Detection of circulating tumor cells in bladder cancer patients.

The methods employed for the detection of circulating bladder cancer cells (CBCs) and their use as a molecular staging tool in clinical settings are thoroughly reviewed. CBC isolation and enrichment methods are discussed according to their advantages and pitfalls along with the clinical data of PCR-based techniques used for CBC detection. In addition, we review the specificity of molecular markers that have been proposed so far for CBC identification, and we comment on the controversial clinical data, proposing laboratory approaches which may improve the clinical significance of CBC detection in bladder cancer.

Combination therapy using LHRH and somatostatin analogues plus dexamethasone in androgen ablation refractory prostate cancer patients with bone involvement: a bench to bedside approach.

The development of resistance to anticancer therapies is a major hurdle in preventing long-lasting clinical responses to conventional therapies in hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Herein, the molecular evidence documenting that bone metastasis microenvironment survival factors (mainly the paracrine growth hormone-independent, urokinase-type plasminogen activator-mediated increase of IGF-1 and the endocrine production of growth hormone-dependent IGF-1, mainly liver-derived IGF-1 production) produce an epigenetic form of prostate cancer cells that are resistant to proapoptotic therapies is reviewed. Consequently, the authors present the conceptual framework of a novel antibone microenvironment survival factor, mainly an anti-IGF-1 hormonal manipulation for androgen ablation refractory prostate cancer (a combination of conventional androgen ablation therapy [luteinising hormone-releasing hormone agonist-A or orchiectomy]) with dexamethasone plus somatostatin analogue, which yielded durable objective responses and major improvement of bone pain and performance status in stage D3 prostate cancer patients.