Optimal surgical treatment for paratesticular leiomyosarcoma: retrospective analysis of 217 reported cases

Background Paratesticular leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare tumor. Conventionally, tumor resection by high inguinal orchiectomy is performed as the preferred treatment approach for paratesticular sarcoma. On the other hand, testis-sparing surgery has recently attracted attention as a less-invasive treatment option for paratesticular sarcoma. However, the prognostic predictors and optimal treatment strategy for paratesticular LMS remain unclear because of its rarity. In this study, we systematically reviewed previously reported cases of paratesticular LMS to evaluate the prognostic factors and establish the optimal treatment strategy. Methods A systematic search of Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and Google was performed to find articles describing localized paratesticular LMS published between 1971 and 2020 in English. The final cohort included 217 patients in 167 articles. The starting point of this study was the time of definitive surgical treatment, and the end point was the time of local recurrence (LR), distant metastasis (DM), and disease-specific mortality. Results Patients with cutaneous LMS had a slightly better LR-free survival, DM-free survival, and disease-specific survival than those with subcutaneous LMS (p = 0.745, p = 0.033, and p = 0.126, respectively). Patients with higher grade tumors had a significantly higher risk of DM and disease-specific mortality (Grade 3 vs Grade 1 p < 0.001, and Grade 3 vs Grade 1 p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, those with a microscopic positive margin had a significantly higher risk of LR and DM than those with a negative margin (p < 0.001, and p = 0.018, respectively). Patients who underwent simple tumorectomy had a slightly higher risk of LR than those who underwent high inguinal orchiectomy (p = 0.067). Subgroup analysis of cutaneous LMS demonstrated that the difference in LR between simple tumorectomy and high inguinal orchiectomy was limited (p = 0.212). On the other hand, subgroup analysis of subcutaneous LMS revealed a significant difference in LR (p = 0.039). Conclusions Our study demonstrated that subcutaneous LMS and high-grade tumors are prognostic factors for paratesticular LMS. For subcutaneous LMS, tumorectomy with high inguinal orchiectomy should be the optimal treatment strategy to achieve a negative surgical margin.

Incidence and mortality of uveal melanoma in Australia (1982–2014)

AimsWe aimed to estimate the incidence and mortality of uveal melanoma (UM) in Australia from 1982 to 2014.MethodsDeidentified unit data for all cases of ocular melanoma were extracted from the Australian Cancer Database from 1 January 1982 to 31 December 2014. UM cases were extracted and trends in incidence and disease-specific mortality were calculated. Incidence rates were age-standardised against the 2001 Australian Standard Population. Mortality was assessed using Cox regression.ResultsFrom 1982 to 2014, there were 5087 cases of ocular melanoma in Australia, of which 4617 were classified as UM. The average age-standardised incidence rate of UM was 7.6 (95% CI 7.3 to 7.9) per million. There was an increase (p=0.0502) in the incidence of UM from 1982 to 1993 with an annual percent change (APC) of +2.5%, followed by a significant decrease in the incidence of UM from 1993 to 2014 (APC −1.2%). The average 5-year survival from 1982 to 2011 did not significantly change from an average of 81%, with an average APC (AAPC) of +0.1%. A multivariate Cox regression revealed that residence in Western Australia (p=0.001) or Tasmania (p=0.05), age ≥60 years (p<0.001) and histological classification as mixed (p<0.001) or epithelioid cells (p<0.001) were significantly associated with reduced survival.ConclusionIn conclusion, we found that the incidence of UM peaked in the 1990s. Although treatment for primary UM has improved in the last 30 years, overall survival did not change significantly in the last 30 years.

Number of teeth is associated with all-cause and disease-specific mortality

Background Tooth loss has been shown to correlate with multiple systemic comorbidities. However, the associations between the number of remaining natural teeth (NoT) and all-cause mortality have not been explored extensively. We aimed to investigate whether having fewer NoT imposes a higher risk in mortality. We tested such hypotheses using three groups of NoT (20–28,10–19, and 0–9), edentulism and without functional dentition (NoT < 19). Methods The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the United States (NHANES) (1999–2014) conducted dental examinations and provided linkage of mortality data. NHANES participants aged 20 years and older, without missing information of dental examination, age, gender, race, education, income, body-mass-index, smoking, physical activities, and existing systemic conditions [hypertension, total cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke (N = 33,071; death = 3978), or with femoral neck bone mineral density measurement (N = 13,131; death = 1091)] were analyzed. Cox proportional hazard survival analyses were used to investigate risks of all-cause, heart disease, diabetes and cancer mortality associated with NoT in 3 groups, edentulism, or without functional dentition. Results Participants having fewer number of teeth had higher all-cause and disease-specific mortality. In fully-adjusted models, participants with NoT0-9 had the highest hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality [HR(95%CI) = 1.46(1.25–1.71); p < .001], mortality from heart diseases [HR(95%CI) = 1.92(1.33–2.77); p < .001], from diabetes [HR(95%CI) = 1.67(1.05–2.66); p = 0.03], or cancer-related mortality [HR(95%CI) = 1.80(1.34–2.43); p < .001]. Risks for all-cause mortality were also higher among the edentulous [HR(95%CI) = 1.35(1.17–1.57); p < .001] or those without functional dentition [HR(95%CI) = 1.34(1.17–1.55); p < .001]. Conclusions Having fewer NoT were associated with higher risks for all-cause mortality. More research is needed to explore possible biological implications and validate our findings.

Gender Differences in Prognosis after Primary Resection for Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma

Background: Current evidence regarding gender difference in retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RLPS) is scarce, we sought to investigate whether gender may affect prognosis after primary resection of RLPS.Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify RLPS patients from January 1973 to December 2015. Multivariate cox proportional hazards analysis was adopted to generate adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of survival outcomes.Results: In total, 2108 RLPS patients, including 971 women and 1137 men, were identified, with a median follow-up of 45.0 (17.0-92.0) months. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 50.5% and 31.5% for men, and 60.4% and 42.5% for women. The 5-year and 10-year disease-specific survival rates for men and women were 71.5%, 57.3% and 76.3%, 62.1%, respectively. We found men were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (AHR 1.3, 95%CI 1.0-1.6, P=.017) but not disease-specific mortality (AHR 1.2, 95%CI 0.9-1.6, P=.246). The subgroup analyses revealed that men were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with low-grade tumors (AHR 1.8, 95%CI 1.3-2.5) or patients received non-radical resection (AHR 1.6, 95%CI 1.2-2.1). Besides, in the subgroup of low-grade tumors, men were also associated with an increased risk of disease-specific mortality (AHR 2.0, 95%CI 1.2-3.3).Conclusion: Men may have worse survival after primary resection of RLPS compared with women, especially in patients with low-grade tumors or patients received non-radical resection. Gender-based disparities may deserve more attention in patients with RLPS.