Background The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colon cancer remains to be elucidated and its use varies between patients and institutions. Currently, clinical guidelines suggest discussing adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with high-risk stage II disease in the absence of conclusive randomized controlled trial data. In order to further investigate this relationship, the study aimed to determine whether an association exists between overall survival (OS) and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients stratified by age and pathological-risk features. Methods Data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was analyzed for demographics, tumor characteristics, management, and survival of patients with stage II colon cancer diagnosed from 1998-2006 with survival information through 2011. Pearson Chi-squared tests and binary logistic regression were used to analyze disease and demographic data. Survival analysis was performed with the Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. Propensity score weighting was utilized to match cohorts. Results In 153,110 stage II colon cancer patients, predictors of receiving chemotherapy included age <65, male gender, non-Caucasian race, community treatment facility, non-Medicare insurance, and diagnosis before 2004. Improved and clinically relevant overall survival was associated with the receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy in all patient sub-groups regardless of high-risk tumor pathologic features (poor or undifferentiated histology, <12 lymph nodes evaluated, positive margins, or T4 histology), age, or chemotherapy regimen, even after adjustment for covariates and propensity score weighting (HR 0.76, p<0.001). There was not a difference in survival between single and multi-agent adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. Conclusion In the largest group of stage II colon cancer patients evaluated to date, improved OS was associated with adjuvant chemotherapy regardless of treatment regimen, patient age, or high-risk pathologic risk features.

The incidence of post-TIPS HE is non-trivial, but symptoms are typically mild and medically managed. HE rates are higher in older patients and those with worse liver function and should be contemplated when counseling on expected TIPS outcomes and post-procedure course.

LSF greater than 20% periodically occurs in HCC but is uncommon in other liver tumors. Specific tumor characteristics are associated with LSF greater than 20% and may indicate need for interventions to reduce LSF.

The VX2 tumor is a leporine anaplastic squamous cell carcinoma characterized by rapid growth, hypervascularity, and facile propagation in the skeletal muscle. Since its introduction over 70 years ago, it has been used to model a variety of malignancies, and is commonly employed by interventional radiologists in preclinical investigations of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, despite the widespread and lasting popularity of the model, there are few technical resources detailing its use. Herein, we present a comprehensive pictorial outline of the technical methodology for development, growth, propagation, and angiographic utilization of the rabbit VX2 liver tumor model.