Piotr Spychalski, MD, PhD

Colorectal surgeon and clinical researcher · University Clinical Centre and Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland · Publications · Polski (informacje dla pacjentów)

Assistant Professor at the Department of Surgical Oncology, Transplant and General Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk (Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny), and general surgery specialist in the colorectal surgery unit of the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk. Scientific coordinator of the Laboratory of Research in Organ Medicine at the Medical University of Gdańsk.

Clinical practice

• Colon and rectal cancer: assessment and surgical treatment at the Colorectal Cancer Treatment Centre of the University Clinical Centre.
• Robotic and laparoscopic colorectal surgery: operations using the da Vinci system and laparoscopic technique.
• Early colorectal cancer: organ-preserving treatment within international clinical trials (ECOPOP project).
• Diverticular disease: surgery for recurrent and complicated disease.
• Stoma surgery: stoma formation, restoration of bowel continuity and management of complications, including high-output stoma.
• Proctology: including haemorrhoidal disease.

Clinical trials

Trials open to patients at the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk:

• ETHOS: early colon cancer; endoscopic full-thickness resection compared with surgery. National Principal Investigator for Poland. NCT06940947
• SCAR: cancer found after polyp removal; completion endoscopic treatment compared with surgery. NCT06057350
• STOP-HOS-1: prevention of high-output stoma after ileostomy formation. NCT06917963

Recruitment completed: PRISTINE, preventive negative pressure wound therapy compared with primary closure after emergency laparotomy for peritonitis (Principal Investigator; results being analysed; NCT05684198).
Ongoing: CORAL, comparing robotic and laparoscopic colon resection (Principal Investigator; funded by the Polish Medical Research Agency, 2026 to 2031).

Research

• Colorectal cancer screening and colonoscopy quality: co-author of the NordICC randomised trial and of analyses from the Polish Colonoscopy Screening Program (adenoma detection rate, BMI and colorectal cancer risk, screening safety).
• Organ-preserving treatment of early colorectal cancer: project lead at the Medical University of Gdańsk and co-applicant of the Horizon Europe project ECOPOP (grant 101156165, coordinated by the University of Oslo, 16 partners), which runs three randomised trials: ETHOS (NCT06940947), SCAR (NCT06057350) and T-REX (NCT07669298).
• Comparative-effectiveness trials in colorectal surgery: Principal Investigator of CORAL (COlon Resections: Assessing Robotic And Laparoscopic approach in textbook outcomes), funded by the Polish Medical Research Agency (ABM/2025/2).
• Perioperative outcomes: Principal Investigator of PRISTINE, negative pressure wound therapy after emergency laparotomy (NCT05684198), and of two studies of continuous glucose monitoring: CLUE after emergency laparotomy (NCT05641792) and CGM-CRC in colorectal cancer surgery (NCT06011473); STOP-HOS-1 trial of intensified omeprazole to prevent high-output ileostomy (NCT06917963); co-author of the Polish recommendations on prehabilitation (2023).
• Industry-sponsored studies: WoundWatch (WW001; sponsor CutoSense Oy), overall Principal Investigator, completed and published (NCT05805137); 09 AP ONCON (sponsor AronPharma), site Principal Investigator, completed and published (NCT06017661).

Selected publications

• Kaminski MF, Kalager M, Løberg M, …, Spychalski P, …, Bretthauer M. Long-term effects of colonoscopy screening on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality: a multicountry, population-based randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2026;407:1787-1795. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00508-8
• Pilonis ND, Spychalski P, Kalager M, et al. Adenoma detection rates by physicians and subsequent colorectal cancer risk. JAMA. 2025;333:400-407. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.22975
• Spychalski P, Połomska K, Pilonis ND. Minimum case volume recommendations for complex surgery. JAMA. 2026;335:822-823. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.24800
• Kobiela J, Spychalski P, Wieszczy P, et al. Mortality and rate of hospitalization in a colonoscopy screening program from a randomized health services study. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;18:1501-1508. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2019.09.010
• Spychalski P, Wieszczy P, Połomska K, et al. Mortality and rate of hospitalization stratified by patients' BMI in a colonoscopy screening. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2024;59:1259-1264. doi:10.1080/00365521.2024.2410795
• Spychalski P, Kobiela J, Wieszczy P, et al. Adenoma to colorectal cancer estimated transition rates stratified by BMI categories. Cancers. 2022;14:62. doi:10.3390/cancers14010062
• Spychalski P, Kobiela J, Wieszczy P, Kamiński MF, Reguła J. Clinical stages of colorectal cancer diagnosed in obese and overweight individuals in the Polish Colonoscopy Screening Program. United European Gastroenterol J. 2019;7:790-797. doi:10.1177/2050640619840451
• Sylwestrzak T, Ciosek M, Połomska K, Kobiela J, Spychalski P. Study of Treatment with Intensified Omeprazole to Prevent High-Output Stoma (STOP-HOS-1): trial protocol. J Clin Med. 2026;15:1841. doi:10.3390/jcm15051841
• Połomska K, Rybicka M, …, Kobiela J, Spychalski P. Single nucleotide polymorphisms as biomarkers of response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer: a systematic review. Cancers. 2025;17:3995. doi:10.3390/cancers17243995
• Patel A, Spychalski P, Corrao G, et al. Neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy with consolidation chemotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Oncol. 2021;60:1308-1316. doi:10.1080/0284186X.2021.1953137
• Spychalski P, Błażyńska-Spychalska A, Kobiela J. Estimating case fatality rates of COVID-19. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20:774-775. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30246-2

