Efficacy and safety of TachoSil as haemostatic treatment versus standard suturing in kidney tumour resection: a randomised prospective study.

Objective: Elective nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has gained general acceptance as an alternative to radical nephrectomy. To achieve haemostasis without risk of local ischaemia and necrosis of kidney parenchyma after standard haemostatic suturing, we investigated TachoSil's efficacy and safety as atraumatic haemostatic treatment after kidney tumour resection.

Methods: A total of 185 patients scheduled for NSS for small, superficial kidney tumours were included in an open, randomised, prospective, multicentre, parallel-group trial.

Pre-analytical problems in the measurement of tumor type pyruvate kinase (tumor M2-PK).

Introduction: Tumor M2-PK is an isoform of the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase. This isoform exists in an active tetrameric and less active dimeric form. The dimeric form is expressed by various tumor cells and can be measured in blood by a specific ELISA.

Serologic angiogenesis factors and microvascular density in renal cell carcinoma: two independent parameters.

Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) is characterized by high intratumoral microvascular density (iMVD) and significantly elevated serologic titers of angiogenesis factors, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (vEGF) and angiogenin (Ag). The goal of the present study was to find whether a correlation exists between any of these factors and intratumoral microvascular density (iMVD). Serologic angiogenesis factors were determined directly before nephrectomy of a tumorous kidney in 12 patients (average age: 67.