Background
With the increasing availability of the surgical robotic system, the young generation colorectal surgeons may learn robotic-assisted rectal surgery upfront. There are currently very ...limited studies evaluating the learning curve of novice rectal surgeons.
Objective
This study aimed to evaluate the learning curve of a surgeon who had limited experience in open and laparoscopic rectal surgery.
Methods
Thirty-nine consecutive robotic-assisted total mesorectal excisions were performed from March 2013 to October 2014. All cases were performed by a single surgeon whose prior experience in open or laparoscopic low rectal cancer resections was <5 cases. The learning curve was analyzed using the cumulative sum method.
Results
Thirty-four low anterior resections, four abdomino-perineal resections, and one Hartmann’s operation were performed. The mean total operating time was 397.2 ± 184.3 min. There was no conversion. The major complication rate was 10.3 %. When total operating time was analyzed with the CUSUM method, three phases could be identified. They are the initial eight cases, middle 17 cases, and the final 14 cases. The first phase consisted of more proximal tumors (86.3 ± 20.7 vs. 58.0 ± 34.9 mm from anal verge,
p
= 0.04) and was associated with a shorter total operating time (243.5 ± 38.0 vs. 540.9 ± 133.4 min,
p
= 0.000) and less estimated blood loss (81.3 ± 25.9 vs. 168.8 ± 99.5 ml,
p
= 0.02) compared to the second phase. When the third phase is compared with the first and second phase, it has shorter total operating time (310.6 ± 164.5 vs. 44 5.7 ± 179.8 min,
p
= 0.03). Complications rate were 12.5, 17.6, and 0 % for phase one, two, and three respectively.
Conclusions
In this study, the learning curve for a novice rectal surgeon was 25 cases. This is comparable to those who have already mastered the technique with laparoscopic or open approach. Surgical robotic system may have a role in shortening the learning curve for low rectal resection.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. It is reported that NAFLD is associated with colorectal polyps. ...Since identifying NAFLD in its early stages could prevent possible disease progression to cirrhosis and decrease the risk of HCC by early intervention, patients with colorectal polyp may thus be considered a target group for screening NAFLD. This study aimed to investigate the potential of serum microRNAs (miRNAs) in identifying NAFLD for colorectal polyp patients. Serum samples were collected from 141 colorectal polyp patients, of which 38 had NAFLD. The serum level of eight miRNAs was determined by quantitative PCR and delta Ct values of different miRNA pairs which were compared between NAFLD and control groups. A miRNA panel was formulated from candidate miRNA pairs by multiple linear regression model and ROC analysis was performed to evaluate its diagnostic potential for NAFLD. Compared to the control group, the NAFLD group showed significantly lower delta Ct values of miR-18a/miR-16 (6.141 vs. 7.374,
= 0.009), miR-25-3p/miR-16 (2.311 vs. 2.978,
= 0.003), miR-18a/miR-21-5p (4.367 vs. 5.081,
= 0.021) and miR-18a/miR-92a-3p (8.807 vs. 9.582,
= 0.020). A serum miRNA panel composed of these four miRNA pairs significantly identified NAFLD in colorectal polyp patients with an AUC value of 0.6584 (
= 0.004). The performance of the miRNA panel was further improved to an AUC value of 0.8337 (
< 0.0001) when polyp patients with other concurrent metabolic disorders were removed from the analysis. The serum miRNA panel is a potential diagnostic biomarker for screening NAFLD in colorectal polyp patients. This serum miRNA test could be performed for colorectal polyp patients for early diagnosis and for prevention of the disease from progressing into more advanced stages.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
Laparoscopic rectal resection with total mesorectal excision is a technically challenging procedure, and there are limitations in conventional laparoscopy. A surgical robotic system may help ...to overcome some of the limitations. This study aimed to compare the short-term operative as well as oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic rectal resection.
Methods
This study was based on a prospectively collected database of patients with mid- to distal rectal cancer (up to 12 cm from the anal verge) undergoing either laparoscopic or robotic low anterior resection from January 2008 to June 2015. Data on patient demographics, intraoperative parameters and short-term outcomes were analyzed. Patient survival and recurrence were also compared.
Results
During the study period, 171 and 220 consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic and robotic rectal resection, respectively. The median age was 65 years (range 23–96). The median tumor distance was 8 and 7 cm from the anal verge in the laparoscopic and robotic groups, respectively (
p
= 0.06). Significantly more male patients and more patients with comorbidities and preoperative radiation underwent robotic surgery. The median operating time for robotic resection was significantly longer, 260 versus 225 min (
p
< 0.001). Conversion rates of laparoscopic and robotic resection were 3.5 and 0.8 %, respectively (
p
= 0.308). The median hospital stay was 6 days in both groups (
p
= 0.29). There was no difference in the overall complication rate, but the incidence of urinary retention was significantly less in the robotic group (4.1 vs. 10.5 %,
p
= 0.024). With a median follow-up of 31 months, there was no difference in local recurrence, overall survival and disease-specific survival between the two groups.
