Introduction: Preoperative gastric cancer (GC) staging is the most reliable prognostic factor that affects therapeutic strategies. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and radial endoscopic ultrasound (R-EUS) scans are the most commonly used staging tools for GC. The accuracy of linear EUS (L-EUS) in this setting is still controversial. The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to evaluate the accuracy of L-EUS and CECT in preoperative GC staging, with regards to depth of tumor invasion (T staging) and nodal involvement (N staging). Materials and methods: 191 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for GC were retrospectively enrolled. Preoperative staging had been performed using both L-EUS and CECT, and the results were compared to postoperative staging by histopathologic analysis of surgical specimens. Results: L-EUS diagnostic accuracy for depth of invasion of the GC was 100%, 60%, 74%, and 80% for T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. CECT accuracy for T staging was 78%, 55%, 45%, and 10% for T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. L-EUS diagnostic accuracy for N staging of GC was 85%, significantly higher than CECT accuracy (61%). Conclusions: Our data suggest that L-EUS has a higher accuracy than CECT in preoperative T and N staging of GC.

Sorafenib is currently the gold standard therapy for palliative treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with compensated liver disease. There are few cases reported in literature describing patients with HCC achieving a complete remission (CR) due to Sorafenib therapy. We report the case of a 62-year old patient who obtained CR despite single, long drug discontinuation and kept it without any maintenance therapy. Furthermore, this is the first case describing the onset of a likely IgG4-related retroperitoneal fibrosis and cholangitis during Sorafenib administration. Further studies are required to define the predictors of a good response to Sorafenib and to codify a therapeutic maintenance regimen for patients who achieve CR.