Metastasis of malignant melanoma to urinary tract: a case report.

Introduction: Metastasis of malignant melanoma to urinary tract is reported to be rare. According to retrospective analysis of a single center study, improvement of overall survival was observed in patients with metastasis to the gastrointestinal tract that had undergone metastasectomy with curative intent. However, there is no significant evidence regarding resection for metastasis to urinary tract.

Association between Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment Outcomes and Body Composition Factors in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients.

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC); however, validating body composition-related biomarkers for their efficacy remains incomplete. We evaluated the association between body composition-related markers and the prognosis of patients with mRCC who received ICI-based first-line therapies.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively investigated 60 patients with mRCC who underwent ICI-based therapy as their first-line treatment between 2019 and 2023.

Transperitoneal laparoscopic umbilical resection of urachal remnants: a feasible surgical method.

Background: To date, there is no standard established laparoscopic surgical method for managing urachal remnants because of their rarity, and several questions remain unanswered. Are there any problems for considering the operative indications about patients' factors for example, body mass index and so on? This study aimed to determine the feasible surgical method for managing urachal remnants and presents the operative outcomes of our cases in relation to the findings from the existing literature.

Methods: We analyzed the data of 16 patients (7 women and 9 men; age range, 19-48 years) who underwent surgery for urachal remnants between January 2013 and March 2019 at our institution.

Distribution of the positive UPOINT domain in patients with chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome: A multicenter observational study.

Objective: To determine the UPOINT-positive domain numbers and evaluate the significance of the sexual dysfunction domain in patients with chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain (CP/CPPS) in Japan.

Methods: A total of 58 patients with CP/CPPS with moderate or greater symptoms were included. Symptom severity was determined by > 14 on the chronic prostatitis symptom index (CPSI).

Clinical Significance of F-fluorodeoxyglucose and Glucose Transporter 1 mRNA in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background/aim: F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake measurement on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is difficult in renal tumors because of the nearby renal parenchyma and urinary tract, which excrete FDG. We carefully examined the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) on FDG-PET/CT and investigated the relationship between major glucose transporters in the kidney and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) progression.

Patients And Methods: Forty-five patients with ccRCC underwent FDG-PET/CT for staging and nephrectomy.

Utility of whole-body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the management of treatment-related neuroendocrine prostate cancer.

Introduction: Treatment-related neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a rare and aggressive malignancy that emerges during androgen deprivation therapy characterized by low serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations, is challenging to monitor because it is associated with predominantly visceral and lytic bone metastases.

Case Presentation: We describe the case of a 69-year-old man with treatment-related neuroendocrine prostate cancer in whom the treatment response could be monitored using whole-body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in addition to serum concentrations of neuroendocrine markers. The patient responded well to platinum-based chemotherapy and achieved a complete response, as evidenced by these diagnostic modalities.

Association of cancer progression with elevated expression of programmed cell death protein 1 ligand 1 by upper tract urothelial carcinoma and increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte density.

Background: Increased expression of programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) by tumor cells is thought to be a mechanism through which solid cancers promote immune tolerance. However, the association between PD-L1 expression and the prognosis of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) remains unknown.

Methods: We examined immunohistochemical PD-L1 expression and the tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte density (TILD) in 79 patients with UTUC who underwent nephroureterectomy.

Association between serum prostate-specific antigen level and diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and the laboratory parameters related to glucose tolerance, hepatic function, and lipid profile: implications for modification of prostate-specific antigen threshold.

Background: Previous studies indicated inverse relationships between body mass index (BMI), diabetes and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration besides an established positive relationship between age and PSA. Other causal relationships between clinical parameters including hypertension, hepatic function, tests, lipid profile and PSA were also suggested. Thus, we incorporated these parameters all together into the analysis to identify possible determinants of PSA concentration to improve the accuracy of PSA tests.

5-Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy improves the clinical outcomes of patients with lymphovascular invasion of upper urinary tract cancer and low expression of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase.

Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) by urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UC-UUT) is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. However, a high proportion of patients with UC-UUT are unable to receive the recommended doses of cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy due to advanced age or renal dysfunction resulting from nephroureterectomy. Tegafur-uracil is an oral form of 5-fluorouracil whose efficacy is influenced by the activities of enzymes associated with its metabolism, such as dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), orotatephosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) and thymidylate synthase (TS).

The Predictive Value of Glycated Hemoglobin and Albumin for the Clinical Course Following Hospitalization of Patients with Febrile Urinary Tract Infection.

Background: Diabetes is considered a risk factor for acquisition of febrile urinary tract infection (f-UTI), but information on the association of diabetes with subsequent course of the disease is lacking. Thus, we investigated the clinical variables including diabetic status which determined the clinical course in patients with community-acquired f-UTI.

Materials And Methods: Patients hospitalized consecutively for f-UTI between February 2016 and January 2018 were used for this single center study.

Increased Nrf2 expression by renal cell carcinoma is associated with postoperative chronic kidney disease and an unfavorable prognosis.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem, and prevention of CKD is important for preservation of renal function after kidney surgery. There is evidence that transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) has a vital antioxidant and detoxifying role in protecting the kidneys against various diseases. Impaired activation of Nrf2 is associated with oxidative stress related to CKD, and Nrf2 is also a key player in the development of cancer.

Elevated serum levels of cardiovascular biomarkers are associated with progression of renal cancer.

Objective: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a hypervascular tumour due to high constitutive production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is activated by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). Elevated levels of cardiovascular peptides, including brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), have been reported in patients with cancer, regardless of whether they have overt cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that hypoxia stimulates BNP production by an HIF-dependent manner.

