The survival probability in patients with resected bile duct cancer was not significantly different between the gemcitabine adjuvant chemotherapy group and the observation group. Registration number: UMIN 000000820 (http://www.umin.ac.jp/).

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BackgroundAdequate blood supply for the reconstructed organ is important for safe esophagogastric anastomosis during esophagectomy. Recently, indocyanine green (ICG) has been used for visualization of the blood supply when anastomosis is performed in vascular surgery. To visualize the blood supply for reconstruction, we employed ICG fluorescence during esophagectomy.MethodsFrom August 2008, 40 patients received cervical or thoracic esophagectomy. They consisted of 33 patients having esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer, 3 being treated for cervical esophageal cancer, and 4 with double cancer of the thoracic and cervical regions. Before and after pulling up the reconstructed organ, 2.5 mg of ICG was injected as a bolus. Then ICG fluorescence was detected by a camera and recorded.ResultsICG fluorescence was easily detected in all patients at 1 min after injection. The vascular network was well visualized in the gastric wall, colonic grafts, and free jejunal grafts. In five patients, we also performed anastomosis between the short gastric vein and the external cervical vein or superficial cervical vein. The intraoperative and postoperative course of all patients was uneventful apart from three anastomotic leakages.ConclusionsICG fluorescence can be employed to evaluate the blood supply to reconstructed organs and can be useful in selecting the patients who do not need additional vessel anastomosis. However, anastomotic leakage was not reduced, so the microcirculation detected by ICG fluorescence did not necessarily provide appropriate blood supply for a viable anastomosis.

Aggressive surgical resection should be considered even in stage IV patients when hepatoduodenal ligament invasion and nodal involvement are absent or limited. Acceptable survival may be expected among such patients only when curative resection is achieved.

Background: Intraperitoneal chemotherapy using paclitaxel is considered an experimental approach for treating peritoneal carcinomatosis. This study aimed to determine the recommended dose, and to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety, of the combination of intravenous gemcitabine, intravenous nab-paclitaxel and intraperitoneal paclitaxel in patients with pancreatic cancer and peritoneal metastasis. Methods: The frequencies of dose-limiting toxicities were evaluated, and the recommended dose was determined in phase I. The primary endpoint of the phase II analysis was overall survival rate at 1 year. Secondary endpoints were antitumour effects, symptom-relieving effects, safety and overall survival. Results: The recommended doses of intravenous gemcitabine, intravenous nab-paclitaxel and intraperitoneal paclitaxel were 800, 75 and 20 mg/m 2 respectively. Among 46 patients enrolled in phase II, the median time to treatment failure was 6⋅0 (range 0-22⋅6) months. The response and disease control rates were 21 of 43 and 41 of 43 respectively. Ascites disappeared in 12 of 30 patients, and cytology became negative in 18 of 46. The median survival time was 14⋅5 months, and the 1-year overall survival rate was 61 per cent. Conversion surgery was performed in eight of 46 patients, and those who underwent resection survived significantly longer than those who were not treated surgically (median survival not reached versus 12⋅4 months). Grade 3-4 haematological toxicities developed in 35 of 46 patients, whereas non-haematological adverse events occurred in seven patients. Conclusion: Adding intraperitoneal paclitaxel had clinical efficacy with acceptable tolerability.