Research and surgical residency: moving beyond one-and-done projects and motivating for scholarly excellence.

Among surgical residents, research is often perceived as a check-mark exercise. Focus then turns to studying for exams and honing skills for independent practice. While some residents are passionate about research and enroll in other formalized training, pragmatists argue that not every surgeon should engage in research at this level.

Gastric Signet-Ring-Cell Adenocarcinoma with Delayed Retroperitoneal Metastasis and Fibrosis.

Gastric signet-ring-cell adenocarcinoma (SRCC) is a rare disease entity, often characterized by early age of the onset and sometimes attributable to heritable genetic mutations. Overall prognosis is usually poor due to diagnosis at late stages. There are a handful of case reports that describe patient presentation with retroperitoneal fibrosis secondary to malignancy from a concurrent gastric SRCC found on the workup.

Gene Mutation Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Outcomes: Analysis of a Large Cohort, Systematic Review of Endoscopic Surveillance, and Secondary Cancer Risk Postulation.

Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) is a rare signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma (SRCC) linked to (E-cadherin) inactivating germline mutations, and increasingly other gene mutations. Female mutation carriers have additional risk of lobular breast cancer. Risk management includes prophylactic total gastrectomy (PTG).

Epidemiology of Mucinous Adenocarcinomas.

Mucinous (colloid) adenocarcinomas (MAs) are a rare histological subtype of adenocarcinomas where extracellular mucin comprises more than 50% of the tumor. Most literature on MAs relate to cancers from colorectal and breast sites; however, the literature lacks a standardized overview of the MA disease entity. Particularly in colorectal cancer, some MAs may have signet ring cells floating within the mucin, which may represent a highly metastatic phenotype.

Epidemiology of Signet Ring Cell Adenocarcinomas.

Signet ring cell adenocarcinomas (SRCCs) are a rare histological subtype of adenocarcinomas with a poor prognosis, typically due to advanced disease at diagnosis. A signet ring cell, mimicking its moniker, contains abundant intracytoplasmic mucin that pushes the nucleus to the periphery. In these cancers, this cell feature comprises more than 50% of the tumor.