The utilization of multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT) in clinical routine: results of a health care research study focusing on patients with metastasized colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT) have been advocated as standard of care in modern oncology. German guidelines for metastasized colorectal cancer (mCRC) recommend MDT discussion of colon cancer patients after completion of primary tumor therapy but stage IV colon cancer as well as rectal cancer patients prior to any therapy. In this health care research study, we evaluated application and decisional consequences of this approach in clinical routine.

Molecular cytogenetic monitoring from CD34+ peripheral blood cells in myelodysplastic syndromes: first results from a prospective multicenter German diagnostic study.

The gold standard of cytogenetic analysis in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is conventional chromosome banding (CCB) analysis of bone marrow (BM) metaphases. Most aberrations can also be detected by fluorescence-in situ-hybridization (FISH). For this prospective multicenter German diagnostic study (www.

Surgical management after neoadjuvant imatinib therapy in gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) with respect to imatinib resistance caused by secondary KIT mutations.

Background: In metastasized GISTs, resistance to imatinib after initial tumour response has been associated with observation of secondary mutations in the activation loop of KIT. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the tumour response and observance of secondary KIT mutations in a case of GIST undergoing neoadjuvant imatinib therapy.

Methods: We report on a case of an initially unresectable gastric GIST with curative resection after 10 months of neoadjuvant imatinib therapy.