Anxiety and depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: comparisons with chronic liver disease patients and the general population.

Background: Studies on anxiety and depression in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) yielded inconsistent results. We compared anxiety and depression of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) controlled for sociodemographic and medical variables with age- and sex-matched controls.

Methods: In all, 422 IBD patients (50% females, 314 CD, 108 UC) of different settings were compared with 140 age- and sex-matched patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD) of a tertiary care center and with 422 age- and sex-matched persons of a representative sample of the general German population (GP).

Anxiety and depression in adult patients with celiac disease on a gluten-free diet.

Aim: To compare anxiety and depression levels in adult patients with celiac disease (CD) on a gluten-free diet (GFD) with controls.

Methods: The levels of anxiety, depression and of a probable anxiety or depressive disorder were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in 441 adult patients with CD recruited by the German Celiac Society, in 235 age- and sex-matched patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in remission or with slight disease activity, and in 441 adult persons of a representative German general population sample (GP). Potential demographic (age, sex, social class, family status) and disease-related (latency to diagnosis, duration of GFD, compliance with GFD, thyroid disease) predictors of anxiety and depression in CD were tested for by regression analyses.

Prognostic implications of BAX protein expression and microsatellite instability in all non-metastatic stages of primary colon cancer treated by surgery alone.

Purpose: This study examined whether the apoptosis-related protein, BAX, or the microsatellite-instability phenotype provide prognostic information in patients with resected colon cancer.

Methods: A total of 371 stage I-III patients that previously underwent radical surgery were included (mean follow-up 51.8 months).

A phase II trial of weekly irinotecan in cisplatin-refractory esophageal cancer.

Background: This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of weekly single-agent irinotecan in patients with metastatic disease relapsing after cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Fourteen patients were enrolled. A total number of 29 cycles (one cycle consisted of CPT-11 100 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, qd 28) were applied.

Serum soluble TNF receptor I and II levels correlate with disease activity in IBD patients.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) is a proinflammatory cytokine and an important mediator in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The effects of TNFalpha are mediated by 2 specific receptors, a 55-kDa protein (TNF-RI) and a 75-kDa receptor (TNF-RII), which are usually bound to the cell surface. Soluble TNF receptors I and II (sTNF-RI + II) are released by proteolytic cleavage of the extracellular domains of these receptors.

[Validation of the German version of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (Competence Network IBD, IBDQ-D)].

The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) is the standard disease-specific instrument for assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). A German translation has not been validated. 415 outpatient IBD-patients (Crohn's Disease n = 306, Ulcerative Colitis n = 109) completed the German version of the IBDQ (Competence network IBD, IBDQ-D), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale German Version (HADS-D) and the Questions on Life Satisfaction FLZ.

Chemoradiation with and without surgery in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Purpose: Combined chemoradiotherapy with and without surgery are widely accepted alternatives for the curative treatment of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. The value of adding surgery to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is unknown.

Patients And Methods: Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus were randomly allocated to either induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy (40 Gy) followed by surgery (arm A), or the same induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy (at least 65 Gy) without surgery (arm B).

Determinants of life satisfaction in inflammatory bowel disease.

Unlabelled: In patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), medical, sociodemographic, and psychologic "risk and protective" factors for general and health-related life satisfaction (GLS and HRLS, respectively)--defined as preference-based judgments of general and health-related quality of life--have not been studied to date.

Methods: A total of 429 of 868 (49%) outpatients (CD, n = 317; UC, n = 112) attending 3 tertiary care centers and members of the German Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis Foundation completed the sociodemographic and medical questionnaires of the German "Competence Network Inflammatory Bowel Diseases," the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the "Questions on Life Satisfaction(Modules)". Disease activity was assessed by the German Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity Index.

Low BAX protein expression correlates with disease recurrence in preoperatively irradiated rectal carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the prognostic impact of BAX in correlation to its upstream effector p53 as well as clinicopathologic variables and patient outcome in preoperatively irradiated rectal carcinoma.

Methods And Materials: We investigated 92 rectal carcinoma patients treated by preoperative radiotherapy to a total dose of 30 Gy followed by surgery. Median follow-up was 71 months.

Hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes (p16INK4A, p14ARF and APC) in adenocarcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Aberrant promoter methylation is an important mechanism for gene silencing. In the present study, 50 Barrett's esophagus-associated esophageal adenocarcinomas (ADC), 50 cardiac ADC and 50 gastric ADC were investigated by means of methylation-specific real-time PCR for hypermethylation in the tumor suppressor genes APC, p16(INk4A) and p14(ARF). Additionally, expression of p16(INK4A) protein in the carcinomas was assessed using immunohistochemistry.

Serum and bile markers for cholangiocarcinoma.

Surgery remains the only curative treatment option for cholangiocarcinoma (CC). Currently, both early identification of CC in affected individuals at high risk and accurate diagnosis of unexplained biliary strictures are problematic. However, growing insights into biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying biliary carcinogenesis have suggested serum and bile markers for the diagnosis of CC.

C-myc gene amplification in different stages of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: prognostic value in relation to treatment modality.

Background: The proto-oncogene c-myc is known to be involved in the regulation of proliferation, apoptosis and cell differentiation.

Materials And Methods: Amplification of c-myc was determined by means of differential PCR in 77 surgically treated stage I or II oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) as well as in 43 locally advanced SCC (cT3-4 cN0-1 cM0) treated by radiochemotherapy and facultatively by surgery. The findings were correlated to overall survival and to response to radiochemotherapy.

Promoter methylation of INK4a/ARF as detected in bile-significance for the differential diagnosis in biliary disease.

Purpose: There is a need to enhance endobiliary cytotechniques by molecular marker lesions. This is of special significance for patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a disease predisposing for the development of cholangiocarcinoma. The INK4a/ADP ribosylation factor (ARF) locus encodes two tumor suppressor genes: p16INK4a and p14ARF.

Association of NOD2 (CARD 15) genotype with clinical course of Crohn's disease: a cohort study.

Background: Crohn's disease is a heterogeneous disorder for which NOD2 (CARD 15) has been identified as a susceptibility gene. We investigate the relation between NOD2 genotype and phenotypic characteristics of patients with Crohn's disease.

Methods: Hypotheses about the relation between NOD2 genotype and Crohn's disease phenotype were generated retrospectively from a group of 446 German patients with this disorder.