Clinical relevance of seasonal changes in the prevalence of ureterolithiasis in the diagnosis of renal colic.

Ureterolithiasis is one of the most frequently diagnosed urologic diseases worldwide. Its annual incidence in Japan increased three-fold from 1965 to 2005. Ureterolithiasis incidence is affected by numerous factors, including race, sex, body weight, fluid intake, and climate.

Prognostic significance of serum neuron-specific enolase in small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Purpose: Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (SCCB) is known for its aggressive clinical features and poor prognosis. No prognostic factor has been established so far. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of possible prognostic factors, including serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), an established biomarker for small cell lung carcinoma.

Sleep Apnea and Circadian Extracellular Fluid Change as Independent Factors for Nocturnal Polyuria.

Purpose: We investigated the relationships among nocturnal polyuria, sleep apnea and body fluid volume to elucidate the pathophysiology of nocturia in sleep apnea syndrome.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 104 consecutive patients who underwent polysomnography for suspected sleep apnea syndrome. Self-assessed symptom questionnaires were administered to evaluate sleep disorder and lower urinary tract symptoms, including nocturia.

Impact of Gleason pattern 5 including tertiary pattern 5 on outcomes of salvage treatment for biochemical recurrence in pT2-3N0M0 prostate cancer.

Background: Gleason pattern 5 (GP5), including tertiary GP5, at radical prostatectomy has reportedly been associated with poorer clinical outcome. However, it is undetermined how tertiary GP5 is handled in the new Gleason grade grouping starting in 2016, and its prognostic value in patients undergoing salvage treatment for postoperative biochemical recurrence (BCR) remains unclear.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 116 patients with pT2-3N0M0 prostate cancer (PC) who received salvage treatment for BCR after radical prostatectomy between 2003 and 2014.

Symptoms at diagnosis as independent prognostic factors in retroperitoneal liposarcoma.

The prognostic factors of retroperitoneal liposarcoma have yet to be clearly determined due to its rarity, whereas the prognostic value of symptoms at diagnosis has never been evaluated to date. In this context, we reviewed 24 consecutive patients with primary retroperitoneal liposarcoma who underwent surgical resection with curative intent at our institution. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used to estimate progression-free survival (PFS; primary endpoint) and sarcoma-specific survival (SSS; secondary endpoint).

Clinicopathological analysis in patients with neuroendocrine tumors that metastasized to the brain.

Background: A neuroendocrine tumor (NET) can develop anywhere in the body, but is mainly found in the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. This report is a retrospective study of the clinicopathological features of NET patients with brain metastasis whose tissue diagnosis was made at our hospital.

Methods: Patients with brain metastasis evidenced by clinical records and images were accumulated among 302 patients in whom tissue diagnosis of NETs was made at our hospital between 2008 and 2013.

Measuring Contact Pressure of Lower Extremities in Patients Undergoing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy.

Introduction: Lower extremity neuropathy (LEN) is a well-recognized complication that arises during robotic surgeries in lithotomy-Trendelenburg position (L-T position). It is caused by persistent compression to the nerves. Our aim was to investigate the levels of compression to the nerves by measuring the contact pressure of the lower extremities in men undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Exploring the Utility of Logistic Mixed Modeling Approaches to Simultaneously Investigate Item and Testlet DIF on Testlet-based Data.

This study explored the utility of logistic mixed models for the analysis of differential item functioning when item response data were testlet-based. Decomposition of differential item functioning (DIF) into item level and testlet level for the testlet-based data was introduced to separate possible sources of DIF: (1) an item, (2) a testlet, and (3) both the item and the testlet. Simulation study was conducted to investigate the performance of several logistic mixed models as well as the Mantel-Haenszel method under the conditions, in which the item-related DIF and testlet-related DIF were present simultaneously.

[EXCISION OF GIANT PELVIC LIPOSARCOMA NECESSITATING FEMORAL-FEMORAL ARTERY BYPASS AND GAUZE PACKING FOR ILIAC ARTERY INVOLVEMENT AND MASSIVE PRE-SACRAL BLEEDING-A CASE REPORT].

The patient is a 43-year-old male, presented with numbness of the left lower extremities. Imaging studies showed a pelvic tumor 20 cm in diameter, involving the left ureter, left common iliac vessels, left internal and external iliac vessels, and inferior mesenteric artery, which was deemed unresectable. Tumor biopsy confirmed liposarcoma.

Adenocarcinoma at Anastomotic Site of Ureterosigmoidostomy Potentially of Urothelial Origin Spreading to the Upper Urinary Tract.

Ureterosigmoidostomy is associated with the risk of several late complications including cancer development at anastomotic sites. We present an unusual case with adenocarcinoma of the anastomotic site associated with multiple adenocarcinoma lesions in the upper urinary tract. A 69-year-old man complained of persistent melena and hematuria.

Toremifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, significantly improved biochemical recurrence in bone metastatic prostate cancer: a randomized controlled phase II a trial.

Backgrounds: Durability of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PC) is limited. Additional selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) may prolong the durability of ADT, because androgen and estrogen signaling drive PC progression.

Methods: Men with treatment-naïve bone metastatic PC were randomly assigned in 1:1:1 fashion to receive ADT, toremifene 60 mg plus ADT (TOPADT), or raloxifene 60 mg plus ADT (RAPADT).

Radical Prostatectomy versus External Beam Radiotherapy for cT1-4N0M0 Prostate Cancer: Comparison of Patient Outcomes Including Mortality.

Background: Although radical prostatectomy (RP) and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) have been considered as comparable treatments for localized prostate cancer (PC), it is controversial which treatment is better. The present study aimed to compare outcomes, including mortality, of RP and EBRT for localized PC.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 891 patients with cT1-4N0M0 PC who underwent either RP (n = 569) or EBRT (n = 322) with curative intent at our single institution between 2005 and 2012.

Validation of an educational program balancing surgeon training and surgical quality control during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Objectives: To establish a mentoring program that allows novice surgeons to use robotics while maintaining surgical quality during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Methods: A total of 242 cases of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy for patients with localized prostate cancer were considered for this study. Each novice surgeon carried out a step-by-step robot-assisted radical prostatectomy procedure by following technical checkpoints and time limits that were established on the basis of previous surgical performance by a mentor.

Lower ureteral lesion is an independent predictor of intravesical recurrence after radical nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Objective: To elucidate whether the lower ureteral lesion can predict subsequent intravesical recurrence (IVR) in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) who underwent radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 186 consecutive patients with UTUC who underwent RNU at our institution between 1996 and 2013. Associations of various clinicopathological factors with subsequent IVR were assessed.

Silencing of ATPase Inhibitory Factor 1 Inhibits Cell Growth via Cell Cycle Arrest in Bladder Cancer.

Objective: The role of the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) is inhibit the hydrolase activity of F1Fo-ATPase when oxidative phosphorylation is impaired. It has been demonstrated that IF1 is overexpressed in various carcinomas and mediates tumor cell activities, but the detailed mechanisms of IF1-mediated tumor progression and the link between IF1 and cell cycle progression remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate the potential role of IF1 in cell cycle progression of human bladder cancer (BCa).

Sarcopenia Evaluated Using the Skeletal Muscle Index Is a Significant Prognostic Factor for Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma.

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of sarcopenia (muscle loss) in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC), in a comparison of several methods of computed tomography (CT)-based evaluation of sarcopenia.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 100 patients with metastatic UC who underwent first-line systemic chemotherapy between 2003 and 2014. Sarcopenia was assessed by the following CT-based methods: skeletal muscle index (SMI), total psoas area (TPA), axial and/or transversal psoas thickness at the level of the third lumbar vertebrae, and axial and/or transversal psoas thickness at the umbilicus level (U-TPT).

Functional roles of bladder α1-adrenoceptors in the activation of single-unit primary bladder afferent activity in rats.

Objectives: To clarify the involvement of bladder α1-adrenoceptors (α1-ARs) in afferent pathways by investigating the effects of silodosin and BMY7378, selective α1A- or α1D-AR antagonists, respectively, on single-unit afferent nerve fibre activity (SAA) of the primary bladder afferent nerves and their relationship with bladder microcontractions in rats.

Materials And Methods: A total of 63 female Sprague-Dawley rats were anaesthetized with urethane. The SAA of Aδ and C fibres generated from the left L6 dorsal roots was determined using electrical stimulation of the left pelvic nerve and bladder distension.

The Utility of a Flexible Fluorescence-Cystoscope with a Twin Mode Monitor for the 5-Aminolevulinic Acid-Mediated Photodynamic Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic value of a new photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) system using 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) for the diagnosis of bladder tumors. To validate whether false-positive findings caused by tangent effects in PDD can be resolved, we compared diagnostic accuracies between the new PDD system and a conventional PDD system.

Patients And Methods: Among 30 transurethral bladder biopsies, 15 cases received ALA-PDD using rigid fluorescence cystoscopy (conventional PDD system), and flexible fluorescence cystoscopy with a twin mode monitor (new PDD system) was used in a separate set of 15 cases.

Sequential molecularly targeted drug therapy including axitinib for a patient with end-stage renal failure and metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

A 62-year-old male patient with end-stage renal disease and metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) was referred to our hospital. Sequential targeted therapy consisting of sorafenib, sunitinib, and everolimus was administered, but the patient's disease gradually progressed. Axitinib was subsequently administered at a decreased dose of 6 mg/day for 2 weeks, after which the dose was escalated to 10 mg/day.

Performance of 5-aminolevulinic-acid-based photodynamic diagnosis for radical prostatectomy.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether we could detect positive surgical margins during open and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy by 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) and mapping of red fluorescence in human prostate cancer cells.

Methods: All 52 patients were diagnosed with prostate cancer by biopsy. They had a positive core in the apex or highly suspicious positive margins.

Hydrodistension with or without fulguration of hunner lesions for interstitial cystitis: Long-term outcomes and prognostic predictors.

Aims: Hydrodistension of the bladder, with optional fulguration of Hunner lesions, is one of the recommended therapies for interstitial cystitis (IC). The aims of this study are to evaluate long-term outcomes of hydrodistension and identify outcome predictors.

Methods: The study cohort was 191 newly diagnosed IC patients (155 women and 36 men) who underwent hydrodistension with fulguration of Hunner lesions if detected between 2007 and 2013 at our institution.

Functional role of the transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) ion channel in the urinary bladder assessed by conscious cystometry and ex vivo measurements of single-unit mechanosensitive bladder afferent activities in the rat.

Objective: To evaluate the role of the transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) channel on bladder mechanosensory function by using L-menthol, a TRPM8 agonist, and RQ-00203078 (RQ), a selective TRPM8 antagonist.

Materials And Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. In conscious cystometry (CMG), the effects of intravesical instillation of L-menthol (3 mm) were recorded after intravenous (i.