Surgery (St Vincent's) - Research Publications

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    Molecular and genomic characterisation of a panel of human anal cancer cell lines
    Guerra, GR ; Kong, JC ; Millen, RM ; Read, M ; Liu, DS ; Roth, S ; Sampurno, S ; Sia, J ; Bernardi, M-P ; Chittleborough, TJ ; Behrenbruch, CC ; Teh, J ; Xu, H ; Haynes, NM ; Yu, J ; Lupat, R ; Hawkes, D ; Di Costanzo, N ; Tothill, RW ; Mitchell, C ; Ngan, SY ; Heriot, AG ; Ramsay, RG ; Phillips, WA (SPRINGERNATURE, 2021-10-18)
    Anal cancer is a rare disease that has doubled in incidence over the last four decades. Current treatment and survival of patients with this disease has not changed substantially over this period of time, due, in part, to a paucity of preclinical models to assess new therapeutic options. To address this hiatus, we set-out to establish, validate and characterise a panel of human anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) cell lines by employing an explant technique using fresh human ASCC tumour tissue. The panel of five human ASCC cell lines were validated to confirm their origin, squamous features and tumourigenicity, followed by molecular and genomic (whole-exome sequencing) characterisation. This panel recapitulates the genetic and molecular characteristics previously described in ASCC including phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) mutations in three of the human papillomavirus (HPV) positive lines and TP53 mutations in the HPV negative line. The cell lines demonstrate the ability to form tumouroids and retain their tumourigenic potential upon xenotransplantation, with varied inducible expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC class I) and Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). We observed differential responses to standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a PI3K specific molecular targeted agent in vitro, which correlated with the clinical response of the patient tumours from which they were derived. We anticipate this novel panel of human ASCC cell lines will form a valuable resource for future studies into the biology and therapeutics of this rare disease.
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    Colonoscopic surveillance: quality, guidelines and effectiveness
    Chittleborough, TJ ; Kong, JC ; Guerra, GR ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, AG (WILEY, 2018-01)
    Colonoscopic surveillance in patients with a personal or family history of colorectal carcinoma or colonic polyps represents a significant workload for endoscopy services. Effective colonoscopic surveillance relies on quality endoscopic examination and appropriate surveillance interval. This review will discuss quality in colonoscopy and review guidelines for surveillance.
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    Predicting pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer: a systematic review
    Ryan, JE ; Warrier, SK ; Lynch, AC ; Ramsay, RG ; Phillips, WA ; Heriot, AG (WILEY, 2016-03)
    AIM: Approximately 20% of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) while the remainder derive the benefit of improved local control and downstaging and a small proportion show a minimal response. The ability to predict which patients will benefit would allow for improved patient stratification directing therapy to those who are likely to achieve a good response, thereby avoiding ineffective treatment in those unlikely to benefit. METHOD: A systematic review of the English language literature was conducted to identify pathological factors, imaging modalities and molecular factors that predict pCR following chemoradiotherapy. PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane Database searches were conducted with the following keywords and MeSH search terms: 'rectal neoplasm', 'response', 'neoadjuvant', 'preoperative chemoradiation', 'tumor response'. After review of title and abstracts, 85 articles addressing the prediction of pCR were selected. RESULTS: Clear methods to predict pCR before chemoradiotherapy have not been defined. Clinical and radiological features of the primary cancer have limited ability to predict response. Molecular profiling holds the greatest potential to predict pCR but adoption of this technology will require greater concordance between cohorts for the biomarkers currently under investigation. CONCLUSION: At present no robust markers of the prediction of pCR have been identified and the topic remains an area for future research. This review critically evaluates existing literature providing an overview of the methods currently available to predict pCR to nCRT for locally advanced rectal cancer. The review also provides a comprehensive comparison of the accuracy of each modality.
