[Progression from adenocarcinoma to small cell carcinoma of the prostate during endocrinotherapy: a case report].

A 72-year-old man had undergone surgical castration for metastatic prostate cancer (stage D2, the PSA value was 4,300 ng/ml) in September, 1997. He was well clinically for 16 months with undetected level of PSA. However, he presented with general malaise and gross hematuria in May, 1999.

Tumor growth inhibition by arsenic trioxide (As2O3) in the orthotopic metastasis model of androgen-independent prostate cancer.

Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) induces clinical remission of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. As a novel anticancer agent for treatment of solid cancers, As2O3 is promising, but no in vivo experimental investigations of its efficacy on solid cancers have been done at clinically obtained concentrations. In addition, the cell death mechanism of As2O3 has yet to be clarified, especially in solid cancers.

Activation of caspase-3 in renal cell carcinoma cells by anthracyclines or 5-fluorouracil.

The caspase family of proteases is speculated to have a crucial role in apoptosis. The effect of treatment with adriamycin (ADR), cisplatin (CDDP), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), vinblastine (VLB), IFN-alpha, or IFN-gamma on the activation of caspase-3, -6, -8, and -9 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells was investigated, to clarify the mechanisms of chemo- and immunotherapeutic agent-mediated apoptosis. Caspase activity was determined by a quantitative colorimetric assay.

Increased intracellular doxorubicin by anti-FAS monoclonal antibody: a mechanism that enhances the cytotoxicity in renal cell carcinoma cells.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of anti-Fas monoclonal antibody (mAb) on the intracellular concentration of doxorubicin in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells. Little is known about the influence of anti-Fas mAb on the intracellular concentration of chemotherapeutic agents.

Methods: The concentration of intracellular doxorubicin was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.

[A case of malignant fibrous histiocytoma arising from the renal capsule].

A 62-year-old man was admitted with a chief complaint of general malaise. Computed tomography showed a large mass adjacent to the parenchyma of the left kidney. The mass was 17 x 13 x 12 cm in size.

[Long-term clinical results of 5 cases of urachal carcinoma].

Five cases of urachal carcinoma experienced in our hospital during the past 20 years are reported. Surgical resection is considered as the first treatment option of this disease, and other therapies to be less beneficial. Complete surgical extirpation and detection of recurrence in the early stage are considered to be important since local recurrence occurs frequently.

[A study on parameters to predict tumor volume for stage T1c prostate cancers of Gleason score 6 or less].

The number of cases of stage T1c prostate cancer has dramatically been increasing since the introduction of PSA as a screening test. The patients with T1c prostate cancer are usually treated by radical prostatectomy. In this group, however, some cancers are of small tumor volume and with a Gleason score of less than 7.

Distinct microsatellite alterations in upper urinary tract tumors and subsequent bladder tumors.

Purpose: Although synchronous and/or metachronous tumor development is common in urothelial cancer, genetic and biological differences in upper urinary tract and bladder tumors are unclear. We compared the genetic alteration pattern in multifocal disease in patients with upper urinary tract and subsequent bladder tumors, and those with recurrent bladder tumor.

Materials And Methods: Using 21 microsatellite markers on the 8 chromosomal arms 2q, 4p, 4q, 8p, 9p, 9q, 11p and 17p we analyzed 34 tumors from 15 patients with upper urinary tract and subsequent bladder disease, and 70 tumors from 22 with recurrent bladder disease.

Rapid detection of candidate metastatic foci in the orthotopic inoculation model of androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells introduced with green fluorescent protein.

Background: An in vivo spontaneous metastatic model using androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells is needed to the better understanding of prostate cancer progression. Orthotopically inoculated LNCaP cells to SCID mice manifests metastases, but it takes no less than 12 weeks to detect them by conventional methods.

Methods: The green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was introduced into LNCaP cells by conventional lipofection technique.

Suppression of pulmonary metastasis using adenovirally motility related protein-1 (MRP-1/CD9) gene delivery.

Previously we showed that MRP-1/CD9 might prevent tumor metastasis by suppression of cell motility and invasion of tissue barriers. The present study explored the possibility of preventing metastasis of mouse melanoma BL6 by expression of MRP-1/CD9 through gene transfer. A replication-deficient adenovirus vector was used for the in vivo transfer of MRP-1/CD9 cDNA.

Increased risk of prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia associated with a CYP17 gene polymorphism with a gene dosage effect.

The CYP17 gene (CYP17) codes for the cytochrome P450c17alpha enzyme, which mediates two key steps in the sex steroid synthesis. There is a polymorphism (a T-to-C substitution) in the 5'-untranslated region, which may influence the transcription level of CYP17 mRNA. There is a continuing controversy as to whether the variant allele is associated with a subset of breast cancer or polycystic ovary syndrome.

[Epididymal sperm aspiration for obstructive azoospermia].

Epididymal sperm aspiration technique combined with assisted reproductive technology (ART) including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has provided new frontiers for the treatment of unreconstructable obstructive azoospermia, including congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens and failed surgical intervention. Epididymal sperm is obtained by several procedures, including microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), mini-MESA (Modified MESA), macroscopic epididymal sperm aspiration (MaESA) and percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA). Since 1991 in our department, epididymal sperm aspiration combined with ART was performed by MESA (26 cases, 41 times) and PESA (3 cases, 4 times).

[National trend of management of benign prostatic hyperplasia in Japan during 1990s: analysis of national health statistics].

To review the contemporary management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in Japan during 1990s, we analyzed several nationwide health statistics by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. The cross-sectional surveys revealed that the estimated total number of patients receiving treatment increased from 202,000 in 1987, to 335,000 and 590,000, respectively, in 1995 and 1998. Approximately 73-80% of patients were men aged 65 years or over and 94-98% 55 years or older.