Conclusions
In the treatment of mid- to low rectal cancer, robotic resection can achieve operative results and oncologic outcomes comparable to laparoscopic resection. The postoperative urinary retention rate is lower following robotic surgery.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
CD26 has been reported as a marker for colorectal cancer stem cells endowed with tumor-initiating properties and capable of colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis. In this study, we investigated the ...functional effect of CD26 on CRC angiogenesis and metastasis, and the potential underlying mechanism. The functional effects of CD26 overexpression or repression were determined by a wound healing experiment, and cell migration and invasion assays in vitro and in mouse models. Differentially expressed genes regulated by CD26 were identified by genome-wide mRNA expression array and validated by quantitative PCR. CD26 functionally regulated CRC cell migration and invasion in vitro and angiogenesis and metastasis in vivo. Genome-wide mRNA expression array and qPCR showed that MMP1 was up-regulated in CD26+ subpopulation, and a subsequent experiment demonstrated the regulatory effect of CD26 on MMP1 in CRC cell lines with CD26 repression or overexpression. Furthermore, overexpression of CAV1 abrogated the CD26-regulated MMP1 induction in CRC cell lines. This study demonstrated the functional roles of CD26 in inducing CRC migration, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis and identified the potential involvement of MMP1 and CAV1 in such process. CD26 is an attractive therapeutic target for combating tumor progression to improve the prognosis of CRC patients.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Sporadic early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) has bad prognosis, yet is poorly represented by cell line models. We examine the key mutational and transcriptomic alterations in an organoid biobank ...enriched in EOCRCs.
We established paired cancer (n=32) and normal organoids (n=18) from 20 patients enriched in microsatellite-stable EOCRC. Exome and transcriptome analysis was performed.
We observed a striking diversity of molecular phenotypes, including
fusions. Transcriptionally,
fusion organoids resembled normal colon organoids and were distinct from
mutant organoids, with high
and low
expression. Single cell transcriptome analysis confirmed the similarity between
fusion organoids and normal organoids, with a propensity for maturation on Wnt withdrawal, whereas the
mutant organoids were locked in progenitor stages. CRISPR/Cas9 engineered mutation of
in normal human colon organoids led to upregulation of PTK7 protein and suppression of
, but less so with an engineered
mutation. The frequent co-occurrence of
fusions with
or
mutation was confirmed in TCGA database searches.
mutation was found in organoid from a leukaemia survivor with a novel mutational signature; and organoids with POLE proofreading mutation displayed ultramutation. The cancer organoid genomes were stable over long culture periods, while normal human colon organoids tended to be subject to clonal dominance over time.
These organoid models enriched in EOCRCs with linked genomic data fill a gap in existing CRC models and reveal distinct genetic profiles and novel pathway cooperativity.
Recently the role of microRNAs has been explored immensely as novel regulators and potential biomarkers in several cancers. MiR-509-3p is one such miRNA that has been observed to show a mixed ...expression in different cancers, while it's expression and clinical relevance in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not yet been characterized.
We used quantitative PCR to evaluate the expression of miR-509-3p in fresh-frozen CRC tumor tissues and the corresponding tumor-adjacent normal (NAT) tissues from 103 patients. Subsequently, functional studies were performed to further interpret the role of the miRNA in CRC.
MiR-509-3p was found to be overexpressed in CRC tissues in nearly 80% of cases and was associated with an aggressive disease presentation. Notably, a higher expression of the miRNA promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells in in vitro and in vivo models. Mechanistically, we confirmed that miR-509-3p directly binds the 3'UTR of the tumor suppressor PHLPP2 and inhibits its expression. Furthermore, within the previous 103 clinical tissue specimens, we observed an overexpression of miR-509-3p within the NAT tissue of patients associated with a poor disease prognosis. Using multivariate analysis, it was observed that the expression of miR-509-3p within the NAT tissue was an independent predictor of prognosis in CRC. At the cellular level, through indirect coculture experiments, miR-509-3p was observed to regulate the proliferative, migratory, and invasive behavior of normal colon cells.
MiR-509-3p strongly contributes to the development and progression of CRC and can potentially function as a prognostic biomarker in the disease.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Robotic surgery and transanal minimally invasive surgery are the two recently developed techniques, which can overcome the difficult pelvic dissection in conventional laparoscopy. This ...study aimed to compare the early cases of robotic and transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) using propensity score matching.
Methods
The first 40 cases of taTME and the first 80 sphincter-saving robotic total mesorectal resection for rectal cancer were selected from the prospectively collected database. Using propensity score matching, the outcomes of 40 matched cases of robotic TME were compared with the 40 cases of taTME.
Results
Before matching, patients in the taTME group were significantly younger. The tumors were smaller but more distally located. Significantly more patients in the taTME group received preoperative chemoradiation. After matching, the two groups did not show any differences in gender, age, comorbidity, the level of tumors, and incidences of preoperative chemoradiation. The operating time was significantly shorter (254 vs. 170 min,
p
< 0.05) and the blood loss was less (50 vs. 150 ml,
p
= 0.002) in the taTME group. Conversion rate was 5% in both groups. There was no difference in the hospital stay, overall morbidity, the anastomotic leakage rate, and the urinary complication rate between the two groups. More patients in the taTME group did not require a separate abdominal incision. The distal margin, the number of lymph nodes examined, and the rate positive circumferential margin (0 vs. 5%,
p
= 0.494) were also similar between the two groups.
Conclusions
Both taTME and robotic surgery can achieve favorable outcomes in the rectal cancer resection. Comparison of the early experience of the two procedures with propensity score matching showed the taTME was associated with a shorter operating time, less blood loss, and a higher rate of transanal extraction of the specimen. Further evaluation by randomized trials is warranted.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