Identification of host variants associated with overall survival of esophageal cancer patients receiving platinum-based therapy.

Clinical features of esophageal cancer (EC) patients have poor prognostic power. Thus, it is paramount to discover biomarkers that can allow a more accurate survival prediction. To detect genetic variants associated with survival, DNA from 120 patients treated with cisplatin-based neoadjuvant therapy were genotyped using drug metabolism enzymes and transporters array.

Association Between rs3212986 and rs1799793 and OS in Patients With Advanced Esophageal Cancer.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a very aggressive tumor, and no reliable prognostic markers exist especially for resectable advanced neoplasia. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the association of germline polymorphisms in nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway genes with the overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced EC. As a second aim, we also studied the association of NER gene variants with response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Cholecystectomy during esophagectomy is safe but unnecessary.

Prophylactic cholecystectomy has been proposed as a concomitant procedure during upper gastrointestinal surgery. This study evaluates the safety and the need of concurrent cholecystectomy during esophagectomy for cancer. All consecutive esophagectomies for esophageal cancer at the Center for Esophageal Diseases in Padova (Italy) between 1992 and 2011 were included.

Human papillomavirus infection is not involved in esophageal verrucous carcinoma.

Verrucous carcinoma of the esophagus (VCE) is a rare variant of squamous cell cancer, with a puzzling clinical, etiological, and molecular profile. The etiological involvement of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the cancer's natural history is controversial. This study considers 9 cases of VCE, focusing on patients' clinical history before surgery, histologic phenotype, immunophenotype (epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR], E-cadherin, cyclin D1, p16, and p53 expression), HPV infection, and TP53 gene mutational status (exons 5-8).

Cervical Esophageal Cancer Treatment Strategies: A Cohort Study Appraising the Debated Role of Surgery.

Background: Few studies have examined optimal treatment specifically for cervical esophageal carcinoma. This study evaluated the outcome of three common treatment strategies with a focus on the debated role of surgery.

Methods: All patients with cervical esophageal cancer treated at a single center were identified and their outcomes analyzed in terms of morbidity, mortality, and recurrence according to the treatment they received, i.