Search

Background: For patients with an identified germline E-cadherin-1 (CDH1) mutation, prophylactic gastrectomy is the treatment of choice to eliminate the high risk of developing diffuse gastric cancer. Laparoscopic total gastrectomy with jejunal pouch reconstruction is a novel approach that may be especially suitable in these patients.Methods: Patients with a germline CDH1 mutation who underwent prophylactic laparoscopic total gastrectomy with jejunal pouch were included in our prospective database.Results: A total of 11 patients with a median age of 40 (22-61) years were included. The average operative time was 4:26 ± 0:49 h and the average blood loss was 219 ± 155 ml. Median length of hospital stay was 10 (7-27) days. In two patients, an esophagojejunal anastomotic leakage occurred (grade 4). The leakages were seen in patient numbers 2 and 3, which may be a result of a learning curve. The latter eight patients did not develop anastomotic leakage. Pulmonary complications occurred in one patient with atelectasis and in one patient with pneumonia (grade 2). The 60-day mortality rate was 0 %. Multiple foci of intramucosal diffuse gastric signet ring cell carcinoma were found in the resection specimen of 9/11 (82 %) patients. All 11/11 (100 %) resections were microscopically radical.Conclusions: Prophylactic laparoscopic total gastrectomy with jejunal pouch reconstruction in patients with a CDH1 germline mutation is feasible and safe. In 82 % of patients, foci of intramucosal diffuse gastric signet ring cell carcinoma in the resection specimen were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have chemopreventive potential against colorectal carcinomas (CRCs). Inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 underlies part of this effect, although COX-2-independent mechanisms may also exist. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs appear to inhibit the initial stages of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, suggesting a link to the APC/ß-catenin/TCF pathway (Wnt-signalling pathway). Therefore, the effect of the NSAID sulindac on nuclear (nonphosphorylated) ß-catenin and ß-catenin/TCF-mediated transcription was investigated. Nuclear ß-catenin expression was assessed in pretreatment colorectal adenomas and in adenomas after treatment with sulindac from five patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Also, the effect of sulindac sulphide on ß-catenin/TCF-mediated transcription was studied. Adenomas of FAP patients collected after treatment with sulindac for up to 6 months showed less nuclear ß-catenin expression compared to pretreatment adenomas of the same patients. Sulindac sulphide abrogated ß-catenin/TCF-mediated transcription in the CRC cell lines DLD1 and SW480, and decreased the levels of nonphosphorylated ß-catenin. As a result, the protein levels of the positively regulated TCF targets Met and cyclin D1 were downregulated after sulindac treatment. This study provides in vivo and in vitro evidence that nuclear ß-catenin localisation and ß-catenin/TCF-regulated transcription of target genes can be inhibited by sulindac. The inhibition of Wnt-signalling provides an explanation for the COX-2-independent mechanism of chemoprevention by NSAIDs.British Journal of Cancer (2004) 90, 224-229. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6601505 www.bjcancer.com [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The grade of dysplasia found in Barrett's oesophagus surveillance biopsies is a major factor to determine follow up and treatment. However, it has been reported that the reproducibility of the grading system is not optimal. Aims: To compare routine and expert dysplasia grades in Barrett's oesophagus surveillance biopsies. To evaluate prospectively morphometrical grading support and to assess the pitfalls in its daily application. Methods: Consecutive biopsies (n = 143) were graded routinely by experienced general surgical pathologists as no dysplasia (ND), indefinite for dysplasia, low grade dysplasia (LGD), and high grade dysplasia (HGD). Two expert gastrointestinal pathologists blindly reviewed all sections. The stratification index of nuclei, mean nuclear area, and Ki67 area% were assessed routinely according to a strict protocol. With these features, the previously described morphometrical grade was calculated for each case. The grades provided by the experts, surgical pathologists, and morphometry were compared. Results: The general pathologists graded many more cases as dysplastic than did the experts. Complete agreement between the experts' grades and the original grades was 50 of 143 (35%). Sixty four of the 71 original LGDs and 11 of the 23 original HGDs were downgraded by the experts, whereas one LGD was upgraded. In 93 of the 143 biopsies, at review pitfalls or special characteristics of a technical nature (tangential cutting, severe inflammation, ulcer or the squamocylindrical junction very close by, among others) were seen in the part of the biopsy marked as diagnostic. These probably contributed in part to the original overdiagnoses and could have been prevented or corrected. The morphometrical grading model has not been developed to compensate for this; application of the current morphometrical grading method is not allowed and may result in erroneous (usually too high) morphometrical grades. In spite of this, all HGDs according to... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To examine the clonal origin of a tumour, made up of a neuroendocrine component and a papillary serous component by comparing the pattern of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and the immunohistochemical protein expression of both components. Methods/Results: A 70 year old woman, known to have a metastasised neuroendocrine carcinoma, underwent resection of the distal part of the ileum because of obstruction by a mesenterial mass. The macroscopically homogeneous mesenterial mass consisted histologically of an admixture of a neuroendocrine component and a papillary serous carcinoma. Loss of heterozygosih/(LOH) analysis of both components with a panel of 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers showed a distinctive pattern of LOH, and both components showed LOH on chromosome 4q and 17, but involving different alleles at the same locus. Moreover, both components showed different immunohistochemical staining patterns for neuroendocrine markers, cytokeratin 7, carcinoembryonic antigen, and CA125. Conclusion: Both LOH analysis of the neuroendocrine and papillary serous components of this tumour and the immunohistochemical profile of both components are consistent with a different clonal origin. The tumour is probably a collision tumour, in which the papillary serous carcinoma must have been of peritoneal origin because necropsy revealed a normal uterus and normal ovaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]