Objective:To evaluate the use of serosa muscular layers circumferential incision combined with mucosal layer cutting and closure by laparoscopic or robotic surgery for gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors at difficult sites of the stomach.Methods:From Jul 2019 to Apr 2021, 18 gastric mesenchymal tumor patients undergoing serosa muscular layers circumferential incision combined with mucosal layer cutting and closure by laparoscopic or robotic surgery at the Department of Surgery, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed.Results:All 18 patients had successful surgery, including 7 cases of robotic surgery, 11 cases of laparoscopic surgery, and there was no conversion to open surgery. Tumors were at the gastric in cardia, 8 cases at the gastric body and lesser curvature in 4 cases, and at the gastric antrum in 6 cases, respectively. Eleven cases were of endogenous and 7 cases were of dumbbell type. The average operation time was (99±29) min, the intraoperative blood loss was (10±5) ml, the first time taking food per mouth was (2.0±1.0) d, and the postoperative hospital stay was (4.9 ± 1.2) d. Pathology showed gastrointestinal stromal tumor in 11 cases, leiomyoma in 5 cases and schwannoma in 2 cases. All were with negative margins. The average tumor diameter was (4.7±1.4) cm. The median follow-up time was 16.5 months, and there was no sign of tumor recurrence or metastasis.Conclusion:The serosa muscular layers circumferential incision combined with mucosal layer cutting and closure technique in laparoscopic or robotic surgery is a safe and feasible procedure for treating gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumor at difficult sites of the stomach.

Objective:To investigate the influence of different injection time of carbon nanoparticle tracer on the acquisition of lymph nodes in adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junc-tion (AEG) treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) combined with surgical resection.Methods:The prospective randomized controlled study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 120 AEG patients who were treated by nCRT combined with surgical resection in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from March 2020 to March 2021 were selected. Based on random number table, patients were allocated into two groups. Patients undergoing endoscopic injection of carbon nanoparticle tracer 24 hours before nCRT were allocated into the experiment group, and patients undergoing endoscopic injection of carbon nanoparticle tracer 24 hours before surgical resection were allocated into the control group. All patients received the same plan of nCRT combined with D 2 radical gastrectomy. Observation indicators: (1) grouping situations of the enrolled patients; (2) surgical and postoperative pathological situations; (3) postoperative complications and treatment. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the independent sample t test. Measurement date with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3), and comparison between groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Comparison of ordinal data was analyzed using the non-parameter rank sum test. Results:(1) Grouping situations of the enrolled patients. A total of 120 patients were selected for eligibility. There were 85 males and 35 females, aged (60±9)years. There were 60 patients in the experiment group and 60 patients in the control group, respectively. (2) Surgical and postoperative pathological situations. Patients in the two groups underwent D 2 radical gastrectomy successfully, with R 0 resection. The number of lymph nodes harvest, the number of lymph nodes stained, the number of metastatic lymph nodes stained, the number of micro lymph nodes, the number of inferior mediastinal lymph nodes, the number of inferior mediastinal lymph nodes stained, cases in postoperative pathological stage N0, stage N1, stage N2, stage N3a were 40.6±13.9,20.1±7.7, 1.0(0,3.0), 8.1±2.8, 3.7±1.3, 2.0(1.0,2.0), 18, 13, 23, 6 in patients of the experiment group, respectively. The above indicators were 30.4±8.3, 12.7±3.5, 0(0,1.0), 6.2±2.0, 2.4±1.2, 1.0(0,1.0), 23, 21, 15, 1 in patients of the control group, respectively. There were significant differences in the above indicators between the two groups ( t=-5.01, 6.85, Z=-3.78, t=-4.04, -5.57, Z=-5.48, -2.12, P<0.05). (3) Postoperative complications and treatment. There were 5 cases of the experiment group and 7 cases of the control group with postoperative complications, showing no significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=0.37, P>0.05). The patients with postoperative complications were improved after symptomatic treatment. Conclusion:Compared with injection of carbon nanoparticle tracer 24 hours before surgical resection, injection of carbon nanoparticle tracer 24 hours before nCRT can improve the acquisition of lymph nodes in AEG treated by nCRT combined with surgical resection.

The combination of standardized D2 lymph node dissection and lymph node sorting after surgery can improve the survival of patients with gastric cancer and increase the accuracy of staging. With the development of different lymphatic tracers, individualized lymphatic navigation has become a new technical breakthrough in minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer. Lymph node tracing is an important method to improve the quality of intraoperative lymph node dissection and correct the postoperative pathological stage. This article reviews the application status and progress of lymphatic navigation technology.

Objective:To explore the clinico-pathological characteristics and risk factors affecting prognosis in elderly patients with gastric cancer.Methods:A retrospective study was used to retrospectively analyze 2386 patients with gastric cancer undergoing radical surgery in Surgery Department of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from 1 January 2012 to 1 January 2015.Patients aged 70 years and older were screened so as to analyze clinical characteristics and influencing factors for the prognosis.Results:A total of 2386 patients with gastric cancer were divided into the elderly group aged 70 years and older(342 of 2386 cases, 14.3%). There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in gender, number of concomitant diseases, NRS2002 score, PG-SGA score, tumor location, tumor diameter, histological type, Borrmann classification, tumor invasion depth staging(pT), lymph node metastasis staging(pN), the anatomic extent of tumor staging(TNM, pTNM), and Lauren classifications( P<0.05). The 981 of 2386 cases(41.4%)had postoperative complications, accompanied by 413 cases(17.3%)of surgery-related complications and 568 cases(24.0%)of non-surgery-related complications.A multivariate logistic analysis showed that the number of preoperative co-existing diseases ≥ 2 was an independent influencing factor for postoperative complications in elderly gastric cancer patients( HR=4.478, 95% CI: 1.121-7.918, P=0.006). The 5-year OS and DSS was 21.10% and 62.73% in the ≥70 years gastric cancer group, and was 54.1% and 70.0% in the <70 years gastric cancer group, respectively.The difference in the 5-year OS between the two groups was statistically significant( P<0.05), while the difference in the 5-year DSS between the two groups was not statistically significant( P>0.05). Multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazard model showed that the independent risk factors for the prognosis of elderly patients with gastric cancer included the low-undifferentiated histological type of the tumor( P=0.004), the depth of tumor invasion pT stage of pT4a-pT4b( P=0.007), lymph node metastasis( P=0.034), tumor pTNM stage ⅢA-ⅢC( P=0.002)and vascular tumor thrombus( P=0.034). Conclusions:Elderly patients with gastric cancer have many preoperative co-existing diseases, which increases the risk of postoperative non-surgical complications.Therefore, we should focus on the peri-operative management of their comorbid diseases so as to improve the safety and efficacy of surgery.The advanced age is not the independent risk factors for the prognosis.

Objective:To investigate the clinically relevant factors of progressive disease (PD) after neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced gastric cancer.Methods:From Jun 2011 to Mar 2016, 569 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer(cT3/4N0/+ M0) admitted to the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed .Results:All 569 patients completed neoadjuvant therapy, 59 patients (10.4%) had PD. Univariate analysis showed that tumor size (χ 2=10.091, P=0.001), pathological type (χ 2=4.110, P=0.043), Borrmann type (χ 2=91.941, P=0.001), pre-treatment cT stage (χ 2=7.980, P=0.005) were associated with PD after neoadjuvant therapy for gastric cancer. The results of multi-factor regression analysis showed that pathological type, Borrmann type, pre-treatment cT stage were independent factors influencing the occurrence of PD after neoadjuvant therapy for advanced gastric cancer. The overall survival and progression-free suruival time of patients with PD is significantly shorter than that of patients without PD . Conclusion:The pathological type, Borrmann typing and pre-treatment cT stage are the influencing factors for the occurrence of PD after neoadjuvant treatment in advanced gastric cancer, and the prognosis of PD patients is poor.

Objective:To explore the risk factors of lymphatic fistula after radical gastric cancer operation.Methods:We retrospectively analyze the clinicopathological data of gastric cancer patients who underwent radical surgery from May, 2019 to May, 2020 at the Third Department of Surgery, Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, and analyze the risk factors impacting postoperative lymphatic leakage,for the establishment of the risk prediction scoring model.Results:A total of 487 patients with gastric cancer underwent radical gastrectomy, of which 32 patients (6.6%) had lymphatic leakage . Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that hypoproteinemia before surgery (95% CI: 1.222-7.357, P=0.016), the lesion is located in the cardia-fundus of the stomach (95% CI: 1.117-6.788, P=0.028),stage T3-T4 (95% CI: 1.149-25.676, P=0.033), operation time ≥4 h (95% CI: 1.469-11.480, P=0.007), combined organ resection (95% CI: 1.106-12.886, P=0.034), D2+ lymph node dissection (95% CI: 1.969-11.510, P=0.001), anemia (95% CI: 1.271-9.392, P=0.015) were an independent risk factors. Equation based on multi-factor Logistic regression: logit( P)=-9.624+1.098×X 1+1.013×X 2+1.692×X 3+1.413×X 4+1.328×X 5+1.560×X 6+1.240×X 7 was estaslished, using Hosmer. Lemeshow test detects the goodness of fit of the regression equation ( P=0.348). The area under the ROC curve was 0.856 (95% CI: 0.787-0.926, P<0.001); the probability of lymphatic leakage when scores ≥4 points was 14.1%, when scores <4 points ,the probability of leakage was 2.5%. Conclusion:A risk prediction scoring model for lymphatic leakage after radical gastrectomy, can identify patients with high risk after surgery

Objective:To explore the relationship between cancer nodules and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer, and analyze its impact on survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients.Methods:A retrospective analysis of 2 386 patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical surgery from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2015 in the Third Surgery Department of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University was performed. The relationship between cancer nodules and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer and its impact on survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients were analyzed.Results:Among the 2 386 patients, there were 459 cases (19.24%) with cancer nodules, and 1 927 cases (80.76%) without cancer nodules. Logistic multivariate analysis showed that pT staging ( P=0.036), pN staging ( P=0.024), pTNM staging ( P=0.032), Borrmann classification ( P=0.008), vascular tumor thrombus ( P=0.001) were independent risk factors for cancer nodules. The complete follow-up date of 2 273 cases (95.26%) of 2 386 patients with gastric cancer were obtained. A total of 1 259 patients relapsed and 1 152 died during the follow-up period. The 5-years overall survival (OS) rate was 49.32%, and the 5-years disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 44.61%. Among them, the 5-years OS rate and DFS rate of those with cancer nodules were 26.76% and 24.94%, while the 5-years OS rate and DFS rate of those without cancer nodules were 54.75% and 49.34%, respectively ( P<0.001). Patients with positive cancer nodules were divided into 3 groups according to the number of cancer nodules: 1 (115 cases), 2 to 3 (202 cases), and more than 4 (124 cases). The 5-years OS rates of 3 groups were 41.74%, 30.69% and 10.48%, respectively ( P<0.001). The 5-years DFS rates were 40.00%, 28.22% and 9.68%, respectively ( P<0.001). Cox multivariate analysis showed that histological type ( P=0.004), pT staging ( P=0.007), pN staging ( P=0.004), pTNM staging ( P=0.002), vascular tumor thrombus ( P=0.034), cancer nodules ( P=0.005) and the number of cancer nodules ( P=0.001) were independent risk factors for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy ( P=0.043) was a protective factor for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Conclusion:Cancer nodules are closely related to the tumor stage and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The number of cancerous nodules is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

Objective:To investigate the clinical value of pT2 gastric cancer staging pT2a and pT2b according to the depth of muscularis propria invasion in evaluating the prognosis of gastric cancer.Methods:According to the 8th edition of TNM staging system for gastric cancer proposed by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical surgery in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 1, 2008 to January 1, 2015 were selected and divided into pT2a and pT2b stage group according to the depth of tumor invasion. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between the two groups.Results:The median follow-up time of 1 411 patients with postoperative pathological pT2 stage was 68.8 months, and 1 347 patients (95.46%) received complete follow-up data. The 5-year OS rate was 65.85%, and the 5-year DFS rate was 67.83 %. The 5-year OS rate and 5-year DFS rate of 709 pT2a patients were 72.50% and 73.91%, respectively. The 5-year OS rate and 5-year DFS rate of 638 pT2b patients were 58.46% and 61.13%, respectively, significantly different from those of the pT2a group ( P<0.001). Hierarchical analysis was performed according to N staging. The 5-year OS rates of pT2aN0M0 (274 cases), pT2aN1M0 (192 cases), pT2aN2M0 (147 cases), pT2aN3aM0 (59 cases) and pT2aN3bM0 (37 cases) were 83.58 %, 72.40 %, 68.71 %, 54.24 % and 35.12 %, respectively. The 5-year DFS rates were 84.67 %, 77.08 %, 67.35 %, 54.24 % and 35.14 %, respectively. In the pT2b group, the 5-year OS rates of pT2bN0M0 (209 cases), pT2bN1M0 (166 cases), pT2bN2M0 (127 cases), pT2bN3aM0 (78 cases) and pT2bN3bM0 (58 cases) were 76.08%, 62.05%, 56.69%, 37.18% and 17.24%, respectively, and the 5-year DFS rates were 80.86%, 69.28%, 54.33%, 35.90% and 15.52%, respectively. Under the same N stage, the OS rates of patients in the pT2a group were better than those in the pT2b group ( P values were 0.023, 0.034, 0.034, 0.043 and 0.018, respectively). When the N stage was N0 and N1, there was no significant difference in the 5-year DFS rate between the pT2a group and the pT2b group ( P values were 0.199 and 0.090, respectively). When the N stages were N2, N3a and N3b, the difference between the pT2a stage group and the pT2b stage group was statistically significant ( P values were 0.027, 0.022 and 0.025, respectively). Conclusions:In the 8th edition of AJCC/UICC gastric cancer staging system, pT2 stage can be divided into pT2a stage (invasion of superficial muscularis) and pT2b stage (invasion of deep muscularis) according to the infiltration depth of muscularis propria. There are significant differences in prognosis between the two groups. Combined with the number of lymph node metastasis, the prognosis of patients with pT2 gastric cancer can be more accurately evaluated.

