18th International Centre for Colorectal Meeting

The Centre for Colorectal Disease at St Vincent's Hospital was established to ensure integration of medical and surgical treatment, education and research relating to diseases of the colon and rectum - the large bowel - at St Vincent's University, St Michael's and St Vincent's Private Hospitals.
The Centre brings together the collective expertise of gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, radiologists, oncologists, pathologists, specialist nurses and dieticians to provide multidisciplinary care for patients supported by nursing and administrative staff.

L-R: Professor Diarmuid O'Donoghue, Professor John Armstrong, Professor John Hyland, Mr. Brendan Moran, Dr. Nicholas West, Dr. Glen Doherty, Professor Hugh Mulcahy, Professor Kieran Sheahan, Dr. David Fennelly.

The annual International meeting provides a forum to share the Centre's clinical and research experience with doctors, nurses, dieticians, scientists and students. The 18th meeting was held on 9th September with the theme 'Old problems - New solutions'. The title reflects the difficulties of and recent advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer at the two ends of the clinical spectrum: early disease in which minimal surgical techniques may be used to avoid major operations and advanced disease in which more radical surgery may achieve long term survival and even cure when it might not previously have been possible.

Each year notable international speakers are invited and the list includes some of the world's most highly regarded clinicians involved in colorectal diseases. This year Dr Nick West, a pathologist from Leeds in UK, spoke on how detailed assessment of tissues removed at the time of surgery can be used to predict cancer outcome and also act as a measure of quality assurance. Mr Jurgen Mulsow, just returned from a fellowship at the University of Erlangen, Germany, described ultra radical surgical techniques used in Erlangen to treat colon cancer, while Mr Dara Kavanagh, spoke on the St Vincent's experience in introducing more radical surgery for patients with advanced rectal cancer. Mr David Beddy, consultant surgeon, discussed the potentially curative effects of radiotherapy on rectal cancer, while Prof Des Winter considered whether it is possible to avoid removal of the rectum in certain patients with cancer. Dr Glen Doherty, consultant gastroenterologist, presented on new techniques for endoscopic removal of cancerous polyps and other early tumours. Such techniques are of particular importance in the treatment of tumours such as those identified by screening for colorectal cancer Ð soon to be introduced in Ireland.

The state of the art lecture was given by Mr Brendan Moran lead surgeon at the Colorectal Unit at Basingstoke Hospital, UK which is one of two only two centres in the UK or Ireland funded for the treatment of advanced intra-peritoneal malignancy due to carcinoma of the appendix. Every year 3 to 5 Irish patients are referred to Basingstoke for specialist treatment. Mr Moran presented data on recent advances in the surgical and oncological management of advanced peritoneal malignancy in patients with colon cancer, a situation that has up until now always been considered incurable.