Consensus on management of castration-resistant prostate cancer on behalf of the Urological Tumours Working Group (URONCOR) of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology

Càncer de pròstata resistent a la castració; Oncologia de les radiacions; ConsensCáncer de próstata resistente a la castración; Oncología radioterápica; ConsensoCastration-resistant prostate cancer; Radiation oncology; ConsensusBackground: The knowledge in the field of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is developing rapidly, with emerging new therapies and advances in imaging. Nonetheless, in multiple areas there is still a lack of or very limited evidence, and clear guidance from clinicians regarding optimal strategy is required. Methods: A modified Delphi method, with 116 relevant questions divided into 7 different CRPC management topics, was used to develop a consensus statement by the URONCOR group. Results: A strong consensus or unanimity was reached on 93% of the proposed questions. The seven topics addressed were: CRPC definition, symptomatic patients, diagnosis of metastasis, CRPC progression, M0 management, M1 management and sequencing therapy, and treatment monitoring. Conclusions: The recommendations based on the radiation oncology experts' opinions are intended to provide cancer specialists with expert guidance and to standardise CRPC patient management in Spain, facilitating decision-making in different clinically relevant issues regarding CRPC patients

Cryopreservation of Brown Bear Skin Biopsies

Genetic resource banks and assisted reproductive technologies support the conservation of endangered or threatened species. In this study we assessed two procedures to cryopreserve skin biopsies from live brown bears. Skin biopsies were taken from six live, anesthetized brown bears. Single biopsies (n = 3) of each animal were cut into small pieces and assigned to one of the three experimental groups: freezing, vitrification, or untreated fresh. There were no differences on cell attachment. However, both freezing and fresh culture allowed for higher cell proliferation (p < 0.05) and less days to reach 70% to 80% confluence (p < 0.03) than vitrification. Skin biopsies from brown bears can be preserved long term, allowing fibroblasts to proliferate in culture. Slow freezing was effective to cryopreserve skin biopsies from brown bears

Flow cytometric cell cycle analysis of cultured brown bear fibroblast cells

The aim of this study was to assess by flow cytometry the cell cycle of brown bear fibroblast cells cultured under different growth conditions. Skin biopsies were taken in Cantabria (Spain) from a live, anaesthetized brown bear. DNA analysis was performed by flow cytometry following cell DNA staining with propidium iodide. Serum starvation increased (P < 0.01) the percentage of G0/G1 phase cells (92.7 0.86) as compared to cycling cells (39.7 0.86) or cells cultured to confluency (87.3 0.86). DMSO included for 48 h in the culture significantly increased (P < 0.01) the percentage of G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle at all concentrations used and decreased percentages of S phase in a dose-dependent fashion. Roscovitine increased the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle (P < 0.01) at 15 mM concentration. Interestingly, the G2/M stage significantly increased at 30 and 50 mM compared to the control and 15 mM (P < 0.02). The cell cycle of brown bear adult fibroblast cells can be successfully synchronized under a variety of culture conditions