This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 104, organized in collaboration with the Society of Mucosal Immunology, and held in Saarbrucken, Germany, March 5-7 1998, is centered around the immunological mechanisms of mucosal protection and their disturbances leading to intestinal inflammation and destruction. This is a rapidly expanding field involving recent knowledge of basic immunology and cell biology as well as clinical observations. The conference and this book summarize very recent data in this field and suggest strategies for future research and clinical applications, and will be of interest to both basic scientists and clinicians.

Despite recent advances, the pathogenesis and therapy of various forms of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract remains problematical. Especially threatening is the possible complication of the development of a malignant growth, but the role of the chronic inflammatory process in this is not known. Three examples are: H. pylori-induced gastritis is associated with gastric lymphomas and carcinomas; there is an increased incidence of intestinal T-cell lymphomas in tropical sprue; and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly ulcerative colitis, are associated with an increased incidence of carcinoma. In this book, the Proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 81, held in Berlin, November 3-5, 1994, an extensive exchange of information and opinions between international experts yields a state-of-the-art consensus on practical procedures in diagnostics, prophylaxis and therapy.