Report from the 20th annual Western Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; 28-29 September 2018.

The 20th annual Western Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 28-29 September 2018. This interactive multidisciplinary conference is attended by health care professionals from across Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) who are involved in the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancers. In addition, invited speakers from other provinces participate. Surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists, and allied health care professionals participated in presentations and discussion sessions for the purpose of developing the recommendations presented here. This consensus statement addresses current issues in the management of colorectal cancers.

Haemocyte changes in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, caused by exposure to domoic acid in the diatom Pseudonitzschia pungens f. multiseries.

The physiological effects of domoic acid on the immune system of marine invertebrates, which are known to accumulate this neurotoxin, have not been investigated previously. Changes in the number and relative phagocytic activity of circulating haemocytes in Crassostrea gigas exposed to domoic acid in the diatom Pseudonitzschia pungens f. multiseries for 48 hr, followed by clearance for 240 hr, were investigated using chemiluminescence. An initial stress response to the toxin assimilation was characterized by a marked increase in number and activity of haemocytes with 4 hr of exposure to the algae. Although the toxin level in the oyster increased during the 48 hr exposure, both number and activity of haemocytes declined from the 4 hr peak values to those significantly lower than control values after 24 hr clearance. This suppression in number and activity of circulating haemocytes following the initial toxin response was rectified only after 48 hr clearance, when domoic acid levels in the oyster tissue had declined to trace levels, allowing blood cells to regain their normal characteristics.

Serum concentrations of 5-FU, ftorafur, and a major serum metabolite following ftorafur chemotherapy.

Daily 24-hour serum levels of ftorafur (FT), 5-FU, and a major FT metabolite, dehydroftorafur (DFT), were monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography as part of a phase I study designed to evaluate FT as a radiosensitizing 5-FU pro-drug in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers. At a daily iv bolus FT dose of 1.0 g/m2, 5-FU was not detected in serum concentrations above the reliable assay limits of approximately 25 ng/ml; FT did not generate the extracellular (serum) 5-FU concentrations required for sensitization by 5-FU per se. DFT was present in every patient serum tested and was confirmed to be a metabolite of FT by in vitro conversion to 5-FU. Chemical ionization solid-probe mass spectrometry of the DFT metabolite indicates the dehydro FT structure proposed by other researchers. In six of eight patients monitored, a consistent relationship was noted between serum levels of FT and DFT.