No abstract

Venous invasion as a prognostic factor was evaluated in 124 patients with colorectal cancer. By classifying the patients as having either negative to mild invasion or moderate to marked invasion, a significant correlation was found between the degree of venous invasion and clinicopathological variables such as lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, and DNA ploidy. Significantly more favorable survival was seen in those with a lower degree of vascular invasion; however, of the six prognosticators analyzed by Cox's proportional hazard model, the only significant factors were depth of invasion and DNA ploidy. Although venous invasion showed no significance, it is still considered a valuable prognostic indicator that is easy and economical to perform.

This study was designed to examine the relationship between occult neoplastic cells (ONCs) inside and outside harvested lymph nodes (intranodal/extranodal ONCs) and local recurrence in 30 patients who underwent curative resection of primary colorectal cancer. Among 10 patients with colon cancer (Dukes' A=1, Dukes' B=6 and Dukes' C=3), intranodal ONCs were positive in 1 patient (10.0%) and negative in 9 patients (90.0%), while extranodal ONCs were negative in all 10 patients (100.0%). There were no significant differences between the detection of intranodal or extranodal ONCs. Among 20 patients with rectal cancer (Dukes' A=4, Dukes' B=2 and Dukes' C=14), intranodal ONCs were positive in 5 (25.0%) and negative in 15 (75.0%), while extranodal ONCs were positive in 3 (15.0%) and negative in 17 (85.0%). There were no significant differences between the detection of intranodal or extranodal ONCs. These results suggest that patients with rectal cancer and extranodal ONCs should be followed-up carefully as a high-risk group for pelvic local recurrence. However, the prevalence of extranodal and intranodal ONCs was almost similar.

Background:To clarify the biologic characteristics of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), an investigation was made of the association of this cancer with mutations of the TP53 (alias p53) and K-ras genes, and with DNA ploidy. Methods:Samples from 19 patients with HNPCC and from 56 patients with sporadic colorecta[ cancer were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism and flow cytometric analyses. Results:Mutations of the p53 gene were found in 7 (32%) of 22 samples from H NPCC patients, and Kras mutations were found in 8 (44%) of 18 samples from HNPCC patients. Aneuploidy was noted in 8 (44%) of 18 samples. Each incidence in HNPCC was similar to the corresponding incidence in the sporadic colorectal cancers. Conclusion:The results of this investigation indicate that HNPCC shows no difference from sporadic colorectal cancer in terms of p53 and K-ras alterations, or DNA ploidy.Int I Clin Onco11997;2:224-229

No abstract