High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector: Perspectives From Nonprofit Leaders and High-engagement Philanthropists

This report is the fourth one in a series produced by Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and Community Wealth Ventures. It presents new research and tools for advancing management practices in the non-profit sector through six dialogues with philanthropists and non-profit leaders who discuss their experiences. Prior reports in this series include: 'Venture Philanthropy 2002 : Advancing Nonprofit Performance through High-Engagement Grantmaking', 'Venture Philanthropy 2001 : the Changing Landscape' and 'Venture Philanthropy 2000 : Landscape and Expectations'. All of these are available at www.vppartners.or

Transanal endoscopic microsurgery: what indications in 2013?

Thanks to major advances in the field of surgical techniques and neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy, along with more accurate pre-operative staging tools and the widespread introduction of population-based screening programs, treatment of rectal cancer has been evolving over the past few decades, moving towards a more tailored approach. This has brought a shift in the treatment algorithm of benign rectal lesions and selected early rectal cancers, for which today transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) is accepted as an effective alternative to abdominal surgery. In 2013, topics of controversy are the role of TEM in the treatment of more advanced rectal cancers, in cases of complete pathological response after chemoradiation therapy and the role of TEM as a platform for single-port surgery and NOTES. This article reviews the current indications for TEM and the future perspectives of this approach in the treatment of rectal tumors