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Background and study aims The safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC) in very elderly patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ESD for EGC in patients age 85 years and older. Patients and methods Patients who underwent ESD for EGC between September 2003 and April 2015 were divided into 3 groups: the very elderly (≥ 85 years; 43 patients), the elderly (65 – 84 years; 511 patients), and the non-elderly ( ≤ 64 years; 161 patients). Adverse events (AEs) were used as the primary endpoint to assess the safety of ESD, and the ESD treatment outcomes (i. e., en bloc resection rate, complete en bloc resection rate, and curative resection rate) and the overall survival rate after ESD were the secondary endpoints. These parameters were retrospectively evaluated in the 3 groups. Results There were no significant differences in AEs (non-elderly, elderly, and very elderly: 7.3, 9.5, and 12.5 %, respectively, P = 0.491) or in the en bloc resection and complete en bloc resection rates among the three groups. However, there was a significant difference in the curative resection rates (non-elderly, elderly, and very elderly: 91.5, 84.1, and 77.1 %, respectively, P = 0.014). Regarding overall survival, there was a significant difference among the three groups (1-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival rates: non-elderly: 98.6, 90.2, and 74.7 %; elderly: 97.2, 86.2, and 61.9 %; and very elderly: 92.7, 66.8, and 34.4 %, respectively, P = 0.001). Moreover, the overall survival rate in the very elderly patients with cardiovascular disease was significantly lower than that in the very elderly patients without cardiovascular disease (P < 0.001). Conclusions ESD is an acceptable treatment for EGC in patients 85 years of age or older in terms of safety. However, the overall survival after ESD in the very elderly patients with cardiovascular disease was short.

Our results suggest that IgG4 may participate in the activation of complement in IgG4RD patients with hypocomplementemia.

Abstract.As gemcitabine is a key anti-tumor agent for unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), it is important to predict the outcomes of gemcitabine chemotherapy. The present study aimed to confirm whether the derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) is able to predict chemotherapy outcomes. To elucidate the role of dNLR in patients that underwent chemotherapy, the current study evaluated clinicopathological variables in 31 patients with unresectable PDAC treated with gemcitabine. The correlation between clinicopathological variables, and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time were investigated. Univariate analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in PFS and OS as a function of age (<65 vs. ≥65 years), gender, tumor location (pancreas head vs. body/tail), tumor diameter (<23 vs. ≥23 mm) or serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 concentration level (<3,800 vs. ≥3,800 U/ml). However, disease stage (locally advanced vs. metastatic) and the dNLR (<2.5 vs. ≥2.5) significantly affected PFS and OS. Multivariate analysis subsequently revealed that a dNLR of ≥2.5 was an independent prognostic factor for poor PFS (P=0.003) and OS (P=0.026). In conclusion, data from the present study suggests that the pre-treatment dNLR is an independent prognostic factor to predict PFS and OS in patients with unresectable PDAC treated with gemcitabine. This indicates that dNLR has a potential role in stratifying patients that may benefit from gemcitabine therapy.

AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for grading pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). In the two cases treated with chemotherapy, the effects and prognoses were evaluated. METHODS: RESULTS:The sampling rate for histological diagnosis by EUS-FNA was 100%. No adverse effects were observed. The concordance rate between specimens obtained by EUS-FNA and surgery was 87.5% (7/8). For the two cases treated with chemotherapy, case 1 received somatostatin analog therapy and transcatheter arterial infusion (TAI) targeting multiple liver metastases. Subsequent treatment consisted of everolimus. During chemotherapy, the primary tumor remained unconfirmed, although the multiple liver metastases diminished dramatically. Case 2 was classified as neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) according to the Ki-67 index of a specimen obtained by EUS-FNA; therefore, cisplatin and irinotecan therapy was started. However, severe adverse effects, including renal failure and diarrhea, were observed, and the therapy regimen was changed to cisplatin and etoposide. TAI targeting multiple liver metastases was performed. Although the liver metastases diminished, the primary tumor remained unconfirmed. These chemotherapy regimens had immediate effects for both unresectable neuroendocrine tumor (NET) and NEC cases. These two subjects are still alive. Core tip: This is a retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for grading pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). The concordance rate for grading between specimens obtained by EUS-FNA and surgery using the World Health Organization 2010 classification (Ki-67 indexing) was 87.5% in eight evaluated patients. In the two unresectable cases, chemotherapy was performed after grading was established based on the analysis of specimens obtained by EUS-FNA. Both treatments were adequately effective. EUS-FNA was useful for diagnosing PNET and enabled informed decisions on appropriate treatment plans by identifying neuroendocrine tumor or neuroendocrine carcinoma. CONCLUSION: EUS-Sugimoto M, Takagi T, Hikichi T, Suzuki R, Watanabe K, Nakamura J, Kikuchi H, Konno N, Waragai Y, Asama H, Takasumi M, Watanabe H, Obara K, Ohira H. Efficacy of endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor grading.