Translational cancer research: balancing prevention and treatment to combat cancer globally.

Cancer research is drawing on the human genome project to develop new molecular-targeted treatments. This is an exciting but insufficient response to the growing, global burden of cancer, particularly as the projected increase in new cases in the coming decades is increasingly falling on developing countries. The world is not able to treat its way out of the cancer problem.

Changes in bladder wall blood oxygen saturation in the overactive obstructed bladder.

Purpose: Several studies suggest that hypoxia of the bladder wall contributes to bladder dysfunction but the exact relation between bladder function and blood oxygen saturation, a surrogate marker for hypoxia, is not known. We determined bladder wall blood oxygen saturation in vivo in an animal model of bladder outlet obstruction to establish the exact relation between blood oxygen saturation and bladder function.

Materials And Methods: In 8 sham operated and 8 urethrally obstructed guinea pigs we measured blood oxygen saturation of the bladder wall by differential path length spectroscopy before surgery and 8 weeks postoperatively.

The Organization of European Cancer Institute Pathobiology Working Group and its support of European biobanking infrastructures for translational cancer research.

Background: Today's translational cancer research increasingly depends on international multi-center studies. Biobanking infrastructure or comprehensive sample exchange platforms to enable networking of clinical cancer biobanks are instrumental to facilitate communication, uniform sample quality, and rules for exchange.

Methods: The Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) Pathobiology Working Group supports European biobanking infrastructure by maintaining the OECI-TuBaFrost exchange platform and organizing regular meetings.

Changes in the penile arteries of the rat after fractionated irradiation of the prostate: a pilot study.

Introduction: External beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer leads to erectile dysfunction in 36%-43% of patients. The underlying mechanism is largely unknown, although some clinical studies suggest that the arterial supply to the corpora cavernosa is responsible. Two animal experimental studies reported on the effects of a single fraction of prostate irradiation on the penile structures.

The detrusor glycogen content of a de-obstructed bladder reflects the functional history of that bladder during PBOO.

Aims: To determine if detrusor glycogen content in a bladder after removal of a urethral obstruction reflects the situation of bladder dysfunction as it existed during the period of obstruction.

Methods: The glycogen content of the detrusor was scored using a Periodic Acid Schiff's (PAS) staining. It was related to the functional history of the bladder.

The effect of oxybutynin on structural changes of the obstructed guinea pig bladder.

Purpose: Oxybutynin is used clinically to lower intravesical pressure and detrusor overactivity. In vitro it inhibits stretch induced bladder smooth muscle cell proliferation. We tested whether oxybutynin also prevents hypertrophic bladder changes in vivo in a model of partial bladder obstruction.

Detrusor glycogen reflects the functional history of bladders with partial outlet obstruction.

Objective: To assess the relationship between glycogen content in bladder detrusor tissue and historical bladder function in a guinea-pig model of partial bladder outlet obstruction (PBOO).

Materials And Methods: In male immature guinea pigs PBOO was created with a silver ring around the proximal urethra; a control group had a sham operation for comparison. Longitudinal individual urodynamic data were obtained weekly, so that guinea pigs were killed at different levels of bladder dysfunction.

Tubular and interstitial nephrocalcinosis.

Purpose: We determined whether nephrocalcinosis is common and whether its detection is influenced by renal tissue processing.

Materials And Methods: Renal cortical and papillary tissue was obtained from the unaffected parts of 15 kidneys removed due to an oncological indication. The effect of tissue processing on the loss of crystals was studied in a kidney with nephrocalcinosis due to chronic pyelonephritis.

Discrimination between nontumor bladder tissue and tumor by Raman spectroscopy.

We have applied Raman spectroscopy to discriminate between nontumor and tumor bladder tissue and to determine the biochemical differences therein. Tissue samples from 15 patients were collected, and frozen sections were made for Raman spectroscopy and histology. Twenty-five pseudocolor Raman maps were created in which each color represents a cluster of spectra measured on tissue areas of similar biochemical composition.