Recommendations for surveillance and follow-up of men with testicular germ cell tumors: a multidisciplinary consensus conference by the Italian Germ cell cancer Group and the Associazione Italiana di Oncologia Medica.

Background: No compelling evidence is available about surveillance and follow-up of patients with testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT).

Methods: In the light of the best clinical evidence, the Italian Germ cell cancer Group (IGG) and the Associazione Italiana di Oncologia Medica (AIOM) set up a multidisciplinary national consensus conference, involving 42 leading experts and 3 TGCT survivors. A minimum of 50% of votes was required in order to achieve a consensus recommendation on 29 questions.

Lessons from 52 patients with leydig cell tumor of the testis: the GUONE (North-Eastern Uro-Oncological Group, Italy) experience.

Introduction: The goal of the study was to define treatment rules for the uncommon, rarely (10%) malignant and chemorefractory Leydig cell tumors (LCT) of the testis.

Methods: The main clinical data of patients treated in centers affiliated to the GUONE (North-Eastern Uro-Oncological Group, Italy) were reviewed. We considered 52 patients (54 tumors, 2 bilateral) whose ages ranged from 13 to 70 years (mean 36).

The novel hormone INSL3 is expressed in human testicular Leydig cell tumors: a clinical and immunohistochemical study.

Insulin-like 3 (INSL3) is a novel peptidic hormone member of the relaxin-insulin-like family of peptide factors. It is almost exclusively produced by Leydig cells within the testis and participates to the complex mechanisms leading to physiological testicular descent during embryonic development. We performed a retrospective study evaluating clinical and histopathological characteristics of 13 patients surgically treated for testicular tumor and diagnosed to be affected by Leydig cell tumor (LCT).

IGG practice guidelines on germ cell tumor in adult male patients.

Germ cell tumors are rare neoplasms that affect young males. Nearly 99% of patients with localized stage I disease and nearly 80% of patients with metastatic disease can be cured. Even patients who relapse following chemotherapy can achieve a long-term survival in approximately 30-40% of cases.

Estradiol plasma levels elevation during follow-up for testicular Leydig-cell tumor is not an unfailing sign of recurrence.

We report a case of a benign testicular Leydig-Cell Tumor (LCT) that deceived us because of an estradiol (E2) plasma levels elevation 27 months after radical orchiectomy in a body builder patient with habits of red meat abuse and no steroid assumption, without any sign of tumor recurrence. The patient was therefore asked to stop red meat assumption and E2 plasma levels returned normal. The restoration of red meat assumption showed a trend of increasing E2 plasma levels above normal range.

Immunostaining for placental alkaline phosphatase on fine-needle aspiration specimens to detect noninvasive testicular cancer: a prospective evaluation in cryptorchid men.

Objective: To assess, in a 12-year prospective study, the potential for early detection of testicular carcinoma in situ (CIS) by immunocytochemistry, using anti-placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) monoclonal antibodies on testicular fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) specimens taken from a group of formerly cryptorchid patients, as such men are at greater risk of developing testicular cancer.

Patients And Methods: Sixty-eight men who had had orchidopexy at the Urological Department of the University of Padova between 1975 and 1983 were evaluated first in 1993, by a protocol including a history, physical examination, testicular ultrasonography and serum tumour markers, to eliminate the presence of testicular cancer. In 57 of the 68 men, specimens taken from bilateral testicular FNAC were stained immunocytochemically using anti-PLAP monoclonal antibodies.

Sexual counseling improved erectile rehabilitation after non-nerve-sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy or cystectomy--results of a randomized prospective study.

Aim: The efficacy of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1)-intracavernous injection (ICI) therapy for erectile dysfunction (ED) after non-nerve-sparing (NNS) radical pelvic surgery depends on patient compliance. The purpose of this study was to verify the utility of sexual counseling in ICI in terms of treatment efficacy, compliance, and dropout rate.

Methods: In this prospective randomized study, 57 patients with ED after NNS radical prostatectomy or cystectomy were divided: 29 patients (group SC+) were treated with sexual counseling and PGE1-ICI therapy; the others 28 (group SC-) were treated with only ICI.