Per-operative frozen section examination of pelvic nodes is unnecessary for the majority of clinically localized prostate cancers in the prostate-specific antigen era.

Background: The incidence of unsuspected lymph node metastasis seems to be decreasing in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) era. It remains controversial as to whether routine pelvic lymph node dissection and per-operative frozen section examination should be performed. In addition, it is still unclear whether an aggressive approach to local disease by surgery or irradiation confers survival benefits on stage D1 patients.

Detection of circulating cancer cells by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for uroplakin II in peripheral blood of patients with urothelial cancer.

Few attempts have been made at the molecular detection of urothelial cancer cells in the blood or lymph nodes mainly because of an absence of good candidate molecular or genetic changes specific to urothelial cancer or urothelium. In 1990, however, genes that encode urothelium-specific transmembrane proteins, uroplakins (UPs), were cloned. We have established a method of detecting circulating cancer cells in peripheral blood of patients with transitional cell carcinoma by nested reverse transcription-PCR assay for UP II.

Molecular diagnosis of metastatic origin in a patient with metachronous multiple cancers of the renal pelvis and bladder.

It is not uncommon for patients with urothelial cancer to have synchronous and metachronous multifocal invasive tumors of the bladder and upper urinary tract. If a metastatic lesion becomes evident in such a patient, the origin of the metastasis is often not determinable using conventional histopathologic examination of the surgical or autopsy specimen. Here, we report a patient in whom the clonal relationship among the histologically undistinguishable multifocal urothelial cancers and metastatic tumors could be clarified by molecular genetic analysis.

p21(WAF-1/CIP-1), a downstream regulator of functional p53 loss, in transitional cell carcinoma of urothelium.

Objectives: The expression of p21(WAF-1/CIP-1), a downstream regulator of p53, is a universal cycline-dependent kinase inhibitor. The aim of this study is to determine whether p21 expression could be used as a prognostic marker in urothelial carcinomas.

Methods: By use of immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of p21(WAF-1/CIP-1) in 60 patients with urothelial carcinomas and compared the results with the status of nuclear p53 and mdm2 accumulation, expression of type IV collagen in the basement membranes and upregulation of metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-9).

Enhancement of Fas-mediated apoptosis in renal cell carcinoma cells by adriamycin.

Anti-Fas monoclonal antibody (mAb) kills Fas-expressing cells by apoptosis. Several anticancer agents also mediate apoptosis and may share common intracellular pathways leading to apoptosis with Fas. Thus, we reasoned that combination treatment of drug-resistant cells with anti-Fas mAb and drugs might overcome their resistance.

Multivariate analysis of prognostic determinants after surgery for renal cell carcinoma at Himeji National Hospital.

A clinico-pathological study was performed retrospectively on 62 patients who underwent surgery for renal cell carcinoma between January 1992 and October 1998 at Himeji National Hospital to clarify the prognostic determinants for survival. The median follow-up period was 32 months and the cause-specific survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 86.7, 81.

Telomerase activity in urine after transurethral resection of superficial bladder cancer and early recurrence.

Background: To explore the relationship between telomerase activity in urine after transurethral resection (TUR) of superficial bladder cancer and early intravesical recurrence.

Methods: Urine samples were obtained from 42 patients with superficial bladder cancers prior to TUR and on the postoperative day 1 and day 6. These patients were followed-up prospectively by cystoscopy at 3 and 6 months after TUR in combination with urinary cytology and telomerase activity.

Allelic imbalances on chromosome 20 in human transitional cell carcinoma.

One determinant of the survival time of cancer-bearing patients may be genetic factors. In chemically induced bladder cancers of mice, differences in survival time have been observed among several inbred strains. Genetic analyses of such differences in crosses between C57BL / 6 and NON mice revealed that the survival period is determined by two quantitative trait loci on mouse chromosomes 6 and 2, respectively.

Clinical significance of nonpalpable prostate cancer with favorable biopsy features in Japanese men.

Objective: To assess the clinical significance of nonpalpable localized prostate cancers with relatively favorable six sextant biopsy features in Japanese men.

Patients And Methods: 136 nonpalpable prostate cancers of which biopsy features confined to (1) a Gleason score of 6 or less, (2) one or two positive cores per six sextant cores, and (3) 50% or less involvement of any positive core were collected. The Gleason score, tumor extension, and cancer volume were compared with preoperative serum PSA and PSA density for the patients who underwent radical prostatectomy.

Radical retropubic prostatectomy: time trends, morbidity and mortality in Japan.

Objectives: To assess the time trends, morbidity and mortality of contemporary anatomical radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) in a multi-institutional study in Japan, where RRP has become more popular in the last decade.

Patients And Methods: Between January 1991 and August 1998, 638 patients underwent RRP at seven urological centres in Japan. Major complications (within 30 days of surgery) and the 30-day mortality were reviewed retrospectively.

CROP/Luc7A, a novel serine/arginine-rich nuclear protein, isolated from cisplatin-resistant cell line.

A novel putative SR protein, designated cisplatin resistance-associated overexpressed protein (CROP), has been cloned from cisplatin-resistant cell lines by differential display. The N-half of the deduced amino acid sequence of 432 amino acids of CROP contains cysteine/histidine motifs and leucine zipper-like repeats. The C-half consists mostly of charged and polar amino acids: arginine (58 residues or 25%), glutamate (36 residues or 16%), serine (35 residues or 15%), lysine (30 residues, 13%), and aspartate (20 residues or 9%).