Prostate cancer detection by prostate-specific antigen-related parameters.

Total serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, free-to-total PSA ratio (F/T ratio) and PSA density (PSAD) were compared to clarify the clinical significance of these parameters in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (CaP) with intermediate PSA concentrations (4-10 ng/ml). PSAD and F/T ratio were obtained during the period from May 1999 to April 2001 from 43 patients with serum PSA concentrations of 4-10 ng/ml who underwent ultrasound-guided systematic sextant biopsies. PSAD was compared with total serum PSA and F/T ratio via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for diagnosis of CaP.

A case of CA19-9-producing seminal vesicle cyst with ipsilateral renal agenesis.

A case of CA19-9-producing seminal vesicle cyst with ipsilateral renal agenesis is reported. A 29-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for perineal pain and urinary retention. Digital rectal examination revealed a large soft mass that fluctuated in the area of the prostate and seminal vesicles.

Telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma by modified telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay.

Background: Previous assessments by the conventional telomeric repeat amplification protocol have not been reliable for the quantitation of telomerase activity. We, therefore, determined telomerase activity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissue by the modified sensitive telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay.

Methods: Telomerase activity was examined in 23 cases of RCC and in the adjacent normal kidney tissue, and assessed for associations with clinical and pathological variables of the disease.

[Ureter cancer of complete double renal pelvis and ureter: a case report].

A 66-year-old man presented at our hospital with left back pain. Intravenous pyelography, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed ureteral tumors of the complete left double renal pelvis and the ureter. An endoscopic examination disclosed a papillary tumor from the left ureteral orifice of the lower pole of the kidney.

A novel ankyrin repeat-containing gene (Kank) located at 9p24 is a growth suppressor of renal cell carcinoma.

By a combination of genome subtraction and comprehensive analysis of loss of heterozygosity based on mapping hemizygous deletions for a potential tumor-related locus, a minimum overlapping region of deletions at 9p24 the size of 165 kb was identified and found to harbor a new potential tumor suppressor gene for renal cell carcinoma, the Kank gene. Kank (for kidney ankyrin repeat-containing protein) contains four ankyrin repeats at its C terminus. Expression of the gene was suppressed in 6 of 8 or 6 of 10 cancer tissues examined by reverse transcription-PCR or Western blotting, respectively, and in several kidney tumor cell lines due to methylation at CpG sites in the gene.