Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen PET/Computed Tomography: Pearls and Pitfalls.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET (PSMA-PET) has emerged as a powerful imaging tool for prostate cancer primary staging, biochemical recurrence, and advanced disease assessment. This article offers a concise overview of the benefits and challenges associated with PSMA-PET for prostate cancer evaluation. The article highlights the advantages of PSMA-PET over conventional imaging, such as its higher sensitivity and specificity for detecting metastases, and the potential for guiding personalized treatment decisions.

Renin-angiotensin system in normal pregnancy and in preeclampsia: A comprehensive review.

The activation of the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) is required during pregnancy and it seems that RAS dysfunction has some important effects on pathological pregnancy conditions, including preeclampsia (PE). The objective of this review is to summarize and to discuss the role of the RAS in normal pregnancy and in PE. We found evidence that the RAS is important for the evolution of pregnancy under physiological conditions and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PE.

Acute kidney injury in pediatrics: an overview focusing on pathophysiology.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as an abrupt decline in glomerular filtration rate, with increased serum creatinine and nitrogenous waste products due to several possible etiologies. Incidence in the pediatric population is estimated to be 3.9 per 1,000 hospitalizations, and prevalence among children admitted to intensive care units is 26.

Reassessing Patterns of Response to Immunotherapy with PET: From Morphology to Metabolism.

Cancer demands precise evaluation and accurate and timely assessment of response to treatment. Imaging must be performed early during therapy to allow adjustments to the course of treatment. For decades, cross-sectional imaging provided these answers, showing responses to the treatment through changes in tumor size.

Insights on SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Interactions With the Renin-Angiotensin System.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2/human/Wuhan/X1/2019, a virus belonging to the species , and the recognition of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic have highly increased the scientific research regarding the pathogenesis of COVID-19. The Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) seems to be involved in COVID-19 natural course, since studies suggest the membrane-bound Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) works as SARS-CoV-2 cellular receptor. Besides the efforts of the scientific community to understand the virus' molecular interactions with human cells, few studies summarize what has been so far discovered about SARS-CoV-2 signaling mechanisms and its interactions with RAS molecules.

Theranostics in Nuclear Medicine: Emerging and Re-emerging Integrated Imaging and Therapies in the Era of Precision Oncology.

Theranostics refers to the pairing of diagnostic biomarkers with therapeutic agents that share a specific target in diseased cells or tissues. Nuclear medicine, particularly with regard to applications in oncology, is currently one of the greatest components of the theranostic concept in clinical and research scenarios. Theranostics in nuclear medicine, or nuclear theranostics, refers to the use of radioactive compounds to image biologic phenomena by means of expression of specific disease targets such as cell surface receptors or membrane transporters, and then to use specifically designed agents to deliver ionizing radiation to the tissues that express these targets.

2020 update on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in pediatric kidney disease and its interactions with coronavirus.

The last decade was crucial for our understanding of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) as a two-axis, counter-regulatory system, divided into the classical axis, formed by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensin II (Ang II), and the angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R), and the alternative axis comprising angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)), and the Mas receptor. Breakthrough discoveries also took place, with other RAAS endopeptides being described, including alamandine and angiotensin A. In this review, we characterize the two RAAS axes and the role of their components in pediatric kidney diseases, including childhood hypertension (HTN), pediatric glomerular diseases, congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen PET: Therapy Response Assessment in Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

Therapy response assessment is a critical step in cancer management, leading clinicians to optimize the use of therapeutic options during the course of the disease. Imaging is a pivotal biomarker for therapy response evaluation in oncology and has gained wider use through the development of reproducible data-based guidelines, of which the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors is the most successful example. Disease-specific criteria have also been proposed, and the Prostate Cancer Working Group 3 criteria are the mainstay for prostate cancer (PC).

Covid-19: the renin-angiotensin system imbalance hypothesis.

The emergency of SARS-CoV-2 in China started a novel challenge to the scientific community. As the virus turns pandemic, scientists try to map the cellular mechanisms and pathways of SARS-CoV-2 related to the pathogenesis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19). After transmembrane angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been found to be SARS-CoV-2 receptor, we hypothesized an immune-hematological mechanism for Covid-19 based on renin-angiotensin system (RAS) imbalance to explain clinical, laboratory and imaging findings on disease course.

Nonprostatic diseases on PSMA PET imaging: a spectrum of benign and malignant findings.

PSMA PET imaging was originally used to assess biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer (PCa), but its clinical use was promptly extended to detection, staging and therapy response assessment. The expanding use of PSMA PET worldwide has also revealed PSMA ligand uptake in diverse nonprostatic diseases, which raised questions about the specificity of this imaging modality. Although not very common initially, a growing number of pathologies presenting PSMA uptake on PET have been reported in the last few years, and a proper interpretation of PSMA PET imaging findings suddenly became challenging and, to some extent, confusing.

ACE2/Angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas Receptor Axis in Human Cancer: Potential Role for Pediatric Tumors.

Background: Pediatric tumors remain the highest cause of death in developed countries. Research on novel therapeutic strategies with lesser side effects is of utmost importance. In this scenario, the role of Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) axes, the classical one formed by angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE), Angiotensin II and AT1 receptor and the alternative axis composed by ACE2, Angiotensin-(1-7) and Mas receptor, have been investigated in cancer.

Predictive criteria of insignificant prostate cancer: what is the correspondence of linear extent to percentage of cancer in a single core?

Objective: The aim of active surveillance of early prostate cancer is to individualize therapy by selecting for curative treatment only patients with significant cancer. Epstein's criteria for prediction of clinically insignificant cancer in surgical specimens are widely used. Epstein's criterion "no single core with >50% cancer has no correspondence in linear extent.

p16(INK) (4a) expression as a potential marker of low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia progression.

To evaluate p16(INK) (4a) immunoexpression in CIN1 lesions looking for differences between cases that progress to CIN2/3 maintain CIN1 diagnosis, or spontaneously regress. Seventy-four CIN1 biopsies were studied. In the follow-up, a second biopsy was performed and 28.

The value of the 2005 International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) modified Gleason grading system as a predictor of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

Purpose: To compare time and risk to biochemical recurrence (BR) after radical prostatectomy of two chronologically different groups of patients using the standard and the modified Gleason system (MGS).

Methods: Cohort 1 comprised biopsies of 197 patients graded according to the standard Gleason system (SGS) in the period 1997/2004, and cohort 2, 176 biopsies graded according to the modified system in the period 2005/2011. Time to BR was analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier product-limit analysis and prediction of shorter time to recurrence using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.

Hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor: A case series.

Introduction: Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a rare lesion consisted of inflammatory and myofibroblastic cells. These lesions may be found in different organs. There are less than 300 described cases.