Correction to: Short-term outcome of laparoscopic versus robotic ventral mesh rectopexy for full-thickness rectal prolapse. Is robotic superior?

The authors wish to clarify a number of points that were incorrectly stated in the original article. These changes do not invalidate the article.

Neoadjuvant Long-Course Chemoradiotherapy for Rectal Cancer: Does Time to Surgery Matter?

The objective of this paper was to evaluate whether delaying surgery following long-course chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer correlates with pathologic complete response. Pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is standard practice in the UK for the management of locally advanced rectal cancer. Optimal timing of surgery following CRT is still not clearly defined. All patients with a diagnosis of rectal cancer who had undergone long-course CRT prior to surgery between January 2008 and December 2011 were included. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata 11. Fifty-nine patients received long-course CRT prior to surgery in the selected period. Twenty-seven percent (16/59) of patients showed a complete histopathologic response and 59.3% (35/59) of patients had tumor down-staging from radiologically-assessed node positive to histologically-proven node negative disease. There was no statistically significant delay to surgery after completion of CRT in the 16 patients with complete response (CR) compared with the rest of the group [IR: incomplete response; CR group median: 74.5 days (IQR: 70-87.5) and IR group median: 72 days (IQR: 57-83), P = 0.470]. Although no statistically significant predictors of either complete response or tumor nodal status down-staging were identified in logistic regression analyses, a trend toward complete response was seen with longer delay to surgery following completion of long-course CRT.

Short-term outcome of laparoscopic versus robotic ventral mesh rectopexy for full-thickness rectal prolapse. Is robotic superior?

PURPOSE: Short term morbidity, functional outcome, recurrence and quality of life outcomes after robotic assisted ventral mesh rectopexy (RVMR) and laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR) were compared. METHODS: This study includes 51 consecutive patients having operations for external rectal prolapse (ERP) in a tertiary centre between October 2009 and December 2012. Of these, 17 patients had RVMR and 34 underwent LVMR. The groups were matched for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grades. The same operative technique and mesh was used and follow up was 12 months. Data was collected on patient demographics, surgery duration, blood loss, duration of hospital stay and operative complications. Functional outcomes were measured using the faecal incontinence severity index (FISI) and Wexner faecal incontinence scoring. Quality of life was scored using SF36 questionnaires pre and postoperatively. RESULTS: All patients were female except three (median 59, range 25-89). There was one laparoscopic converted to open procedure. RVMR procedures were longer in duration (p = 0.013) but with no difference in blood loss between the groups. The average duration of stay was 2 days in both groups. There were six minor postoperative complications in LVMR procedures and none in the RVMR group. Pre and postoperative Wexner and FISI scoring were significantly lower in the RVMR group (p = 0.042 and p = 0.024, respectively). SF-36 questionnaires showed better scoring in physical and emotional component in RVMR group (p = 0.015). There was no recurrence in either group during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Both LVMR and RVMR are similar in terms of safety and efficacy. Although not randomized, this data may suggest a better functional outcome and quality of life in patients having RVMR for ERP.

Inflammatory fibroid polyp: a rare benign tumor of the alimentary tract in children presenting as intussusception-case report and review of literature.

Inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP) represents a rare cause of gastrointestinal polypoid disease in childhood. Τhe lesion has been described by various names beyond the currently accepted term, including "Vanek's tumour," eosinophilic or submucosal granuloma, gastric fibroma with eosinophilic infiltration, inflammatory pseudotumor, and hemangiopericytoma. The etiopathogenesis and origin of the mesenchymal spindle-shaped cells that comprise the polyp remains enigmatic. Recent studies have shown familial occurrence, expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFRA) and oncogenic PDGFRA mutations in the majority of lesions, suggestive of a neoplastic nature. We present a rare case of a 10-year-old boy with an IFP of the terminal ileum, who presented acutely with intussusception and was treated with a right hemicolectomy. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient has been asymptomatic during follow-up. Histopathology and immunohistochemical analysis excluded inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (negative for Alk1, desmin, smooth muscle actin [SMA]), gastrointerstinal stromal tumors (GIST) (negative for CD117) and schwannoma (negative for S100). The lesion was positive for CD34 and faintly for vimentin. Despite the classification of IFPs as a mesenchymal benign neoplasm, in the vast majority of cases, surgical excision alone was curative, and no reports exist of a malignant transformation. A cautious approach with periodic surveillance of the affected children seems reasonable though.

Review of Cisplatin and Oxaliplatin in Current Immunogenic and Monoclonal Antibodies Perspective.

Platinum-based chemotherapy made a paradigm shift in the treatment of different cancers initially; however, the success of these agents may have reached the peak as researchers have tried different combination regimes in different trials without having major differences in the end results. New frontiers of research were opened up firstly with this discovery that conventional chemo-radiation therapy can induce immunological cell death by recruiting high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein which triggers the T cell immunity and secondly monoclonal antibodies agents which were regrettably not effective as "monotherapy"; however, the combination with conventional chemotherapy had demonstrated good results. Different monoclonal antibodies and conventional chemotherapeutic combination regimes are currently in use and researchers are trying different other combinations as well to glean the maximum benefits from them. Several strategies conferring resistance to platinum compounds have been identified, but there is still significant research required to achieve full understanding of these resistance mechanisms to overcome the ineffectiveness or toxicities of platinum compounds. It seems reasonable in the current perspective when conventional chemotherapeutic agents exhibited immunogenic cell death and they are currently in use with monoclonal antibodies to revisit the platinum agent's pharmacology. This may discover new basis for combination chemotherapy with monoclonal antibodies which may improve the current cancer treatments by opening new vistas for newer combination regimes with less toxicity and better efficacy. In this article we review the pharmacologies of both cisplatin and oxaliplatin in the drug development perspectives and explore the possible association of these drugs with monoclonal antibodies.