Probiotic agents have been shown to have significant clinical beneficial effects in the prevention and management of gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal conditions. These observations have led to work demonstrating that an important mechanism of these agents is their close interaction with the gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and suggested immunomodulatory effects on systemic immune ...

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are relatively rare neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract originating from the pluripotential mesenchymal stem cells, which differentiate into interstitial Cajal cells. They are usually located in the upper gastrointestinal track. These tumors are typically defined by the expression of c-KIT (CD117) and CD34 proteins in the tumor cells. A small percenta...

The efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment of colorectal cancer is challenged by severe gastrointestinal side effects, which include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. These symptoms can persist long after the treatment has been ceased. An emerging concept is the ability of platinum-based drugs to stimulate immunity, which is in contrast to conventional chemotherapeutic agents that a...

CONTEXT Gastrointestinal promotility agents may improve tolerance to enteral nutrition, reduce gastroesophageal reflux and pulmonary aspiration, and therefore have the potential to improve outcomes of critically ill patients. OBJECTIVE To systematically review and critically appraise studies of promotility agents in the critical care setting. DATA SOURCES Computerized bibliographic search o...

Major differences are evident between Japanese and Western practice in the prevention of gastrointestinal injury caused by low-dose aspirin (LDA) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The proportion of physicians prescribing gastroprotective agents with NSAIDs and LDA with the aim of preventing gastrointestinal injury is 77% in Japan and between 7084% in Spain, showing the great ma...

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal cancers are among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In different tumor types, personalized systemic treatment strategies based upon biomarker-selection were established over the last years. Although there is a flood of targeted agents in clinical development, only a few targeted agents with a predictive biomarker could be established for the trea...