response was 0.669, with a maximum Youden index of 0.385 and an optimal cutoff value of 4.235. Between the good and poor response groups, there were statistically significant differences in postoperative pathological T stage (P<0.001), N stage (P=0.041), and TNM stage (P＜0.001). When stratified by the optimal cutoff value, there were statistically significant differences in age (P＜0.001) and the prevalence of hypertension (P=0.022) between patients with red blood cell counts <4.235×1012/L and ≥4.235×1012/L. Conclusion A pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count ≥1.845×109/L and a red blood cell count <4.235×1012/L are good predictors for pathological complete response and a good pathological response, respectively, following neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is prone to recurrence and metastasis after simple surgery. Although patients can benefit from preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, the 5-year survival rate is not significantly improved. In recent years, with the rise of immunotherapy, NSCLC immunotherapy has gradually received attention. Many explorations have been made on resectable NSCLC immunotherapy, and satisfactory results have been obtained. With the release of multiple phase 3 research results, a new chapter in resectable NSCLC immunotherapy has officially opened. However, there are still many problems in the immunotherapy of resectable NSCLC. This article reviews the current relevant research and provides reference for clinical application.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy is the preferred treatment for esophageal cancer, which has been widely popularized and developed in clinical practice. However, anastomotic complications are still common, such as anastomotic leakage, anastomotic stenosis, and gastroesophageal reflux, which seriously affect the rapid recovery and quality of life of patients after surgery. Esophagogastrostomy is the core and difficulty of the operation. In recent years, different esophagogastric anastomosis methods and techniques have been found to reduce the incidence of anastomotic complications and improve clinical outcomes. This article will summarize the development and progress of esophagogastric anastomosis techniques at home and abroad in recent years in order to provide reference for the majority of thoracic surgeons and to promote the progress of esophagogastric anastomosis techniques.

Objective:To investigate whether chlorogenic acid can inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion and promote apoptosis of lung cancer A549 cells by causing mitochondrial dysfunction through PI3K-Akt pathway.Methods:A549 cells were treated with chlorogenic acid at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100, 150, and 200 μg/ml for 48 h. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the cell proliferation rate and calculate the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50). A549 cells were divided into three groups: control group, chlorogenic acid group (IC 50) and chlorogenic acid + 740-YP group (IC 50 chlorogenic acid +50 μg/ml 740YP). After 48 h of intervention, the cell migration distance was detected by cell scratch assay. Cell invasion assay was used to detect cell invasion ability. Cell cycle, apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential were detected by flow cytometry. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in cell supernatant was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt and Caspase3. Results:The IC 50 of chlorogenic acid to A549 cells was 57.45 μg/ml. The results of cell scratch assay showed that the 48 h migration distances of the control group, chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were (424.80±14.43), (289.67±18.93) and (402.22±17.99) μm, respectively. The results of cell invasion assay showed that the numbers of invasive cells after 48 h were 96.00±6.24, 35.33±7.64 and 83.00±2.00, and the results of flow cytometry showed that the 48 h apoptosis rates were (6.15±0.17) %, (54.63±0.72) % and (17.27±0.39) %, respectively, among the three groups with statistically significant differences ( F=105.98, P<0.001; F=90.62, P<0.001; F=8 321.99, P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the cell migration distances and invasive numbers of chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were decreased (all P<0.05), while the apoptosis rates were significantly increased (both P<0.001). Compared with chlorogenic acid group, the cell migration distance of chlorogenic acid + 740YP group increased ( P<0.001), the number of cell invasion increased ( P<0.001), and the apoptosis rate decreased ( P<0.001). The results of flow cytometry showed that the proportions of cells in G 0/G 1 phase in the control group, chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were (65.75±0.58) %, (55.84±0.78) % and (55.24±1.37) %, respectively. The proportions of G 2/M phase were (11.21±1.03) %, (20.23±0.62) % and (9.96±0.33) %, and the proportions of S phase were (23.04±0.49) %, (23.92±1.36) % and (34.80±1.15) %, respectively, with statistically significant differences ( F=111.02, P<0.001; F=181.26, P<0.001; F=113.05, P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the proportions of G 0/G 1 phase cells in chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group decreased (both P<0.001), and the proportion of G 2/M phase in chlorogenic acid group increased ( P<0.001), and the proportion of S phase cells in chlorogenic acid + 740YP group increased ( P<0.001). Compared with chlorogenic acid group, the proportion of G 2/M phase cells decreased and the proportion of S phase cells increased in chlorogenic acid + 740YP group (both P<0.001). The results of mitochondrial membrane potential detection showed that the JC-1 fluorescence intensity of mitochondria in the control group, chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were 39.51±1.32, 10.05±0.19 and 21.85±1.45, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( F=508.82, P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the