News Items

More than 140,000 people in the United States are diagnosed annually with colorectal cancer.1 Unfortunately, ~25% to 40% will develop a tumor recurrence despite a potentially curative operation. Although it is well known that most recurrences occur within 5 years, the optimal strategy to accurately detect recurrences at the earliest stage remains controversial.

The current recommendations for follow-up surveillance include a combination of history and physical examination, laboratory evaluation, imaging, and endoscopy on slightly varying schedules depending on the organization and stage of disease.3–10 Further surveillance depends on the results of these examinations. Differing opinions also exist as to the cost-benefit as it relates to outcomes of high- versus low-intensity surveillance.2,11–28 Potential benefits of high-intensity surveillance include earlier detection of recurrence, higher rates of reoperation for cure, and improved overall and disease-specific survival. Yet, these conceivable benefits must be weighed against potential negative physical (ie, more invasive testing), financial, and psychological consequences of surveillance.

All ASCRS Clinical Practice Guidelines can be reviewed including the new Practice Guideline for the Surveillance of Patients After Curative Treament of Colon and Rectal Cancer.

The American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons are pleased to announce a shared scholarship open to US members in good standing of both organizations.

This scholarship supports attendance and participation in the "Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management," which will take place June 12-18, 2016, at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. Additional details are available on the Brandeis University website.

For your convenience the specific requirements for the Health Policy Scholarship are available in the scholarship flyer. The deadline for receipt of all application materials is February 1, 2016. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection committee's decision by March 31, 2016.

To Apply

Applications should be submitted as a single PDF file via email to: [email protected], with "Attn: ACS/ASCRS" as the subject line.

ACS/ASCRS 2016 Health Policy Scholarship Information and Requirements (PDF)

If you have not yet registered for the ASCRS 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting, you have until Thursday, May 16, to secure your spot online. You can still register after this date but will have to do so on site. Register now.

Quality Assessment and Safety Committee - Enhanced Recovery Overview

Currently, all parties – patients, payers, and providers are motivated (for different reasons) to optimize the speed and safety of patient recovery after abdominal surgery. The clinical and economic costs associated with delayed or sub-optimal recovery are staggering. Within the US, the costs associated with post-operative ileus alone are estimated at $1.5 billion per year. [1] Clearly, strategies that target and enhance post-operative recovery are worth consideration. To assist colon and rectal surgeons with this important topic, the Quality and Safety Committee has developed an Enhanced Recovery Overview document.

In the treatment of rectal cancer, colorectal surgeons exercise the greatest amount of clinical judgment, and work with the broadest range of other medical specialties. It is therefore appropriate that this topic be the first area for review. With this review, the committee covers several important, trending topics in the area of rectal cancer treatment, from the perspective of quality and patient safety.