[O]HO PET/MRI for Assessment of Complete Response to Neoadjuvant or Induction Chemotherapy in Patients with Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Pilot Study.

Accurate assessment of therapy response to chemotherapy could possibly offer a bladder-sparing approach in selected patients with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether [O]HO PET/MRI can be used for assessment of complete local pathological response to preoperative chemotherapy in patients with MIBC. This prospective pilot study included 13 patients with MIBC treated with neoadjuvant or induction chemotherapy and subsequent radical cystectomy.

Ureteroenteric strictures after cystectomy: Side-specific risk factors and radiological assessment.

Objective: To evaluate risk factors contributing to side-specific benign ureteroenteric strictures following radical cystectomy with an ileal conduit.

Materials And Methods: Data obtained from patients with bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy with ileal conduit surgery between 2015 and 2018 were retrospectively analysed. Imaging prior to surgery was analysed, regarding calcifications in the aorta, sarcopenia and postoperatively for length of remaining left ureter.

Definition of Benign Ureteroenteric Anastomotic Strictures in Ileal Conduits After Radical Cystectomy: Experience From a Single Center and Previously Published Literature.

Objective: To evaluate a cohort of patients diagnosed with benign ureteroenteric stricture (UES) after radical cystectomy with ileal conduits using a strict predefined definition of strictures. Additionally, we want to illustrate the UES debut, regarding symptoms and clinical findings. UES is a well-known long-term complication after radical cystectomy, affecting up to 20% of all patients.

DaBlaCa-16: Retrosigmoid Versus Conventional Ileal Conduit in Robot-assisted Radical Cystectomy, the MOSAIC Randomized Controlled Trial-Feasibility and 90-day Postoperative Complications.

Background: Approximately 15% of patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) develop benign ureteroenteric strictures. Of these strictures, the majority are located in the left ureter. To lower the rate of strictures, a retrosigmoid ileal conduit has been suggested.

Computer-Assisted Diagnosis of Lymph Node Metastases in Colorectal Cancers Using Transfer Learning With an Ensemble Model.

Screening of lymph node metastases in colorectal cancer (CRC) can be a cumbersome task, but it is amenable to artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostic solution. Here, we propose a deep learning-based workflow for the evaluation of CRC lymph node metastases from digitized hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections. A segmentation model was trained on 100 whole-slide images (WSIs).

PIK3CA Mutational Analysis in Patients With Macrodactyly.

Background: Somatic mosaicism for mutations causes various types of growth disorders, which have been summarized under the term PROS ( related overgrowth spectrum). Targeted therapy with PI3K inhibitors seems to be a promising alternative for severe PROS cases. Therefore, testing may become more relevant in the future.

Phase I Dose-Escalation Study of the Dual PI3K-mTORC1/2 Inhibitor Gedatolisib in Combination with Paclitaxel and Carboplatin in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.

Purpose: This phase I study evaluated safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary activity of the PI3K/mTORC1/2 dual inhibitor gedatolisib combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel.

Patients And Methods: Patients with advanced solid tumors treated with ≤ 2 prior chemotherapies received intravenous gedatolisib on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 (95, 110, or 130 mg according to dose level); carboplatin (AUC5) on day 8 (day 1 following protocol amendment); and paclitaxel at 80 mg/m on days 8, 15, and 22 (1, 8, and 15 after amendment), every 28 days. Patients without progressive disease after cycle 6 received maintenance gedatolisib until progression.

Giardia lamblia and Helicobacter pylori coinfection in gastrointestinal biopsies: A retrospective single-center analysis from Switzerland.

Background: The protozoan Giardia lamblia (GL) and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (HP) are common causes of gastrointestinal disease. Coinfection is common and has been reported in studies from Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, but data for Switzerland are scarce.

Aim: To investigate GL and HP prevalence and coinfection rate in gastrointestinal biopsies from the Zurich area of Switzerland.

Altered glycosylation of IgG4 promotes lectin complement pathway activation in anti-PLA2R1-associated membranous nephropathy.

Primary membranous nephropathy (pMN) is a leading cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults. In most cases, this autoimmune kidney disease is associated with autoantibodies against the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R1) expressed on kidney podocytes, but the mechanisms leading to glomerular damage remain elusive. Here, we developed a cell culture model using human podocytes and found that anti-PLA2R1-positive pMN patient sera or isolated IgG4, but not IgG4-depleted sera, induced proteolysis of the 2 essential podocyte proteins synaptopodin and NEPH1 in the presence of complement, resulting in perturbations of the podocyte cytoskeleton.

A requirement for p120-catenin in the metastasis of invasive ductal breast cancer.

We report here the effects of targeted p120-catenin (encoded by ; hereafter denoted p120) knockout (KO) in a PyMT mouse model of invasive ductal (mammary) cancer (IDC). Mosaic p120 ablation had little effect on primary tumor growth but caused significant pro-metastatic alterations in the tumor microenvironment, ultimately leading to a marked increase in the number and size of pulmonary metastases. Surprisingly, although early effects of p120-ablation included decreased cell-cell adhesion and increased invasiveness, cells lacking p120 were almost entirely unable to colonized distant metastatic sites The relevance of this observation to human IDC was established by analysis of a large clinical dataset of 1126 IDCs.

