Design: Multicentre international randomised controlled trial. Setting: 108 hospitals, with a predominance of hospitals in Holland. Patients: 1805 eligible patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the rectum. Patients with fixed tumours were excluded. All patients had either a low anterior resection or an abdominoperineal resection using the standardised surgical approach of total ...

The clinicopathologic relevance and prognostic value of tumor deposits in colorectal cancer has been widely demonstrated. However, there are still debates in the prognostic value of tumor deposits and the applicability of N1c category in rectal cancer with preoperative radiotherapy. In this study, rectal cancer with preoperative radiotherapy followed by resection of primary tumors registered in...

PURPOSE Radiotherapy followed by total mesorectal excision surgery has been shown to significantly reduce local recurrence rates in rectal cancer patients. Radiotherapy, however, is associated with considerable morbidity. The present study evaluated the use of biochemical detection of enzymatic caspase-3 activity as preoperative marker for apoptosis to preselect patients that are unlikely to de...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between tumor angiogenesis and response to preoperative radiotherapy evaluated using 201Tl single photon emission computed tomography (Tl SPECT) in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS Tl SPECTs before and after preoperative radiotherapy were obtained from 11 patients diagnosed with SCC in oral cavity. Regions of inte...

I greatly enjoyed the article by Dr Benfield, which appeared in the August 1991 issue of Chest, particularly his challenge to “abandon tradition in favor of current evidence and approaches.” certainly need new approaches. To quote him, “the opportunity lies in the fact that we have mastered the surgical and radiotherapeutic methods necessary for local control.” This mastery applies to surgery a...

Purpose Studies concerning tumor regression grade (TRG) after two-week course of radiotherapy (RT) are limited. We tried to assess associations of TRG and outcomes in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) treated with preoperative two-week course of RT. Methods 356 consecutive LARC patients were retrospectively assessed. Patients with complete/intermediate (TRG1-3) and poor (TRG...

Objective. To investigate the effi cacy of preoperative short term radiotherapy in patients with mobile rectal cancer undergoing TME surgery. Summary Background Data. Local recurrence is a major problem in rectal cancer treatment. Preoperative short term radiotherapy has shown to improve local control and survival in combination with conventional surgery. The TME trial investigated the value of...

Colorectal cancer constitutes 10% of all malignant neoplasms and is the fourth most common cancer in men and the third most common cancer in women, worldwide (second most common in Poland). Unfortunately, despite large scale screening programs, changes in diet and lifestyle, colorectal cancer incidence rates for both male and female patients has increased. the aim of the study was to analyze th...