Perineal discomfort in prostatic adenocarcinoma

We highlight the risk of missing a high-grade\ud (Gleason Grade 7/8) transition zone adenocarcinoma\ud in a patient presenting with perineal discomfort\ud on sitting

ADAM9 is highly expressed in renal cell cancer and is associated with tumour progression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><b>A D</b>isintegrin <b>A</b>nd <b>M</b>etalloprotease (ADAM) 9 has been implicated in tumour progression of various solid tumours, however, little is known about its role in renal cell carcinoma. We evaluated the expression of ADAM9 on protein and transcript level in a clinico-pathologically characterized renal cell cancer cohort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>108 renal cancer cases were immunostained for ADAM9 on a tissue-micro-array. For 30 additional cases, ADAM9 mRNA of microdissected tumour and normal tissue was analyzed via quantitative RT-PCR. SPSS 14.0 was used to apply crosstables (Fisher's exact test and χ²-test), correlations and univariate as well as multivariate survival analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ADAM9 was significantly up-regulated in renal cancer in comparison to the adjacent normal tissue on mRNA level. On protein level, ADAM9 was significantly associated with higher tumour grade, positive nodal status and distant metastasis. Furthermore, ADAM9 protein expression was significantly associated with shortened patient survival in the univariate analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ADAM9 is strongly expressed in a large proportion of renal cell cancers, concordant with findings in other tumour entities. Additionally, ADAM9 expression is significantly associated with markers of unfavourable prognosis. Whether the demonstrated prognostic value of ADAM9 is independent from other tumour parameters will have to be verified in larger study cohorts.</p

Combined expression of caveolin-1 and an activated AKT/mTOR pathway predicts reduced disease-free survival in clinically confined renal cell carcinoma

We previously reported that tumour-associated caveolin-1 is a potential biomarker in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), whose overexpression predicts metastasis following surgical resection for clinically confined disease. Much attention has recently focused on the AKT/mTOR pathway in a number of malignancies, including RCC. Since caveolin-1 and the AKT/mTOR signalling cascade are independently shown to be important regulators of tumour angiogenesis, we hypothesised that caveolin-1 interacts with the AKT/mTOR pathway to drive disease progression and metastasis in RCC. The aims of this study were to determine (i) the expression status of the activated AKT/mTOR pathway components (phosphorylated forms) in RCC and (ii) their prognostic value when combined with caveolin-1. Immunohistochemistry for caveolin-1, pAKT, pmTOR, pS6 and p4E-BP1 was performed on tissue microarrays from 174 clinically confined RCCs. Significantly decreased mean disease-free survival was observed when caveolin-1 was coexpressed with either pAKT (2.95 vs 6.14 years), pmTOR (3.17 vs 6.28 years), pS6 (1.45 vs 6.62 years) or p4E-BP1 (2.07 vs 6.09 years) than when neither or any one single biomarker was expressed alone. On multivariate analysis, the covariate of ‘caveolin-1/AKT' (neither alone were influential covariates) was a significant influential indicator of poor disease-free survival with a hazard ratio of 2.13 (95% CI: 1.15–3.92), higher than that for vascular invasion. Tumours that coexpressed caveolin-1 and activated mTOR components were more likely to be larger, higher grade and to show vascular invasion. Our results provide the first clinical evidence that caveolin-1 cooperates with an activated AKT/mTOR pathway in cancer and may play an important role in disease progression. We conclude that evaluation of the ‘caveolin-1/AKT/mTOR axis' in primary kidney tumours will identify subsets of RCC patients who require greater postoperative surveillance and more intensive treatment

Does the Presence of Median Lobe Affect Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy?

Purpose: To determine whether the presence of median lobe (ML) affects perioperative outcomes, positive surgical margin (PSM) rates, and recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Patients and Methods: We analyzed 1693 consecutive patients undergoing RARP performed by a single surgeon. Patients were analyzed in two groups based on the presence or not of a ML identified during RARP. Perioperative outcomes, PSM rates, and recovery of urinary continence were compared between the groups. Continence was assessed using validated questionnaires, and it was defined as the use of "no pads" postoperatively. Results: A ML was identified in 323 (19%) patients. Both groups had similar estimated blood loss, length of hospital stay, pathologic stage, complication rates, anastomotic leakage rates, overall PSM rates, and PSM rate at the bladder neck. The median overall operative time was slightly greater in patients with ML (80 vs 75 min, P < 0.001); however, there was no difference in the operative time when stratifying this result by prostate weight. Continence rates were also similar between patients with and without ML at 1 week (27.8% vs 27%, P = 0.870), 4 weeks (42.3% vs 48%, P = 0.136), 12 weeks (82.5% vs 86.8%, P = 0.107), and 24 weeks (91.5% vs 94.1%, P = 0.183) after catheter removal. Finally, the median time to recovery of continence was similar between the groups (median: 5 wks, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.41-5.59 vs median: 5 wks, CI 4.66-5.34; log rank test, P = 0.113). Conclusion: The presence of a ML does not affect outcomes of RARP performed by an experienced surgeon