No abstract

The contribution of SLNB to conventional nodal staging of colon cancer patients is still unspecified. Technical problems have to be resolved before a definite conclusion can be drawn in this regard. However, SLNB identifies about one fourth of stage II patients to reveal MM/ITC in lymph nodes. Further studies must clarify the clinical impact of these findings in terms of prognosis and the indication of adjuvant therapy.

The review of the literature supports the concept that the primary tumor of BML is located in the uterus and that leiomyomas in the uterus can metastasize leading via hematogenous spread to BML. However, the origin of the tumor remains controversial.

QoL analysis revealed favorable QoL data after DLB. Additionally, the survival rates of the two groups did not differ significantly, but morbidity and mortality rates in the PR group were elevated. Therefore, the use of PR for advanced pancreatic cancer needs to be carefully evaluated.

Human chromosome 8q24.21 has been implicated as a susceptibility region for colorectal cancer (CRC) as a result of genome‐wide association and candidate gene studies. To assess the impact of molecular variants at 8q24.21 upon the CRC risk of German individuals and to refine the disease‐associated region, a total of 2,713 patients with operated CRC (median age at diagnosis: 63 years) were compared with 2,718 sex‐matched control individuals (median age at inclusion: 65 years). Information on microsatellite instability in tumors was available for 901 patients. Association analysis of SNPs rs10505477 and rs6983267 yielded allelic p‐values of 1.42 × 10−7 and 2.57 × 10−7, respectively. For both polymorphisms, the odds ratio was estimated to be 1.50 (95% CI: 1.29–1.75) under a recessive disease model. The strongest candidate interval, outside of which significance dropped by more than 4 orders of magnitude, was delineated by SNPs rs10505477 and rs7014346 and comprised 17 kb. In a subgroup analysis, the disease association was found to be more pronounced in MSI‐stable tumors (odds ratio: 1.71). Our study confirms the role of genetic variation at 8q24.21 as a risk factor for CRC and localizes the corresponding susceptibility gene to a 17 kb candidate region. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.