Reviewing the review: a qualitative assessment of the peer review process in surgical journals.

Background: Despite rapid growth of the scientific literature, no consensus guidelines have emerged to define the optimal criteria for editors to grade submitted manuscripts. The purpose of this project was to assess the peer reviewer metrics currently used in the surgical literature to evaluate original manuscript submissions.

Methods: Manuscript grading forms for 14 of the highest circulation general surgery-related journals were evaluated for content, including the type and number of quantitative and qualitative questions asked of peer reviewers.

Neoadjuvant 5-FU or Capecitabine Plus Radiation With or Without Oxaliplatin in Rectal Cancer Patients: A Phase III Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project R-04 was designed to determine whether the oral fluoropyrimidine capecitabine could be substituted for continuous infusion 5-FU in the curative setting of stage II/III rectal cancer during neoadjuvant radiation therapy and whether the addition of oxaliplatin could further enhance the activity of fluoropyrimidine-sensitized radiation.

Methods: Patients with clinical stage II or III rectal cancer undergoing preoperative radiation were randomly assigned to one of four chemotherapy regimens in a 2x2 design: CVI 5-FU or oral capecitabine with or without oxaliplatin. The primary endpoint was local-regional tumor control.

Constituents of the leaves of Verbascum blattaria.

Phytochemical investigation of the dried leaves of Verbascum blattaria L. (Scrophulariaceae) led to the isolation and identification of five known compounds, E-harpagoside, laterioside, kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, and (2S)-liquiritigenin. The structures of these compounds were determined by physical and spectroscopic data analysis.

Capecitabine and oxaliplatin in the preoperative multimodality treatment of rectal cancer: surgical end points from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project trial R-04.

Purpose: The optimal chemotherapy regimen administered concurrently with preoperative radiation therapy (RT) for patients with rectal cancer is unknown. National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project trial R-04 compared four chemotherapy regimens administered concomitantly with RT.

Patients And Methods: Patients with clinical stage II or III rectal cancer who were undergoing preoperative RT (45 Gy in 25 fractions over 5 weeks plus a boost of 5.

Alternating systemic and hepatic artery infusion therapy for resected liver metastases from colorectal cancer: a North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG)/ National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) phase II intergroup trial, N9945/CI-66.

PURPOSE Prior trials have shown that surgery followed by hepatic artery infusion (HAI) of floxuridine (FUDR) alternating with systemic fluorouracil improves survival rates. Oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine has demonstrated activity in advanced colorectal cancer. Based on this observation a trial was conducted to assess the potential benefit of systemic oxaliplatin and capecitabine alternating with HAI of FUDR.

Preoperative multimodality therapy improves disease-free survival in patients with carcinoma of the rectum: NSABP R-03.

Purpose: Although chemoradiotherapy plus resection is considered standard treatment for operable rectal carcinoma, the optimal time to administer this therapy is not clear. The NSABP R-03 (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project R-03) trial compared neoadjuvant versus adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced rectal carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: Patients with clinical T3 or T4 or node-positive rectal cancer were randomly assigned to preoperative or postoperative chemoradiotherapy.

Staging classifications for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Evaluation and treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma is dependent on accurate staging. Tumor-specific factors and the degree of underlying liver disease must be considered when evaluating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Clinical staging classification systems based on preinterventional data are predictive of survival and influence patient selection for various therapeutic modalities.

Long-term survival after an aggressive surgical approach in patients with breast cancer hepatic metastases.

Background: Metastatic breast cancer is generally believed to be associated with a poor prognosis. Therapeutic advances over the past two decades, however, have resulted in improved outcomes for selected patients with limited metastatic disease.

Methods: Between March 1991 and October 2002, 31 patients had hepatic resection for breast cancer metastases limited to the liver.

Utility of intraoperative liver ultrasound.

Intraoperative ultrasound has become an essential tool for the surgeon in the field of hepatobiliary surgery. No preoperative study has been able to duplicate the sensitivity and specificity of IOUS in the identification of occult lesions. With recent improvements in technology, IOUS has now become an indispensable means of defining the extent of disease and respectability, and providing a guide to anatomic and nonanatomic hepatic resections and minimally invasive and percutaneous ablative techniques.