Neoadjuvant therapy has become the standard treatment for locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer, significantly improving long-term survival compared to surgery alone. Neoadjuvant therapy has evolved to include various strategies, such as concurrent chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted combination therapy. This enriches clinical treatment options and provides a more personalized and scientific treatment approach for patients. This article aims to comprehensively summarize current academic research hot topics, review the rationale and evaluation measures of neoadjuvant therapy, discuss challenges in restaging methods after neoadjuvant therapy, and identify the advantages and disadvantages of various neoadjuvant therapeutic strategies.

"Global cancer statistics 2022" based on the latest GLOBCAN data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was recently released, providing a systematic analysis of the incidence and mortality of 36 types of cancer across 185 countries worldwide. The international burden of cancer is expected to continue to increase over the next 30 years, posing a severe public health and social challenge for many countries, including China. This article offers a key point interpretation of the "Global cancer statistics 2022", focusing on the evolution of cancer epidemiology and future development trends. The aim is to broaden the international perspective on cancer prevention and treatment, with the hope of providing reference and guidance for cancer prevention and treatment efforts in our country.

In recent years， the potential anti-tumor effects of metformin have attracted widespread attention in the field of cancer treatment. This article summarizes the research progress of metformin in the treatment of malignant tumors，finding its potential application in the treatment of malignant tumors in the digestive system （biliary tract cancer，gastric cancer，esophagus cancer，colorectal cancer，pancreatic cancer，liver cancer） and reproductive system （prostate cancer，ovarian cancer，breast cancer， cervical cancer），non-small cell lung cancer，renal cell carcinoma，and melanoma. Metformin can inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells and extend the overall survival of patients. Its mechanisms of action include，but are not limited to，inhibiting the activity of mitochondrial complex Ⅰ，activating adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/p53 signaling pathway，and blocking the cell cycle. Additionally，the combined use of metformin with chemotherapy drugs has shown potential for reducing toxicity and enhancing efficacy. It can enhance the sensitivity of biliary tract cancer，ovarian cancer，and melanoma cells to chemotherapy drugs， improve the drug resistance of gastric and colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapy，and reduce the toxic reactions of breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. Metformin is also used as an immunomodulator，applied in the immunotherapy of patients with esophagus cancer，colorectal cancer，cervical cancer，non-small cell lung cancer，and melanoma.

Robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery for right colon cancer has been conducted with progressive refinements. To facilitate the standardized implementation of this surgical technique, the adoption of rigorous quality control measures is paramount. The present article outlines the key aspects of quality control for robotic natural orifice specimen extraction right hemicolectomy surgery, encompassing the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases, as well as the training and credentialing requirements for the operating surgeons, with the aim of providing a reference framework to facilitate the safe and reliable implementation and dissemination of this minimally invasive approach for right colon cancer.

Objective:To compare the surgical outcomes of robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) and robotic-assisted radical resection for rectal cancer.Methods:A retrospective analysis using propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted on 547 patients who had undergone radical resection of rectal cancer at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from June 2018 to March 2024. The study cohort comprised 157 patients in the robotic NOSES group and 390 in the robotic-assisted group. PSM was used in a 1:1 manner to match relevant general clinical preoperative data of the study patients (age, sex, body mass index, preoperative comorbidities, abnormal preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (>6.5 μg/L) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels (>27 kU/L), preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists score, tumor diameter, tumor distance from the anal margin, and TNM stage), with a clamp value of 0.05. After performing PSM to match the general clinical data of the two groups of patients, 77 patients in each of the robotic NOSES and robotic-assisted groups were included in the analysis. We found no statistically significant difference in preoperative general clinical data between the robot NOSES and robot-assisted groups ( P>0.05). We compared the surgical outcomes, postoperative recovery, postoperative pathological data, and incidence of complications between the robotic NOSES and robot-assisted groups. Results:Compared with the robot-assisted groups. the robot NOSES group had a significantly shorter time to first postoperative passage of flatus (48 [38, 50] hours vs. 56 [50, 60] hours, Z=-7.513, P<0.001), time to taking a liquid diet (60 [54,63] hours vs. 66 [62, 72] hours, Z=-6.303, P<0.001), lower pain scores (3 [3, 4] vs. 4 [4, 5], Z=-5.237, P<0.001), and lower incision infection rates (0 vs. 5 [6.5%], χ 2=5.237, P=0.028) within 24 hours after surgery ( P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in surgical time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative anastomotic complications, or incidence of other complications between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion:Robotic NOSES surgery is a safe and feasible procedure for resecting rectal cancer and postoperative recovery is faster after robotic NOSES than after standard robot-assisted surgery.

