Differential expression of metabolic enzymes in testicular germ cell tumors: The impact of glycolytic metabolism in embryonal carcinoma histotype.

Background: Testicular germ cell tumors are the most common solid malignancies in young men, with increasing incidence worldwide. Broadly classified into seminomas and non-seminomas, they exhibit distinct biological behaviors and responses to treatment. Although metabolic reprogramming is an acknowledged cancer hallmark, metabolic pathways in testicular germ cell tumors remain poorly understood.

Real-life Data on First- and Second-Line Treatment of Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer With Abiraterone, Enzalutamide and Cabazitaxel - A multicentric Study From Portugal.

Introduction And Objectives: New drugs for metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) were approved, first in the pos-docetaxel and then in the pre-docetaxel setting. We aim to assess the real daily practice benefit of abiraterone (Abi), enzalutamide (Enz) and cabazitaxel (Cab) in patients with mCRPC, compare it with RCT results and compare Abi vs Enz.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively collected the data of all consecutive mCRPC patients treated with Abi, Enz or Cab in the six major oncological hospitals in the north of Portugal until December 2020.

Real‑world retrospective study of early‑stage prostate cancer at a Portuguese Comprehensive Cancer Centre: The PEarlC study.

Despite the high prevalence of localised prostate cancer (LPC) and locally advanced prostate cancer (LAPC), evidence on the characteristics of patients, treatments and clinical outcomes stratified by disease risk is limited. The PEarlC study was conducted to characterise a cohort of patients with early-stage prostate cancer that included real-world clinical outcomes. Retrospective data from a cohort of patients diagnosed with LPC/LAPC between 2015 and 2017 and followed up until December 2020 at a Portuguese comprehensive cancer centre (IPO Porto) was analysed.

EHMT2/G9a and EZH2: Epimarkers in testicular germ cell tumors.

Background: Testicular germ cell tumors remain the most frequent solid malignancies in young males. Despite excellent prognosis, the fact that only 60% of patients at diagnosis have elevated serum tumor markers (dependent on stage and histology) and the poor quality of life of patients who develop resistance to chemotherapy cannot be neglected. Consequently, it is mandatory to bring out novel biomarkers.

Association between sociodemographic and clinical features, health behaviors, and health literacy of patients with prostate cancer and prostate cancer prognostic stage.

Patient characteristics may influence access and acceptance of Prostate Specific Antigen test, and therefore, the timing of prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. A group of 361 patients from a cohort (n = 451) diagnosed with PCa in 2018-2020 at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto was evaluated before treatment, using a structured interview, the Medical Term Recognition Test, and the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire QLQ-PR25. PCa prognostic stages (I, II, III, IV) were attributed according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition.

OncoUroMiR: Circulating miRNAs for Detection and Discrimination of the Main Urological Cancers Using a ddPCR-Based Approach.

The three most common genitourinary malignancies (prostate/kidney/bladder cancers) constitute a substantial proportion of all cancer cases, mainly in the elderly population. Early detection is key to maximizing the patients' survival, but the lack of highly accurate biomarkers that might be used through non-/minimally invasive methods has impaired progress in this domain. Herein, we sought to develop a minimally invasive test to detect and discriminate among those urological cancers based on miRNAs assessment through ddPCR.

Does the placement of a collagen-fibrin sealant reduce complications of radical inguinal lymph node dissection? - Comparative study in patients with penile cancer.

Objective: Management of patients with penile cancer (PeC) with palpable inguinal lymph nodes (ILNs) relies on radical ILN dissection (RILND). Low burden of nodal metastatic disease may lead to long-lasting survival with surgical management. Nevertheless, RILND involves significant postoperative morbidity.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: does variant histology matter?