Performance characteristics of prostate-specific antigen density and biopsy core details to predict oncological outcome in patients with intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Background: Many urologic surgeons refer to biopsy core details for decision making in cases of localized prostate cancer (PCa) to determine whether an extended resection and/or lymph node dissection should be performed. Furthermore, recent reports emphasize the predictive value of prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) for further risk stratification, not only for low-risk PCa, but also for intermediate- and high-risk PCa. This study focused on these parameters and compared respective predictive impact on oncologic outcomes in Japanese PCa patients.

Extravasation of Urine Associated with Bilateral Complete Ureteral Duplication, Vesicoureteral Reflux and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.

We report a rare case of extravasation of urine, which may be associated with bilateral complete ureteral duplication, vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). A 71-year-old male presented with a complaint of right abdominal pain. An extravasation of urine was noted, and was improved by indwelling urethral catheterization.

Clinically significant association between the maximum standardized uptake value on 18F-FDG PET and expression of phosphorylated Akt and S6 kinase for prediction of the biological characteristics of renal cell cancer.

Background: The relationship between the clinicopathological features and molecular changes associated with standardized uptake value (SUV) determined by Positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG PET) in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has not been elucidated. On the other hand, overactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3'kinase (PI3K), serine/threonine kinase Akt, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway has been detected in a variety of human cancers, including RCC. So far, little is known about the relationship between the SUV and these proteins in human RCC.

Clinical significance of serum soluble T cell regulatory molecules in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

To clarify the role of serum soluble T cell regulatory molecules in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), we measured the serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), soluble B7-H3 (sB7-H3), and soluble cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (sCTLA-4) in 70 CCRCC patients and 35 healthy controls. We investigated correlations between the serum levels of these soluble T cell regulatory molecules and the pathological grade, clinical stage, and prognosis of CCRCC. We also assessed the relations among each of these soluble molecules.

The Rho-kinase inhibitor HA-1077 suppresses proliferation/migration and induces apoptosis of urothelial cancer cells.

Background: Activation of Rho, one of the small GTPases, and its major downstream target Rho-kinase (ROCK) promotes the development and metastasis of cancer. We previously showed that elevation of Rho and ROCK expression was associated with tumor invasion, metastasis, and an unfavorable prognosis in patients with urothelial cancer of the bladder or upper urinary tract.

Methods: We investigated the effects of a ROCK inhibitor on the growth, migration, and apoptosis of bladder cancer cells.

Prostate volume and biopsy tumor length are significant predictors for classical and redefined insignificant cancer on prostatectomy specimens in Japanese men with favorable pathologic features on biopsy.

Background: Gleason pattern 3 less often has molecular abnormalities and often behaves indolent. It is controversial whether low grade small foci of prostate cancer (PCa) on biopsy could avoid immediate treatment or not, because substantial cases harbor unfavorable pathologic results on prostatectomy specimens. This study was designed to identify clinical predictors for classical and redefined insignificant cancer on prostatectomy specimens in Japanese men with favorable pathologic features on biopsy.

Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide chemotherapy possibly contributes to stabilization of disease in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a prospective analysis of consecutive cases.

Introduction/background: Castration-resistant prostate cancer remains a therapeutic challenge, even after establishing the survival benefits of docetaxel chemotherapy. Metronomic chemotherapy stabilizes various cancers through antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory effects. We evaluate the activity of metronomic oral cyclophosphamide chemotherapy in metastatic CRPC patients, and assess predictive factors for clinical outcomes.

Axitinib for preoperative downstaging of renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation and direct invasion of the duodenum and inferior vena cava: a case report.

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with sarcomatoid differentiation is invasive, refractory to treatment, and has a higher mortality. Therefore, systemic therapy is still challenging, and the curative resection of localized or locally advanced RCC with sarcomatoid differentiation is very important. Axitinib is a potent and selective second-generation vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with improved safety and tolerability.

Increased expression of system large amino acid transporter (LAT)-1 mRNA is associated with invasive potential and unfavorable prognosis of human clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Background: The system L amino acid transporter (LAT) has an important role in the transport of various amino acids, and there have been reports about the relation of this system to cancer. Although LATs are highly expressed in the kidneys, little is known about their influence on human renal cancer.

Methods: To clarify the role of LATs in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), we investigated the expression of mRNAs for LAT1, LAT2, LAT3, LAT4, and 4F2hc in clear cell RCC tissues.

Clinical relevance of hepsin and hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 2 expression in renal cell carcinoma.

Cell surface proteolysis is important for the generation of bioactive proteins mediating tumor progression. Recent studies suggest that the membrane-anchored cell surface proteinases matriptase and hepsin have significant roles in tumors. We analyzed the expression and clinical relevance of matriptase and hepsin, and their inhibitors hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 1 (HAI-1) and type 2 (HAI-2) in 66 cases of conventional renal cell carcinomas (RCC).

Bacteria of preoperative urinary tract infections contaminate the surgical fields and develop surgical site infections in urological operations.

Background: The risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) following urological operations have not been clearly identified, although the presence of a preoperative urinary tract infection (UTI) is thought to be one risk factor. We studied potential risk factors to clarify when and how bacteria contaminate wounds and SSI develop.

Methods: Objects of the present study were patients with SSI after open urological operations that were performed at the Department of Urology, Miyazaki Medical College Hospital, University of Miyazaki, Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan, during the period between June 1999 and December 2000.