Intact intestinal wound healing is the key to successful surgical therapy for colorectal cancer. In particular, healing of the sutures that reconnect the two intestinal ends after tumor resection is critical. However, the rate of leakage around these sutures (anastomotic leakage) remains high, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. The present project aims to investigate in detail the cellular processes during anastomotic healing. The focus is on investigating the role of the serosal intestinal wall layer and its resident cells, the mesothelial cells, in anastomotic healing and their potential utility for targeted treatments to prevent anastomotic leakage.

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