Background The advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) is a comprehensive assessment indicator that can reflect inflammation and nutrition conditions. However, there are some controversies about whether ALI is an independent prognostic factor for gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing surgical resection. Thus, we aimed to clarify its prognostic value and explore the potential mechanisms. Methods Four databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and CNKI were used for searching eligible studies from inception to June 28, 2022. All gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), esophageal cancer (EC), liver cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and pancreatic cancer were enrolled for analysis. We focused on prognosis most in the current meta-analysis. Survival indicators, including overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and cancer-special survival (CSS) were compared between the high ALI group and the low ALI group. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist was submitted as a supplementary document. Results We finally included fourteen studies involving 5091 patients in this meta-analysis. After pooling the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), ALI was found to be an independent prognostic factor for both OS (HR = 2.09, I2 = 92%, 95% CI = 1.53 to 2.85, P < 0.01), DFS (HR = 1.48, I2 = 83%, 95% CI = 1.18 to 1.87, P < 0.01), and CSS (HR = 1.28, I2 = 1%, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.60, P = 0.03) in gastrointestinal cancer. After subgroup analysis, we found that ALI was still closely related to OS for CRC (HR = 2.26, I2 = 93%, 95% CI = 1.53 to 3.32, P < 0.01) and GC (HR = 1.51, I2 = 40%, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.04, P = 0.006) patients. As for DFS, ALI also has a predictive value on the prognosis of CRC (HR = 1.54, I2 = 85%, 95% CI = 1.14 to 2.07, P = 0.005) and GC (HR = 1.37, I2 = 0%, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.73, P = 0.007) patients. Conclusion ALI affected gastrointestinal cancer patients in terms of OS, DFS, and CSS. Meanwhile, ALI was a prognostic factor both for CRC and GC patients after subgroup analysis. Patients with low ALI had poorer prognoses. We recommended that surgeons should perform aggressive interventions in patients with low ALI before the operation.

No abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of carbon nanoparticles staining (CNS) on colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery, lymph node tracing and postoperative complications using propensity score matching (PSM).MethodPatients who were diagnosed with CRC and underwent surgery were retrospectively collected from a single clinical center from Jan 2011 to Dec 2021. Baseline characteristics, surgical information and postoperative information were compared between the CNS group and the non-CNS group. PSM was used to eliminate bias.ResultsA total of 6,886 patients were enrolled for retrospective analysis. There were 2,078 (30.2%) patients in the CNS group and 4,808 (69.8%) patients in the non-CNS group. After using 1: 1 ratio PSM to eliminate bias, there were 2,045 patients left in each group. Meanwhile, all of their baseline characteristics were well matched and there was no statistical significance between the two groups (P &gt; 0.05). In terms of surgical information and short-term outcomes, the CNS group had less intraoperative blood loss (P &lt; 0.01), shorter operation time (P &lt; 0.01), shorter postoperative hospital stay (P &lt; 0.01), less metastatic lymph nodes (P = 0.013), more total retrieved lymph nodes (P &lt; 0.01), more lymphatic fistula (P = 0.011) and less postoperative overall complications (P &lt; 0.01) than the non-CNS group before PSM. After PSM, the CNS group had less intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.004), shorter postoperative hospital stay (P &lt; 0.01) and more total retrieved lymph nodes (P &lt; 0.01) than the non-CNS group. No statistical difference was found in other outcomes (P &gt; 0.05).ConclusionPreoperative CNS could help the surgeons detect more lymph nodes, thus better determining the patient's N stage. Furthermore, it could reduce intraoperative blood loss and reduce the hospital stay.

No abstract

Purpose. The current study was designed to investigate the impact of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum uric acid (UA), and cystatin (CysC) on the short-term outcomes and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients undergoing radical surgery. Methods. CRC patients who underwent radical resection were included from Jan 2011 to Jan 2020 in a single clinical centre. The short-term outcomes, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared in different groups. A Cox regression analysis was conducted to identify independent risk factors for OS and DFS. Results. A total of 2047 CRC patients who underwent radical resection were included in the current study. Patients in the abnormal BUN group had a longer hospital stay ( p = 0.002 ) and more overall complications ( p = 0.001 ) than that of the normal BUN group. The abnormal CysC group had longer hospital stay ( p < 0.01 ), more overall complications ( p = p < 0.01 ), and more major complications ( p = 0.001 ) than the normal CysC group. Abnormal CysC was associated with worse OS and DFS for CRC patients in tumor stage I ( p < 0.01 ). In Cox regression analysis, age ( p < 0.01 , HR = 1.041, 95% CI = 1.029–1.053), tumor stage ( p < 0.01 , HR = 2.134, 95% CI = 1.828–2.491), and overall complications ( p = 0.002 , HR = 1.499, 95% CI = 1.166–1.928) were independent risk factors for OS. Similarly, age ( p < 0.01 , HR = 1.026, 95% CI = 1.016–1.037), tumor stage ( p < 0.01 , HR = 2.053, 95% CI = 1.788–2.357), and overall complications ( p = 0.002 , HR = 1.440, 95% CI = 1.144–1.814) were independent risk factors for DFS. Conclusion. In conclusion, abnormal CysC was significantly associated with worse OS and DFS at TNM stage I, and abnormal CysC and BUN were related to more postoperative complications. However, preoperative BUN and UA in the serum might not affect OS and DFS for CRC patients who underwent radical resection.