Peter Kienle

BACKGROUND: Fluorouracil-based chemoradiotherapy is regarded as a standard perioperative treatment in locally advanced rectal cancer. We investigated the efficacy and safety of substituting fluorouracil with the oral prodrug capecitabine.

METHODS: This randomised, open-label, multicentre, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial began in March, 2002, as an adjuvant trial comparing capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy with fluorouracil-based chemoradiotherapy, in patients aged 18 years or older ...

BACKGROUND: The outcome of patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastroesophageal (GE) junction, and stomach) is poor. There is conflicting evidence regarding the effects of perioperative chemotherapy on survival and other outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of perioperative chemotherapy for gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma on survival and other clinically relevant outcomes in the overall population of participants in ...

BACKGROUND: After low anterior resection for rectal cancer, creation of a diverting stoma is recommended. Data on the impact of a diverting stoma on quality of life are conflicting. Optimal timing of stoma closure in the setting of adjuvant chemotherapy is unclear.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a diverting stoma on quality of life in patients undergoing rectal cancer resection before and after stoma closure. Furthermore, the study was conducted to ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent of pre- and intraoperative hematogenic tumor cell dissemination in patients undergoing liver resection for metastatic colorectal cancer.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: For patients with hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer, liver resection is the only potentially curative therapy. However, 38% to 53% of patients develop extrahepatic tumor recurrence, probably caused by tumor cells disseminated before or during surgery not detected by current staging ...

PURPOSE: Mutations in KRAS and BRAF genes as well as the loss of expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) (deleted on chromosome 10) are associated with impaired activity of antibodies directed against epidermal growth factor receptor in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The predictive and prognostic value of the KRAS and BRAF point mutations as well as PTEN expression in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) treated with cetuximab-based neoadjuvant ...

BACKGROUND: A parastomal hernia is defined as an incisional hernia related to a stoma and belongs to the most common stoma-related complications. Many factors concerning the operative technique which are considered to influence the incidence of parastomal herniation have been investigated. However, it remains unclear whether the enterostomy should be placed through or lateral to the rectus abdominis muscle in order to prevent parastomal herniation and other important stoma complications ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prognostic significance of disseminated tumor cells in blood and bone marrow of patients undergoing surgical resection of colorectal liver metastases.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Despite curative hepatic resection of colorectal liver metastases, a high percentage of patients develop tumor recurrence. These recurrences probably originate from disseminated tumor cells released into the circulation before or during surgery.

METHODS: Thirty-seven patients with ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Colorectal cancers (CRC) associated with the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) syndrome display high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) as a consequence of mismatch repair deficiency. HNPCC-associated CRC frequently show features of a pronounced immune response, most likely resulting from the MSI-induced generation of novel tumor-specific carboxy-terminal frameshift peptides (FSPs). However, the role of FSP-specific immune surveillance mechanisms ...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of preoperative radiotherapy (RT) in combination with cetuximab, capecitabine, and irinotecan in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with rectal cancer (clinical stage T3/4 or N+) were scheduled to receive cetuximab (400 mg/m(2) Day 1, 250 mg/m(2) Days 8, 15, 22, 29) in combination with weekly irinotecan 40 mg/m(2) and capecitabine 500 mg/m(2) twice daily (Days 1-38). RT was given to a dose of 50.4 Gy ...

BACKGROUND: Metastatic disease in colorectal cancer results from hematogenic dissemination of tumor cells. This dissemination can be explained by 2 concepts: (1) regional spread of tumor cells via portal venous drainage into the liver as the first site of metastasis and (2) early spread of tumor cells into central and peripheral venous blood as evidence of systemic hematogenic tumor cell dissemination.

HYPOTHESIS: Tumor cell detection in different blood compartments could help to ...

Microsatellite instability (MSI) occurs in most hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancers (HNPCC) and less frequently in sporadic tumors as the result of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency. Instability at coding microsatellites (cMS) in specific target genes causes frameshift mutations and functional inactivation of affected proteins, thereby providing a selective growth advantage to MMR deficient cells. At present, little is known about Selective Target Gene frameshift mutations in ...

PurposeThe aim of this study was to assess quality of life (QOL) in a long-term follow-up of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) 10 years and more after ileal pouch–anal anastomosis (IPAA) to correlate these results with pouch function and to assess the long-term pouch failure rate.MethodsIn a unicentric study, 294 consecutive patients after IPAA between 1988 and 1996 were identified from a prospective database. QOL was evaluated according to the validated Gastrointestinal Quality of ...