Expert consensus on sequential surgery after immune-targeted conversion therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in China.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a significant global health burden, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where it is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. In China alone, HCC accounts for approximately 367,700 new cases and 316,500 deaths annually; over 50% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, limiting curative treatment options and resulting in poor survival outcomes. Systemic therapies combining immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with antiangiogenic targeted drugs have shown promise in converting unresectable HCC into resectable cases, potentially transforming clinical outcomes.

Analysis of recent changes in treatment options for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using data from a highly comprehensive Japanese national database: Impact of advances in systemic therapy and minimally invasive surgery.

In 2011, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare started providing data from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB) for research purposes. The NDB is an exhaustive and valuable database for health policymaking and research. It provides an accurate and most recent visualization of the burden of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Japan.

Clinical Utility of the Novel Oncological Criteria of Resectability for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Introduction: Introduction of new systemic therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has led to the development of new oncological criteria of resectability for the resectability of HCC. This study was aimed at validating the prognosticating ability and clinical utility of the resectability classification based on the novel criteria in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: This study was conducted in 1,822 patients who had undergone curative resection for HCC (population 1) and 107 patients with unresectable disease who had received lenvatinib therapy (population 2).

Original articles: step-by-step decision-making for achieving oncologically acceptable but avoiding over-invasive surgery for gallbladder cancer.

Background: Gallbladder cancer is a malignancy with a highly dismal prognosis, requiring optimal surgical strategies to achieve effective outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of our algorithm-based decision-making approach based on image T-factors and intraoperative pathology of regional lymph node metastases and the bile duct stumps in patients undergoing gallbladder cancer resection.

Methods: A prospectively maintained database of patients who underwent gallbladder cancer resection between April 2001 and June 2022 was reviewed.

Simplified technique in total pancreatectomy with islet cell autotransplantation after Frey's procedure: a case report.

Background: The selection of the surgical approach for chronic pancreatitis (CP) is determined by various factors including inflammatory location, presence of pancreatic duct dilatation, or possibility of cancer. Total pancreatectomy (TP), with or without islet cell autotransplantation, is considered for patients with refractory CP after the failure of other surgical treatments. Considering the increasing incidence of CP requiring surgical treatment, the number of cases in which TP is performed after previous surgical treatment is expected to increase.