Purpose: The most frequent histology of bladder tumors is urothelial carcinoma. Most are pure urothelial carcinomas (PUC) but up to one-third of the cases present variant histological (VH) features. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of variant histology in neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response in patients with urothelial muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Prostate Cancer, at Cancer Diagnosis and after a One-Year Follow-Up.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent among men, and psychological symptoms may affect many patients. This study aims to describe the prevalence of probable anxiety and depression before PCa treatments and after one year and to identify sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with these outcomes. Between February 2018 and March 2020, 292 patients recently diagnosed with PCa were recruited at the Instituto Português de Oncologia-Porto.

Variant histologies of urothelial carcinoma: Does it change the survival outcomes in patients managed with radical cystectomy?

Objective: To investigate the impact of variant histologies (VH) of urothelial carcinoma (UC) on survival outcomes after radical cystectomy (RC).

Materials And Methods: Data from 181 patients with UC treated with RC between January 2013 and December 2019 at a single tertiary care referral center were retrospectively accessed. All RC specimens were assigned by genitourinary dedicated pathologists.

DigiMir Test: Establishing a Novel Pipeline for MiR-371a Quantification Using Droplet Digital PCR in Liquid Biopsies From Testicular Germ Cell Tumor Patients.

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are the most common cancers in young-adult male patients aged between 15 and 39 years. Hsa-miR-371a-3p is currently the most reliable biomarker for diagnosis and monitoring of these patients non-invasively in liquid biopsies, and it is destined to be introduced in the clinic due to improved performance compared to the classical serum tumor markers available. Current studies have focused on real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) protocols for its determination; still, some challenges remain, since these protocols often require preamplification steps (costly and time-consuming), and report relative levels normalized to a housekeeping microRNA, not always performed the same way.

Ki67 and LSD1 Expression in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors Is Not Associated with Patient Outcome: Investigation Using a Digital Pathology Algorithm.

TGCTs represent a model of curable disease afflicting especially young men. Defining tumor biological characteristics is crucial to increase current knowledge and tailor the best clinical management. Ki67, a potential prognostic marker, still exhibits heterogenous associations with patient outcomes, thus bringing the need of corroboration with larger cohorts in clinical practice.

LiKidMiRs: A ddPCR-Based Panel of 4 Circulating miRNAs for Detection of Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Decreased renal cell cancer-related mortality is an important societal goal, embodied by efforts to develop effective biomarkers enabling early detection and increasing the likelihood of curative treatment. Herein, we sought to develop a new biomarker for early and minimally invasive detection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) based on a microRNA panel assessed by ddPCR.

Methods: Plasma samples from patients with RCC ( = 124) or oncocytomas ( = 15), and 64 healthy donors, were selected.

Deregulation of N6-Methyladenosine RNA Modification and Its Erasers FTO/ALKBH5 among the Main Renal Cell Tumor Subtypes.

(1) Background: Methylation of N-adenosine (mA) is the most abundant messenger RNA (mRNA) modification in eukaryotes. We assessed the expression profiles of mA regulatory proteins in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and their clinical relevance, namely, as potential biomarkers. (2) Methods: In silico analysis of (TCGA) dataset was use for evaluating the expression of the mA regulatory proteins among RCC subtypes and select the most promising candidates for further validation.

The component of the mA writer complex VIRMA is implicated in aggressive tumor phenotype, DNA damage response and cisplatin resistance in germ cell tumors.

Background: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are developmental cancers, tightly linked to embryogenesis and germ cell development. The recent and expanding field of RNA modifications is being increasingly implicated in such molecular events, as well as in tumor progression and resistance to therapy, but still rarely explored in GCTs. In this work, and as a follow-up of our recent study on this topic in TGCT tissue samples, we aim to investigate the role of N6-methyladenosine (mA), the most abundant of such modifications in mRNA, in in vitro and in vivo models representative of such tumors.

Delayed surgery for localised and metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation or deferment of many elective cancer surgeries. We performed a systematic review on the oncological effects of delayed surgery for patients with localised or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the targeted therapy (TT) era.

Method: The protocol of this review is registered on PROSPERO(CRD42020190882).

Differential methylation EPIC analysis discloses cisplatin-resistance related hypermethylation and tumor-specific heterogeneity within matched primary and metastatic testicular germ cell tumor patient tissue samples.

