Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females, with over 1.2 million new cancer cases and 608,700 deaths estimated to have occurred in 2008 1. High incidence rates are found in North America, Western Europe, and Australia (approximately 40 to 45 cases per 100,000 population), and intermediate rates in Eastern Europe (approximately 26 per 100,000), with the lowest rates found in Africa (approximately 3 to 8 per 100,000) 2. The male-to-female incidence rate ratio (IRR) is another characteristic of CRC patterns. In developed countries, the male to-female IRR tends to about 1.5, and in less developed countries it is about 1.3 3. In Egypt rectal cancer age-standardized incidence rates and incidence rate ratios 1993-1997 were 2.3 and 2 per 100,000 population respectively in males and 1.8 and 1.8 per 100,000 population respectively in females 4. Radiotherapy and surgical resection are standard components of therapy for patients with stage II/III carcinoma of the rectum. Numerous randomized trials have investigated the impact of dose modifications and preoperative/postoperative administration in an effort to improve safety without compromising effectiveness, reduce the incidence of local recurrence, and significantly prolong survival 5. The Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group administered 25 Gy during 5 days followed by immediate total mesorectal resection and significantly reduced loco regional tumor recurrence at 2 years from 8.2% in the surgery-only arm
Gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world with an annual incidence of approximately one million 1. In the UK, there are an estimated 7,700 new diagnoses and 5,200 deaths from the disease each year 2. Over the past two decades there has been a change in the anatomical subsite distribution of gastric cancer, with a trend for tumours to develop more in the proximal stomach, especially around the gastric cardiac area rather than the distal part of the stomach 3. It is thought that the lower oesophageal tumours may also be associated with an increasing incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease 4. In spite of a declining incidence of the distal stomach cancer in the Western countries over the past decades, the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction has dramatically increased in the world 5. Early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal cancers are curable with surgical treatment alone, with a 5-year overall survival rate of 90%. However, the majority of gastric and gastroesophageal cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced diseases (stages III or IV) 6. Despite advances in cancer management, gastric cancer continues to remain a challenging disease to
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