Objective:To investigate the surgical treatment effect and prognostic factors of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Methods:This is an ambispective cohort study. From August 2005 to December 2022,data of 510 patients who diagnosed with hilar cholangiocarcinoma and underwent surgical resection at the Hepatobiliary Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively collected. In the cohort,there were 324 males and 186 females,with an age of ( M (IQR)) 63(13)years (range:25 to 85 years). The liver function at admission was Child-Pugh A (343 cases,67.3%) and Child-Pugh B (167 cases,32.7%). Three hundred and seventy-two(72.9%) patients had jaundice symptoms and the median total bilirubin was 126.3(197.6) μmol/L(range: 5.4 to 722.8 μmol/L) at admission. Two hundred and fourty-seven cases (48.4%) were treated with percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage or endoscopic nasobiliary drainage before operation. The median bilirubin level in the drainage group decreased from 186.4 μmol/L to 85.5 μmol/L before operation. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to identify the influencing factors for R0 resection,and Cox regression was used to construct multivariate prediction models for overall survival(OS) and disease-free survival(DFS). Results:Among 510 patients who underwent surgical resection,Bismuth-Corlett type Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients accounted for 71.8%,among which 86.1% (315/366) underwent hemi-hepatectomy,while 81.9% (118/144) underwent extrahepatic biliary duct resection alone in Bismuch-Corlett type Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients. The median OS time was 22.8 months, and the OS rates at 1-,3-,5-and 10-year were 72.2%,35.6%,24.8% and 11.0%,respectively. The median DFS time was 15.2 months,and the DFS rates was 66.0%,32.4%,20.9% and 11.0%,respectively. The R0 resection rate was 64.5% (329/510), and the OS rates of patients with R0 resection at 1-,3-,5-and 10-year were 82.5%, 48.6%, 34.4%, 15.2%,respectively. The morbidity of Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ complications was 26.1%(133/510) and the 30-day mortality was 4.3% (22/510). Multivariate Logistic regression indicated that Bismuth-Corlett type Ⅰ-Ⅲ ( P=0.009), hemi-hepatectomy and extended resection ( P=0.001),T1 and T2 patients without vascular invasion (T2 vs. T1: OR=1.43 (0.61-3.35), P=0.413;T3 vs. T1: OR=2.57 (1.03-6.41), P=0.010;T4 vs. T1, OR=3.77 (1.37-10.38), P<0.01) were more likely to obtain R0 resection. Preoperative bilirubin,Child-Pugh grade,tumor size,surgical margin,T stage,N stage,nerve infiltration and Edmondson grade were independent prognostic factors for OS and DFS of hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients without distant metastasis. Conclusions:Radical surgical resection is necessary to prolong the long-term survival of hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients. Hemi-hepatectomy and extended resection,regional lymph node dissection and combined vascular resection if necessary,can improve R0 resection rate.

Robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery for right colon cancer has been conducted with progressive refinements. To facilitate the standardized implementation of this surgical technique, the adoption of rigorous quality control measures is paramount. The present article outlines the key aspects of quality control for robotic natural orifice specimen extraction right hemicolectomy surgery, encompassing the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases, as well as the training and credentialing requirements for the operating surgeons, with the aim of providing a reference framework to facilitate the safe and reliable implementation and dissemination of this minimally invasive approach for right colon cancer.

Objective:To compare the surgical outcomes of robotic natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) and robotic-assisted radical resection for rectal cancer.Methods:A retrospective analysis using propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted on 547 patients who had undergone radical resection of rectal cancer at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from June 2018 to March 2024. The study cohort comprised 157 patients in the robotic NOSES group and 390 in the robotic-assisted group. PSM was used in a 1:1 manner to match relevant general clinical preoperative data of the study patients (age, sex, body mass index, preoperative comorbidities, abnormal preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (>6.5 μg/L) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels (>27 kU/L), preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists score, tumor diameter, tumor distance from the anal margin, and TNM stage), with a clamp value of 0.05. After performing PSM to match the general clinical data of the two groups of patients, 77 patients in each of the robotic NOSES and robotic-assisted groups were included in the analysis. We found no statistically significant difference in preoperative general clinical data between the robot NOSES and robot-assisted groups ( P>0.05). We compared the surgical outcomes, postoperative recovery, postoperative pathological data, and incidence of complications between the robotic NOSES and robot-assisted groups. Results:Compared with the robot-assisted groups. the robot NOSES group had a significantly shorter time to first postoperative passage of flatus (48 [38, 50] hours vs. 56 [50, 60] hours, Z=-7.513, P<0.001), time to taking a liquid diet (60 [54,63] hours vs. 66 [62, 72] hours, Z=-6.303, P<0.001), lower pain scores (3 [3, 4] vs. 4 [4, 5], Z=-5.237, P<0.001), and lower incision infection rates (0 vs. 5 [6.5%], χ 2=5.237, P=0.028) within 24 hours after surgery ( P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in surgical time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative anastomotic complications, or incidence of other complications between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion:Robotic NOSES surgery is a safe and feasible procedure for resecting rectal cancer and postoperative recovery is faster after robotic NOSES than after standard robot-assisted surgery.

