Short course radiotherapy and delayed surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer in frail patients: is it a valid option?

Objective: The endpoint of the present study was to evaluate the outcomes of short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) and SCRT with delayed surgery (SCRT-DS) on a selected subgroup of frail patients with locally advanced middle/low rectal adenocarcinoma.

Methods: From January 2008 to December 2018, a total of 128 frail patients with locally advanced middle-low rectal adenocarcinoma underwent SCRT and subsequent restaging for eventual delayed surgery. Rates of complete pathological response, down-staging, disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed.

A rare case of metachronous neuroendocrine tumor after a colorectal adenocarcinoma: qualitative critical review of synchronous and metachronous gastrointestinal NET.

Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor (NET) associated with a metachronous intestinal adenocarcinoma is rare. We report the case of a 71-year-old man with an ileal NET. Patient has previously undergone a left colectomy for sigmoid cancer.

Lymph node retrieval and examination during the implementation of extended lymph node dissection for gastric cancer in a non-specialized western institution.

The optimal degree of lymph node dissection for gastric cancer is still matter of debate. Particularly, there are serious doubts about the reproducibility of extended lymph node dissection in western surgical units, and no studies to date have investigated factors influencing lymph node retrieval and examination during the learning curve. Univariate and multivariate retrospective analysis of 21 variables were carried out on a prospective series of 313 consecutive resections for gastric cancer performed by ten different surgeons, with lymph node retrieval and analysis performed by ten different pathologists.