Prospective evaluation of bowel dysfunction after rectal cancer surgery.

Purpose: Bowel dysfunction after rectal cancer surgery may significantly affect the quality of life. Our study aimed to estimate the incidence and characterize the low anterior resection syndrome (LARS).

Methods: Prospective evaluation of patients treated with anterior resection for rectal cancer at two hospitals followed for 12 months after ileostomy reversal.

Semi-quantitative metabarcoding reveals how climate shapes arthropod community assembly along elevation gradients on Hawaii Island.

Spatial variation in climatic conditions along elevation gradients provides an important backdrop by which communities assemble and diversify. Lowland habitats tend to be connected through time, whereas highlands can be continuously or periodically isolated, conditions that have been hypothesized to promote high levels of species endemism. This tendency is expected to be accentuated among taxa that show niche conservatism within a given climatic envelope.

The effect of DNA degradation bias in passive sampling devices on metabarcoding studies of arthropod communities and their associated microbiota.

PCR amplification bias is a well-known problem in metagenomic analysis of arthropod communities. In contrast, variation of DNA degradation rates is a largely neglected source of bias. Differential degradation of DNA molecules could cause underrepresentation of taxa in a community sequencing sample.

Assessment of acute bowel function after radiotherapy for prostate cancer: Is it accurate enough?

Background And Purpose: Pelvic radiotherapy for prostate cancer can be associated with bowel toxicity, which may have a significant impact on quality of life. Our aim was to assess the adequacy of the tools currently used to assess bowel symptoms after radiotherapy, including physician and patient reported outcomes. This sub-study on acute toxicity was part of a prospective trial assessing long-term bowel dysfunction.

Clinical application of the LARS score: results from a pilot study.

Purpose: The impact of the low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) on quality of life has underscored the importance of measuring functional outcomes after treatment for rectal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the LARS score as a single questionnaire was useful enough in the clinical setting.

Methods: Patients treated by curative anterior resection for rectal cancer were sent the LARS score and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 questionnaires by post.