fluorescence intensity of chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group decreased (both P<0.001). Compared with chlorogenic acid group, the fluorescence intensity of chlorogenic acid + 740YP group increased ( P<0.001). ELISA results showed that the MDA contents of the control group, chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were (0.47±0.01), (0.61±0.01) and (0.56±0.01) nmol/ml, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( F=162.30, P<0.001). Compared with the control group, MDA contents in chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group increased (both P<0.001). Compared with chlorogenic acid group, MDA content in chlorogenic acid + 740YP group decreased ( P=0.001). Western blotting results showed that the relative protein expression levels of p-PI3K in the control group, chlorogenic acid group and chlorogenic acid + 740YP group were 1.01±0.33, 0.28±0.14 and 0.34±0.20, respectively. The relative protein expression levels of p-Akt were 1.00±0.16, 0.43±0.05 and 0.95±0.14, and the relative protein expression levels of Caspase3 were 1.00±0.04, 1.41±0.05 and 0.70±0.13, respectively, and there were statistically significant differences ( F=8.48, P=0.018; F=19.11, P=0.002; F=57.50, P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the expressions of p-PI3K and p-Akt protein in chlorogenic acid group decreased, and the expression of Caspase3 protein increased (all P<0.05). The expressions of p-PI3K and Caspase3 protein in chlorogenic acid + 740YP group decreased (both P<0.05). Compared with chlorogenic acid group, the expression of p-Akt protein in chlorogenic acid + 740YP group increased, and the expression of Caspase3 protein decreased (both P<0.05) . Conclusion:Chlorogenic acid may inhibit the PI3K-Akt pathway by reducing the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt proteins, resulting in the damage of mitochondrial function and the accumulation of MDA, which eventually leads to the damage of lung cancer A549 cells function and the reduction of cells activity, and then promotes cells apoptosis.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy combined with surgery for locally advanced esophageal cancer has become the standard treatment, and despite the survival benefit, most patients still experience postoperative recurrence and distant metastasis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors play an anti-tumor role by activating T cells, and immunotherapy has become one of the important strategies for first-line and second-line treatment of advanced esophageal cancer with the continuous evolution of immunotherapy models. Regarding neoadjuvant immunotherapy for esophageal cancer, a large number of studies are being carried out and explored, which are expected to inject new vitality into neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer. This article reviews the current clinical studies on neoadjuvant immunotherapy for esophageal cancer.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma can easily penetrate into the esophageal wall and invade adjacent organs due to the lack of serosa. Stage cT4b tumors involving organs adjacent to the aorta, vertebral body, trachea, or bronchus were considered unresectable. For unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, radical chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy is recommended. However, the therapeutic effect is poor. With the advent of conversion surgery, surgical resection is feasible after induction therapy for patients with esophageal tumors that are initially unresectable due to adjacent organ invasion or distant metastasis. This article reviews the research on conversion surgery for unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in recent years in order to explore the clinical application prospects of conversion surgery.

Objective:To analyze and compare the short-term efficacy and safety of sintilimab and tislelizumab in neoadjuvant therapy for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of 95 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (paclitaxel + nedaplatin) combined with immunotherapy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from January 2021 to October 2022 were collected. According to the different use of immune drugs, they were divided into the sintilimab group ( n=58) and the tislelizumab group ( n=37). The objective remission rate (ORR), adverse reactions, R0 resection rate, pathological complete response (pCR) rate, etc. were analyzed and compared between the two groups after neoadjuvant therapy. Results:After 2 cycles of neoadjuvant therapy, the sintilimab group and the tislelizumab group had a similar ORR [72.4% (42/58) vs. 56.8% (21/37), χ2=2.48, P=0.115]. The main adverse reactions of the two groups of patients included gastrointestinal reactions (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), hematological toxicity, hypothyroidism, alopecia, liver and kidney dysfunction, pneumonia, etc. The incidence of grade 3 adverse reactions was less than 15%, with no grade 4 adverse reactions. The incidence of hypothyroidism in the sintilimab group was significantly higher than that in the tislelizumab group [56.9% (33/58) vs. 16.2% (6/37) ], with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=15.45, P<0.001) ; There was no statistically significant difference in surgical resection ( χ2=1.26, P=0.661) and pCR rate [31.0% (18/58) vs. 32.4% (12/37), χ2=0.02, P=0.886] between the two groups of patients. In terms of postoperative complications, both groups of patients experienced partial pulmonary infections and anastomotic fistulas, but the incidence was relatively low [19.0% (11/58) vs. 24.3% (9/37), 3.4% (2/58) vs. 2.7% (1/37) ], with no statistically significant difference ( χ2=0.39, P=0.532; χ2<0.01, P>0.999) . Conclusion:For preoperative neoadjuvant therapy of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the use of either sintilimab or tislelizumab in addition to chemotherapy has good short-term efficacy and safety. Thyroid function should be monitored carefully when using sintilimab.

