Survivin is not an independent prognostic factor for patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a multi-institutional study.

Objective: Several small single-center studies have reported conflicting results on the prognostic value of survivin expression in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) following radical nephroureterectomy. We attempted to validate the prognostic utility of survivin using a large multi-institutional cohort.

Material And Methods: Survivin expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissue from 732 patients with unilateral, sporadic UTUC treated with radical nephroureterectomy between 1990 and 2008 at 7 centers.

Transplantation of adipose tissue mesenchymal cells conjugated with VEGF-releasing microcarriers promotes repair in murine myocardial infarction.

Rationale: Engraftment and survival of transplanted stem or stromal cells in the microenvironment of host tissues may be improved by combining such cells with scaffolds to delay apoptosis and enhance regenerative properties.

Aims: We examined whether poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) pharmacologically active microcarriers (PAMs) releasing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) enhance survival, differentiation, and angiogenesis of adipose tissue-mesenchymal stromal cells (AT-MSCs). We analysed the efficacy of transplanted AT-MSCs conjugated with PAMs in a murine model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Characterization of Clinical Cases of Collecting Duct Carcinoma of the Kidney Assessed by Comprehensive Genomic Profiling.

Background: Collecting duct carcinoma (CDC) is a rare type of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) originating from the renal medulla. Clinical outcomes are poor, and there are no consensus guidelines to guide therapy.

Objective: To determine genomic alterations (GAs) in a series of patients with locally advanced or metastatic CDC for whom genomic profiling was performed during the course of clinical care.

Role of metastasectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose Of Review: Management of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma is challenging and continues to be delivered in a multidisciplinary context. Even with the advent of systemic targeted therapy, complete remission with these new agents is rare using systemic therapy alone. Surgical resection of the primary tumor and metastatic deposits continues to play an important role in managing patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma when aiming for complete remissions.

Clinical and pathological complete remission in a patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with sunitinib: Is mRCC curable with targeted therapy?

We report a patient with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who presented with primary tumor in situ in the left kidney and metastases to bone, liver, lungs, and brain. After over 5 years of sunitinib therapy and subsequent cytoreductive left nephrectomy, the patient achieved radiographic complete response (CR) and had pathologic CR in the nephrectomy specimen. Durable clinical and pathological CRs are possible with targeted agents, even with primary tumor in situ and widely disseminated metastases.

Intratumoral morphologic and molecular heterogeneity of rhabdoid renal cell carcinoma: challenges for personalized therapy.

Rhabdoid histology in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma is associated with a poor prognosis. The prognosis of patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma may also be influenced by molecular alterations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between histologic features and salient molecular changes in rhabdoid clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

Prevalence of subnormal testosterone concentrations in men with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Background: One-third of men with type 2 diabetes have subnormal testosterone concentrations along with inappropriately normal LH and FSH concentrations. It is not known if the presence of renal insufficiency affects free testosterone concentrations in men with type 2 diabetes.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that type 2 diabetic men with chronic renal disease (CKD; estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min per 1.

MIST, a Novel Approach to Reveal Hidden Substrate Specificity in Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) constitute a family of RNA-binding proteins, that participate in the translation of the genetic code, by covalently linking amino acids to appropriate tRNAs. Due to their fundamental importance for cell life, AARSs are likely to be one of the most ancient families of enzymes and have therefore been characterized extensively. Paradoxically, little is known about their capacity to discriminate tRNAs mainly because of the practical challenges that represent precise and systematic tRNA identification.

Disease reclassification risk with stringent criteria and frequent monitoring in men with favourable-risk prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of disease reclassification and to identify clinicopathological variables associated with it in patients with favourable-risk prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance (AS).

Patients And Methods: We assessed 191 men, selected by what may be the most stringent criteria used in AS studies yet conducted, who were enrolled in a prospective cohort AS trial. Clinicopathological characteristics were analysed in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Metastases to the kidney: a comprehensive analysis of 151 patients from a tertiary referral centre.

Objective: To describe the presentation, treatment and outcomes of patients with metastatic tumours to the kidney treated at a tertiary referral centre.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively identified 151 patients diagnosed with a primary non-renal malignancy with renal metastasis. Clinical, radiographic and pathological characteristics were assessed.

Variability of inter-observer agreement on feasibility of partial nephrectomy before and after neoadjuvant axitinib for locally advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC): independent analysis from a phase II trial.

Objective: To evaluate how many patients could have undergone partial nephrectomy (PN) rather than radical nephrectomy (RN) before and after neoadjuvant axitinib therapy, as assessed by five independent urological oncologists, and to study the variability of inter-observer agreement.

Patients And Methods: Pre- and post-systemic treatment computed tomography scans from 22 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in a phase II neoadjuvant axitinib trial were reviewed by five independent urological oncologists. R.

Prognosis of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic metastases.

Objectives: To identify the clinical outcomes of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) with pancreatic metastases (PM) treated with either pazopanib or sunitinib and assess whether PM is an independent prognostic variable in the current therapeutic environment.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective review of patients with mRCC in an outpatient clinic was carried out for the period January 2006 to November 2011. Patient characteristics, including demographics, laboratory data and outcomes, were analysed.

