BACKGROUND: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is highest among the elderly. An important treatment modality is surgery. After surgery, due to poor functional recovery, some elderly have an increased risk for complications and prolonged length of hospital stay (LOS). Preoperative elevated levels …

Introduction: The implementation of oncology care pathways that standardize organizational procedures has improved cancer care in recent years. However, the involvement of “authentic” patients and caregivers in quality improvement of these predetermined pathways is in its infancy, especially the scholarly …

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to disentangle the impact of age and that of cancer diagnosis and treatment on functional status (FS) decline in older patients with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with breast and colorectal cancer aged 50-69years and aged ≥70years who had undergone …

Background Ethnic differences in colon cancer (CC) care were shown in the United States, but results are not directly applicable to European countries due to fundamental healthcare system differences. This is the first study addressing ethnic differences in treatment and survival for CC in the Netherlands. Methods Data …

Major resections for esophageal, gastric, hepatic, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer continue to be associated with a high peri-operative morbidity of up to 30%–40%. To a large extent, this morbidity is caused by infectious complications that add up to a considerable burden to patients and hospital costs. …

Aim Many long-term ostomates are ‘out-of-sight’ of healthcare, and it is unknown how ostomates deal with ostomy- related problems and how these problems affect their quality of life (QOL). The aim is to examine patient-related studies describing ostomy-related problems and their impact on the perceived …

Purpose With current diagnostic methods, the majority of patients with symptomatic colorectal anastomotic leakage (CAL) is identified approximately 1 week after operation. The aim of this study is to determine whether real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of Escherichia coli and …

This longitudinal study has examined the associations between perceived supportive and unsupportive spousal behavior and changes in distress in couples coping with cancer. We tested whether people relatively low in their sense of personal control were more responsive to spousal supportive and unsupportive …

Diet is a major factor in the etiology of colorectal cancer, with high fish consumption possibly decreasing colorectal cancer risk, as was shown in several observational studies. To date, no intervention trials have examined the possible beneficial effects of fish intake on colorectal cancer risk. The …