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.

Time to diagnosis in esophageal cancer: a cohort study.

Background: The association between shorter time to diagnosis and favorable outcome is still unproven in esophageal cancer. This study aims to evaluate the effect of time to diagnosis on patient prognosis.

Material And Methods: Retrospective cohort study of all 3613 symptomatic patients referred for esophageal cancer to our center from 1980 to 2011.

Nodal skip metastasis in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a cohort study.

Background: Nodal skip metastasis is a prognostic factor in some sites of malignancies, but its role in esophageal cancer is still unclear. The present study aimed to investigate occurrence and effect of nodal skip metastases in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods: All 578 patients undergoing esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma at the Center for Esophageal Diseases located in Padova between January 1992 and December 2010 were retrospectively evaluated.

Squamous Cellular Carcinoma Antigen Serum Determination as a Biomarker of Barrett Esophagus and Esophageal Cancer: A Phase III Study.

Goal: To evaluate the potential role of the determination of the immunocomplexed form of squamous cell carcinoma antigen [SCCA-immunoglobulin (Ig)M] for the screening of Barrett esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC).

Background: The cost-effectiveness of surveillance in BE is still debated and the use of biomarkers in screening and surveillance still not recommended. No information is available regarding SCCA-IgM determination in BE.

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is up-regulated during Barrett's carcinogenesis and predicts esophageal adenocarcinoma resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen (SCCA) is consistently overexpressed in many different solid tumors, and has been associated with both tumor aggressiveness and chemoresistance. No data, however, is currently available on SCCA expression during esophageal Barrett's carcinogenesis, nor on SCCA expression's role on esophageal adenocarcinoma chemoresistance. The SCCA immunohistochemical expression was assessed in a series of 100 biopsy samples covering the whole histological spectrum of Barrett's oncogenesis.

Effects of laparoscopic myotomy on the esophageal motility pattern of esophageal achalasia as measured by high-resolution manometry.

Background: Esophageal achalasia can be classified on the grounds of three distinct manometric patterns that correlate well with final outcome after laparoscopic Heller-Dor myotomy (LHM). No analytical data are available, however, on the postoperative picture and its possible correlation with final outcome. The aims of this study were: (a) to investigate whether manometric patterns change after LHM for achalasia; (b) to ascertain whether postoperative patterns and/or changes can predict final outcome; and (c) to test the hypothesis that the three known patterns represent different stages in the evolution of the disease.

Esophageal Cancer Clinical Presentation: Trends in the Last 3 Decades in a Large Italian Series.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate trends in patients' characteristics and comorbidities in esophageal cancer (EC) patients.

Background: Identifying changing pattern is essential to understand and predict further changes and to plan surgical procedures and resource allocation.

Methods: Trends in patients' characteristics and comorbidities were evaluated in 4440 EC patients at the Center for Esophageal Diseases in Padova, Italy, during 1980 to 2011.

Esophageal Cancer Surgery for Patients with Concomitant Liver Cirrhosis: A Single-Center Matched-Cohort Study.

Background: Cirrhosis is a risk factor with nonhepatic surgery, but only three series regarding esophagectomy are reported. The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score has shown benefit in risk evaluation, but there is no experience regarding esophagectomy. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of surgery for esophageal cancer between cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients and to evaluate whether the MELD score has a prognostic value for risk stratification.

Mucosal Perforation During Laparoscopic Heller Myotomy Has No Influence on Final Treatment Outcome.

Background: The aims of the study were (a) to examine the final outcome in patients experiencing accidental mucosal perforation during laparoscopic Heller myotomy with Dor fundoplication (LHD) and (b) to evaluate whether perforation episodes might influence the way in which surgeons subsequently approached the LHD procedure.

Methods: We studied all consecutive patients that underwent LHD between 1992 and 2015. Patients were divided into two main groups: those who experienced an intraoperative mucosal perforation (group P) and those whose LHD was uneventful (group NP).

Postoperative Gastroesophageal Reflux After Laparoscopic Heller-Dor for Achalasia: True Incidence with an Objective Evaluation.

Introduction: The most common complication after laparoscopic Heller-Dor (LHD) is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The present study aimed (a) to analyze the true incidence of postoperative reflux by objectively assessing a large group of LHD patients and (b) to see whether the presence of typical GERD symptoms correlates with the real incidence of postoperative reflux.

Methods: After LHD, patients were assessed by means of a symptom score, endoscopy, esophageal manometry, and 24-h pH monitoring.

Endoscopic Tumor Length Should Be Reincluded in the Esophageal Cancer Staging System: Analyses of 662 Consecutive Patients.

Esophageal cancer represents the 6th cause of cancer mortality in the World. New treatments led to outcome improvements, but patient selection and prognostic stratification is a critical aspect to gain maximum benefit from therapies. Today, patients are stratified into 9 prognostic groups, according to a staging system developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer.

A germline predictive signature of response to platinum chemotherapy in esophageal cancer.

Platinum-based neoadjuvant therapy is the standard treatment for esophageal cancer (EC). At present, no reliable response markers exist, and patient therapeutic outcome is variable and very often unpredictable. The aim of this study was to understand the contribution of host constitutive DNA polymorphisms in discriminating between responder and nonresponder patients.

Genetic features of metachronous esophageal cancer developed in Hodgkin's lymphoma or breast cancer long-term survivors: an exploratory study.

Background: Development of novel therapeutic drugs and regimens for cancer treatment has led to improvements in patient long-term survival. This success has, however, been accompanied by the increased occurrence of second primary cancers. Indeed, patients who received regional radiotherapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) or breast cancer may develop, many years later, a solid metachronous tumor in the irradiated field.

Esophageal carcinosarcoma: management and prognosis at a single Italian series.

Background: Esophageal carcinosarcoma (ESC) is a rare malignant lesion of the esophagus with controversial characteristics and prognostic factors.

Patients And Methods: Seventeen consecutive patients with esophageal carcinosarcoma were referred to the Center for Esophageal Diseases located in Padua from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2011. Clinical characteristics, pathological features, treatment and outcome were retrospectively analyzed in a prospectively collected database.

ERCC1 C8092A (rs3212986) polymorphism as a predictive marker in esophageal cancer patients treated with cisplatin/5-FU-based neoadjuvant therapy.

Objective: At present, no consensus exists on the beneficial effect of preoperative cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy versus primary surgery in the management of patients with esophageal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of some relevant genetic polymorphisms, within drug-related and DNA repair genes, on the clinical outcome of esophageal cancer patients subjected to cisplatin/5-FU-based neoadjuvant treatment.

Methods: DNA from 143 esophageal cancer patients, 63 receiving neoadjuvant therapy and 80 receiving primary surgery, was analyzed for the following polymorphisms: the GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null, and GSTP1 Ile105Val (rs16953) in glutathione S-transferase (GST) family, 2 in thymidylate synthase (TS) gene, and the ERCC1 Asn118Asn (rs11615), ERCC1 C8092A (rs3212986), XPD/ERCC2 Asp312Asn (rs1799793), and XPD/ERCC2 Lys751Gln (rs13181) of the nucleotide excision repair pathway.

Complete clinical response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for squamous cell cancer of the thoracic oesophagus: is surgery always necessary?

Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CT-RT) before oesophagectomy is standard management for squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) of the thoracic oesophagus. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of patients who had clinical complete response(CR) with neoadjuvant CT-RT + oesophagectomy with the survival of patients who had clinical CR and were not operated on.

Patients And Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive patients with SCC of the thoracic oesophagus with CR with neoadjuvant CT-RT presenting at the Regional Center of Esophageal Diseases from 1992 to 2008 were included in this retrospective study on a prospectively collected database.

Overweight patients operated on for cancer of the esophagus survive longer than normal-weight patients.

Background: Esophageal adenocarcinoma is often associated with obesity, and a 5 Kg m(-2) increase in body mass index (BMI) has, in fact, been found to be strongly associated with the risk of this type of cancer (RR, 1.52; p < 0.0001).

Human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status in primary and metastatic esophagogastric junction adenocarcinomas.

Differences in human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 dysregulation in primary solid tumors and metastases may (at least partially) explain human epithelial growth factor receptor 2-targeted therapeutic inconsistencies. Human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 status was tested in a series of 47 radically treated consecutive esophagogastric junction adenocarcinomas (male/female, 38/9; mean age, 67.9 years) in both primary cancers and paired synchronous nodal metastases.

Long-term follow-up of Barrett's epithelium: medical versus antireflux surgical therapy.

Background: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the most serious complication of GERD. In BE patients, this observational study compares the effects of antireflux surgery versus antisecretory medical therapy.

Methods: Overall, 89 BE patients (long BE = 45; short BE = 44) were considered: 45 patients underwent antireflux surgery and 44 underwent medical therapy.

DNA copy number profile discriminates between esophageal adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma and represents an independent prognostic parameter in esophageal adenocarcinoma.

We report multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis (MLPA) of DNA copy number alterations in 59 esophageal cancer samples, stratified by histotype. Results showed that squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) samples present clustered abnormalities with several genes altered at high frequency. Instead, esophageal adenocarcinoma (ADC) samples are characterized by a more widespread genomic instability, and in these patients total DNA copy number alterations resulted to be an independent prognostic factor.