What is the magic number then? It seems that

we have a reasonable consensus – the 12 nodes are the accepted minimum worldwide. Our task is though to try achieve this number in all of the cancer resection cases in every hospital. The data of compliance with this from the earlier literature seems rather bleak (9), but improvements have been made. The review article of Denham et al. concludes that 12-15 lymph nodes, as currently suggested by CAP is appropriate. The question might arise – what is the significance of this all? Why are we chasing numbers? Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The ultimate aim is to achieve the best available treatment for everyone. This is only possible though, if we pay attention to all the details, collect and evaluate the evidence, then apply it carefully in practice. In addition, proper statistics need to be applied in order to draw the right conclusion. If we all provide more accurate staging information, our conclusions and follow-ups of the different stages will be more Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical clear, and this will benefit all, and the review article has examined all of the relevant aspects in detail. Acknowledgements Disclosure: The author declares no conflict of interest.
A 64-year-old man with known Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Neurofibromatosis type 1 was brought to the hospital after he was found unconscious and pulseless. He had multiple cutaneous neurofibromas (Figure 1). He

was revived with CPR and defibrillation. He then underwent cardiac catheterization which revealed three-vessel coronary artery disease and was recommended to undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. During the course of acute management, CT scans of the thorax and the abdomen and pelvis were obtained to rule Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical out any hemorrhage or aortic dissection. Note was made of a large inhomogeneous pelvic mass with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical dimensions of 8.6 cm × 10 cm × 7.8 cm (Figure 2). A CT-guided biopsy of the mass revealed palisaded-appearing long spindle cells (Figure 3). A schwannoma was considered on morphologic grounds, but an S-100 stain was negative. There was focal, weak staining for smooth muscle actin (SMA). The neoplastic cells

were strongly and diffusely positive for CD117 (c-KIT) (Figure 4) and CD34 (Figure 5), indicating a GIST. The KIT and PDGFR mutations were found to be negative on the mutational isothipendyl analysis. The tumor was considered to be marginally resectable and so the patient was ERK inhibitor research buy started on imatinib 400 mg daily with the hope of making subsequent surgery feasible. A repeat CT abdomen/pelvis done after 3 months of imatinib therapy, showed multiple foci of air suggestive of necrosis, though the size of the tumor remained stable. The tumor was then resected en-bloc. A cavity was noted within the tumor along with fistula formation necessitating excision of part of the small intestine. After the surgery he was restarted on imatinib 400 mg daily with surveillance CT scans planned every six months.