Cellular and molecular gateways to urolithiasis: a new insight.

Urolithiasis is a relevant clinical problem in everyday practice with a subsequent burden for the health system. Urolithiasis is classically explained as the derangement in the process of biomineralization involving the equilibrium between promoters and inhibitors of crystallization: a deficit of one or several inhibitors or an excess of one or several promoters plays a pivotal role in the stone formation. The revolutionary introduction of the molecular biology in medicine has given a new insight in urolithiasis too.

Late recurrence of clinical stage I seminoma of the testis after 12 years despite adjuvant infradiaphragmatic irradiation.

A patient treated with prophylactic infradiaphragmatic radiation therapy for clinical stage I left testicular pure seminoma developed a large mass of the chest wall 12 years after primary treatment. An incisional biopsy confirmed pure seminoma. After chemotherapy, surgical removal of the residual mass and second-line chemoradiation therapy for persistent seminoma, the patient had a vertebral relapse.

Non-parasitic chyluria: an interesting case of uncertain interpretation.

Chyluria occurs as a result of communication between the lymphatics and the urinary system. It is a common problem in developing countries. Since its original description by Hippocrates, chyluria has been mentioned frequently in the literature and has remained puzzling in many reports.

[Mitoxantrone chemoprophylaxis for multirecurrent multifocal superficial bladder tumours: results of a phase 2 controlled study].

Twenty-three patients with multifocal superficial bladder cancer (stage Ta - T1) unresponsive to at least 3 different intravesical agents, were enrolled in a phase II study in order to evaluate the prophylactic effects of intravesical Mitoxantrone (20 mg) after complete endoscopic resection (TUR) of any papillary tumor. The median follow-up was 6 months; 19 patients (82%) experienced superficial tumor recurrence, 1 patient (4%) progression to muscle invasion and 3 (13%) were disease-free, respectively. Six patients (26%) experienced local side-effects.

Predictive medicine in non-malignant urological disorders.

The potential of disease prediction in non-malignant disorders should not be undervalued. Such disorders present several characteristics which make them suitable for disease prediction: they can be wide-spread, strongly affect the patients' quality of life, lead to a heavy burden on social health expenses and have a protracted clinical course. Moreover, people who present a high risk for non-malignant disease can be successfully introduced to long-term preventive measures such as lifestyle modifications, dietary changes and improvement in hygienic conditions.

[BTA tests in the diagnosis and follow-up of superficial bladder cancer].

We reviewed the literature on Bladder Tumor Antigen (BTA Trak and STat) tests to evaluate the usefulness of such tests in the diagnosis and follow-up of bladder cancer and to compare these tests to routine diagnostic tools. We also report our experience on BTA tests in monitoring tumor recurrence of superficial bladder cancer in 194 patients: a correlation between an augmented risk of tumor recurrence and serial measurements of BTA Trak and positive BTA Stat have been identified. According to the available data, BTA tests can be useful in the diagnosis and follow-up of superficial bladder cancer.

Simultaneous surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm and carcinoma of the bladder.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term and long-term results of simultaneous surgical treatment of coexisting abdominal aortic aneurysm and bladder carcinoma.

Methods: A prospective study was carried out to compare patients undergoing simultaneous surgical treatment of abdominal aneurysm and bladder carcinoma with control patients undergoing surgery for either one of the two diseases alone. From January 1995 to December 2000, 16 consecutive patients were seen with concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm and bladder carcinoma at our institutional referral center.

[Caval involvement in advanced-stage non-seminoma testicular tumors: surgical strategy and long-term results].

Objectives: The involvement of vena cava by residual masses after cytoreductive chemotherapy for bulky metastatic germ cell tumors is a rare but possible event. It could ensue by tumor invasion of the inferior vena cava (IVC), venous or neoplastic thrombosis, or by close adherence and encasement of IVC by scar tissue containing fibrosis or cancer; it usually occurs in right testicular neoplasms. In this study we evaluated a group of nine over 86 patients who underwent IVC (and possibly aortic) surgery for post-chemotherapy residual masses and we assessed long term oncological and functional efficacy of the procedure.