In the absence of local invasion, the outcomes of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for patients with tumours >/=6 cm were comparable to those with tumours <6 cm. This has helped confirm a policy of initial laparoscopic resection for all noninvasive adrenal tumours can be applied safely.

Studies show that chest CT scanning increases the detection rates for ILL and pulmonary metastases. The clinical benefit of the increased detection rates is not clear. There is a paucity of data assessing the optimal chest staging strategy for patients presenting with CRC.

A policy of surveillance is adequate for the majority of patients with screen-detected colorectal polyp cancers. Consideration of segmental resection should be reserved for those with incomplete excision or evidence of lymphovascular invasion.

Background:Increasing lymph node ratio (LNR) (ratio of metastatic lymph nodes to the total number of harvested lymph nodes) and extramural vascular invasion (EMVI) have been proposed as adverse prognostic indicators in colorectal cancer, although their use remains variable and controversial. The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic value of LNR and EMVI in predicting survival for patients undergoing curative colon cancer resection.Methods:Between 2006 and 2012, 922 patients underwent curative colon cancer resection. Surgical technique and pathological assessment did not change during the study period. Clinical and pathological data were collected from a prospectively maintained database. The primary outcome measure was overall survival and disease-free survival. LNR was separated into five categories based on three previously calculated cutoff values: LNR 0 (no lymph nodes involved), LNR 1 (ratio 0.01<0.17), LNR 2 (ratio 0.18–0.41), LNR 3 (ratio 0.42–0.69), and LNR 4 (ratio >0.70).Results:Nine hundred and twenty-two patients underwent colon cancer resection. The median follow-up for survivors was 52.8 months (IQR 34.6–77.6). The median total number of lymph nodes harvested was 16 (IQR13-22). On multivariate analysis, both pN and LNR were strongly associated with overall and disease-free survival. Using the Akaike information criterion (AIC), LNR had greater prognostic value compared with pN. For overall survival, compared with patients in LNR category 0, hazard ratios (95% CI) for those in categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 1.37 (1.03,1.82), 2.37 (1.70,3.30), 2.40 (1.57,3.65) and 5.51 (3.16,9.58), respectively. For disease-free survival, patients had hazard ratios (95% CI) of 1.78 (1.25,2.52), 3.79 (2.56,5.61), 2.60 (1.50,4.48) and 4.76 (2.21,10.27), respectively. The presence of EMVI was a significant predictor of decreased overall and disease-free survival (P<0.001).Conclusions:This study demonstrated, in the presence of high surgical, oncology and pathological standards, EMVI and increasing LNR were independent predictors of decreased overall and disease-free survival for patients undergoing curative colon cancer resection. LNR was superior to pN stage in predicting overall and disease-free survival.

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) is the procedure of choice for most adrenal tumors. An important part of LA is the early identification and ligation of the adrenal veins. The venous drainage from each adrenal gland is usually via a single vein: the right vein draining into the inferior vena cava (IVC) and the left vein into the left renal vein. Although infrequent, variable venous drainage has been documented. The aim of the study was to clarify if LA identified venous drainage and its variants. Between January 1999 and January 2008, 142 consecutive patients underwent LA. Adrenal vein anatomy was documented on a prospective database. In total, 142 patients underwent 162 LA (right = 62, left = 66, bilateral = 17). All adrenal veins were identified at the time of laparoscopy. For 157 LA, the adrenal venous drainage was constant: right vein drained into the IVC and left vein drained into left renal vein. Five patients had adrenal vein variants: two right veins draining separately into IVC (n = 1), two right veins draining into the IVC and right renal vein (n = 1), and two left veins draining separately into the left renal vein (n = 3). Adrenal vein variants were present in patients with phaeochromocytomas (n = 4) or adrenocortical carcinoma (n = 1). The laparoscopic approach allowed an excellent view of the main adrenal venous anatomy. This has helped confirm the constant nature of the venous drainage and successfully identify variant adrenal veins.