Tumor Volume as Predictor of Pathologic Complete Response Following Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery is the current standard of care in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer. Those who achieved pathologic complete response, following this standard of care, complete pathologic response (pCR) had better outcome. Until now there are no reliable clinical parameters to predict this response.

The Older Adults With Rectal Cancer-Does Age Matter?: A Single-center Experience.

Objectives: Oncological treatments of older patients have many unresolved questions mainly because of the fact that these patients were not eligible to be included in most clinical trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment approach to localized rectal cancer in the older population, including complication rates and overall survival in patients treated with curative intent.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of patients older than 80 years old (group A) who were treated for clinical stages II to III rectal cancer.

The Role of Radiotherapy in Resected R0/R+ Pancreatic Cancer: A Real-Life Single-Institution Experience.

Purpose/objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of external radiation therapy following resection of pancreatic cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients who underwent either Whipple procedure or distal pancreatectomy and treated with either chemo-radiotherapy (chemo-rad) or chemotherapy alone (R0 chemo) were enrolled in this study. The chemotherapy (chemo) was based on cisplatin and either gemcitabine or 5 FU/leukovorin.

ARTS mediates apoptosis and regeneration of the intestinal stem cell niche.

Stem cells (SCs) play a pivotal role in fueling homeostasis and regeneration. While much focus has been given to self-renewal and differentiation pathways regulating SC fate, little is known regarding the specific mechanisms utilized for their elimination. Here, we report that the pro-apoptotic protein ARTS (a Septin4 isoform) is highly expressed in cells comprising the intestinal SC niche and that its deletion protects Lgr5 and Paneth cells from undergoing apoptotic cell death.