Two cases of ganglioneuroma.

Although ganglioneuroma is a relatively rare tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, detection of this tumor has increased as imaging techniques such as computed tomography and ultrasonography have become prevalent. We report 2 cases of ganglioneuroma found incidentally. Both tumors were 40 to 60 mm in size.

Clinicopathological features of recurrence after radical cystectomy for patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological features of recurrent transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder in patients who had previously undergone radical cystectomy.

Materials And Methods: This study included 124 patients who underwent radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder in our institution. Several clinicopathological factors were analyzed to characterize differences between patients with and without disease recurrence, and determined predictive factors for disease recurrence using multivariate analysis.

Conventional MRI capabilities in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in the transition zone.

Objectives: Our objectives were to evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of conventional MRI for the accurate detection of prostate cancer within the transition zone and to compare the results with histopathologic examination results.

Materials And Methods: One hundred sixteen prostate specimens with prostate cancer were consecutively obtained. Axial, sagittal, and coronal T2- and T1-weighted MR images with gadopentetate dimeglumine were independently reviewed by two radiologists.

[Advancement of treatment for prostate cancer].

The number of prostate cancer patients is rapidly increasing in Japan, as aging people are more common and the lifestyle is more westernized. Another reason is that prostate specific antigen (PSA) is prevalent and PSA test can detect organ-confined prostate cancer in the early stage. In the past, endocrine therapy was the main treatment modality since many prostate cancer patients were diagnosed in the advanced stage.

High dose chemotherapy including paclitaxel (T-ICE) combined with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for male germ cell tumor. Preliminary report.

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of high dose chemotherapy including paclitaxel (T-ICE) combined with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for male germ cell tumor.

Methods: Five male patients with advanced germ cell tumor underwent 1-6 courses of high dose chemotherapy including paclitaxel (T-ICE; 175 mg/m2 of paclitaxel, 1250 mg/m2 of carboplatin, 1500 mg/m2 of etoposide and 7.5 g/m2 of ifosfamide) with PBSCT after 2-3 courses of induction chemotherapy (PEB or VIP).

Clinical outcomes of laparoscopic adrenalectomy according to tumor size.

Objectives: In order to evaluate the indication and usefulness of laparoscopic adrenalectomy, clinical outcomes of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for patients with adrenal tumors were examined. Whether tumor size affects surgical outcome was analysed, along with the long-term clinical outcome for these patients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 63 patients with adrenal tumor underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy in our institute between 1999 and 2003.

Reconstruction of urinary tract combined with surgical management of locally advanced non-urological cancer involving the genitourinary organs.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to review our experience with urinary reconstruction in patients undergoing surgical management for locally advanced pelvic cancer, and to evaluate the role of urologists in these procedures.

Materials And Methods: This study included a total of 37 patients undergoing some type of urinary reconstruction due to invasion of the urological organs by locally advanced pelvic cancers, including 17 rectal cancers, 9 cervical cancers, 4 sigmoid cancers, 4 retroperitoneal sarcomas, 2 ovarian cancers and 1 appendiceal cancer. Among these 37, 18 were recurrent cancers following initial surgery for primary tumors.

Significance of routine transition zone biopsies in Japanese men undergoing transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of additional routine transition zone (TZ) biopsies in Japanese men undergoing transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided systematic 8-core peripheral zone (PZ) biopsies.

Methods: Between October 2002 and December 2004, a total of 788 consecutive patients underwent TRUS-guided systematic biopsy of the prostate for the fi rst time. As a rule, 10 cores were taken from each patient; that is, 8 cores from the PZ, including the standard sextant cores and 2 cores from the anterior lateral horns, and 2 additional cores from the bilateral TZ.

Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide therapy for bladder cancer: recent advances and future prospects.

Despite remarkable progress in therapeutic options for the management of bladder cancer, it remains a challenge for urologists to achieve successful outcomes in the treatment of both superficial and invasive bladder cancers. In this review, recent advances in the field of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide therapy targeting several genes playing functionally important roles in the progression and recurrence of bladder cancer are summarized. Data showing the synergistic antitumor activities of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide therapy, combined with several treatments, including cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiation and other molecular targeting therapies, are also presented.

Clinical utility of serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor in men with prostate cancer as a novel biomarker of detection and disease progression.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been shown to play an important role in the growth and metastasis of prostate cancer. The objective of this study was to determine whether the serum level of MIF could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for prostate cancer as well as a predictor of disease progression. A total of 369 men who underwent systematic prostate biopsy from January 2000 to April 2004 and 30 healthy controls were included in this study.

Mast cell numbers and protease expression patterns in biopsy specimens following renal transplantation from living-related donors predict long-term graft function.

In human kidney transplantation the main cause of declining long-term graft function is chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). Recent studies have implicated human mast cells (MC) in chronic inflammation and fibrosis, MC can be subtyped according to protease content: MC(T) containing tryptase only and MC(TC) containing both tryptase and chymase. We investigated immunohistochemically whether numbers and subtypes of MC in biopsy specimens 100 d after transplantation could predict subsequent fibrosis and graft dysfunction.

Clinical outcome of combined immunotherapy with low-dose interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha for Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who had undergone radical nephrectomy: a preliminary report.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of combined immunotherapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) for Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who had undergone radical nephrectomy.

Methods: This study included 13 patients who were diagnosed as having metastatic RCC following radical nephrectomy. These patients received a subcutaneous injection of IFN-alpha (6 x 10(6) IU per day) three times per week and an intravenous injection of IL-2 (1.

Enhanced expression of the secreted form of clusterin following neoadjuvant hormonal therapy as a prognostic predictor in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.