Objective:To investigate the surgical treatment effect and prognostic factors of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Methods:This is an ambispective cohort study. From August 2005 to December 2022,data of 510 patients who diagnosed with hilar cholangiocarcinoma and underwent surgical resection at the Hepatobiliary Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively collected. In the cohort,there were 324 males and 186 females,with an age of ( M (IQR)) 63(13)years (range:25 to 85 years). The liver function at admission was Child-Pugh A (343 cases,67.3%) and Child-Pugh B (167 cases,32.7%). Three hundred and seventy-two(72.9%) patients had jaundice symptoms and the median total bilirubin was 126.3(197.6) μmol/L(range: 5.4 to 722.8 μmol/L) at admission. Two hundred and fourty-seven cases (48.4%) were treated with percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage or endoscopic nasobiliary drainage before operation. The median bilirubin level in the drainage group decreased from 186.4 μmol/L to 85.5 μmol/L before operation. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to identify the influencing factors for R0 resection,and Cox regression was used to construct multivariate prediction models for overall survival(OS) and disease-free survival(DFS). Results:Among 510 patients who underwent surgical resection,Bismuth-Corlett type Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients accounted for 71.8%,among which 86.1% (315/366) underwent hemi-hepatectomy,while 81.9% (118/144) underwent extrahepatic biliary duct resection alone in Bismuch-Corlett type Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients. The median OS time was 22.8 months, and the OS rates at 1-,3-,5-and 10-year were 72.2%,35.6%,24.8% and 11.0%,respectively. The median DFS time was 15.2 months,and the DFS rates was 66.0%,32.4%,20.9% and 11.0%,respectively. The R0 resection rate was 64.5% (329/510), and the OS rates of patients with R0 resection at 1-,3-,5-and 10-year were 82.5%, 48.6%, 34.4%, 15.2%,respectively. The morbidity of Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ complications was 26.1%(133/510) and the 30-day mortality was 4.3% (22/510). Multivariate Logistic regression indicated that Bismuth-Corlett type Ⅰ-Ⅲ ( P=0.009), hemi-hepatectomy and extended resection ( P=0.001),T1 and T2 patients without vascular invasion (T2 vs. T1: OR=1.43 (0.61-3.35), P=0.413;T3 vs. T1: OR=2.57 (1.03-6.41), P=0.010;T4 vs. T1, OR=3.77 (1.37-10.38), P<0.01) were more likely to obtain R0 resection. Preoperative bilirubin,Child-Pugh grade,tumor size,surgical margin,T stage,N stage,nerve infiltration and Edmondson grade were independent prognostic factors for OS and DFS of hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients without distant metastasis. Conclusions:Radical surgical resection is necessary to prolong the long-term survival of hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients. Hemi-hepatectomy and extended resection,regional lymph node dissection and combined vascular resection if necessary,can improve R0 resection rate.

Robotic surgery is applied in gastrointestinal surgery for their flexible and safe operation, especially in the narrow space of the pelvic cavity for radical surgery of rectal cancer, which has obvious advantages. Natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) is a hot surgical technique that has developed rapidly in gastrointestinal surgery in recent years. The integration of robotic surgery and NOSES surgery has pushed minimally invasive surgery for rectal cancer to a new level. Robotic NOSES surgery for rectal cancer can be divided into two types based on the different extraction methods: transrectal and transvaginal specimen extraction. The selection and flexibility of surgical procedures are the keys to the standardized, healthy, and orderly development of robotic NOSES for rectal cancer. Based on domestic and foreign literature and guidelines and combined with the team′s practical experience, the authors elaborate on the selection strategy of robotic NOSES for rectal cancer, in order to provide reference for more scientific and safe implementation of robotic NOSES for rectal cancer.