Prognostic significance of EpCAM-positive disseminated tumor cells in rectal cancer patients with stage I disease.

Here we evaluated the prevalence and prognostic impact of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)-positive disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in stage I rectal cancer. Further we tested the association of these single tumor cells or small tumor cell groups with the extent of peritumoral lymphangiogenesis. A total of 845 regional lymph nodes (LN) of 44 patients classified as negative on conventional histopathology were retrospectively reanalyzed with immunohistochemistry (IHC) using the monoclonal antibody Ber-Ep4 directed against EpCAM for the detection of DTCs.

[Pancreatic pseudocyst--diagnosis, evolution, surgical treatment].

Background: The pancreatic pseudocyst (PP) represents one of the most common complications of acute and chronic pancreatitis, patients with this severe pathology often undergoing surgical treatment.

Patients And Method: This paper evaluates 133 cases that underwent surgical procedures for PP in the 3rd Surgical Clinic Cluj-Napoca during January 1993-April 2003, from a diagnostic and therapeutic point of view, emphasizing the modern imagistic methods for diagnosis and the modern surgical approach to PP.

Results: In 105 cases (79%) an internal drainage procedure was performed (including three cases that underwent laparoscopic drainage procedures and one case undergoing a laparoscopy assisted drainage procedure, all four cases with favorable postoperative outcome), external drainage procedures were performed in 25 cases (19%) and in three cases (2%) a pancreatic resection was performed.