BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Print Section Listen Although there have been many advances in the treatment of rectal cancer, including improved imaging, chemotherapy agents, and radiation techniques, none has been more…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen In 2014 an estimated 96,830 new cases of colon cancer were diagnosed in the United States alone (National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal). In developed countries, colon cancer…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen In this section we discuss oncologic entities of the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract, comprising the appendix, colon, rectum, and anus, which are less frequently encountered in…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Rectal and colon adenocarcinoma originate from the same epithelial cell types and share the same histologic features. Unlike the colon, the rectum lacks a peritoneal lining,…
BACKGROUND Print Section Listen The appendix is a rare site of malignancy, with a large variety of histologic subtypes. Reviews of large series of appendectomies reveal appendiceal neoplasms in nearly…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Staging of rectal cancer is the process of determining the extent of tumor spread, and serves two related goals: to provide information on the prognosis and…
BACKGROUND Print Section Listen “The history of esophageal surgery is the tale of men repeatedly losing to a stronger adversary yet persisting in this unequal struggle until the nature of…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Surgery plays a central role in the treatment of mid-stage gastric cancer (T2-T4a, N0-N3a). Chemo- or chemoradiotherapy before and/or after surgery may improve survival, but adequate…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Despite its length and surface area, the small bowel accounts for less than 5% of all gastrointestinal cancers, and has a malignancy rate 50-fold lower than…
EPIDEMIOLOGY Print Section Listen Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignancy worldwide and the second most common cause of cancer-related death.1 Histologically, gastric cancer may be classified as either…
