Validation of a 3D-printed robot-assisted partial nephrectomy training model.

Objectives: Most renal tumours can be treated with a partial nephrectomy, with robot-assisted partial nephrectomy becoming the new gold standard. This procedure is challenging to learn in a live setting, especially the enucleation and renorraphy phases. In this study, we attempted to evaluate face, content, and preliminary construct validity of a 3D-printed silicone renal tumour model in robotic training for robot-assisted partial nephrectomy.

Chronic Kidney Disease and Pregnancy. Guideline of the DGGG, OEGGG, DGfN (S2k Level, AWMF Registry No. 015 - 090).

As diagnostic and therapeutic options have improved in recent years, women with limited renal function of varying etiologies are now able to become pregnant. Depending on the extent of disease and the patients' comorbidities, the care of these women can be especially challenging. This guideline aims to improve the interdisciplinary care offered to pregnant women with kidney disease.

Soluble syndecan-1 (SDC1) serum level as an independent pre-operative predictor of cancer-specific survival in prostate cancer.

Background: PSA-screening detects many cases of clinically non-aggressive prostate cancer (PC) leading to significant overtreatment. Therefore, pre-operatively available prognostic biomarkers are needed to help therapy decisions. Syndecan-1 (SDC1) is a promising prognostic tissue marker in several cancers including PC but serum levels of shedded SDC1-ectodomain (sSDC1) have not been assessed in PC.

Validation of the diagnostic and prognostic relevance of serum MMP-7 levels in renal cell cancer by using a novel automated fluorescent immunoassay method.

Purpose: Despite encouraging results in other cancers, in renal cell cancer, no consensus exists regarding the diagnostic and prognostic relevance of MMP-7. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic potential of serum MMP-7 levels in renal cell cancer. Furthermore, parallel to the widely used ELISA method, we tested a new, fluid-phase, fluorescent immunoassay (B.

Urachal Carcinoma of the Bladder: Impact of Clinical and Immunohistochemical Parameters on Prognosis.

Purpose: Urachal carcinoma of the bladder is a rare malignancy. Its histological phenotype is similar to that of primary bladder and colorectal adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to explore the expression and prognostic relevance of 6 select protein markers of urachal carcinoma of the bladder, including p53, Ki67, RHAMM, BGN, IMP3 and MMP-7, which were formerly shown to be prognostic in urothelial carcinoma and colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Circulating and Tissue Expression Levels of YKL-40 in Renal Cell Cancer.

Purpose: Blood levels of YKL-40 are elevated in various malignancies and other inflammatory diseases. Higher YKL-40 levels have consequently been shown to correlate with poor prognosis in several cancers. We investigated the prognostic value of circulating and tissue levels of YKL-40 in renal cell cancer.

Risk and timing of biochemical recurrence in pT3aN0/Nx prostate cancer with positive surgical margin - A multicenter study.

Background And Purpose: Positive surgical margins (PSM) after radical prostatectomy have been shown to be associated with impaired outcome. In pT3pN0 patients with PSM either immediate radiotherapy or clinical and biological monitoring followed by salvage radiotherapy is recommended by the latest guidelines of the European Association of Urology.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective, multicenter study of eight urological centers was conducted on 536 prostatectomy patients with pT3aN0/NxR1 tumors and no neoadjuvant/adjuvant therapy.

Self-adjuvanted mRNA vaccination in advanced prostate cancer patients: a first-in-man phase I/IIa study.

Background: CV9103 is a prostate-cancer vaccine containing self-adjuvanted mRNA (RNActive®) encoding the antigens PSA, PSCA, PSMA, and STEAP1. This phase I/IIa study evaluated safety and immunogenicity of CV9103 in patients with advanced castration-resistant prostate-cancer.

Methods: 44 Patients received up to 5 intra-dermal vaccinations.

Mistletoe Plant Extract in Patients with Nonmuscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: Results of a Phase Ib/IIa Single Group Dose Escalation Study.

Purpose: We determined the maximum tolerated dose, safety and effectiveness of intravesical instillation of mistletoe extract after transurethral resection of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer.

Materials And Methods: In this single group dose escalation study patients with nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer were treated with weekly instillations of mistletoe extract for 6 weeks. Four weeks before instillation therapy all patients underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumors.

Second-Line Treatment of Advanced Urothelial Cancer with Paclitaxel and Everolimus in a German Phase II Trial (AUO Trial AB 35/09).

Objective: The efficacy of second-line treatment after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial cancer is limited. Based on encouraging preclinical and clinical phase I data, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of the combination of paclitaxel and everolimus in these patients.

Methods: In this trial, patients having failed to respond to prior platinum-based combination treatment of urothelial cancer were treated with paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2) i.

Renal cell carcinoma and tumour thrombus in the inferior vena cava: clinical outcome of 98 consecutive patients and the prognostic value of preoperative parameters.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of patients after nephrectomy and removal of tumour thrombus and to assess the prognostic value of preoperative parameters.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-eight patients who were surgically treated between 2002 and 2011 were included. Patients' charts were reviewed, and patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and concomitant tumour thrombus in the renal vein (RV) were compared with those with extended inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombus.

Prognostic effect of serum and tissue YKL-40 levels in bladder cancer.

Objectives: YKL-40 is a novel inflammatory serum protein shown to be associated with the presence and prognosis of several malignancies. However, its prognostic relevance has not yet been analyzed in bladder cancer (BC). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the tissue, serum, and urinary levels of YKL-40 and their prognostic value in BC.

Enhanced stromal syndecan-1 expression is an independent risk factor for poor survival in bladder cancer.

In this study, we assessed the changes and prognostic relevance of syndecan-1 (SDC1) tissue and serum levels in bladder cancer (BC). SDC1 levels were analyzed in 213 samples (119 paraffin-embedded and 79 serum samples of BC patients and 15 controls) using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up data, as well as previously determined serum levels of angiogenic factors (basic fibroblast growth factor, endostatin, angiostatin, angiopoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor, Tie2 and MMP-7).

Prognostic value of tissue and circulating levels of IMP3 in prostate cancer.

Tissue levels of the oncofetal protein insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) messenger RNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3) have been associated with poor prognosis in multiple human malignancies. However, its circulating levels have not yet been analyzed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of both serum and tissue levels of IMP3 in prostate cancer (PC).

Inhibitory role of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan biglycan in bladder cancer.

Background: Urothelial bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer. Despite surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment the prognosis is still poor once bladder cancer progresses to a muscle-invasive state. Discovery of new diagnostic markers and pathophysiologic effectors might help to contribute to novel diagnostic and therapeutic options.

The impact of the receptor of hyaluronan-mediated motility (RHAMM) on human urothelial transitional cell cancer of the bladder.

Unlabelled: Hyaluronan (HA) is a carbohydrate of the extracellular matrix with tumor promoting effects in a variety of cancers. The present study addressed the role of HA matrix for progression and prognosis of human bladder cancer by studying the expression and function of HA-related genes.

Methods: Tissue samples of 120 patients with different stages of transitional cell bladder cancer, who underwent surgical treatment for bladder cancer at the University Hospital of Essen were analysed.

Prospective randomized double-blind multicentre phase II study comparing gemcitabine and cisplatin plus sorafenib chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin plus placebo in locally advanced and/or metastasized urothelial cancer: SUSE (AUO-AB 31/05).

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine and cisplatin in combination with sorafenib, a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor, compared with chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment in advanced urothelial cancer.

Patients And Methods: The study was a randomized phase II trial. Its primary aim was to show an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) of 4.

Circulating angiostatin, bFGF, and Tie2/TEK levels and their prognostic impact in bladder cancer.

Objective: To assess the role and prognostic significance of angiostatin, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and tyrosine endothelial kinase (TEK/Tie2) in transitional cell bladder carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: Angiostatin, bFGF, and TEK serum concentrations were measured in 82 bladder cancer patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results were compared with clinicopathologic and follow-up data with the Mann-Whitney U test and Kaplan-Meier, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses.

High insulin-like growth factor mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3) protein expression is associated with poor survival in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Unlabelled: What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Insulin-like growth factor mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3) is an oncofetal protein found to be re-expressed in a series of human cancers including bladder cancer. In vitro analyses showed an invasion and proliferation promoting effect for IMP3. Further in vitro studies suggested that IMP3 is able to bind to the mRNAs of CD44 and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), enhancing their stability and expression.

Serum endostatin levels correlate with enhanced extracellular matrix degradation and poor patients' prognosis in bladder cancer.

Endostatin, the proteolytic fragment of collagen XVIII, is an inhibitor of angiogenesis and tumor growth. Interestingly, elevated circulating endostatin levels have been found to correlate with poor patients' prognosis in several cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of endostatin in bladder cancer (BC) and to gain insight into the mechanisms involved in its production.

Matrix metalloproteinases and their clinical relevance in urinary bladder cancer.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have important roles in several cancer-supporting cellular processes, such as extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, angiogenesis, apoptosis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cell proliferation. This broad range of activity has led to considerable interest in the use of MMPs in the clinical setting as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers and as therapeutic targets. Levels of the different MMPs can be measured in several sample types, including paraffin-embedded or fresh frozen tissue, serum, plasma and urine, and by various analytical methodologies, such as immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR, western and northern blot analyses, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and zymography.

PSA quo vadis? It is reasonable to start with prostate-specific antigen testing at the age of 40!

Background: It is common to start with PSA (prostate-specific antigen)-testing at the age of 50. If patients with a PSA value greater than 4 ng/mL should be considered for prostate biopsy, approximately 20% of all men undergoing test are considered for biopsy at the time of first early-detection examination.

Methods: We have screened 2,592 asymptomatic men younger than 45 years.

Validation of circulating MMP-7 level as an independent prognostic marker of poor survival in urinary bladder cancer.

Molecular marker analyses aiming a more accurate disease characterization and risk stratification of cancer patients provided several promising marker candidates in the last few years. However, recent reviews underlined the paramount importance of validation, since many of the initially promising results could not be confirmed in independent patient cohorts. If serum or plasma is a more appropriate sample to test for prognostic markers is a matter of debate.

Correlation of pathological and cytological-cytometric grading of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract.

Introduction: Cystoscopy and cytology are standard procedures for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with bladder cancer. Urinary cytodiagnosis is a descriptive method for tumor characterization. We correlated histopathologic diagnosis of noninvasive urothelial carcinomas with cytological evaluation and, furthermore, we validated cytology by cytometric analysis.

Alterations in the tumor suppressor gene p16(INK4A) are associated with aggressive behavior of penile carcinomas.

Alterations in the p16/cyclinD1/Rb and ARF/Mdm2/p53 pathways are frequent events in the pathogenesis of squamous cell carcinomas. Different mechanisms of p16 regulation have been described for penile carcinomas so far. Therefore, expression of p16 and p53 was immunohistochemically detected with monoclonal antibodies in 52 primary invasive penile squamous cell carcinomas.