Primary melanoma of the prostate: case report and review of the literature

Background: Primary melanoma of the prostate has an extremely rare incidence. Only five cases have been reported in the literature and prognosis is poor. The most likely origin of prostatic melanoma is the transitional epithelium of the prostatic urethra. Surgical care for primary melanoma of mucosal sites is less well established than for primary cutaneous melanoma, but excision of the primary is recommended if the patient has no systemic disease. Case presentation: Here, we describe a case of primary malignant melanoma of the prostate. A 37-year-old male patient with history of both chemo- and radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s disease was admitted to the University Hospital Heidelberg on suspicion of pleomorphic sarcoma of the bladder. In-house diagnostic work-up revealed a malignant melanoma of the prostate. We then performed radical prostatectomy with extended lymphadenectomy. Despite presumably curative surgery, the patient suffered from early relapse of disease with pulmonary metastasis. Systemic chemotherapy and subsequent immuno-oncologic treatment was thereafter initiated. Conclusion: Since prostatic melanoma is a rare disease and a melanoma metastasis of unknown primary is the differential diagnosis, a multidisciplinary approach including early imaging to rule out possible metastases and to search for another potentially existing primary is advisable. To prevent complications related to local tumor progression and to receive tissue for mutational analysis, we recommend complete surgical resection to reduce the tumor mass. Novel immune and targeted oncologic therapies can lead to an improved survival in some cases and support of clinical trials is needed

Quality of life and functional outcome after infravesical desobstruction and HIFU treatment for localized prostate cancer

Background: To evaluate quality of life, functional and oncological outcome after infravesical desobstruction and HIFU treatment for localized prostate cancer. Methods: One hundred thirty-one patients, treated with TURP and HIFU in a single institution were followed up for oncological and functional outcome. Oncological outcome was quantified by biochemical recurrence free survival using the Stuttgart and Phoenix criteria. Quality of life was assessed by usage of standardized QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25 questionnaires. In addition, functional questionnaires such as IPSS and IIEF-5 were used. Complications were assessed by the Clavien-Dindo classification. Results: One hundred thirty-one patients with a mean age of 72.8 years (SD: 6.0) underwent HIFU for prostate cancer (29.0% low risk, 58.8% intermediate risk, 12.2% high risk). PSA nadir was 0.6 ng/ml (SD: 1.2) after a mean of 4.6 months (SD: 5.7). Biochemical recurrence free survival defined by Stuttgart criteria was 73.7%, 84.4% and 62.5% for low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients after 22.2 months. Complications were grouped according to Clavien-Dindo and occurred in 10.7% (grade II) and 11.5% (grade IIIa) of cases. 35.1% of patients needed further treatment for bladder neck stricture. Regarding incontinence, 14.3%, 2.9% and 0% of patients had de novo urinary incontinence grade I°, II° and III° and 3.8% urge incontinence due to HIFU treatment. Patients were asked for the ability to have intercourse: 15.8%, 58.6% and 66.7% of patients after non-, onesided and bothsided nervesparing procedure were able to obtain sufficient erection for intercourse, respectively. Regarding quality of life, mean global health score according to QLQ-C30 was 69.4%. Conclusion: HIFU treatment for localized prostate cancer shows acceptable oncological safety. Quality of life after HIFU is better than in the general population and ranges within those of standard treatment options compared to literature. HIFU seems a safe valuable treatment alternative for patients not suitable for standard treatment

Multicentre evaluation of targeted and systematic biopsies using magnetic resonance and ultrasound image-fusion guided transperineal prostate biopsy in patients with a previous negative biopsy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the detection rates of targeted and systematic biopsies in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US) image-fusion transperineal prostate biopsy for patients with previous benign transrectal biopsies in two high-volume centres. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A two centre prospective outcome study of 487 patients with previous benign biopsies that underwent transperineal MRI/US fusion-guided targeted and systematic saturation biopsy from 2012 to 2015. Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) was reported according to Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) Version 1. Detection of Gleason score 7-10 prostate cancer on biopsy was the primary outcome. Positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values including 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. Detection rates of targeted and systematic biopsies were compared using McNemar's test. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) PSA level was 9.0 (6.7-13.4) ng/mL. PI-RADS 3-5 mpMRI lesions were reported in 343 (70%) patients and Gleason score 7-10 prostate cancer was detected in 149 (31%). The PPV (95% CI) for detecting Gleason score 7-10 prostate cancer was 0.20 (±0.07) for PI-RADS 3, 0.32 (±0.09) for PI-RADS 4, and 0.70 (±0.08) for PI-RADS 5. The NPV (95% CI) of PI-RADS 1-2 was 0.92 (±0.04) for Gleason score 7-10 and 0.99 (±0.02) for Gleason score ≥4 + 3 cancer. Systematic biopsies alone found 125/138 (91%) Gleason score 7-10 cancers. In patients with suspicious lesions (PI-RADS 4-5) on mpMRI, systematic biopsies would not have detected 12/113 significant prostate cancers (11%), while targeted biopsies alone would have failed to diagnose 10/113 (9%). In equivocal lesions (PI-RADS 3), targeted biopsy alone would not have diagnosed 14/25 (56%) of Gleason score 7-10 cancers, whereas systematic biopsies alone would have missed 1/25 (4%). Combination with PSA density improved the area under the curve of PI-RADS from 0.822 to 0.846. CONCLUSION: In patients with high probability mpMRI lesions, the highest detection rates of Gleason score 7-10 cancer still required combined targeted and systematic MRI/US image-fusion; however, systematic biopsy alone may be sufficient in patients with equivocal lesions. Repeated prostate biopsies may not be needed at all for patients with a low PSA density and a negative mpMRI read by experienced radiologists.N. Hansen has received a research grant from RWTH Aachen University Hospital (Aachen, Germany). T. Barrett acknowledges support from Cancer Research UK, National Institute of Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cancer Research UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Imaging Centre in Cambridge and Manchester and the Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre. A. Warren acknowledges support from the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre UK. C. Kastner acknowledges that he has received speaker or mentorship fees from Siemens Healthcare and MedCom GmbH. The Department of Urology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK, also received sponsorship of various industry for organising Prostate MRI workshops. B. Hadaschik acknowledges support from the German Research Foundation

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) expression is an independent prognostic factor in renal cell carcinoma

Background: The enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) gene exerts oncogene-like activities and its (over)expression has been linked to several human malignancies. Here, we studied a possible association between EZH2 expression and prognosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: EZH2 protein expression in RCC specimens was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray (TMA) containing RCC tumor tissue and corresponding normal tissue samples of 520 patients. For immunohistochemical assessment of EZH2 expression, nuclear staining quantity was evaluated using a semiquantitative score. The effect of EZH2 expression on cancer specific survival (CSS) was assessed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: During follow-up, 147 patients (28%) had died of their disease, median follow-up of patients still alive was 6.0 years (range 0 - 16.1 years). EZH2 nuclear staining was present in tumor cores of 411 (79%) patients. A multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that high nuclear EZH2 expression was an independent predictor of poor CSS (>25-50% vs. 0%: HR 2.72, p = 0.025) in patients suffering from non-metastatic RCC. Apart from high nuclear EZH2 expression, tumor stage and Fuhrman's grading emerged as significant prognostic markers. In metastatic disease, nuclear EZH2 expression and histopathological subtype were independent predictive parameters of poor CSS (EZH2: 1-5%: HR 2.63, p = 0.043, >5-25%: HR 3.35, p = 0.013, >25%-50%: HR 4.92, p = 0.003, all compared to 0%: HR 0.36, p = 0.025, respectively). Conclusions: This study defines EZH2 as a powerful independent unfavourable prognostic marker of CSS in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic RCC

Prediction of Locally Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder Using Clinical Parameters before Radical Cystectomy - A Prospective Multicenter Study

Introduction: We aimed at developing and validating a pre-cystectomy nomogram for the prediction of locally advanced urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) using clinicopathological parameters. Materials and Methods: Multicenter data from 337 patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) for UCB were prospectively collected and eligible for final analysis. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied to identify significant predictors of locally advanced tumor stage (pT3/4 and/or pN+) at RC. Internal validation was performed by bootstrapping. The decision curve analysis (DCA) was done to evaluate the clinical value. Results: The distribution of tumor stages pT3/4, pN+ and pT3/4 and/or pN+ at RC was 44.2, 27.6 and 50.4%, respectively. Age (odds ratio (OR) 0.980; p < 0.001), advanced clinical tumor stage (cT3 vs. cTa, cTis, cT1; OR 3.367; p < 0.001), presence of hydronephrosis (OR 1.844; p = 0.043) and advanced tumor stage T3 and/or N+ at CT imaging (OR 4.378; p < 0.001) were independent predictors for pT3/4 and/or pN+ tumor stage. The predictive accuracy of our nomogram for pT3/4 and/or pN+ at RC was 77.5%. DCA for predicting pT3/4 and/or pN+ at RC showed a clinical net benefit across all probability thresholds. Conclusion: We developed a nomogram for the prediction of locally advanced tumor stage pT3/4 and/or pN+ before RC using established clinicopathological parameters

Renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena cava involvement: Prognostic effect of tumor thrombus consistency on cancer specific survival: Tumor Thrombus Consistency and Survival

Renal cell carcinoma forming a venous tumor thrombus (VTT) in the inferior vena cava (IVC) has a poor prognosis. Recent investigations have been focused on prognostic markers of survival. Thrombus consistency (TC) has been proposed to be of significant value but yet there are conflicting data. The aim of this study is to test the effect of IVC VTT consistency on cancer specific survival (CSS) in a multi-institutional cohort