C J H van de Velde

..Recently, it was shown that surgical variation is not only important for patients with rectal cancer, but also plays an important role for the outcome of patients with colon cancer...

..The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of breast cancer recurrence (locoregional and distant), and contralateral breast cancer by age at diagnosis...

..The purpose of this study was to compare the expression and the prognostic effect of the breast cancer stem cell marker aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) in young and elderly breast cancer patients...

..We examined tumor expression and prognostic effect of NKG2DL in breast cancer patients...

..This paper reviews studies that have investigated a switch strategy with AIs and considers the implications of these data on treatment choice for postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer...

..We therefore compared the long-term effects of exemestane monotherapy with sequential treatment (tamoxifen followed by exemestane)...

..The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value of established clinical and pathological prognostic factors in young breast cancer patients...

..Therefore, we studied the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy in young patients with breast cancer in relation to hormone receptor status...

..The purpose of the present study is to delineate the subset of pN0 patients with micrometastases (pN0(micro+)) and evaluate the benefits from adjuvant chemotherapy in pN0(micro+) CC patients...

..We aim to study genomic instability patterns of gastric cancers obtained from patients from United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa (SA), in an attempt to support the African enigma hypothesis at the biological level...

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..e. intestinal-type and pyloric gland adenomas, would carry different patterns of DNA copy number changes, possibly reflecting distinct genetic pathways of gastric carcinogenesis in these two adenoma types...

..This study aims to obtain an improved overall survival for patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy and surgery by incorporating radiotherapy concurrently with chemotherapy postoperatively...

..Distinct patterns of HLA surface expression might conceal different immune escape mechanisms employed by the tumors and are worth further study...

..In order to find markers for tumor staging, we searched for candidate genes on these specific chromosomes...

..The ultra short stay programme and the applied implementation strategy will be evaluated from the economic perspective...

..To further improve outcomes and diminish variation, EURECCA will establish the basis for a strong, multidisciplinary, international audit structure that can be used as a template for similar projects worldwide...

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..As there was a nationwide participation in The Netherlands, we studied the variations in patterns of care in the Comprehensive Cancer Centre Regions (CCCRs) and compliance with national guidelines...

..The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the structural changes in rectal cancer care on survival compared to colon cancer for patients treated before, during and after the TME trial...

..The aim of this study was to identify prognostic factors for local and systemic failure after isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) with 200 mg melphalan in patients with colorectal liver metastases...

..We used this theory to explore in what way the beliefs of experienced patients differed from those of inexperienced patients...

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..The aim of this study was to assess characteristics associated with surgical treatment and to determine the impact on survival in women with stage IV breast cancer...

..Patients should be informed preoperatively, and education of surgeons in neuroanatomy may provide the key to the improvement of functional outcome...

..We believe that the low flow and pressure rates found in this study can result in reduced drug penetration of the tumour and thus limited tumour response...

..The present study was designed to evaluate differences in resection rates, outcomes and annual hospital volumes between these countries, and to analyse the relationship between hospital volume and outcomes...

..Certain QoL issues are treatment- and/or time-specific and deserve attention by health care providers. There is a need for careful inquiry into QoL issues by those prescribing endocrine treatment to optimize QoL and treatment adherence...

..The aim of this study was to assess adherence to treatment guidelines by age at diagnosis, and to examine age-specific survival in relation to adherence to guidelines...

..In the future, specific geriatric screening tools are necessary to identify fit elderly patients who could receive more "aggressive" treatment while best supportive care should be given to frail elderly patients...

..After the first year, the main goal is particularly to detect locoregional recurrences (LRR). Our aim was to develop a simple prognostic index to predict LRR to tailor the follow-up programme...

..We surveyed patients with breast and colorectal cancer about the importance they assigned to the opinions of their significant others and assessed correlates of these importance scores...

..The common clinical practice and opinion about follow-up for colorectal carcinoma, was evaluated by means of a survey among Dutch general surgeons...

..The aim of this study was to investigate non-compliance to aromatase inhibitors and factors associated with early treatment discontinuation in the extended adjuvant setting...

..We performed a randomised trial with pre-operative FAMTX vs. surgery alone in order to evaluate the effect of pre-operative chemotherapy on resectability and survival...

..To compare the median overall survival of patients with isolated nonresectable liver metastases in comparable groups of patients treated with either isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) with melphalan or systemic chemotherapy...

..This study aimed to evaluate UD during 5 years after total mesorectal excision (TME) and to investigate the influence of preoperative radiotherapy (PRT) and surgical factors...

..The present study examined the distribution of oesophagectomies and gastrectomies between hospital types in the Netherlands, and the relationship between hospital type and outcome...

..We conclude that the frequently observed discrepancy in treatment preferences between experienced and inexperienced patients seems to be an effect of the treatment decision and not of experience of the treatment...

..CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that OTC examination techniques should be standardized to illuminate whether OTC in lymph nodes can reliably identify high-risk node-negative patients...

..The objective of this review is to conduct a meta-analysis using the best evidence available on the volume-outcome relationship for colorectal cancer treatment...

..Rectal cancer patients should be informed on late morbidity of both radiotherapy and TME. Future strategies should be aimed at selecting patients for radiotherapy who are at high risk for local failure...

..In patients from the Dutch TME trial patterns of local recurrence (LR) in rectal cancer were studied. The purpose was to reconstruct the most likely mechanisms of LR and the effect of preoperative radiotherapy...

..The purpose of this study is to analyze the pooled results of multimodality treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) in four major treatment centers with particular expertise in intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT)...

..This study assesses the prognostic capacity of the metastatic lymph node ratio (LNR) in addition to the new TNM classification...

..The prognostic value of tumour expression of N-cadherin, E-cadherin, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and epithelial CAM (Ep-CAM) was evaluated in patients with breast cancer...

..The aim of this study is to compare the data items used by the nine registries participating in EURECCA to identify a core dataset and explore options for future research...

..We conclude that MMP-related SNPs, especially MMP-7(-181A>G) and TIMP-2(303C>T), may be helpful in identifying gastric cancer patients with a poor clinical outcome...

..We study patterns of dropout and evaluate the impact of missing forms in the TME QOL substudy...

..The results of these studies show that high response rates and high survival rates can be achieved by IHP. In this article, the current status, recent developments and future perspectives of IHP are discussed...

..Use of an iodine-125-radiolabelled (I-125) seed for localization of non-palpable breast tumours could potentially prevent these problems...

..Bilateral LLND is more effective in reducing the chance of local recurrence than unilateral LLND. Either surgical approach, with or without LLND, requires reliable imaging during work-up...

..Low anterior resection (LAR) may result in faecal incontinence. This study aimed to identify risk factors for long-term faecal incontinence after total mesorectal excision (TME) with or without preoperative radiotherapy (PRT)...

..The large number of patients already recruited offered the opportunity to explore locoregional treatment practices between countries...

..Aim of the present observational population-based study was to assess the therapeutic effect on overall survival of aspirin/NSAIDs as adjuvant treatment used after the diagnosis of colorectal cancer patients...

..One reason is the assumption that when a normal CEA value exists before curative resection of CRC, it will neither rise during follow-up. This study investigates this relationship...

..This study aimed at testing feasibility of a standardised postoperative surveillance protocol to reduce delay in the diagnosis of anastomotic leakage (AL) and, subsequently, mortality...

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..The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of studies and reports on risk factors and preventive measures. Surgery lies at the core of seroma formation; therefore focus will be placed on surgical ways of reducing seroma...

..The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the introduction of nurse practitioners (NPs) in a breast cancer unit on patients' informational needs, preferences and attitude towards follow-up...

..Loss of Ep-CAM-expression identifies aggressive tumours especially in patients with stage I and II disease. This information may be helpful in selecting patients suitable for surgery or for additional treatment pre- or postoperatively...

..In cases when the decision to be treated or not has potential consequences for the chance of survival, patients' QoL may not be improved by the perception of having had a choice of treatment...

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..The study focuses on current practice, purpose and perceived effects, and preferred frequency and duration of follow-up...

..Oncologists should adequately inform their patients about the risks and benefits of PRT, and elicit patient preferences regarding treatment outcomes...

..The aim of the current study was to examine the expression of FAK, Src, and paxillin using immunohistochemistry in the context of disease progression and to evaluate its clinical significance as a prognostic factor...

..We illustrate a number of ways of dealing with survival data that do not obey the proportional hazards assumption, each of which can be easily implemented in standard statistical packages...

..To determine if composite measures based on process indicators are consistent with short-term outcome indicators in surgical colorectal cancer care...

..Despite large treatment differences, survival does not seem to be affected in a major way...

..A predictive model is needed for doctors and patients to facilitate this process...

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..In a population-based study, we evaluated whether the survival of patients with resectable gastric cancer improved over time on a regional level...

..In this study, we explored the use of indocyanine green (ICG) for these applications and attempted to optimize injection timing and dose...

..A compelling dose-response effect reveals that the MI is a quantitative yardstick for assessing the adequacy of lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer...

..Only then can adjuvant treatment of patients upstaged by OTC detection in sentinel nodes be justified...

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..To review the effectiveness of routine visits and routine tests in detecting isolated locoregional recurrences in asymptomatic patients after treatment for early-stage invasive breast cancer...

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..Higher stage at diagnosis of patients with a lower SES only partly explains the decreased survival. Policies aimed at the reduction of socioeconomic health inequalities might be important to improve survival of breast cancer...

..Allogeneic leucocytes are assumed to play a causal role. This study evaluated the long-term effect of transfusion with leucocyte-depleted (LD) blood in patients with gastrointestinal cancer...

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..The (125)I has a half-time of 60 days and is therefore still recognisable with a gamma probe after admittance of several courses of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy...