Adjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab in renal cell carcinoma: real-world experiences from a retrospective, multi-institutional cohort.

Introduction: Adjuvant pembrolizumab versus placebo significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients at high risk of recurrence following nephrectomy in KEYNOTE-564 trial (NCT03142334). The objective of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of adjuvant pembrolizumab in a real-world setting.

Methods: In this multicenter retrospective study, RCC patients receiving adjuvant pembrolizumab between 01/22 and 10/23 at seven tertiary referral centers were included.

Prospective pharmacotyping of urothelial carcinoma organoids for drug sensitivity prediction - feasibility and real world experience.

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the urinary bladder has significant challenges in treatment due to its diverse genetic landscape and variable response to systemic therapy. In recent years, patient-derived organoids (PDOs) emerged as a novel tool to model primary tumors with higher resemblance than conventional 2D cell culture approaches. However, the potential of organoids to predict therapy response in a clinical setting remains to be evaluated.

Gender-Specific Differences in Recurrence and Progression following Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Instillation for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Introduction: To assess gender-specific differences in recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) among patients with intermediate or high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) receiving BCG was the primary aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: In July 2023, we performed a literature search using MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. This study was prospectively registered at PROSPERO (CRD 2023443269).

Impairment of α-tubulin and F-actin interactions of GJB3 induces aneuploidy in urothelial cells and promotes bladder cancer cell invasion.

Background: We have previously identified an unsuspected role for GJB3 showing that the deficiency of this connexin protein induces aneuploidy in human and murine cells and accelerates cell transformation as well as tumor formation in xenograft models. The molecular mechanisms by which loss of GJB3 leads to aneuploidy and cancer initiation and progression remain unsolved.

Methods: GJB3 expression levels were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot.