Root-cause analyses of missed opportunities for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Colonoscopic surveillance in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) leads to earlier detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and reduces CRC-associated mortality. However, it is limited by poor adherence in practice.

Aim: To identify missed opportunities to detect IBD-associated CRC at our hospital METHODS: We undertook root-cause analyses to identify patients with missed opportunities to diagnose IBD-associated CRC.

Factors affecting local regrowth after watch and wait for patients with a clinical complete response following chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer (InterCoRe consortium): an individual participant data meta-analysis.

Background: In patients with rectal cancer who achieve clinical complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, watch and wait is a novel management strategy with potential to avoid major surgery. Study-level meta-analyses have reported wide variation in the proportion of patients with local regrowth. We did an individual participant data meta-analysis to investigate factors affecting occurrence of local regrowth.

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen: a potentially useful prognostic marker in squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal and margin.

Background: The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the predictive value of pretreatment serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCAg) levels in 174 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anus who received concurrent chemoradiation between 1997 and 2010.

Methods: Pretreatment serum SCCAg measurements in patients with histologically diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal and margin who received chemoradiation were compared with clinical tumor classification and lymph node status for prognostic/predictive ability, including 1) tumor response after the completion of chemoradiation treatment, 2) disease recurrence, and 3) overall survival. Clinical measurements and scores were compared using Spearman rank tests, and survival was assessed in both univariate and multivariate survival analyses.

Can histopathologic assessment of circumferential margin after preoperative pelvic chemoradiotherapy for T3-T4 rectal cancer predict for 3-year disease-free survival?

Purpose: This study set out to determine the impact of a positive circumferential resection margin (CRM) (R1-R2) and pathologic downstaging on local recurrence and survival in patients with borderline resectable or unresectable rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

Methods And Materials: A total of 150 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were treated with long-course neoadjuvant CRT using low-dose folinic acid and 5-fluorouracil. CRT was followed 6-12 weeks later by surgical excision.