Effects of oral contrast agent on the viscoelastic properties of the terminal ileum investigated using magnetic resonance elastography.

Background: While standard clinical magnetic resonance (MR) enterography can detect inflammatory bowel disease, it is of limited value in deciding between medical versus surgical treatment. Alternatively, intestinal MR elastography has the potential to contribute additional information to therapeutic decision-making; however, the influence of bowel distension by oral contrast agent on viscoelastic tissue properties remains elusive. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the influence of oral contrast agent-induced bowel distension on the viscoelastic properties of the terminal ileum in healthy volunteers.

Stepwise Analysis of Resection Margin Impact on Survival and Distant Metastasis in Pancreatic Head Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

The prognostic role of tumor cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) of the pancreatic head with direct microscopic infiltration (DMI) or in close proximity (≤1 mm) to the resection margin (RM) remains unclear. This single-center, retrospective study included specimens from 75 patients who underwent oncological resection of pancreatic head PDAC between February 2013 and July 2020. Two pathologists independently re-measured the distance between tumors and the multiple RMs.

Mucosal microbiome of surgically treated terminal ileal Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with changes in the microbiome. The role of these changes and their precise association with disease course and activity remain ambiguous. In this prospective single-center study, the mucosal microbiome of surgical CD and non-CD patients was compared at the time of surgery.

Feasibility of magnetic resonance elastography of mesenteric adipose tissue in Crohn's disease.

Background: Although there is growing evidence that functional involvement and structural changes of mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT) influence the course of Crohn's disease (CD), its viscoelastic properties remain elusive. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the viscoelastic properties of MAT in CD using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), providing reference values for CD diagnosis.

Methods: In this prospective proof-of-concept study, 31 subjects (CD: n=11; healthy controls: n=20) were consecutively enrolled in a specialized care center for inflammatory bowel diseases (tertiary/quaternary care).

cCPE Fusion Proteins as Molecular Probes to Detect Claudins and Tight Junction Dysregulation in Gastrointestinal Cell Lines, Tissue Explants and Patient-Derived Organoids.

Claudins regulate paracellular permeability, contribute to epithelial polarization and are dysregulated during inflammation and carcinogenesis. Variants of the claudin-binding domain of enterotoxin (cCPE) are highly sensitive protein ligands for generic detection of a broad spectrum of claudins. Here, we investigated the preferential binding of YFP- or GST-cCPE fusion proteins to non-junctional claudin molecules.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the timing of surgical triage, tumor stage, and therapy of patients with colon carcinoma.

Purpose: With the onset of the COVID pandemic in Germany in March 2020, far-reaching restrictions were imposed that limited medical access for patients. Screening examinations such as colonoscopies were greatly reduced in number. As rapid surgical triage after diagnosis is prognostic, our hypothesis was that pandemic-related delays would increase the proportion of advanced colon cancers with an overall sicker patient population.

magnetic resonance elastography of the small bowel in Crohn's disease.

Background: Conventional magnetic resonance enterography is limited in differentiating active inflammation and fibrosis in lesions of Crohn's disease (CD), thus providing a restricted basis for therapeutic decision making. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is an emerging imaging tool that differentiates soft tissues on the basis of their viscoelastic properties. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of MRE in assessing the viscoelastic properties of small bowel samples and quantifying differences in viscoelastic properties between healthy ileum and ileum affected by CD.

The Immune Checkpoint Landscape in Tumor Cells of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) has shown promising potential in the treatment of multiple solid tumors. However, the role of ICT in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains limited. Patterns of immune checkpoints (ICs) in PDAC represent the basis for establishing a potent ICT.

Prognostic value of primary tumor sidedness in patients with non-metastatic IBD related CRC - Is it the exception to the rule?

Background: Although primary tumor sidedness (PTS) has a known prognostic role in sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC), its role in Inflammatory Bowel Disease related CRC (IBD-CRC) is largely unknown. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic role of PTS in patients with IBD-CRC.

Methods: All eligible patients with surgically treated, non-metastatic IBD-CRC were retrospectively identified from institutional databases at ten European and Asian academic centers.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Enterography for the Evaluation of Active and Fibrotic Inflammation in Crohn's Disease.

Background: Despite the success of standard magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in detecting Crohn's disease (CD), characterization of strictures and, thus, therapy guidance is still limited. The aim of the study was to determine diagnostic accuracy of MRE in detecting or ruling out active inflammation and identifying fibrotic lesions in patients with terminal ileal CD with histopathology as reference.

Methods: Sixty-seven consecutive patients (median age 32 years, range 19-79 years) with terminal ileal CD were retrospectively enrolled between January 2015 and October 2020.

Rethinking the TNM Classification Regarding Direct Lymph Node Invasion in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Mechanisms of lymph node invasion seem to play a prognostic role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) after resection. However, the 8th edition of the TNM classification of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) does not consider this. The aim of this study was to analyse the prognostic role of different mechanisms of lymph node invasion on PDAC.

Peptide Signatures for Prognostic Markers of Pancreatic Cancer by MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging.

Despite the overall poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer there is heterogeneity in clinical courses of tumors not assessed by conventional risk stratification. This yields the need of additional markers for proper assessment of prognosis and multimodal clinical management. We provide a proof of concept study evaluating the feasibility of Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to identify specific peptide signatures linked to prognostic parameters of pancreatic cancer.

Survival rates and prognostic factors in right- and left-sided colon cancer stage I-IV: an unselected retrospective single-center trial.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer revealed over the last decades a remarkable shift with an increasing proportion of a right- compared to a left-sided tumor location. In the current study, we aimed to disclose clinicopathological differences between right- and left-sided colon cancer (rCC and lCC) with respect to mortality and outcome predictors.

Methods: In total, 417 patients with colon cancer stage I-IV were analyzed in the present retrospective single-center study.

Feasibility of Intestinal MR Elastography in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: While MR enterography allows detection of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the findings continue to be of limited use in guiding treatment-medication vs. surgery.

Purpose: To test the feasibility of MR elastography of the gut in healthy volunteers and IBD patients.

Accuracy of various criteria for lymph node staging in ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Lymph node staging of ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head (PDAC) by cross-sectional imaging is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of expanded criteria in nodal staging in PDAC patients.

Methods: Sixty-six patients with histologically confirmed PDAC that underwent primary surgery were included in this retrospective IRB-approved study.

Accuracy of Various Lymph Node Staging Criteria in Rectal Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Introduction: The accuracy of pretherapeutic staging of lymph nodes (LN) in rectal cancer by MR imaging (MRI) is still limited. The aim of the study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of different morphological criteria in nodal staging.

Material And Methods: LN were analyzed by MRI in 60 patients with rectal cancer and primary surgery.