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    Organoids: the new kid in cancer research
    Narasimhan, V ; Das, A ; Toan, P ; Wilson, K ; Kong, J ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, A (WILEY, 2019-10)
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    Precision medicine in colorectal surgery: coming to a hospital near you
    Wilson, K ; Narasimhan, V ; Pham, T ; Das, A ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, A (WILEY, 2019-09)
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    Colorectal peritoneal metastases: still a nihilistic outlook?
    Narasimhan, V ; Pham, T ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, A ; Warrier, S (WILEY, 2019-09)
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    Outcomes from cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for appendiceal epithelial neoplasms
    Narasimhan, V ; Pham, T ; Warrier, S ; Lynch, AC ; Michael, M ; Tie, J ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, A (WILEY, 2019-09-01)
    Background Appendiceal epithelial neoplasms are rare cancers. Management of peritoneal disease from appendiceal neoplasms has historically been with debulking surgery. In recent decades, the advent of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has become the standard of care. Here, we report our single institution 10‐year experience with CRS and HIPEC for appendiceal neoplasms. Methods This is a retrospective review from 1 January 2008 to 1 June 2017 of all patients undergoing CRS and HIPEC for appendiceal neoplasms. Institutional ethics approval was granted for this project. Results One hundred and seventy‐two patients underwent 208 CRSs during this time. Overall, 83.72% of patients had one CRS and HIPEC procedure. Pseudomyxoma peritonei from a perforated appendiceal mucinous neoplasm accounted for 67.9% of cases. The median peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) was 14, with complete cytoreduction achieved in 74.2% of patients. Fifty‐four percent of patients had at least one complication, with one (0.5%) peri‐operative mortality in our cohort. For the entire cohort, the median overall survival was 104 months and a 5‐year survival of 75%. In those having a complete cytoreduction, 5‐year survival was 90%, with a median disease free interval of 63 months. PCI and completeness of cytoreduction were independent predictors of overall survival. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that CRS and HIPEC for appendiceal neoplasms are safe and effective. Despite carrying some morbidity, it offers patients an excellent disease free and overall survival.
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    Wither surgical oncology?
    Pham, TD ; Narasimhan, V ; Guerra, G ; Kong, J ; Desai, J ; Ramsay, R ; Heriot, A (WILEY, 2019-01)
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    Prognostic value of tumour regression grade in locally advanced rectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    Kong, JC ; Guerra, GR ; Warrier, SK ; Lynch, AC ; Michael, M ; Ngan, SY ; Phillips, W ; Ramsay, G ; Heriot, AG (WILEY, 2018-07)
    AIM: The current standard of care for locally advanced rectal cancer involves neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by total mesorectal excision. There is a spectrum of response to neoadjuvant therapy; however, the prognostic value of tumour regression grade (TRG) in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival (OS) is inconsistent in the literature. METHOD: This study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic search was undertaken using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were Stage II and III locally advanced rectal cancer treated with long-course CRT followed by radical surgery. The aim of the meta-analysis was to assess the prognostic implication of each TRG for rectal cancer following neoadjuvant CRT. Long-term prognosis was assessed. The main outcome measures were DFS and OS. A random effects model was performed to pool the hazard ratio (HR) from all included studies. RESULTS: There were 4875 patients from 17 studies, with 775 (15.9%) attaining a pathological complete response (pCR) and 719 (29.9%) with no response. A significant association with OS was identified from a pooled-estimated HR for pCR (HR = 0.47, P = 0.002) and nonresponding tumours (HR = 2.97; P < 0.001). Previously known tumour characteristics, such as ypN, lymphovascular invasion and perineural invasion, were also significantly associated with DFS and OS, with estimated pooled HRs of 2.2, 1.4 and 2.3, respectively. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the degree of TRG was of prognostic value in predicting long-term outcomes. The current challenge is the development of a high-validity tests to predict pCR.
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    Patient derived organoid model of penile squamous cell carcinoma
    Teh, J ; Guerra, G ; Heriot, A ; Ramsay, R ; Lawrentschuk, N (Elsevier BV, 2020-07)