Varicocele complicating spontaneous arteriovenous fistula.

We describe herein a rare case of a varicocele complicating spontaneous arteriovenous fistula. A 40-year-old man was referred to our hospital in November 2006, complaining of a non-tender mass in the left scrotum at the age of 15 and thereafter. On examination, his left scrotum revealed a large varicocele, but no manifest superficial thrill was noted.

Primary choriocarcinoma of the urinary bladder.

A 72-year-old woman with asymptomatic macrohematuria was referred to our hospital. Cystoscopy revealed a 7 cm sessile tumor on the left lateral wall of the bladder. Subsequently an intravenous pyelography revealed left hydronephrosis.

Primary symptomatic perivesical paraganglioma: a case report.

Paraganglioma, extra-adrenal pheochromocytomas, are relatively rare in adults, with most arising from para-aortic sympathetic and visceral organs, such as the bladder. Paraganglioma localized at the extravesical retroperitoneal pelvic cavity is extremely rare. We report a case of symptomatic perivesical pheochromocytoma in a 34-year-old man treated by surgical excision.

Case of seminoma with possible spontaneous regression without extragonadal metastatic lesion.

We present an extraordinarily rare finding of a testicular seminoma apparently in the process of spontaneous regression without accompanying metastatic lesion. A 35-year-old man visited our institute for persistent scrotal induration after the administration of antibiotics for several weeks. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a capsulized tumor in his left atrophic testicle, without other visceral tumor or lymphadenopathy.

[Case of local recurrence of the periurethral proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma successfully treated by repeated regional excision].

Proximal-type epithelioid sarcomas are rare soft tissue neoplasms occuring in the soma or thigh and often repeat recurrence and metastasis. We present a case of locally recurrenced proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma that could be treated by regional excision alone. A 62-year-old man visited our institute for a growing mass in the perineal region.

[A case of adrenocortical adenoma coexisting with gastrointestinal stromal tumor].

A 48-year-old man was referred to our institute for the evaluation of a concomitant gastric submucosal tumor and right adrenal tumor, incidentally found by ultrasound examination. Computed tomography showed a mass with a diameter of 6 cm adjacent to the stomach and the right adrenal tumor with a diameter of 3 cm. These tumors had similar characteristics in both plain and enhanced imagings.

Implications of circulating chromogranin A in prostate cancer.

Objective: To evaluate whether measurement of circulating chromogranin A (CgA) levels provides clinicopathological and prognostic information in prostate cancer.

Material And Methods: Plasma CgA levels were measured in 57 patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer (stage B or less, n=22; stage C, n=10; stage D1, n=2; hormone-naive D2, n=12; hormone-refractory D2, n=11) and in 22 with undetected prostate cancer using an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay.

Results: Median plasma CgA levels were significantly higher in patients with prostate cancer than in those with undetected cancer (p=0.

A case of retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst treated by laparoscopic surgery.

We describe herein a rare case of a retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst successfully treated by laparoscopic surgery. A 39-year-old man with low-grade fever was referred to our hospital because of suspicion of an adrenal tumor. Abdominal computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasonography revealed a homogenous solid mass, 35 x 30 mm in diameter, in the left suprarenal region.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of c-myc amplification in stage TNM prostate cancer in Japanese patients.

Objective: Genetic aberration such as the amplification of c-myc has been commonly found in advanced prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to elucidate chromosome 8 alteration, including a gain and amplification of 8q24 (c-myc gene), related to the progression and survival in advanced (Stage C) prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: We used dual-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization with a centromere-specific probe for chromosome 8 (8cen), and with a region-specific probe for c-myc (8q24) to evaluate genetic changes in tumor samples from 50 patients who had undergone radical retropubic prostatectomy from 1986 to 2001.

Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features of neuroendocrine differentiated carcinomas of the prostate: an immunoelectron microscopic study.

The purpose of this study was to further define the immunohistochemical and ultrastructural characteristics of neuroendocrine (NE) differentiated prostatic carcinomas. Seventy-seven specimens were obtained from prostatic carcinoma tumors during prostatectomy, transurethral resection of prostate or biopsy in 77 prostate cancer patients, and analyzed by immunohistochemical staining for chromogranin A (CgA). Nine of these tumors were also studied by elctron microscopy and 4 were examined by pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy.

Retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy for adrenal tumors via a single large port.

Background And Purpose: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is generally performed with carbon dioxide insufflation of the cavity and requires multiple trocars. This study reports the outcomes of retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy (RA) for adrenal tumors via a single port using a large cylinder without carbon dioxide insufflation.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-four patients with adrenal tumors were treated using RA via a single large port.

Prospective study of estramustine phosphate for hormone refractory prostate cancer patients following androgen deprivation therapy.

Introduction: Estramustine phosphate (EMP) in combination with other cytotoxic agents has been widely used in clinical trials as an anti-tumor agent for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). However, few prospective studies have considered the efficacy of EMP monotherapy for HRPC patients following androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), given the availability of methods to measure prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in the serum. We therefore initiated a prospective study to determine whether EMP is efficient for HRPC following ADT using changes in PSA levels as the major endpoint.

Multicentric liposarcoma.

Abstract A 72-year-old man complaining of upper abdominal discomfort was diagnosed as having retroperitoneal liposarcoma by means of diagnostic imaging. He then underwent an operation. One mass existed on the curvatura ventriculi major, extending to the hilum splenicum and pressing back the pancreal head and body.

Neuroendocrine differentiation in hormone refractory prostate cancer following androgen deprivation therapy.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) status and hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) following hormone therapy based on immunohistochemical study.

Methods: Seventy-two prostate cancer specimens obtained at radical prostatectomy and 21 prostate cancer autopsy specimens from patients who died from HRPC after androgen deprivation therapy were examined for NED status using an antibody against chromogranin A. These specimens were classified into 3 arms: 38 radical prostatectomy specimens from patients with no neoadjuvant hormone therapy (Group 1); 34 from patients with neoadjuvant hormone therapy for 3 to 6 months (Group 2); and 21 autopsy specimens from patients with HRPC following androgen deprivation therapy for more than 1 year (Group 3).

Expression and regulation of tumor suppressor gene maspin in human bladder cancer.

Maspin is a member of serine protease inhibitor family with tumor suppressing activity for breast and prostate cancers, acting at the level of tumor invasion and metastasis. However, there have been no published data regarding the role of maspin in human bladder cancer. We evaluated maspin expression in 65 series of bladder cancer samples (22 transurethral resection (TUR) and 43 radical cystectomy) and studied the regulatory mechanism of maspin gene activation in bladder cancer cells.

[Adjuvant hormone therapy in patients with positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy].

Background: We carried out a retrospective study comparing radical prostatectomy plus adjuvant hormone therapy with radical prostatectomy plus surveillance in patients with positive surgical margins to evaluate whether adjuvant hormone therapy is beneficial for disease free survival.

Patients And Methods: Sixty-five patients with positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy were included in this study. Twenty-six patients received adjuvant hormone therapy.