Resection is one of the most important treatments for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and routine postoperative follow-up is an effective method for early detection and treatment of recurrent metastases, which can improve patients' quality of life and prognosis. This consensus aims to provide a reference for colleagues responsible for postoperative follow-up of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients in China, and further improve the standardization of the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a pedigree affected with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease through high-throughput sequencing. METHODS: Potential variants of the genes associated with CMT were screened by next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the members of the pedigree. RESULTS: NGS has revealed that the two affected sisters both harbored homozygous c.1A>G variant of the GDAP1 gene, which caused replacement of the first amino acid Methionine by Valine (p.Met1Val). Their parents were both carriers of the heterozygous c.1A>G variant. The variant was unreported previously and has an extremely low frequency in the population. Meanwhile, one of the sisters and the mother also carried heterozygous c.710A>T variant of the BAG3 gene. CONCLUSION The homozygous c.1A>G variant of the GDAP1 gene probably underlay the CMT in both children. Above result has enabled clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling for this pedigree.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing/genetics* ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/genetics* ; Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease/genetics* ; Child ; Female ; Fibula/abnormalities* ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Mutation ; Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics* ; Pedigree

This article reviewed other literatures in the quality management of clinical trials and summarized author’s experience in quality control of clinical trials which the author conducted as principle investigator over the past years. It provides a reference for fresh investigators before they conduct their own clinical trials.

Esophageal cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in China. Lymph node metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors and severely affect the long-term survival after surgical treatment. Therefore, systemic two-field lymph node dissection including thoracic and abdominal draining nodes of the esophagus during surgery is essential in order to improve the long-term survival for the patients with thoracic esophageal cancer, and it is also the basis for precise staging and postoperative adjuvant treatment regimen- making. As reported in the literature, lymph node metastases along bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve was the highest, therefore, the lymph node dissection along bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve is the most important manipulation during esophagectomies, however, it is also the most technically difficult procedure during operation. It usually results in postoperative complications especially the respiratory complications due to paralysis of recurrent laryngeal nerves caused by lymph node dissection. Therefore, the gain and loss of lymph node dissection along bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve has been a disputed and entangle topic for thoracic surgeons, and the purpose of this paper is to summarize author′s experience and the key technology to prevent the associated complications in lymph node dissection along recurrent laryngeal nerve during esophagectomies for the patients with thoracic esophageal cancer.

Objective: The role of planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy in the non-radical resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was unclear. The study aimed to evaluate their therapeutic effect and analyze the prognostic factors. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received neoadjuvant radio therapy (33 patients) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (119 patients) from January 2004 to December 2016 in our single-institution database.The survival rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic factors were analyzed by using Log rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The median follow-up was 29.8 months. One hundred and one patients survived more than 3 years. The rates of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) at 3 years were 63.9% and 55.6%, respectively.The rates of complete, partial and minimal pathological response of the primary tumor were 50.3%, 38.4%, 11.3%, the corresponding 3-year OS were 75.5%, 57.4%, 27.3% (P<0.001) and 3-year DFS were 72.0%, 44.7%, 17.6% (P<0.001), respectively.The postoperative lymph node metastasis rate was 27.0%. The 3-year OS and DFS of the lymph node positive group was 45.6% and 32.8%, significantly lower than 70.8% and 63.7% of the negative group (both P<0.001). The 3-year OS and DFS of pathologic stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ, ⅢA, ⅢB and Ⅵ A were 76.2%, 57.4%, 64.7%, 35.0%, 33.3% (P<0.001) and 70.1%, 49.3%, 41.2%, 22.1%, 33.3% (P<0.001), respectively.The operation-related mortality was 3.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, more than 15 lymph node dissection and ypTNM stage were the independent prognostic factors of OS (P<0.05 for all). Conclusions The planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for the non-radical resection of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma could result in favorable survival. The chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, the number of lymph node resection and ypTNM stage are the independent prognostic factors of the prognosis of these patients.

Objective The role of planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy in the non?radical resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was unclear. The study aimed to evaluate their therapeutic effect and analyze the prognostic factors. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received neoadjuvant radio therapy ( 33 patients) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (119 patients) from January 2004 to December 2016 in our single?institution database.The survival rates were calculated by Kaplan?Meier method. The prognostic factors were analyzed by using Log rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Results The median follow?up was 29.8 months. One hundred and one patients survived more than 3 years. The rates of overall survival (OS) and disease?free survival ( DFS) at 3 years were 63.9% and 55.6%, respectively.The rates of complete, partial and minimal pathological response of the primary tumor were 50.3%, 38.4%, 11.3%, the corresponding 3?year OS were 75.5%, 57.4%, 27.3%( P＜0.001) and 3?year DFS were 72.0%, 44.7%, 17.6%(P＜0.001), respectively.The postoperative lymph node metastasis rate was 27.0%. The 3?year OS and DFS of the lymph node positive group was 45.6% and 32.8%, significantly lower than 70.8% and 63.7%of the negative group (both P＜0.001).The 3?year OS and DFS of pathologic stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,ⅢA,ⅢB andⅥ A were 76.2%, 57.4%, 64.7%, 35.0%, 33.3%( P＜0.001) and 70.1%, 49.3%, 41.2%, 22.1%, 33.3%(P＜0.001), respectively.The operation?related mortality was 3.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, more than 15 lymph node dissection and ypTNM stage were the independent prognostic factors of OS ( P＜0.05 for all). Conclusions The planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for the non?radical resection of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma could result in favorable survival. The chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, the number of lymph node resection and ypTNM stage are the independent prognostic factors of the prognosis of these patients.

