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BackgroundSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 13% of all lung cancer cases. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for about 13% of all lung cancer cases. The purpose of the present article is to assess the role of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) by performing a systematic review of the randomized trials published in the literature.MethodsRandomized controlled trials were identified that compared brain metastases incidence and overall survival between PCI and No PCI in patients with SCLC. Search strategies were limited to the English language and to articles published since 1997, and included: databases searched from 1997 to March 2013 –CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and CENTRAL. Methodological quality was assessed with the Jadad scale. The main end points were brain metastasis and survival.ResultsThe review identified 5 trials, although few were of high quality. Two trials reported the one-year incidence of brain metastasis. PCI reduced the incidence of brain metastasis in one year, with a pooled relative risk of 0.45 (95% CI, 0.35 to 0.58; P < 0.00001). Four trials described the one year survival rate. The combined result revealed a significant (P = 0.01) survival benefit in the group assigned to PCI as compared with the control group, with a pooled relative risk of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.97). Three trials reported the three-year survival rate. The combined result revealed a great significant (P < 0.00001) survival benefit in the PCI group as compared with the No PCI group, with a pooled relative risk of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.83 to 0.91). the Five-year survival rate was compared in four trials Compared with the No PCI group, the PCI group had a significant (P < 0.00001) survival benefit with a pooled relative risk of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.88 to 0.95).ConclusionsThe present systematic review indicates that PCI decreases brain metastases incidence and that PCI improves survival in SCLC patients. Prophylactic cranial irradiation should be part of standard care for all patients with small-cell lung cancer who have a response to initial chemotherapy, and it should be part of the standard treatment in future studies involving these patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2407-14-793) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We examined esophageal cancer patients who received enteral nutrition (EN) to evaluate the validity of early EN compared to delayed EN, and to determine the appropriate time to start EN. A total of 208 esophagectomy patients who received EN postoperatively were divided into three groups (Group 1, 2 and 3) based on whether they received EN within 48 h, 48 h–72 h or more than 72 h, respectively. The postoperative complications, length of hospital stay (LOH), days for first fecal passage, cost of hospitalization, and the difference in serum albumin values between pre-operation and post-operation were all recorded. The statistical analyses were performed using the t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi square test. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05. Group 1 had the lowest thoracic drainage volume, the earliest first fecal passage, and the lowest LOH and hospitalization expenses of the three groups. The incidence of pneumonia was by far the highest in Group 3 (p = 0.019). Finally, all the postoperative outcomes of nutritional conditions were the worst by a significant margin in Group 3. It is therefore safe and valid to start early enteral nutrition within 48 h for postoperative esophageal cancer patients.

BackgroundObesity and overweight have become increasingly prevalent, but no consensus has been reached regarding the effect of body mass index (BMI) on surgical outcomes. In this study, we sought to examine the influence of BMI on perioperative outcomes in a large cohort of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent lobectomy.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted in 1198 patients who underwent lobectomy for primary NSCLC at Shandong Provincial Hospital between November 2006 and January 2017. BMI was calculated using measured height and weight on admission and categorized as obese (≥ 30 kg/m2), overweight (25 to 29.9 kg/m2), normal (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2), or underweight (< 18.5 kg/m2). Patients’ baseline characteristics and outcomes were abstracted from medical records following institutional review board approval. Endpoints included operative mortality, perioperative complications, and length of stay (LOS). Complications were divided into four groups as respiratory, cardiovascular, other, and overall. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess the association between BMI and adverse outcomes.ResultsWhen compared with normal BMI, obesity and overweight did not increase the risk of complications in any category, operative mortality, or prolonged LOS. In fact, the incidence of operative mortality and respiratory complications tended to be lower in overweight patients than in normal weight patients (P = 0.047 and P = 0.041, respectively). Conversely, underweight patients experienced significantly more operative mortality, respiratory complications, and prolonged LOS (P = 0.004, P = 0.011, and P = 0.003, respectively).ConclusionsObesity and overweight did not confer adverse surgical outcomes. Underweight patients presented increased risk of respiratory complications, perioperative death, and prolonged LOS. Thus, overweight and obesity should not be a relative contraindication for lobectomy. Meanwhile, nurses and surgeons should focus on perioperative management of underweight patients.