Resection margin status at the portomesenteric axis may not determine oncologic outcome after pancreaticoduodenectomy for lymph node-positive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: Lymph node and resection margin status are associated with oncologic outcomes after pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. However, surgical radicality at the portomesenteric axis in case of suspected infiltration remains controversial.

Methods: Clinicopathological data of patients who underwent a partial or total pancreaticoduodenectomy for PDAC between 2012 to 2019 in 2 major hepato-pancreato-biliary centers in Germany and Switzerland were assessed.

Spatially restricted tumour-associated and host-associated immune drivers correlate with the recurrence sites of pancreatic cancer.

Objective: Most patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) will experience recurrence after resection. Here, we investigate spatially organised immune determinants of PDAC recurrence.

Design: PDACs (n=284; discovery cohort) were classified according to recurrence site as liver (n=93/33%), lung (n=49/17%), local (n=31/11%), peritoneal (n=38/13%) and no-recurrence (n=73/26%).

High tumor mutational burden (TMB) identifies a microsatellite stable pancreatic cancer subset with prolonged survival and strong anti-tumor immunity.

Aim: Tumor mutational burden (TMB: somatic mutations per megabase, mut/Mb) predicts the efficacy of immunotherapy. Here, we link TMB levels with the activation of immune pathways and intratumoral immune responses in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to explore immunoarchitectural patterns associated with high TMB.

Methods: We assessed TMB in 161 resected, microsatellite stable (MSS) PDACs, including 41 long-term survivors (LTS).

MCL1 Is Required for Maintenance of Intestinal Homeostasis and Prevention of Carcinogenesis in Mice.

Background & Aims: Intestinal epithelial homeostasis depends on a tightly regulated balance between intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) death and proliferation. While the disruption of several IEC death regulating factors result in intestinal inflammation, the loss of the anti-apoptotic BCL2 family members BCL2 and BCL2L1 has no effect on intestinal homeostasis in mice. We investigated the functions of the antiapoptotic protein MCL1, another member of the BCL2 family, in intestinal homeostasis in mice.

Preoperative Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor imaging reduces surgical trauma and pancreatic tissue loss in insulinoma patients: a report of three cases.

Background: Insulinomas are rare tumors, in the majority of cases best treated by surgical resection. Preoperative localization of insulinoma is challenging. The more precise the preoperative localization the less invasive and safer is the resection.

Efficient and safe small-bowel adhesiolysis.

Small-intestine adhesiolysis can be very time consuming and may be associated with bowel wall damage. The risk for injuries to the small or large bowel resulting in increased morbidity and costs is considerable. Both efficient and gentle dissection of adhesions is important in order to avoid intraoperative perforation or, worse, postoperative intestinal leaks.

How do we apply video-assisted retroperitoneal necrosectomy with minimal access?

Background: The conservative treatment of acute necrotizing pancreatitis has greatly improved due to broad antibiotic treatment and improved organ support in intensive care units. Nevertheless, infected necrosis or persistent multi-organ dysfunction are predictors of poor outcome. In these patients, there is still a need to perform necrosectomy.

TRP expression pattern and the functional importance of TRPC3 in primary human T-cells.

TRP proteins form ion channels which are activated following receptor stimulation. In T-cell lines, expression data of TRP proteins have been published. However, almost no data about TRP expression is available in primary human T-cells.

Efficiency of T-cell costimulation by CD80 and CD86 cross-linking correlates with calcium entry.

Costimulation is a fundamental principle of T-cell activation. In addition to T-cell receptor engagement, the interaction between CD80 and/or CD86 with CD28 and/or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) receptors is required to regulate T-cell activation and tolerance. While the importance of costimulation is clearly established, the exact molecular mechanism is unknown.

Calcium dependence of T cell proliferation following focal stimulation.

Clonal T cell expansion through proliferation is a central process of the adaptive immune response. Apoptosis of activated T cells is required to avoid chronic inflammation. T cell proliferation and apoptosis are often analyzed with stimuli that do not induce formation of a functional immunological synapse.

T cell activation requires mitochondrial translocation to the immunological synapse.

T helper (Th) cell activation is required for the adaptive immune response. Formation of the immunological synapse (IS) between Th cells and antigen-presenting cells is essential for Th cell activation. IS formation induces the polarization and redistribution of many signaling molecules; however, very little is known about organelle redistribution during IS formation in Th cells.