The impact of adhesions on operations and postoperative recovery in colon cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND: Many surgeons assume that adhesions encountered during surgery negatively influence surgical outcomes. This article attempts to assess the role adhesions have on outcomes of colon cancer surgery. METHODS: Records of 1,071 consecutive patients operated for colonic adenocarcinoma (2004-2011) were reviewed. Patients were assigned to 3 groups: no adhesions, any adhesions, or dense adhesions. Multivariate regression assessed the association between adhesions and the duration of surgery and stay as well as laparoscopic conversion and complication rates. RESULTS: Adhesions were encountered in 329 (30.7%) patients; 138 (12.8%) had dense adhesions. After correction for age and comorbidities, having adhesions was associated with longer surgeries (P < .001), longer hospital stays (P = .029), a borderline significantly higher conversion rate (P = .058), and a delayed return of bowel function (P = .037). Dense adhesions had stronger associations with surgical duration (P < .001), stay duration (P < .001), and conversion (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal adhesions independently put patients at risk for a longer and more complicated perioperative stay after colon cancer surgery.

NADP+ -dependent IDH1 R132 mutation and its relevance for glioma patient survival.

The isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation occurs in high frequency in glioma and secondary glioblastoma (GBM). Mutated IDH1 produces the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate rather than α-ketoglutarate or isocitrate. The oncometabolite is considered to be the major cause of the association between the IDH1 mutation and gliomagenesis. On the other hand, the IDH1 mutation in GBM is associated with prolonged patient survival. This association is not well understood yet but IDH1 involvement in epigenetic silencing of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair enzyme is considered to be an important mechanism. However, it was shown recently that the IDH1 mutation and MGMT silencing are independent prognostic factors. Here, we hypothesize that the IDH1 mutation reduces the capacity to produce NADPH and thus reduces the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species that are generated during irradiation and chemotherapy. IDH1 activity is responsible for two-thirds of the NADPH production capacity in normal brain, whereas the IDH1 mutation reduces this capacity by almost 40%. Therefore, we hypothesize that the reduced NADPH production capacity due to the IDH1 mutation renders GBM cells more vulnerable to irradiation and chemotherapy thus prolonging survival of the patients.