Objective:To explore the relationship between cancer nodules and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer, and analyze its impact on survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients.Methods:A retrospective analysis of 2 386 patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical surgery from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2015 in the Third Surgery Department of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University was performed. The relationship between cancer nodules and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer and its impact on survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients were analyzed.Results:Among the 2 386 patients, there were 459 cases (19.24%) with cancer nodules, and 1 927 cases (80.76%) without cancer nodules. Logistic multivariate analysis showed that pT staging ( P=0.036), pN staging ( P=0.024), pTNM staging ( P=0.032), Borrmann classification ( P=0.008), vascular tumor thrombus ( P=0.001) were independent risk factors for cancer nodules. The complete follow-up date of 2 273 cases (95.26%) of 2 386 patients with gastric cancer were obtained. A total of 1 259 patients relapsed and 1 152 died during the follow-up period. The 5-years overall survival (OS) rate was 49.32%, and the 5-years disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 44.61%. Among them, the 5-years OS rate and DFS rate of those with cancer nodules were 26.76% and 24.94%, while the 5-years OS rate and DFS rate of those without cancer nodules were 54.75% and 49.34%, respectively ( P<0.001). Patients with positive cancer nodules were divided into 3 groups according to the number of cancer nodules: 1 (115 cases), 2 to 3 (202 cases), and more than 4 (124 cases). The 5-years OS rates of 3 groups were 41.74%, 30.69% and 10.48%, respectively ( P<0.001). The 5-years DFS rates were 40.00%, 28.22% and 9.68%, respectively ( P<0.001). Cox multivariate analysis showed that histological type ( P=0.004), pT staging ( P=0.007), pN staging ( P=0.004), pTNM staging ( P=0.002), vascular tumor thrombus ( P=0.034), cancer nodules ( P=0.005) and the number of cancer nodules ( P=0.001) were independent risk factors for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy ( P=0.043) was a protective factor for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Conclusion:Cancer nodules are closely related to the tumor stage and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The number of cancerous nodules is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

Objective:To investigate the clinical value of pT2 gastric cancer staging pT2a and pT2b according to the depth of muscularis propria invasion in evaluating the prognosis of gastric cancer.Methods:According to the 8th edition of TNM staging system for gastric cancer proposed by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical surgery in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 1, 2008 to January 1, 2015 were selected and divided into pT2a and pT2b stage group according to the depth of tumor invasion. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between the two groups.Results:The median follow-up time of 1 411 patients with postoperative pathological pT2 stage was 68.8 months, and 1 347 patients (95.46%) received complete follow-up data. The 5-year OS rate was 65.85%, and the 5-year DFS rate was 67.83 %. The 5-year OS rate and 5-year DFS rate of 709 pT2a patients were 72.50% and 73.91%, respectively. The 5-year OS rate and 5-year DFS rate of 638 pT2b patients were 58.46% and 61.13%, respectively, significantly different from those of the pT2a group ( P<0.001). Hierarchical analysis was performed according to N staging. The 5-year OS rates of pT2aN0M0 (274 cases), pT2aN1M0 (192 cases), pT2aN2M0 (147 cases), pT2aN3aM0 (59 cases) and pT2aN3bM0 (37 cases) were 83.58 %, 72.40 %, 68.71 %, 54.24 % and 35.12 %, respectively. The 5-year DFS rates were 84.67 %, 77.08 %, 67.35 %, 54.24 % and 35.14 %, respectively. In the pT2b group, the 5-year OS rates of pT2bN0M0 (209 cases), pT2bN1M0 (166 cases), pT2bN2M0 (127 cases), pT2bN3aM0 (78 cases) and pT2bN3bM0 (58 cases) were 76.08%, 62.05%, 56.69%, 37.18% and 17.24%, respectively, and the 5-year DFS rates were 80.86%, 69.28%, 54.33%, 35.90% and 15.52%, respectively. Under the same N stage, the OS rates of patients in the pT2a group were better than those in the pT2b group ( P values were 0.023, 0.034, 0.034, 0.043 and 0.018, respectively). When the N stage was N0 and N1, there was no significant difference in the 5-year DFS rate between the pT2a group and the pT2b group ( P values were 0.199 and 0.090, respectively). When the N stages were N2, N3a and N3b, the difference between the pT2a stage group and the pT2b stage group was statistically significant ( P values were 0.027, 0.022 and 0.025, respectively). Conclusions:In the 8th edition of AJCC/UICC gastric cancer staging system, pT2 stage can be divided into pT2a stage (invasion of superficial muscularis) and pT2b stage (invasion of deep muscularis) according to the infiltration depth of muscularis propria. There are significant differences in prognosis between the two groups. Combined with the number of lymph node metastasis, the prognosis of patients with pT2 gastric cancer can be more accurately evaluated.