The perception of itch in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is not characterized. Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis who were members of the PBCers Organization were invited to participate in an on-line survey addressing certain characteristics of their itch. Patients used their own words in the questions that asked for descriptions. A total of 238 subjects responded to the survey; of these, 231 were women, and 165 (69%) reported itch. One hundred and twenty-four patients from the 165 (75%) reported that itch preceded the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis. A total of 58 from 164 (35%) respondents described their itch as "bugs crawling". Fifty-seven of 88 (64.7%) subjects reported that something cool relieved their itch, and 69 of 112 (61.6%) reported that heat worsened it. One hundred and seven of 164 (65.2%) respondents reported that the itch was worse at night. The most commonly prescribed medications were antihistamines and cholestyramine, and the most common type of medication reported as being associated with relief was antihistamine drugs. There was no systematic approach to the evaluation and treatment of itch in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Education on the subject of itch in primary biliary cirrhosis is warranted.

The synchronous diagnosis of two or more primary malignancies in a patient is overall rare. This is a case report of a 70-year-old female with a history of skin squamous cell carcinoma presenting with occult hematochezia. Colonoscopy and biopsy results confirmed a microsatellite stable (MMS) adenocarcinoma in the ascending colon, and subsequent computed tomography (CT) scans identified a 3.2 cm right colonic mass and a 5.0 cm mass in the pancreatic body. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) confirmed the presence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The patient underwent neo-adjuvant FOLFIRINOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan and oxaliplatin) chemotherapy prior to the simultaneous distal pancreatectomy and right hemicolectomy for both pancreatic and colonic tumors. The pathology diagnoses included moderately differentiated pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) with histiocyte-like features (tumor stage: ypT3N1M0) and moderately differentiated colonic adenocarcinoma, intestinal type (tumor stage: ypT3N0M0). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of synchronous primary colonic adenocarcinoma and PDAC in the English literature.

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a well-known premalignant condition that can be associated with the development of dysplasia and adenocarcinoma. In the past, esophagectomy was the standard treatment for patients with BE with high grade dysplasia (HGD) and early cancer (EC). However, esophagectomy is not necessarily the only treatment response to HGD and EC anymore. Over the past decade, a number of endoscopic therapies have been developed for management of BE. These include endoscopic mucosal resection, thermal ablation techniques that use laser irradiation, multipolar electrocoagulation, argon plasma coagulation, photodynamic therapy, and the recently developed cryotherapy and radiofrequency ablation.

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