BackgroundLaparoscopic surgery for colon cancer is associated with improved recovery and similar cancer outcomes at 3 and 5 years in comparison with open surgery. However, long-term survival rates have rarely been reported. Here, we present survival and recurrence rates of the Dutch patients included in the COlon cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) trial at 10-year follow-up.MethodsBetween March 1997 and March 2003, patients with non-metastatic colon cancer were recruited by 29 hospitals in eight countries and randomised to either laparoscopic or open surgery. Main inclusion criterion for the COLOR trial was solitary adenocarcinoma of the left or right colon. The primary outcome was disease-free survival at 3 years, and secondary outcomes included overall survival and recurrence. The 10-year follow-up data of all Dutch patients were collected. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00387842).ResultsIn total, 1248 patients were randomised, of which 329 were Dutch. Fifty-eight Dutch patients were excluded and 15 were lost to follow-up, leaving 256 patients for 10-year analysis. Median follow-up was 112 months. Disease-free survival rates were 45.2 % in the laparoscopic group and 43.2 % in the open group (difference 2.0 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI) −10.3 to 14.3; p = 0.96). Overall survival rates were 48.4 and 46.7 %, respectively (difference 1.7 %; 95 % CI −10.6 to 14.0; p = 0.83). Stage-specific analysis revealed similar survival rates for both groups. Sixty-two patients were diagnosed with recurrent disease, accounting for 29.4 % in the laparoscopic group and 28.2 % in the open group (difference 1.2 %; 95 % CI −11.1 to 13.5; p = 0.73). Seven patients had port- or wound-site recurrences (laparoscopic n = 3 vs. open n = 4).ConclusionsLaparoscopic surgery for non-metastatic colon cancer is associated with similar rates of disease-free survival, overall survival and recurrences as open surgery at 10-year follow-up.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00464-016-5270-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Current research in radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer is evaluating neoadjuvant as opposed to adjuvant partial breast irradiation (PBI) with the aim of reducing the volume of breast tissue irradiated and therefore the risk of late treatment-related toxicity. The development of magnetic resonance (MR)-guided RT, including dedicated MR-guided RT systems [hybrid machines combining an MR scanner with a linear accelerator (MR-linac) or 60 Co sources], could potentially reduce the irradiated volume even further by improving tumour visibility before and during each RT treatment. In this position paper, we discuss MR guidance in relation to each step of the breast RT planning and treatment pathway, focusing on the application of MR-guided RT to neoadjuvant PBI.

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Preoperative partial breast irradiation (PBI) has the potential to induce tumor regression. We evaluated the differences in the numbers of preirradiation tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) between responders and nonresponders after preoperative PBI in low-risk patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, we evaluated the change in number of TILs before and after irradiation. Methods and Materials: In the prospective ABLATIVE study, low-risk patients with breast cancer underwent treatment with single-dose preoperative PBI (20 Gy) to the tumor and breast-conserving surgery after 6 or 8 months. In the preirradiation diagnostic biopsy and postirradiation resection specimen, numbers of TILs in 3 square regions of 450 Â 450 mm were counted manually. TILs were visualized with CD3, CD4, and CD8 immunohistochemistry. Differences in numbers of preirradiation TILs between responders and nonresponders were tested using Mann-Whitney U test. Responders were defined as pathologic complete or near-complete response, and nonresponders were defined "as all other response." Changes in numbers of TILs after preoperative PBI was evaluated with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Preirradiation tissue was available from 28 patients, postirradiation tissue from 29 patients, resulting in 22 pairs of preirradiation and postirradiation tissue. In these 35 patients, 15 had pathologic complete response (43%), 11 had a nearcomplete response (31%), 7 had a partial response (20%), and 2 had stable disease (6%). The median numbers of CD3 þ TILs, CD4 þ TILs, and CD8 þ TILs in the preirradiation tumor tissue were 49 (interquartile range [IQR], 36-80), 45 (IQR, and 19 (IQR,, respectively. The number of preirradiation TILs did not differ significantly between responders and