Objective The role of planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy in the non?radical resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was unclear. The study aimed to evaluate their therapeutic effect and analyze the prognostic factors. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received neoadjuvant radio therapy ( 33 patients) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (119 patients) from January 2004 to December 2016 in our single?institution database.The survival rates were calculated by Kaplan?Meier method. The prognostic factors were analyzed by using Log rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Results The median follow?up was 29.8 months. One hundred and one patients survived more than 3 years. The rates of overall survival (OS) and disease?free survival ( DFS) at 3 years were 63.9% and 55.6%, respectively.The rates of complete, partial and minimal pathological response of the primary tumor were 50.3%, 38.4%, 11.3%, the corresponding 3?year OS were 75.5%, 57.4%, 27.3%( P＜0.001) and 3?year DFS were 72.0%, 44.7%, 17.6%(P＜0.001), respectively.The postoperative lymph node metastasis rate was 27.0%. The 3?year OS and DFS of the lymph node positive group was 45.6% and 32.8%, significantly lower than 70.8% and 63.7%of the negative group (both P＜0.001).The 3?year OS and DFS of pathologic stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,ⅢA,ⅢB andⅥ A were 76.2%, 57.4%, 64.7%, 35.0%, 33.3%( P＜0.001) and 70.1%, 49.3%, 41.2%, 22.1%, 33.3%(P＜0.001), respectively.The operation?related mortality was 3.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, more than 15 lymph node dissection and ypTNM stage were the independent prognostic factors of OS ( P＜0.05 for all). Conclusions The planned neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for the non?radical resection of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma could result in favorable survival. The chest pain, postoperative respiratory failure, pathological differentiation, the number of lymph node resection and ypTNM stage are the independent prognostic factors of the prognosis of these patients.

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant digestive system cancers in China, which has high incidence and mortality. Nowadays, surgery remains the most important part of the comprehensive treatments. Conventional open esophagectomies are highly traumatic with high morbidity, while minimally invasive esophagectomy has been increasingly used with the development of surgical instruments and techniques in recent years. Compared with conventional open esophagectomy(OE), what are the advantages of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and which is preferable? This review briefly introduces the developing history of MIE and common procedures. Then we review large amounts of relevant literatures, comparing MIE with OE in perioperative rehabilitation, lymph node dissection and long-term survival. Results showed that compared with OE, MIE had less blood loss during operation, less postoperative pulmonary complications, shorter hospital stay and ICU time, meanwhile, there were no significant differences in the incidence of anastomotic leak, perioperative mortality, R0 resection and total number of resected lymph nodes. However, there are still no clear results of comparisons on operative time, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, and long-term survival, thus, more supportive evidences from prospective large-sample observation studies or randomized controlled trials are still needed. Furthermore, this review also presents the application and the progress of robotic-assisted MIE(RAMIE), demonstrates the current use of robotic technology during esophagectomies, meanwhile forecasts the future advancements of RAMIE. For the moment, the limitations of RAMIE to be widely used mainly include the cost and controlling of surgical indications, and we hope these can be settled in the coming years.

Esophageal squamous cancer is a malignancy with high incidence and mortality. Surgery currently remains the most important part of the comprehensive treatments. The number of metastatic lymph node has great influence on the prognosis of esophageal cancer, so thorough lymphadenectomy also becomes a key factor. Meanwhile, the choice of lymphadenectomy procedure during surgery has always been controversial. In current article, we summarized the pattern in lymph node metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by analyzing relevant literatures, and discovered that the longitudinal lymphatic network of the submucosa and the horizontal lymphatic pathways of the muscularis propria are the anatomical foundation of the lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer. Then, we evaluated the impact of lymph node metastasis on the prognosis in terms of number of metastatic lymph node, distant metastasis, positive lymph node ratio, solitary metastasis, micrometastasis and extracapsular lymph node involvement. During surgery, should we choose two-field lymphadenectomy (2-FL) or three-field lymphadenectomy (3-FL)? The clinical efficacy was compared between 2-FL and 3-FL in this paper. The results showed that compared with patients who underwent 2-FL, those who underwent 3-FL had significantly higher 5-year survival rate, significantly longer operative time, and more dissected lymph nodes, while blood loss during surgery was not significantly different. As for complication, some studies indicated that patients after 3-FL had a significantly higher risk of anastomotic leakage, recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, and tracheal ischemia, while no significant differences in pulmonary infection and chylothorax were found. At last, we introduced the application of sentinel lymph node technique and relevant research evidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node as predictive markers for cervical lymph node metastasis.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; surgery ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Staging ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To study the impact of the advance of the times and technological progress on the surgical treatment of lung cancer. Methods: The data of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated by thoracic surgery at Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2005 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The population distribution, operation methods and treatment results were analyzed retrospectively. Results: 510 patients (in 2005) and 1 235 (in 2015) non-small cell lung cancer patients were included in this study. The proportions of male patients (79.0% vs. 55.8%), smoking (52.9% vs. 30.1%), squamous cell carcinoma (50.2% vs. 22.4%) and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) (0 vs. 61.1%), stage Ⅰ (15.2% vs. 36.8%), the number of lymph node dissection (21.8 vs. 16.6), intraoperative blood transfusion rate (9.6% vs. 1.9%), palliative resection rate (7.5% vs. 2.0%), the average length of stay (10.8 d vs. 7.6 d) were significantly changed. There was no significant difference in the average age of patients and operation time. Conclusion There was a significant change in the distribution of population and surgical techniques in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery in last ten years.