Long-term disease control after upfront chemotherapy and surgery in a patient with primary prostate leiomyosarcoma.

Introduction: Prostate leiomyosarcoma is a rare, aggressive neoplasm.

Case Presentation: A 52-year-old man presented with worsening frequent micturition and painful urination. Rectal examination revealed a significantly enlarged prostate.

Risk-stratified surveillance protocol improves cost-effectiveness after radical nephroureterectomy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Objectives: To develop a surveillance protocol with improved cost-effectiveness after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU), as the cost-effectiveness of oncological surveillance after RNU remains unclear.

Results: Of 426 patients, 109 (26%) and 113 (27%) experienced visceral and intravesical recurrences, respectively. The pathology-based protocol found significant differences in recurrence-free survival in the visceral recurrence but not in the intravesical recurrence.

Oncologic outcomes for open and laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Background: Oncologic benefits of laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (LNU) are unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of surgical approach for radical nephroureterectomy on oncologic outcomes in patients with locally advanced upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).

Methods: Of 426 patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy at five medical centers between February 1995 and February 2017, we retrospectively investigated oncological outcomes in 229 with locally advanced UTUC (stages cT3-4 and/or cN+).

The utility of neoadjuvant gemcitabine plus carboplatin followed by immediate radical cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are ineligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Background: There are currently no data supporting carboplatin-based regimens in muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients who are unsuitable for neoadjuvant cisplatin treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential benefit of carboplatin-based regimens in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who were unsuitable for cisplatin.

Methods: We focused on 171 patients ineligible for cisplatin, including 98 patients who received neoadjuvant gemcitabine and carboplatin (GCarbo) followed by immediate radical cystectomy (GCarbo cohort) and 73 patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC alone cohort) at Hiroaki University or Aomori Prefectural Hospital.

Primary leiomyosarcoma of a horseshoe kidney in a woman with Turner syndrome: a case report.

Background: Turner syndrome is characterized by complete or partial X-chromosome monosomy and has various clinical features, including horseshoe kidney. Leiomyosarcoma is an extremely rare tumor that accounts for only 0.1% of all invasive renal tumors.

[Significance of a simple assay of urine telomerase activity for the detection of bladder cancer].

We developed a simple urine telomerase activity assay by a modification of the TeloTAGGG telomerase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. We conjugated digoxygenin (DIG) with the CX primer of omitting hybridization of PCR products and DIG-labeled probe. The sensitivity and specificity of bladder cancer diagnosis on 100 patients with bladder cancer and 25 healthy volunteers using the simple urine telomerase activity measurement were 81% and 92%, respectively.

[Chemo-endocrine therapy with low-dose cisplatin, UFT, and dexamethasone for hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients].

Since September 2005, twenty-two patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer (aged 55-81 years) were treated with LH-RH agonist and low-dose cisplatin, UFT, and dexamethasone after proving resistant to estramustine phosphate therapy. The regimen of this therapy consists of 5 mg/body of cisplatin intravenously once a week, 300 mg/day of UFT and 1 mg/day of dexamethasone orally, every day. All patients suffered from clinical progression such as local recurrence in 11 patients who had already received radiation therapy, lymph node metastasis in 7 patients, and bone metastasis in 15 patients.

Cauda equina symptoms are closely related to male lower urinary tract symptoms.

Introduction: To determine the impact of cauda equina symptoms on male lower urinary tract function, we investigated the related risk factors in healthy Japanese men.

Methods: Subjects included 345 healthy males (average age 56 years; range 26-83) who participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project in 2006. They were residents of Iwaki district, Hirosaki City, northern Japan.

[Relationship between tumor volume and PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy].

We examined whether the tumor volume (TV) is a good predictor of PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Data were collected for 158 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy without neoadjuvant hormonal therapy in our hospital since April 2005 to September 2007. Along with the routine pathological assessment, TV was assessed in all prostatectomy specimens.

[Solitary fibrous tumor of the kidney: a case report].

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) of the kidney is rare. A 76-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a complaint of an incidentaloma of the right kidney. Computed tomography revealed an ovoid, hypervascular tumor in the right kidney.

Risk factors for erectile dysfunction in healthy Japanese men.

The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED) in healthy men. A comprehensive risk factor investigation was carried out in a Japanese community. The subjects were 280 healthy male volunteers with an average age of 56 years (range: 20-83 years) who participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project in 2006.

[Risk factors for surgical site infection in radical cystectomy: efficacy of buried suture by absorbable thread for skin closure].

We assessed the incidence, risk factors and causative organism for surgical site infection (SSI). We reviewed the clinical charts of the consecutive 100 patients who underwent radical cystectomy from December 2003 to April 2008. All patients received intravenous prophylactic antimicrobial agent, 1 gram of cefotium hydrochloride before surgery followed by the same agent twice a day through postoperative day 3.

Protein profiling of post-prostatic massage urine specimens by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry to discriminate between prostate cancer and benign lesions.

Post-prostatic massage urine specimens (PMUS) are expected to be rich in proteins originating from the prostatic acini. In this study, we created a PMUS bank consisting of 57 samples obtained from patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer (PC) and 56 samples from subjects with biopsy-proven benign lesions to analyze protein profiles of PMUS by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS). Strong anion-exchange (Q10), weak cation-exchange (CM10) and immobilized metal affinity capture (IMAC30) ProteinChip Arrays were used for protein profiling.

Low-dose instillation therapy with bacille Calmette-Guérin Tokyo 172 strain after transurethral resection: historical cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and side effects of prophylactic low-dose bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Tokyo 172 strain.

Methods: We conducted a historical cohort study to compare the clinical usefulness of standard-dose versus low-dose BCG Tokyo 172 strain. A total of 156 patients with superficial bladder cancer (Stage Ta-T1) were historically allocated to either 40 or 80 mg of BCG after transurethral resection.

[Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome diagnosed by laparoscopic examination: a case report].

A 2-year-old boy presented for the evaluation of left nonpalpable testis. Laparoscopic examination revealed right migratory testis without any abnormal appearance and a uterine-like structure with an immature gonad in rectovesical fossa. Right spermatic duct merged into the uterine-like structure on the right side.

[Short-term outcome of neoadjuvant gemcitabine-carboplatin therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer].

Twenty-three patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer were treated with combination chemotherapy of gemcitabine and carboplatin. Gemcitabine at a dose of 800 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion for 30 minutes on Days 1, 8 and 15. Carboplatin at an AUC of 4, according to the Calvert formula, was administered by intravenous infusion for 3 hours on Day 2.

[Adenocarcinoma of the ileal segment 40 years after ileocystoplasty: a case report].

We reported a case of ileal segment adenocarcinoma arising in the augmented bladder 40 years after the operation. The patient was a 57-year-old man who underwent ileocystoplasty (Goodwin method) for contracted bladder due to tubercurosis in 1962. He was referred to our clinic for examination of gross hematuria.