First Experience with the NPseal®: A Novel Mechanically Powered Negative Pressure Dressing Applied to Colorectal Surgery Wounds.

Background: The use of prophylactic closed-incisional negative pressure wound therapy after colorectal procedures has been shown to reduce postoperative wound complications and surgical site infection. We present our experience with a novel, closed-incision, mechanically powered negative pressure (MP-NPD) dressing after colorectal procedures.

Methods: This was a prospective, single-center, single-arm observational study assessing patient reported and wound healing outcomes of colorectal surgical incisions dressed with a MP-NPD.

Pathologic Outcomes of Short-Course and Long-Course Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancers Treated With Total Neoadjuvant Therapy.

Introduction: Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is now the standard of care. Randomized trials suggest the use of short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) and long-course radiotherapy (LCRT) are oncologically equivalent.

Objective: To describe pathologic outcomes after surgical resections of patients receiving SCRT versus LCRT as part of TNT for LARC.

Cadaveric Study of Colon-Lengthening Maneuvers After Sigmoidectomy.

Background: Creation of a tension-free colorectal anastomosis after left colon resection or low anterior resection is a key requirement for technical success. The relative contribution of each of a series of known lengthening maneuvers remains incompletely characterized.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare technical procedures for lengthening of the left colon before rectal anastomosis.

Assessing the Association Between Endoscopic Tattooing and Lymph Node Yield in Rectal Cancer.

Introduction: Preoperative endoscopic tattooing is an effective tool for intraoperative tumor localization in colon cancer. Endoscopic tattooing in rectal cancer may have unidentified benefits on lymph node yield, making it easier for pathologists to identify nodes during histopathologic assessment. There remains concern that tattoo ink may alter anatomical planes, increasing surgical difficulty.

Full-Thickness Laparoendoscopic Excision for Management of Complex Colon Polyps.

Background: Benign colon polyps are increasingly being detected because of improved colonoscopic screening and early detection of masses on the adenoma-to-carcinoma pathway. Full-thickness laparoendoscopic excision is a colon-preserving technique for endoscopically unresectable polyps consisting of endoscopically guided nonanatomic wedge colectomy.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and success of full-thickness laparoendoscopic excision compared to segmental colectomy for complex polyps not amenable to endoscopic resection.

Prevalence of mesothelin expression in peritoneal disease from colorectal and appendiceal cancers.

Background: Mesothelin is a cell surface glycoprotein overexpressed in 28%-58% of colorectal cancer (CRC). We hypothesized that CRC mesothelin expression contributes to peritoneal spread and that it is selectively overexpressed in those with peritoneal metastasis versus distant metastasis.

Methods: This case-controlled study involved mesothelin immunohistochemistry staining of tumor specimens from patients with metastatic CRC/appendiceal cancers between 2017 and 2019.

"Unresectable" polyp management utilizing advanced endoscopic techniques results in high rate of colon preservation.

Purpose: "Endoscopically unresectable" benign polyps identified during screening colonoscopy are often referred for segmental colectomy. Application of advanced endoscopic techniques can increase endoscopic polyp resection, sparing patients the morbidity of colectomy. This retrospective case-control study aimed to evaluate the success of colon preserving resection of "endoscopically unresectable" benign polyps using advanced endoscopic techniques including endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection, endoluminal surgical intervention, full-thickness laparo-endoscopic excision, and combined endo-laparoscopic resection.

Bleeding from Small Intestine: No Man's Land.

Bleedings from small intestine account for 5% of all gastrointestinal bleeding. With advanced endoscopic tools, such as video capsule endoscopy and deep enteroscopy, accurate diagnosis and treatment is possible in majority of cases with low mortality and morbidity. Nonoperative management includes endoscopic hemostasis and angiographic embolization.

Engineering the shape and structure of materials by fractal cut.

In this paper we discuss the transformation of a sheet of material into a wide range of desired shapes and patterns by introducing a set of simple cuts in a multilevel hierarchy with different motifs. Each choice of hierarchical cut motif and cut level allows the material to expand into a unique structure with a unique set of properties. We can reverse-engineer the desired expanded geometries to find the requisite cut pattern to produce it without changing the physical properties of the initial material.

The intestinal epithelial cell differentiation marker intestinal alkaline phosphatase (ALPi) is selectively induced by histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) in colon cancer cells in a Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5)-dependent manner.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) sodium butyrate promotes differentiation of colon cancer cells as evidenced by induced expression and enzyme activity of the differentiation marker intestinal alkaline phosphatase (ALPi). Screening of a panel of 33 colon cancer cell lines identified cell lines sensitive (42%) and resistant (58%) to butyrate induction of ALP activity. This differential sensitivity was similarly evident following treatment with the structurally distinct HDACi, MS-275.

Intestinal epithelial-specific PTEN inactivation results in tumor formation.

Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is a negative regulator of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling that is frequently inactivated in colorectal cancer through mutation, loss of heterozygosity, or epigenetic mechanisms. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of intestinal-specific PTEN inactivation on intestinal epithelial homeostasis and tumorigenesis. PTEN was deleted specifically in the intestinal epithelium, by crossing PTEN(Lox/Lox) mice with villin(Cre) mice.

Ex vivo bone morphogenetic protein-2 gene delivery using gingival fibroblasts promotes bone regeneration in rats.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate bone regeneration following ex vivo bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) gene delivery using human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) in rat calvarial defects.

Materials And Methods: An 8 mm craniotomy defect was created in Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals were divided into four groups: (1) non-grafted group, the defect was left empty; (2) collagen matrix group, the defect was filled with collagen matrix only; (3) HGF group, the defect was filled with non-transduced HGFs on collagen matrix; (4) BMP-2/HGF group, the defect was filled with BMP-2 gene-transduced HGFs on collagen matrix.

An A13 repeat within the 3'-untranslated region of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is frequently mutated in microsatellite instability colon cancers and is associated with increased EGFR expression.

Colorectal cancers (CRC) with microsatellite instability (MSI) have clinical, pathologic, genetic, and epigenetic features distinct from microsatellite-stable CRC. Examination of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mRNA and protein expression levels in a panel of colon cancer cell lines identified strong expression of EGFR in multiple cell lines with MSI. Although no relationship between EGFR overexpression and the length of a CA dinucleotide repeat in intron 1 was observed, a variant A13/A14 repeat sequence within the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the EGFR gene was identified, which was mutated by either mononucleotide or dinucleotide adenosine deletions in 64% of MSI cell lines and 69% of MSI colon tumors.

G3139, an anti-Bcl-2 antisense oligomer that binds heparin-binding growth factors and collagen I, alters in vitro endothelial cell growth and tubular morphogenesis.

Purpose: We examined the effects of G3139 on the interaction of heparin-binding proteins [e.g., fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and collagen I] with endothelial cells.

Angiogenesis alteration by defibrotide: implications for its mechanism of action in severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease.

Defibrotide (DF) is a mixture of porcine-derived single-stranded phosphodiester oligonucleotides (9-80-mer; average, 50-mer) that has been successfully used to treat severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease (sVOD) with multiorgan failure (MOF) in patients who have received cytotoxic chemotherapy in preparation for bone marrow transplantation. However, its mechanism of action is unknown. Herein, we show that DF and phosphodiester oligonucleotides can bind to heparin-binding proteins (eg, basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF] but not vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] 165) with low nanomolar affinity.

PIK3CA mutation/PTEN expression status predicts response of colon cancer cells to the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor cetuximab.

Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Although approved for use in EGFR-overexpressing advanced colorectal cancer, recent studies have shown a lack of association between EGFR overexpression and cetuximab response, requiring the identification of novel biomarkers predictive of response to this agent. To do so, 22 colon cancer cell lines were screened for cetuximab response in vitro and sensitive and resistant lines were identified.

A del T poly T (8) mutation in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the CDK2-AP1 gene is functionally significant causing decreased mRNA stability resulting in decreased CDK2-AP1 expression in human microsatellite unstable (MSI) colorectal cancer (CRC).

Background: We have previously published results indicating that decreased expression of CDK2-AP1 in MSI human colorectal cancer is associated with deletion mutations in the poly (T) 8 repeat sequence within the 3'-UTR of the CDK2-AP1 gene. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the del T mutation results in decreased CDK2-AP1 expression by causing reduced mRNA stability.

Methods: We introduced wild-type and mutant 3'-UTR sequences fused to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene separately into human CRC cell lines and quantified the expression of the GFP gene.