The objective of this study was to characterize changes in clusterin expression in prostate cancer before and after neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT), and to assess the prognostic significance of clusterin expression following NHT in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Paired needle biopsy and corresponding radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens obtained from 76 patients were analyzed for expression of clusterin protein by immunohistochemical staining with an antibody recognizing all of the clusterin isoforms. RP specimens following NHT demonstrated stronger expression of clusterin than the corresponding needle biopsy specimens.

Clinical study of six cases showing late relapse of germ cell tumors.

Late relapse of germ cell tumors has been considered rare. We report six patients treated at our institution with relapses of germ cell tumors more than 2 years after first successful management. Median time to late relapse for pure seminomas and non-seminomatous germ cell tumors was 30.

Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide therapy targeting clusterin gene for prostate cancer: Vancouver experience from discovery to clinic.

Background: The objective of this study was to review our experience in the development of antisense (AS) oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) therapy for prostate cancer targeting antiapoptotic gene, clusterin.

Methods: We initially summarized our data demonstrating that clusterin could be an optimal therapeutic target for prostate cancer, then presented the process of developing AS ODN therapy using several preclinical animal models. Finally, the preliminary data of the recently completed phase I clinical trial using AS clusterin ODN as well as the future prospects of this therapy are discussed.

Is a limited lymphadenectomy targeting obturator nodes alone an adequate procedure for Japanese men undergoing radical prostatectomy?

Background: The objective of the present study was to investigate the significance of pelvic lymphadenectomy during radical prostatectomy in Japanese men with prostate cancer.

Methods: A total of 178 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy and standard pelvic lymphadenectomy targeting the external iliac nodes and obturator fossa for clinically localized prostate cancer were studied. The median observation period of this series was 18 months (range: 3-36 months).

[Is second course intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy for recurrent carcinoma in situ of the bladder useful?].

We evaluated the usefulness of second course intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy for carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the bladder that failed to respond to the initial BCG therapy. Between January 1995 and December 2000, 185 patients with CIS of the bladder underwent an initial 6- or 8-week course of intravesical BCG instillation with an average follow-up period of 40.9 months (range: 3.

Expression of the secreted form of clusterin protein in renal cell carcinoma as a predictor of disease extension.

Objectives: To evaluate the significance of clusterin expression in surgically resected renal cell carcinoma (RCC) specimens.

Patients And Methods: Normal kidney and RCC specimens were obtained from 131 patients who had radical surgery. The expression of clusterin protein was analysed by immunohistochemical staining with an antibody recognizing all isoforms of clusterin.

Clinical outcome of maximum androgen blockade using flutamide as second-line hormonal therapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of maximum androgen blockade (MAB) using flutamide as second-line hormonal therapy for advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).

Patients And Methods: The study included 55 patients with HRPC who were treated with MAB using flutamide (375 mg daily) as second-line hormonal therapy. All patients had previously received bicalutamide combined with either surgical or medical castration as first-line hormonal therapy, which failed.

Significance of the percentage of prostate needle biopsy cores with cancer as a predictor of disease extension in radical prostatectomy specimens in Japanese men.

Objectives: To evaluate the significance of the percent of positive biopsy cores (PPBC) with cancer, which has been shown to be one of the most useful predictors of prostate cancer extension in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.

Materials And Methods: This study included 120 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer without any neoadjuvant therapies. All of these patients were diagnosed by random prostate biopsy targeting 8 cores; that is, standard sextant cores and 2 additional cores from the bilateral anterior lateral horns.

A comparison of the biological features between prostate cancers arising in the transition and peripheral zones.

Objectives: To investigate differences in the biological features of prostate cancer according to the zonal origin.

Patients And Methods: Among 172 consecutive patients who had a radical prostatectomy (RP), the study included 124 diagnosed as having either transition zone (TZ) or peripheral zone (PZ) cancer, defined according to whether there was > 70% of the cancer area in the TZ or PZ, respectively. The clinicopathological features were then compared between these groups.

Urinary levels of vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with prostate cancer as a predictor of disease progression.

Background: The objectives of this study were to investigate the association between urinary levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the progression of prostate cancer, and to evaluate changes in urinary VEGF levels before and after initial treatment.

Materials And Methods: A total of 97 patients with prostate cancer were included in this study. Of these 97, 52 underwent radical prostatectomy and the remaining 45 received hormonal therapy as initial treatment.

Clinical outcome of oral uracil/tegafur (UFT) therapy for patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer.

There is no standard therapeutic strategy for advanced hormone refractory prostate cancer after the initial hormonal therapy fails. The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the clinical outcome of the oral anticancer agent, uracil/tegafur (UFT) for patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer. This study included 68 patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer treated by oral administration of UFT (300-600 mg/day).

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor producing urothelial carcinoma of renal pelvis.

We report a case of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) producing urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis in a 39-year old man. The patient was admitted to Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Japan, complaining of macrohematuria and a 6-month history of left abdominal swelling. Abdominal computed tomography showed a large mass in the left kidney and para-aortic lymph node enlargement.

Limited value of perineural invasion in radical prostatectomy specimens as a predictor of biochemical recurrence in Japanese men with clinically localized prostate cancer.

The objective of this study was to determine whether the presence of perineural invasion (PNI) in radical prostatectomy specimens could be a useful prognostic parameter in Japanese men with prostate cancer. Between January 1995 and September 2003, 202 Japanese men underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy for prostate cancer without any neoadjuvant therapies prior to surgery. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between PNI in radical prostatectomy specimens and other prognostic factors, and also assessed the significance of PNI in biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy.