Cutibacterium acnes-derived extracellular vesicles promote tumor growth in renal cell carcinoma

Jingushi K., Kawashima A., Tanikawa S., et al. Cutibacterium acnes-derived extracellular vesicles promote tumor growth in renal cell carcinoma. Cancer Science, (2024); https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.16202.Bacterial flora are present in various parts of the human body, including the intestine, and are thought to be involved in the etiology of various diseases such as multiple sclerosis, intestinal diseases, cancer, and uterine diseases. In recent years, the presence of bacterial 16S rRNA genes has been revealed in blood, which was previously thought to be a sterile environment, and characteristic blood microbiomes have been detected in various diseases. However, the mechanism and the origin of the bacterial information are unknown. In this study, we performed 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis of bacterial DNA in serum extracellular vesicles from five healthy donors and seven patients with renal cell carcinoma and detected Cutibacterium acnes DNA as a characteristic bacterial DNA in the serum extracellular vesicles of patients with renal cell carcinoma. In addition, C. acnes DNA was significantly reduced in postoperative serum extracellular vesicles from patients with renal cell carcinoma compared with that in preoperative serum extracellular vesicles from these patients and was also detected in tumor tissue and extracellular vesicles from tumor tissue-associated microbiota, suggesting an association between C. acnes extracellular vesicles and renal cell carcinoma. C. acnes extracellular vesicles were taken up by renal carcinoma cells to enhance their proliferative potential. C. acnes extracellular vesicles also exhibited tumor-promoting activity in a mouse model of renal cancer allografts with enhanced angiogenesis. These results suggest that extracellular vesicles released by C. acnes localized in renal cell carcinoma tissues act in a tumor-promoting manner

Liposarcoma of the spermatic cord associated with scrotum lipoma: A case report and review of the literature

Liposarcoma of the spermatic cord is a rare disease and often mistakenly diagnosed as inguinal hernia, hydrocele, and lipoma. We report the case of a 58-year-old man who presented with persistent discomfort and swelling on the left inguinal region. He was diagnosed with left scrotum lipoma when he was 12 years old. He underwent high orchiectomy and wide resection of the inguinal tumor. Histopathological examination revealed a well-differentiated liposarcoma of the spermatic cord with negative resection margin and scrotum lipoma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of liposarcoma of the spermatic cord with scrotum lipoma in English literature

A Rare Case of Vascular Leiomyosarcoma Originating from a Branch Vessel of the External Iliac Vein

Leiomyosarcoma arising from the external iliac vein is uncommon. This is a report of a 51-year-old Japanese man with venous leiomyosarcoma originating from a branch vessel of the left external iliac vein. The tumor was found during a medical examination, and the patient had no symptoms. Computed tomography showed a 72 × 49 mm mass adjacent to the left external iliac vein. The tumor was resected en-block along with ligation of the external iliac vein due to strong adhesion with the tumor. Histological examination showed venous leiomyosarcoma, and its origin was thought to be a branch vessel of the left external iliac vein. The patient has remained free from recurrence at 30 months after surgery

The presence of lymph node metastases and time to castration resistance predict the therapeutic effect of enzalutamide for castration-resistant prostate cancer

Background: Enzalutamide is effective against castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, it is unclear which patients would benefit more from enzalutamide treatment. Here, we analyzed patients who received enzalutamide as first-line therapy for CRPC and evaluated the factors that predict treatment response and prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 101 patients treated with enzalutamide for CRPC at our institution. As primary endpoints we regarded the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate and PSA–progression-free survival (PSA–PFS) from the start of enzalutamide treatment. Laboratory and imaging data were analyzed to predict treatment efficacy. Results: PSA reductions of ≥ 50% and ≥ 90% were observed in 78 (77%) and 47 (47%) patients, respectively, compared with the baseline. During the follow-up period, 67 (66%) patients showed PSA progression, with a median PSA–PFS of 11 months. Moreover, 31 patients (31%) died, with a median overall survival of 64 months. On multivariate analysis, lymph node metastases at the start of enzalutamide treatment [odds ratio (OR) 0.0575, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0105–0.316, p = 0.0010] and time to CRPC (OR 0.177, 95% CI 0.0428–0.731, p = 0.0167] were associated with ≥ 90% PSA response. Lymph node metastases (hazard ratio [HR] 3.00, 95% CI 1.48–6.09, p = 0.0023) and time to CRPC (HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.02–3.30, p = 0.0419) were also predictors of PSA–PFS on a multivariate model. Conclusions: Time to CRPC and lymph node metastasis were predictors of the PSA response rate and PSA–PFS.This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02288-5

The presence of lymph node metastases and time to castration resistance predict the therapeutic effect of enzalutamide for castration-resistant prostate cancer

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02288-5.Background: Enzalutamide is effective against castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, it is unclear which patients would benefit more from enzalutamide treatment. Here, we analyzed patients who received enzalutamide as first-line therapy for CRPC and evaluated the factors that predict treatment response and prognosis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 101 patients treated with enzalutamide for CRPC at our institution. As primary endpoints we regarded the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate and PSA–progression-free survival (PSA–PFS) from the start of enzalutamide treatment. Laboratory and imaging data were analyzed to predict treatment efficacy. Results: PSA reductions of ≥ 50% and ≥ 90% were observed in 78 (77%) and 47 (47%) patients, respectively, compared with the baseline. During the follow-up period, 67 (66%) patients showed PSA progression, with a median PSA–PFS of 11months. Moreover, 31 patients (31%) died, with a median overall survival of 64months. On multivariate analysis, lymph node metastases at the start of enzalutamide treatment [odds ratio (OR) 0.0575, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0105–0.316, p = 0.0010] and time to CRPC (OR 0.177, 95% CI 0.0428–0.731, p = 0.0167] were associated with ≥ 90% PSA response. Lymph node metastases (hazard ratio [HR] 3.00, 95% CI 1.48–6.09, p = 0.0023) and time to CRPC (HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.02–3.30, p = 0.0419) were also predictors of PSA–PFS on a multivariate model. Conclusions: Time to CRPC and lymph node metastasis were predictors of the PSA response rate and PSA–PFS

Comparative Effectiveness of Radiation Versus Radical Cystectomy for Localized Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Purpose: Radical cystectomy (RC) with neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the most commonly recommended treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), yet RC with urinary diversion remains an invasive treatment. Although some patients with MIBC gain good cancer control with radiation therapy (RT), its effectiveness remains under discussion. Therefore, we aimed to reveal the effectiveness of RT compared with RC for MIBC. Methods and Materials: Using cancer registry and administrative data from 31 hospitals in our prefecture, we recruited patients with bladder cancer (BC) initially registered between January 2013 and December 2015. All patients received RC or RT, and none had metastases. Prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank test. Propensity score matching between the RC and RT groups was performed to examine the association of each factor with OS. Results: Among the patients with BC, 241 received RC and 92 received RT. Median ages of the patients receiving RC and RT were 71.0 and 76.5 years, respectively. Five-year OS rates were 44.8% for patients receiving RC and 27.6% for patients receiving RT (P < .001). Multivariate analysis for OS showed that older age, poorer functional disability, clinical node positive, and pathology of nonurothelial carcinoma were significantly associated with worse prognosis. A propensity score-matching model identified 77 patients with RC and 77 with RT. In this arranged cohort, there were no significant differences in OS between the RC and RT groups (P = .982). Conclusions: Prognostic analysis with matched characteristics showed that patients with BC receiving RT were not significantly different from those receiving RC. These findings could contribute to proper treatment strategies for MIBC