Annals of surgical oncology
-
Thoracoscopic lobectomy is well established for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Its safety and efficacy for advanced-stage disease remain uncertain. ⋯ Thoracoscopic lobectomy for advanced-stage NSCLC can be performed safely, with results equivalent to open techniques. With continued experience, lower morbidity with resections performed for advanced-stage disease by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery will be expected, similar to that observed with early-stage disease. This is particularly important given the large number of frail patients with advanced-stage disease who require multimodal therapy.
-
Teamworking and clinical decision-making are important in multidisciplinary cancer teams (MDTs). Our objective is to assess the quality of information presentation and MDT members' contribution to decision-making via expert observation and self-report, aiming to cross-validate the two methods and assess the insight of MDT members into their own team performance. ⋯ The quality of teamworking and clinical decision-making in MDTs can reliably be assessed using observational and self-report metrics. MDT members have good insight into their own team performance. Such robust assessment methods could provide the basis of a toolkit for MDT team evaluation and improvement.
-
The present study was designed to assess the feasibility and efficiency of intraperitoneal and intravenous neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination. ⋯ The results of this prospective phase II study indicated that the newly designed NIPS was highly effective and well tolerated in patients with advanced gastric cancer and peritoneal dissemination.
-
The most dangerous complication following esophagogastrectomy for esophageal cancer is anastomotic leakage. Surgical interventions described did not have a major impact in reducing the risk of occurrence. On the other hand, pleural tenting has been used for more than a decade by thoracic surgeons to prevent prolonged air leak after formal upper lobectomy with excellent results. ⋯ Pleural tenting is a safe, fast, and effective technique for prevention of anastomotic leakage after Ivor Lewis esophagogastrectomy. Subpleural blanketing of intrathoracic anastomosis could diminish the consequences of a possible anastomotic leak.