Serum interferon alpha receptor 2 mRNA may predict efficacy of interferon alpha with/without low-dose sorafenib for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Interferon (IFN) alpha is one of the central agents in immunotherapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). It acts by binding to the IFN-alpha receptor (IFNAR). We previously reported that increased tumor expression of IFNAR2 mRNA was associated with the metastatic potential and progression of RCC, as well as with a poor response of metastatic RCC to IFN-alpha therapy.

Increased Rac1 activity and Pak1 overexpression are associated with lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis of upper urinary tract cancer.

Background: Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and lymph node metastasis are conventional pathological factors associated with an unfavorable prognosis of urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UC-UUT), but little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying LVI and nodal metastasis in this disease. Rac1 small GTPase (Rac1) is essential for tumor metastasis. Activated GTP-bound Rac1 (Rac1 activity) plays a key role in activating downstream effectors known as Pak (21-activated kinase), which are key regulators of cytoskeletal remolding, cell motility, and cell proliferation, and thus have a role in both carcinogenesis and tumor invasion.

Expression of RhoA mRNA and activated RhoA in urothelium and smooth muscle, and effects of a Rho-kinase inhibitor on contraction of the porcine urinary bladder.

Aims: To investigate the concentration and activity of RhoA in detrusor and urothelium, as well as the effects of a Rho-kinase inhibitor, Y-27632 [(+)-(R)-trans-4-(1-aminoethyl)-N-(4-pyridyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide dihydrochloride], on contraction of the pig urinary bladder.

Methods: The concentration of RhoA mRNA was studied by the real-time RT-PCR and activated RhoA enzyme was studied by activation assay and Western blotting. In functional studies, the response to Y-27632 was examined in bladder strips with or without urothelium.

[Retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma: a case report].

A 67-year-old male presented for examination of a retroperitoneal tumor, incidentally found by abdominal computed tomography (CT). CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a round heterogeneous tumor, 10 cm in diameter, at the left renal hilus and involving the left renal vein. The tumor was low-intensity on T1-weighted MRI imaging, and high-intensity on T2-weight MRI imaging.