A recently published method may offer a promising alternative to increase the (neo) rectal compliance follow­ing low resection. A Swiss group described a new pouch cre­ated in an experimental pig model designed by performing a mere longitudinal colotomy of the taenia libera coli followed by a transverse closure. Although the pouch volume of this new [...]

Continue reading " Preservation and restoration of sphincter function in patients with rectal cancer: Part 3 "

By using this technique, resection of the rectum may be extended into the anal canal by removing the internal sphincter completely or partially (‘intersphincteric resec­tion’), thus offering the opportunity for sphincter-preserving resections of tumours below 5 cm from the dentate line. In general, ultralow resection of rectal cancer with coloanal anastomosis is associated with an [...]

Continue reading " Preservation and restoration of sphincter function in patients with rectal cancer: Part 2 "

Surgery is the most important form of treatment for rectal cancer by radical local tumour control. Despite that recurrence-free survival is still the major goal of surgical therapy, it is also widely accepted that the surgeon should re­lieve distressing symptoms associated with the procedure. A major concern of patients with colorectal cancer is the possibility [...]

Continue reading " Preservation and restoration of sphincter function in patients with rectal cancer "

The precursor lesions of invasive adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder have recently been recognized as those of in­testinal metaplasia, dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. The adenoma-carcinoma sequence occurs only in a minority of cases. Recognition of these lesions is, therefore, important when removing gallbladders for cholecystitis or cholelithia­sis. Some gallbladder adenocarcinomas are immunoreactive for alpha-fetoprotein. No [...]

Continue reading " Gallbladder carcinomas: DISCUSSION "

The staining to alpha-fetoprotein and Bcl-2 antibodies re­mained consistently negative to very weak in all parts of the tumour in all cases. Moderate to strong P53 staining was ob­served in 17 (89%) of the in situ component and 24 (86%) of the invasive components (Table 2). CEA staining was ob­served in both the in situ [...]

Continue reading " Gallbladder carcinomas: RESULTS "

Gallbladder carcinomas: An immunoprognostic evaluation of P53, Bcl-2, CEA and alpha-fetoprotein Cancer of the gallbladder is the fifth most common can­cer of the digestive tract. The mean five-year survival rate has remained at 1% despite surgical intervention; this is mainly attributed to its late presentation, with extensive lo­cal spread and concomitant invasion of the liver. [...]

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Will genetics soon guide drug treatment choices for the treatment of prostate cancer? Avi Retter, MD, of the National Cancer Institute’s Medical Oncology Clinical Research Unit in Bethesda, Maryland, has been examining the ways in which an individual’s genetically determined metabolic predispositions predict response to drug therapies. Specifically, he and his colleagues are studying the [...]

Continue reading " American Urological Association: Can Genetics Guide Drug Choice in Prostate Cancer? Not Yet "