Resistance to Antiangiogenic Therapy Is Associated with an Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is an immunogenic and proangiogenic cancer, and antiangiogenic therapy is the current mainstay of treatment. Patients with RCC develop innate or adaptive resistance to antiangiogenic therapy. There is a need to identify biomarkers that predict therapeutic resistance and guide combination therapy.

Percentage of sarcomatoid component as a prognostic indicator for survival in renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation.

Objective: Renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation (sRCC) is associated with higher stage of presentation and worse survival. The objective of this study was to examine the clinicopathologic characteristics associated with overall survival (OS), specifically examining the percentage of sarcomatoid component (PSC).

Methods: We reviewed clinicopathologic data for all nephrectomized patients with confirmed sRCC.

Identifying prediabetes - Is it beneficial in the long run?

The rates of long-term diabetes related complications have declined substantially over the past decade. On the contrary, the growth in the incidence of prediabetes is note-worthy - especially in the population 60 years and above. As a result, the focus is now shifting toward early identification and prevention of diabetes.

Prospective evaluation of plasma levels of ANGPT2, TuM2PK, and VEGF in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Background: To assess pathological correlations and temporal trends of Angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and M2 Pyruvate kinase (TuM2PK), markers of tumor vascular development and metabolism, in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: We prospectively collected plasma samples from 89 patients who underwent surgical/ablative therapy for RCC and 38 patients with benign disease (nephrolithiasis, hematuria without apparent neoplastic origin, or renal cysts). In RCC patients, marker levels were compared between at least 1 preoperative and 1 postoperative time point generally 3 weeks after surgery.

Surgical Management of Local Retroperitoneal Recurrence of Renal Cell Carcinoma after Radical Nephrectomy.

Purpose: Isolated local retroperitoneal recurrence after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma poses a therapeutic challenge. We investigated outcomes in patients with localized retroperitoneal recurrence treated with surgical resection.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective, single institutional study of 102 patients with retroperitoneal recurrence treated with surgery from 1990 to 2014.

Enhanced engraftment and repairing ability of human adipose-derived stem cells, conveyed by pharmacologically active microcarriers continuously releasing HGF and IGF-1, in healing myocardial infarction in rats.

One of the main cause of ineffective cell therapy in repairing the damaged heart is the poor yield of grafted cells. To overcome this drawback, rats with 4-week-old myocardial infarction (MI) were injected in the border zone with human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) conveyed by poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microcarriers (PAMs) releasing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) (GFsPAMs). According to treatments, animals were subdivided into different groups: MI_ADSC, MI_ADSC/PAM, MI_GFsPAM, MI_ADSC/GFsPAM, and untreated MI_V.

Type I phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase homo- and heterodimerization determines its membrane localization and activity.

Type I phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinases (PIP5KIs; α, β, and γ) are a family of isoenzymes that produce phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] using phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate as substrate. Their structural homology with the class II lipid kinases [type II phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinase (PIP4KII)] suggests that PIP5KI dimerizes, although this has not been formally demonstrated. Neither the hypothetical structural dimerization determinants nor the functional consequences of dimerization have been studied.

Clinically nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation: Natural history and outcomes after surgical resection with curative intent.

Purpose: Renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation (sRCC) is an aggressive malignancy associated with a poor prognosis. Although existing literature focuses on patients presenting with metastatic disease, characteristics and outcomes for patients with localized disease are not well described. We aimed to evaluate postnephrectomy characteristics, outcomes, and predictors of survival in patients with sRCC who presented with clinically localized disease.

Role of partial nephrectomy as cytoreduction in the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

In this review, we describe the role, feasibility and safety of partial nephrectomy in the setting of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Partial nephrectomy is currently the preferred therapeutic modality in patients with localized renal tumors, while radical cytoreductive nephrectomy is the standard of care for appropriately selected patients with metastatic disease. Several studies have shown the prognostic value of percentage tumor removed when cytoreductive nephrectomy is done.

Total joint arthroplasty in cancer patients.

Increasing numbers of total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients have a history, or an active diagnosis, of cancer. We aimed to evaluate the risk of early postoperative complications in these patients. In our series, a history of malignancy was associated with an elevated risk of ischemic cardiac events and postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT), while active malignancy was associated with increased respiratory and renal complications, hematoma/seroma formation and early postoperative mortality.

Genomic investigation of etiologic heterogeneity: methodologic challenges.

Background: The etiologic heterogeneity of cancer has traditionally been investigated by comparing risk factor frequencies within candidate sub-types, defined for example by histology or by distinct tumor markers of interest. Increasingly tumors are being profiled for molecular features much more extensively. This greatly expands the opportunities for defining distinct sub-types.

Cryptococcal aortitis presenting as a symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm.

We report a case of cryptococcal aortitis in a 59-year-old man presenting as a symptomatic suprarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The patient underwent repair of his aneurysm using a rifampin-soaked graft with omental wrapping. Intraoperative Gram stains showed yeast organisms, the cultures eventually grew Cryptococcus neoformans with results available 43 days postoperatively.