Second St. Gallen European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Gastrointestinal Cancer Conference: consensus recommendations on controversial issues in the primary treatment of rectal cancer

Primary treatment of rectal cancer was the focus of the second St. Gallen European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Gastrointestinal Cancer Conference. In the context of the conference, a multidisciplinary international expert panel discussed and voted on controversial issues which could not be easily answered using published evidence. Main topics included optimal pretherapeutic imaging, indication and type of neoadjuvant treatment, and the treatment strategies in advanced tumours. Here we report the key recommendations and summarise the related evidence. The treatment strategy for localised rectal cancer varies from local excision in early tumours to neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (RCT) in combination with extended surgery in locally advanced disease. Optimal pretherapeutic staging is a key to any treatment decision. The panel recommended magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or MRI + endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) as mandatory staging modalities, except for early T1 cancers with an option for local excision, where EUS in addition to MRI was considered to be most important because of its superior near-field resolution. Primary surgery with total mesorectal excision was recommended by most panellists for some early tumours with limited risk of recurrence (i.e. cT1-2 or cT3a N0 with clear mesorectal fascia on MRI and clearly above the levator muscles), whereas all other stages were considered for multimodal treatment. The consensus panel recommended long-course RCT over short-course radiotherapy for most clinical situations where neoadjuvant treatment is indicated, with the exception of T3a/b N0 tumours where short-course radiotherapy or even no neoadjuvant therapy were regarded to be an option. In patients with potentially resectable tumours and synchronous liver metastases, most panel members did not see an indication to start with classical fluoropyrimidine-based RCT but rather favoured preoperative short-course radiotherapy with systemic combination chemotherapy or alternatively a liver-first resection approach in resectable metastases, which both allow optimal systemic therapy for the metastatic disease. In general, proper patient selection and discussion in an experienced multidisciplinary team was considered as crucial component of care

Resectable adenocarcinomas in the pancreatic head: the retroperitoneal resection margin is an independent prognostic factor

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease, and even after assumed margin-free pancreatoduodenectomy, most patients die within few years. The aims were to evaluate the importance of standardised histopathologic assessment for adequacy of reporting and survival estimates, and to report on prognostic factors in a setting of standardised histopathologic assessment. We performed immunohistochemical evaluation, slide review, and review of histopathologic reports from all pancreatoduodenectomies at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in 1980–2004. Reports from 1998-2004 at this institution were compared with reports from all other Norwegian institutions in the same period. Standardised histopathologic assessment and reporting was found necessary to avoid underestimation of poor prognostic factors, and to avoid misdiagnosis of tumours originating from non-pancreatic tissue (ampulla, distal bile duct, duodenum). Standardised histopathology was more important than surgical volume for completeness of reporting and for reliability of survival estimates, particularly with respect to lymph node evaluation. Immunostaining for MUC1 and MUC4 identified a subgroup of patients with particularly poor prognosis. Standardised histopathologic evaluation should be a first prerequisite to assure adequate histopathology after pancreatoduodenectomy. Immunostaining may identify tumour markers potentially targetable in future adjuvant treatments for pancreatic cancer

Double Diffraction Dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider

We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in $\bar pp$ collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width $\Delta\eta^0>3$ (overlapping $\eta=0$) is found to be $4.43\pm 0.02{(stat)}{\pm 1.18}{(syst) mb}$ [$3.42\pm 0.01{(stat)}{\pm 1.09}{(syst) mb}$] at $\sqrt{s}=1800$ [630] GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions based on Regge theory and factorization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Measurement of B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

We present a measurement of the ratio of top-quark branching fractions R= B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq), where q can be a b, s or a d quark, using lepton-plus-jets and dilepton data sets with integrated luminosity of ~162 pb^{-1} collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. The measurement is derived from the relative numbers of t-tbar events with different multiplicity of identified secondary vertices. We set a lower limit of R > 0.61 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published in Physical Review Letters; changes made to be consistent with published versio

Search for a Technicolor omega_T Particle in Events with a Photon and a b-quark Jet at CDF

If the Technicolor omega_T particle exists, a likely decay mode is omega_T -> gamma pi_T, followed by pi_T -> bb-bar, yielding the signature gamma bb-bar. We have searched 85 pb^-1 of data collected by the CDF experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron for events with a photon and two jets, where one of the jets must contain a secondary vertex implying the presence of a b quark. We find no excess of events above standard model expectations. We express the result of an exclusion region in the M_omega_T - M_pi_T mass plane.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures. Available from the CDF server (PS with figs): http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub98/cdf4674_omega_t_prl_4.ps FERMILAB-PUB-98/321-

Limits on Anomalous Triple Gauge Couplings in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present a search for anomalous triple gauge couplings (ATGC) in WW and WZ boson production. The boson pairs are produced in ppbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV, and the data sample corresponds to 350 pb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. In this search one W decays to leptons, and the other boson (W or Z) decays hadronically. Combining with a previously published CDF measurement of Wgamma boson production yields ATGC limits of -0.18 < lambda < 0.17 and -0.46 < Delta kappa < 0.39 at the 95% confidence level, using a cut-off scale Lambda=1.5 TeV.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Precision measurement of the top quark mass from dilepton events at CDF II

We report a measurement of the top quark mass, M_t, in the dilepton decay channel of $t\bar{t}\to b\ell'^{+}\nu_{\ell'}\bar{b}\ell^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\ell}$ using an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb^{-1} of p\bar{p} collisions collected with the CDF II detector. We apply a method that convolutes a leading-order matrix element with detector resolution functions to form event-by-event likelihoods; we have enhanced the leading-order description to describe the effects of initial-state radiation. The joint likelihood is the product of the likelihoods from 78 candidate events in this sample, which yields a measurement of M_{t} = 164.5 \pm 3.9(\textrm{stat.}) \pm 3.9(\textrm{syst.}) \mathrm{GeV}/c^2, the most precise measurement of M_t in the dilepton channel.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, version includes changes made prior to publication by journa

Cross Section Measurements of High-pTp_T Dilepton Final-State Processes Using a Global Fitting Method

We present a new method for studying high-$p_T$ dilepton events ($e^{\pm}e^{\mp}$, $\mu^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$, $e^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$) and simultaneously extracting the production cross sections of $p\bar{p} \to t\bar{t}$, $p\bar{p} \to W^+W^-$, and p\bar{p} \to \ztt at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV. We perform a likelihood fit to the dilepton data in a parameter space defined by the missing transverse energy and the number of jets in the event. Our results, which use $360 {\rm pb^{-1}}$ of data recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, are $\sigma(t\bar{t}) = 8.5_{-2.2}^{+2.7}$ pb, $\sigma(W^+W^-) = 16.3^{+5.2}_{-4.4}$ pb, and \sigma(\ztt) =291^{+50}_{-46} pb.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, to be submitted to PRD-R