KRAS, NRAS, BRAF mutation comparison of endoscopic and surgically removed primary CRC paired samples: is endoscopy biopsy material adequate for molecular evaluation?

An everyday clinical practice dilemma in the 20-30% of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients that have not been operated on their primary tumour, is, under which specific histopathology and molecular circumstances, an endoscopic biopsy could be considered adequate to provide a representative RAS/BRAF molecular status to guide treatment.status: publishe

Caregiver-mediated exercises with e-health support for early supported discharge after stroke (CARE4STROKE): A randomized controlled trial.

Background and purposeWe designed an 8-week caregiver-mediated exercise program with e-health support after stroke (CARE4STROKE) in addition to usual care with the aim to improve functional outcome and to facilitate early supported discharge by increasing the intensity of task specific training.MethodsAn observer-blinded randomized controlled trial in which 66 stroke patient-caregiver couples were included during inpatient rehabilitation. Patients allocated to the CARE4STROKE program trained an additional amount of 150 minutes a week with a caregiver and were compared to a control group that received usual care alone. Primary outcomes: self-reported mobility domain of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 (SIS) and length of stay (LOS). Secondary outcomes: motor impairment, strength, walking ability, balance, mobility and (Extended) Activities of Daily Living of patients, caregiver strain of caregivers, and mood, self-efficacy, fatigue and quality of life of both patients and caregivers. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 8 and 12 weeks after randomization.ResultsNo significant between-group differences were found regarding SIS-mobility after 8 (β 6.21, SD 5.16; P = 0.229) and 12 weeks (β 0.14, SD 2.87; P = 0.961), and LOS (P = 0.818). Significant effects in favor of the intervention group were found for patient's anxiety (β 2.01, SD 0.88; P = 0.023) and caregiver's depression (β 2.33, SD 0.77; P = 0.003) post intervention. Decreased anxiety in patients remained significant at the 12-week follow-up (β 1.01, SD 0.40; P = 0.009).ConclusionsThis proof-of concept trial did not find significant effects on both primary outcomes mobility and LOS as well as the secondary functional outcomes. Treatment contrast in terms of total exercise time may have been insufficient to achieve these effects. However, caregiver-mediated exercises showed a favorable impact on secondary outcome measures of mood for both patient and caregiver.Clinical trial registrationNTR4300, URL- http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4300

Morphologic and immunohistochemical characterization of granulomas in the nucleotide oligomerization domain 2-related disorders Blau syndrome and Crohn disease

Blau syndrome (BS) and Crohn disease (CD) are both characterized by granulomatous inflammation and related to nucleotide oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) mutations.status: publishe

Wide-area transepithelial sampling with computer-assisted analysis to detect high grade dysplasia and cancer in Barrettʼs esophagus: A Multi-Center, Randomized Study

BACKGROUND: Current surveillance for Barrett's esophagus (BE), consisting of four-quadrant random forceps biopsies (FBs), has an inherent risk of sampling error. Wide-area transepithelial sampling (WATS) may increase detection of high grade dysplasia (HGD) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). In this multicenter randomized trial, we aimed to evaluate WATS as a substitute for FB. METHODS: Patients with known BE and a recent history of dysplasia, without visible lesions, at 17 hospitals were randomized to receive either WATS followed by FB or vice versa. All WATS samples were examined, with computer assistance, by at least two experienced pathologists at the CDx Diagnostics laboratory. Similarly, all FBs were examined by two expert pathologists. The primary end point was concordance/discordance for detection of HGD/EAC between the two techniques. RESULTS: 172 patients were included, of whom 21 had HGD/EAC detected by both modalities, 18 had HGD/EAC detected by WATS but missed by FB, and 12 were detected by FB but missed by WATS. The detection rate of HGD/EAC did not differ between WATS and FB ( P  = 0.36). Using WATS as an adjunct to FB significantly increased the detection of HGD/EAC vs. FB alone (absolute increase 10 % [95 %CI 6 % to 16 %]). Mean procedural times in minutes for FB alone, WATS alone, and the combination were 6.6 (95 %CI 5.9 to 7.1), 4.9 (95 %CI 4.1 to 5.4), and 11.2 (95 %CI 10.5 to 14.0), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although the combination of WATS and FB increases dysplasia detection in a population of BE patients enriched for dysplasia, we did not find a statistically significant difference between WATS and FB for the detection of HGD/EAC as single modality