Objective     To investigate the influencing factors for the clinical remission of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, establish an individualized nomogram model to predict the clinical remission of advanced ESCC with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and evaluate its efficacy, providing serve for the preoperative adjuvant treatment of ESCC. Methods     The clinical data of patients with esophageal cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nedaplatin 80 mg/m2, day 3+docetaxel 75 mg/m2, day 1, 2 cycles, 21 days per cycle interval) in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from February 2016 to August 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the WHO criteria for efficacy assessment of solid tumors, tumors were divided into complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). CR and PR were defined as effective neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and SD and PD were defined as ineffective neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the influencing factors for the short-term efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The R software was used to establish a nomogram model for predicting of the model. C-index, calibration curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the predictive performance of the nomogram. Results     Finally 115 patients were enrolled, including 93 males and 22 females, aged 40-75 (64.0±8.0) years. After receiving docetaxel+nedaplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 2 cycles, there were 9 patients with CR, 56 patients with PR, 43 patients with SD and 7 patients with PD. Among them, chemotherapy was effective (CR+PR) in 65 patients and ineffective (SD+PD) in 50 patients, with the clinical effective rate of about 56.5%(65/115). Univariate analysis showed that there were statistical differences in smoking history, alcoholism history, tumor location, tumor differentiation degree, and cN stage before chemotherapy between the effective neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and the ineffective neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that low-differentiation advanced ESCC had the worst clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, moderately-highly differentiated ESCC responded better (P<0.05). Stage cN0 advanced ESCC responded better to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than stage cN1 and cN2 (P<0.05). The C-index and the area under the ROC curve of the nomogram were both 0.763 (95%CI 0.676-0.850), the calibration curve fit well, the best critical value of the nomogram calculated by the Youden index was 70.04 points, and the sensitivity and specificity of the critical value were 80.0% and 58.0%, respectively. Conclusion    The established clinical prediction model has good discrimination and accuracy, and can provide a reference for individualized analysis of the clinical remission of advanced ESCC with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the screening of new adjuvant treatment subjects.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, an emerging immunotherapy, has achieved remarkable results in the treatment of hematologic tumors. However, it's limited in the treatment of solid tumors such as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma due to various factors. Clarifying the reasons for the limitation of CAR-T therapy and exploring the corresponding solutions can provide new ideas and insights for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) plus surgery versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) plus surgery in the treatment of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:Clinical controlled trials of comparing the treatment of NCRT plus surgery with NCT plus surgery for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were electronically searched from the databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CBM, CNKI, WanFang and VIP from the inception of databases to January, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. And then, a meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.Results:A total of 8 clinical control studies were included, including 995 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the NCT group, the R 0 resection rate was significantly higher ( OR=2.14, 95% CI: 1.03-4.45, P=0.040) and the pathological complete response (pCR) rate was significantly higher ( OR=4.19, 95% CI: 1.71-10.28, P=0.002) in the NCRT group. The incidence of postoperative complications ( OR=1.37, 95% CI: 0.76-2.48, P=0.300) and the risk of perioperative death ( OR=1.28, 95% CI: 0.58-2.83, P=0.54) were not significantly different between two groups. The long-term survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the NCRT group was significantly better compared with that in the NCT group ( HR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.64-0.92, P=0.005). Conclusions:Compared with NCT plus surgery for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, NCRT plus surgery has higher R 0 resection rate and pCR rate, does not significantly increase the risk of perioperative complications or perioperative death, and significantly improves the long-term survival of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients.