Dose-Finding Study of a CEA-Targeting Agent, SGM-101, for Intraoperative Fluorescence Imaging of Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Carcinoembryonic antigen is overexpressed in colorectal cancer (CRC), making it an optimal target for fluorescence imaging. A phase I/II study was designed to determine the optimal imaging dose of SGM-101 for intraoperative fluorescence imaging of primary and recurrent CRC.

Methods: Patients were included and received a single dose of SGM-101 at least 24 h before surgery.

Allogeneic Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Promote Healing of Refractory Perianal Fistulas in Patients With Crohn's Disease.

Background & Aims: Patients with perianal fistulizing Crohn's disease have a poor prognosis because these lesions do not heal well. We evaluated the effects of local administration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to these patients from healthy donors in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with refractory perianal fistulizing Crohn's disease were randomly assigned to groups given injections of 1 × 10(7) (n = 5, group 1), 3 × 10(7) (n = 5, group 2), or 9 × 10(7) (n = 5, group 3) MSCs, or placebo (solution with no cells, n = 6), into the wall of curettaged fistula, around the trimmed and closed internal opening.

Improving the outcome of fistulising Crohn's disease.

Fistulas are a frequent manifestation of Crohn's disease (CD) and can result in considerable morbidity. Approximately 35% of all patients with CD will experience one fistula episode during their disease course of which 54% is perianal. The major symptoms of patients with perianal fistulas are constant anal pain, the formation of painful swellings around the anus and continuous discharge of pus and/or blood from the external fistula opening.

Impact of the extent of surgery and postoperative chemoradiotherapy on recurrence patterns in gastric cancer.

Purpose: The Intergroup 0116 trial has demonstrated that postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves survival in gastric cancer. We retrospectively compared survival and recurrence patterns in two phase I/II studies evaluating more intensified postoperative CRT with those from the Dutch Gastric Cancer Group Trial (DGCT) that randomly assigned patients between D1 and D2 lymphadenectomy.

Patients And Methods: Survival and recurrence patterns of 91 patients with adenocarcinoma of the stomach who had received surgery followed by radiotherapy combined with fluorouracil and leucovorin (n = 5), capecitabine (n = 39), or capecitabine and cisplatin (n = 47) were analyzed and compared with survival and recurrence patterns of 694 patients from the DGCT (D1, n = 369; D2, n = 325).

Nationwide outcome registrations to improve quality of care in rectal surgery. An initiative of the European Society of Surgical Oncology.

In recent years there have been significant improvements in rectal cancer treatment. New surgical techniques as well as effective neoadjuvant treatment regimens have contributed to these improvements. Key is to spread these advances towards every rectal cancer patient and to ensure that not only patients who are treated within the framework of clinical trials may benefit from these advancements.

The TME trial after a median follow-up of 6 years: increased local control but no survival benefit in irradiated patients with resectable rectal carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of preoperative short-term radiotherapy in patients with mobile rectal cancer undergoing total mesorectal excision (TME) surgery.

Summary Background Data: Local recurrence is a major problem in rectal cancer treatment. Preoperative short-term radiotherapy has shown to improve local control and survival in combination with conventional surgery.

Improved regional control and survival with "low Maruyama Index" surgery in gastric cancer: autopsy findings from the Dutch D1-D2 Trial.

Based on more than 11 years of follow-up, autopsy-based analysis of recurrence in the Dutch D1-D2 Trial permits meaningful assessment of patterns of failure with respect to the Maruyama Index (MI). We previously reported that a low Maruyama Index was an independent predictor of both overall and disease-specific survival. Autopsy results are available for 441 deaths on study.

A multivariate analysis of limiting factors for stoma reversal in patients with rectal cancer entered into the total mesorectal excision (TME) trial: a retrospective study.

Background: In many patients with rectal cancer, defunctioning stomas are created to limit the consequences of anastomotic leakage. Although intended to be temporary, a substantial proportion of these stomas might never be reversed for various reasons. We aimed to describe stoma policy by use of data from the total mesorectal excision (TME) trial in patients with rectal cancer and to identify factors that limit stoma reversal.

Validation of a nomogram for predicting disease-specific survival after an R0 resection for gastric carcinoma.

Background: A statistical model for predicting disease-specific survival in patients with gastric carcinoma, based on a single U.S. institution experience, was tested for validity in a sample of patients treated at different institutions.

Minimal residual disease assessment in sentinel nodes of breast and gastrointestinal cancer: a plea for standardization.

Lymph node dissection plays an important role in staging and treatment of solid cancers. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has been introduced to minimize the extent of surgery and to enable assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) without compromising accurate staging or survival. This review addresses the variation in technical aspects and outcome of SNB and MRD assessment in patients with breast and gastrointestinal cancer.