The ProtecT trial: analysis of the patient cohort, baseline risk stratification and disease progression.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the baseline clinico-pathological features of the men with localized prostate cancer (PCa) included in the ProtecT (Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment) trial who progressed (n = 198) at a 10-year median follow-up were different from those of men with stable disease (n = 1409).

Patients And Methods: We stratified the study participants at baseline according to risk of progression using clinical disease stage, pathological grade and PSA level, using Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: The findings showed that 34% of participants (n = 505) had intermediate- or high-risk PCa, and 66% (n = 973) had low-risk PCa.

Gleason drift in the NIHR ProtecT study.

Aims: There is increasing evidence of Gleason score (GS) drift in prostatic core biopsies during the last two decades. The ProtecT study is a randomized controlled study and provides an excellent cohort to study the effect of time, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, perineural invasion, tumour length and age on GS.

Methods And Results: The ProtecT study recruited men in the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2010.

Paraspinal chordoma mimicking a neurofibroma: a rare but important radiological pitfall.

We present an unusual case of a chordoma presenting as an extradural spinal tumour with extension through an expanded intervertebral foramen to form a large paraspinal mass. The magnetic resonance imaging appearances closely mimicked a neurofibroma; however, pre-operative biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of chordoma. This is, to our knowledge, the tenth reported case of chordoma presenting as a mass expanding the intervertebral foramen.

Disease specific mortality in patients with low risk bladder cancer and the impact of cystoscopic surveillance.

Purpose: We determined the risk of disease specific mortality in patients with primary, low risk, noninvasive (G1pTa) bladder cancer and compared it to disease specific mortality in age and gender matched general populations.

Materials And Methods: We identified all patients with primary low risk cancer at our institution. We excluded those with adverse pathological features and then matched histopathology, pharmacy, hospital episode and Cancer Registry records.

Comparative outcomes of primary, recurrent, and progressive high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Background: The treatment of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (BCa) is problematic given the variable natural history of the disease. Few reports have compared outcomes for primary high-risk tumours with those that develop following previous BCas (relapses). The latter represent a self-selected cohort, having failed previous treatments.

The long-term outcome of treated high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer: time to change treatment paradigm?

Background: The treatment of high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is difficult given its unpredictable natural history and patient comorbidities. Because current case series are mostly limited in size, the authors report the outcomes from a large, single-center series.

Methods: The authors reviewed all patients with primary, high-risk NMIBC at their institution from 1994 to 2010.

Global epigenetic profiling in bladder cancer.

Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder is a common disease that arises from two distinct molecular pathways, and is one of the most expensive malignancies to manage. Accurate biomarkers that could detect tumor recurrence or predict future progression would improve the care of patients and reduce the cost of managing the disease. DNA methylation, histone modification and ncRNA expression are important epigenetic mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes.

PNET/Ewing's sarcoma of the rectum: a case report and review of the literature.

A 34-year-old female presented with anorectal pain and rectal bleeding due to an extensive rectal tumour. A trephine loop ileostomy was fashioned and biopsies were initially reported to show a poorly differentiated cloacogenic carcinoma. CT revealed numerous liver metastases.

Detection of prostate cancer in unselected young men: prospective cohort nested within a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of testing for prostate cancer and the prevalence and characteristics of the disease in unselected young men.

Design: Prospective cohort nested within a randomised controlled trial, with two years of follow-up.

Setting: Eight general practices in a UK city.

Transformed diffuse large B-cell lymphomas with gains of the discontinuous 12q12-14 amplicon display concurrent deregulation of CDK2, CDK4 and GADD153 genes.

Transformation of the indolent follicular lymphoma (FL) to the aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) results in resistance to therapy with shortened survival. It has been demonstrated that the 12q12-14 region was mainly amplified in DLBCL cases but not in their FL counterparts. Therefore, we examined the DNA copy number and protein expression profiles for CDK2, CDK4 and GADD153, three genes that map to 12q12-14, in a set of 44 paired FL/DLBCL samples from 22 patients.

Identification of novel regions of amplification and deletion within mantle cell lymphoma DNA by comparative genomic hybridization.

We have carried out comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis on archival biopsy material from a series of 30 UK mantle cell lymphomas. The most frequent aberrations were gains of 3q (21 cases), 6p (19 cases), 7q (8 cases), 12p (8 cases), 12q (9 cases) and 17q11q21 (8 cases), and losses of 1p13p32 (10 cases), 5p13p15.3 (9 cases), 6q14q27 (11 cases), 8p (7 cases), 11q13q23 (8 cases) and 13q (18 cases).