Raman molecular imaging: a novel spectroscopic technique for diagnosis of bladder cancer in urine specimens.

Background: Raman molecular imaging (RMI) is an optical technology that combines the molecular chemical analysis of Raman spectroscopy with high-definition digital microscopic visualization. This approach permits visualization of the physical architecture and molecular environment of cells in the urine. The Raman spectrum of a cell is a complex product of its chemical bonds.

A pretreatment nomogram predicting biochemical failure after salvage cryotherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer.

Objective: To gather a pooled database from six tertiary-care referral centres using salvage cryotherapy (SC) for locally recurrent prostate cancer, and develop a pretreatment nomogram allowing a prediction of the probability of biochemical failure after SC, based on pretreatment clinical variables.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively analysed 797 men treated at six tertiary-care referral centres with SC for locally recurrent disease after primary radiotherapy with curative intent. The median duration of follow-up from the time of SC to the date of last contact was 3.

Ten-year biochemical disease control for patients with prostate cancer treated with cryosurgery as primary therapy.

Objectives: Prostate cryosurgery has been increasingly used for the management of localized prostate cancer since its introduction in a minimally invasive form in the early 1990s. We performed a retrospective study of the largest and most mature patient group treated with cryosurgery reported thus far.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from 370 patients treated consecutively from 1991 to 1996 with a focus on the determination of biochemical disease-free survival for a group of patients with T1 to T3 prostate cancer who had undergone prostate cryosurgery as primary monotherapy.

Endoglin (CD105) and vascular endothelial growth factor as prognostic markers in prostatic adenocarcinoma.

We studied endoglin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression as prognostic markers in prostatic adenocarcinoma in 50 radical prostatectomy specimens. Cases were further categorized by Gleason score as follows: 8 to 10, 9 cases; 7(4 + 3), 9 cases; 7 (3 + 4), 14 cases; 6, 13 cases; and 4 or 5, 5 cases. All cases were immunostained for endoglin, CD31, and VEGF.

Cryosurgery of the prostate: techniques and indications.

Cryosurgical ablation of the prostate (CSAP) is indicated for patients with high-stage and high-grade tumors, patients with recurrent/persistent carcinoma of the prostate after external radiation therapy or brachytherapy, and others. At Allegheny General Hospital, CSAP is performed as follows: the patient is prepped in an exaggerated lithotomy position; a volumetric study of the gland is obtained with transrectal ultrasound; 5 to 15 cryoneedles are placed (in three to five horizontal rows) through a 17-gauge, stepper-mounted template; a cystoscopy is performed; and a urethral warming catheter is introduced. The rows of cryoneedles are then activated from anterior to posterior, and generally two freeze-thaw cycles are used.

Preliminary experience with cryoablation of renal lesions smaller than 4 centimeters.

Nephron-sparing surgical techniques represent an attractive treatment approach for small renal lesions that are limited only by potential operative morbidity. This study tests the hypothesis that an alternative strategy of in situ cryoablation of these lesions may further reduce the incidence of complications with similar efficacy. Beginning August 1996,17 patients were enrolled in an institutional review board-approved protocol for open renal cryoablation for lesions smaller than 4 cm in diameter.