PubMed: 52 articles (12 as first author). Scopus: 55 documents, 629 citations, h-index 14. Total impact factor approx. 482. As of 26 September 2026.

All publications with plain-language summaries: Publications (po polsku). Master list: ORCID.

Education and qualifications

• Specialist in general surgery (2024); MD (2017) and PhD (2021), Medical University of Gdańsk; doctoral thesis on the epidemiology and diagnosis of colorectal cancer and its precursor lesions in the Polish Colonoscopy Screening Program, awarded with distinction.
• Postgraduate studies in practical coloproctology (Jagiellonian University, Kraków).
• da Vinci certification: surgical assistant (2025) and console surgeon (2026).
• Clinical Scholars Research Training, Harvard Medical School (2023 to 2024).
• ESOR Multidisciplinary Visiting Fellowship in colorectal cancer, Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam) and Maastricht UMC+ (2025).
• Research and clinical internships: Clinical Effectiveness Research Group, University of Oslo; Danish Centre for Particle Therapy, Aarhus University; Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Milan. Visiting professor, University of Milan (2023).
• Member of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP), European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO) and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

Awards and grants

• ESOR grant for the Multidisciplinary Visiting Fellowship (Amsterdam and Maastricht).
• Research Travel Grant, Excellence Initiative: Research University, Medical University of Gdańsk (research visit, University of Oslo).
• Award of the Medical University of Gdańsk for securing Horizon Europe funding.
• Distinction for the doctoral thesis, Council of Medical Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk.
• Special Award of the Rector of the Medical University of Gdańsk; first-degree Team Research Award of the Rector for research on the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.
• ISS/SIC Poster Prize, World Congress of Surgery, Kraków.
• ESMO Translational Research Unit Fellowship grant (Vienna); Aarhus University research internship grant; UEG travel grant (Evidence-Based Medicine course, Vienna); ESO-ESMO-RCE travel grant (Milan).
• Pro-quality scholarship, Medical University of Gdańsk (twice).

Courses

• ESCP Pre-Conference Course: Anal Fistula, full-day hands-on course, and 21st ESCP Scientific Meeting, Prague (2026).
• Scientific Writing in Medicine, Oslo University Hospital.
• ESMO Translational Research Unit visit, Vienna General Hospital (AKH Wien).
• 3rd ESO-ESMO-RCE Preceptorship and Clinical Update on Rare Adult Solid Cancers, Milan.
• Evidence-Based Medicine Course, United European Gastroenterology, Vienna.
• Medical Innovation Day, Aarhus.
• Certified Professional Product Manager, Product Academy.

Lectures, conferences and peer review

• Warsaw Live Endoscopy, National Cancer Institute, Warsaw: Programme Committee member (2025, 2026); lecture "Endoscopy in altered surgical anatomy" and session co-moderation (2026); video symposium on endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal fistulas (2025).
• Baltic Days of Clinical Radiology, Gdynia (2026): lecture "Colorectal cancer".
• Standing Out in Science: Building Your Career (2026): invited speaker.
• Multidisciplinary Academy of Dermatology and Allergology, Gdańsk: lecture on HPV and anal cancer (2026); workshop on the management of chronic ulcers (2025). 1st Baltic Forum of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Gdańsk (2025): workshops on chronic ulcers.
• Surgery 2025, Practical Medicine, Kraków: lecture "Anal precancerous lesions and cancer: when is it a job for the surgeon?" and panel discussion. Paediatrics 2024, Practical Medicine: expert lecture on HPV and anal cancer.
• 71st Congress of the Polish Surgical Society, Wrocław (2023); World Congress of Surgery, Kraków (2019): oral and poster presentations.
• Ostomy care training series, Coloplast: lecturer. Evidence-based medicine workshops and courses for medical students.
• Peer reviewer: Journal of Voice, Biology of Sex Differences, OncoTargets and Therapy, European Journal of Translational and Clinical Medicine; abstract reviewer, International Student Scientific Conference, Gdańsk (2026).

Teaching

SURGITOME: interactive 3D model of postoperative gastrointestinal anatomy for students and physicians.

Supervisor of the Student Scientific Circle of General Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk (2018 to 2022); assistant supervisor of two doctoral theses. Programme Committee member of Warsaw Live Endoscopy (2025, 2026).

Profiles

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