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are among the most common solid malignancies in young-adult men, and currently most mortality is due to metastatic disease and emergence of resistance to cisplatin. There is some evidence that increased methylation is one mechanism behind this resistance, stemming from individual studies, but approaches based on matched primary and metastatic patient samples are lacking. Herein, we provide an EPIC array-based study of matched primary and metastatic TGCT samples.

Promoter methylation of DNA homologous recombination genes is predictive of the responsiveness to PARP inhibitor treatment in testicular germ cell tumors.

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are the most common cancers in men aged 15-39 years and are divided into two major groups, seminomas and nonseminomas. Novel treatment options are required for these patients, to limit side effects of chemotherapy. We hypothesized that promoter methylation of relevant homologous recombination (HR) genes might be predictive of response to poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPis) in TGCTs.

Efficacy of HDAC Inhibitors Belinostat and Panobinostat against Cisplatin-Sensitive and Cisplatin-Resistant Testicular Germ Cell Tumors.

Novel treatment options are needed for testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) patients, particularly important for those showing or developing cisplatin resistance, the major cause of cancer-related deaths. As TGCTs pathobiology is highly related to epigenetic (de)regulation, epidrugs are potentially effective therapies. Hence, we sought to explore, for the first time, the effect of the two most recently FDA-approved HDAC inhibitors (HDACis), belinostat and panobinostat, in (T)GCT cell lines including those resistant to cisplatin.

Differential expression of DNA methyltransferases and demethylases among the various testicular germ cell tumor subtypes.

Characterize DNA methyltransferases/demethylases expression in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). analysis of TCGA database, assessment of transcript levels of most relevant enzymes in four TGCT cell lines and validation in patient cohort (real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction; immunohistochemistry). , and were the most differentially expressed between seminomas (SEs) and nonseminomas (NSs).

p53 and MDM2 expression in primary and metastatic testicular germ cell tumors: Association with clinical outcome.

Background: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are highly sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy, and wild-type p53 seems to play a pivotal role in this susceptibility. On the other hand, overexpression of MDM2 seems to entail treatment resistance and unfavorable prognosis.

Objectives: We aimed to describe p53 and MDM2 immunoexpression in a well-characterized cohort of primary and metastatic TGCTs and evaluate associations with clinicopathological and prognostic variables, including survival.

Mini-incision Living Donor Nephrectomy and Trans-peritoneal Laparoscopic Nephrectomy: Will There Be a Place for New Evidence?

Objectives: To compare mini-incision donor nephrectomy (MDN) with laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) performed by the same surgical team, regarding short- and long-term outcomes.

Methods: Three hundred and five patients, who underwent donor nephrectomy in our institution, through an MDN (n = 141) between January 1998-November 2011 and LDN (n = 164) since June 2010-December 2017, were compared.

Results: The mean operative time for MDN (120 ± 29 minutes) was not significantly different when compared to LDN (113 ± 34 minutes), but when comparing the first 50 LDN and the 50 most recent, we found a reduction in the duration of the procedure.

mA RNA modification and its writer/reader VIRMA/YTHDF3 in testicular germ cell tumors: a role in seminoma phenotype maintenance.

Background: Covalent RNA modifications, such as N-6-methyladenosine (mA), have been associated with various biological processes, but their role in cancer remains largely unexplored. mA dynamics depends on specific enzymes whose deregulation may also impact in tumorigenesis. Herein, we assessed the differential abundance of mA, its writer VIRMA and its reader YTHDF3, in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), looking for clinicopathological correlates.

DNA methylation profiling as a tool for testicular germ cell tumors subtyping.

Aim: Assess differential patterns of selected five genes' promoter methylation among testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) subtypes.

Materials & Methods:  CRIPTO, HOXA9, MGMT, RASSF1A and SCGB3A1 promoter methylation levels were evaluated by quantitative methylation-specific PCR in 161 TGCT and 16 controls. Associations between clinicopathological parameters and promoter methylation levels were assessed, and receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was performed.