The sodium/proton exchanger NHA2 regulates blood pressure through a WNK4-NCC dependent pathway in the kidney.

NHA2 is a sodium/proton exchanger associated with arterial hypertension in humans, but the role of NHA2 in kidney function and blood pressure homeostasis is currently unknown. Here we show that NHA2 localizes almost exclusively to distal convoluted tubules in the kidney. NHA2 knock-out mice displayed reduced blood pressure, normocalcemic hypocalciuria and an attenuated response to the thiazide diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.

Loss of MDC1 in Endometrial Carcinoma Is Associated With Loss of MRN Complex and MMR Deficiency.

Aim: To evaluate the frequency of loss of mediator of DNA damage checkpoint protein 1 (MDC1) protein expression in endometrial cancer (EC) and to determine whether loss of MDC1 is associated with certain clinicopathological parameters.

Materials And Methods: MDC1 expression was examined in 426 samples of EC. The nuclear immunoreactivity of the protein was defined as: negative, weak, moderate and strong.

Clam augmentation enterocystoplasty as management of urge urinary incontinence and reduced bladder capacity.

Third line treatment of urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and/or reduced bladder capacity is bladder augmentation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether clam enterocystoplasty (CECP) was an efficient treatment for patients who were refractory to conservative treatments of UUI and small functional bladder capacity and secondly if there was a difference in outcome in patients with neurogenic and non-neurogenic bladders. We evaluated 118 patients retrospectively treated in the period 2006-2018 at a single university hospital.

Urinary diversion in the treatment of refractory bladder pain syndrome.

This study investigates the effect of urinary division in patients with bladder pain syndrome (BPS) refractory to conservative treatment. This study aimed to identify pre-operative predictive factors regarding the surgical outcome in patients undergoing urinary diversion with or without cystectomy (CX). This study included 30 patients with BPS treated with a urinary diversion in the period from 2002-2017 at a single university hospital.

Vertical Transmission of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a significant cause of pneumonia in school-aged children and young adults. We report a case of neonatal M. pneumoniae pneumonia in a preterm child manifesting in the first hours of life.

Clinical and Histologic Evaluation of the Hysterotomy Site and Fetal Membranes after Open Fetal Surgery for Fetal Spina Bifida Repair.

Introduction: Among the risks associated with open fetal surgery, myometrium and fetal membrane issues are vexing problems since they may lead to uterine dehiscence or preterm premature rupture of membranes resulting in uterine rupture or preterm birth or both. The aim of this study was to examine whether stapled and sutured hysterotomy scars demonstrate partial or complete healing.

Methods: Hysterotomy sites after open fetal surgery were clinically evaluated in 36 women during Caesarean section, classified into the categories intact, thin, and partially or completely dehiscent, then completely excised and histologically analyzed in 25 cases.

Cryptotanshinone from Salvia miltiorrhiza Roots Reduces Cytokeratin CK1/10 Expression in Keratinocytes by Activation of Peptidyl-prolyl-cis-trans-isomerase FKBP1A.

Cryptotanshinone (CTS) (1 µM) from the roots of exerts a strong influence on the terminal differentiation of human keratinocytes (HaCaT cell line, primary natural human keratinocytes) and downregulates the expression of differentiation-specific cytokeratins CK1 and CK10 on protein and gene level. Other differentiation specific proteins as involucrin, filaggrin, loricrin, and transglutaminase were not affected to a higher extent. CTS (1 µM) did not influence the cell viability and the proliferation of keratinocytes.

β-1,3/1,4-Glucan Lichenan from Cetraria islandica (L.) ACH. induces cellular differentiation of human keratinocytes.

Lichenan (molecular weight 275 kDa, β-D-1,3/1,4-glucopyranose ratio 1:3) from Cetraria islandica at a concentration of 100 μg/mL induced terminal cellular differentiation of primary human keratinocytes as demonstrated by immunofluorescence staining using cytokeratin 10 and involucrin as marker proteins. Lichenan-derived oligosaccharides (DP3 to 8), obtained by acid-catalyzed partial hydrolysis of the polymer, did not influence cellular differentiation. Cytokeratin, filaggrin, involucrin, loricrin and transglutaminase gene expression as typical differentiation markers was increased by lichenan in a time-dependent manner.

Lymphotoxin expression in human and murine renal allografts.

The kidney is the most frequently transplanted solid organ. Recruitment of inflammatory cells, ranging from diffuse to nodular accumulations with defined microarchitecture, is a hallmark of acute and chronic renal allograft injury. Lymphotoxins (LTs) mediate the communication of lymphocytes and stromal cells and play a pivotal role in chronic inflammation and formation of lymphoid tissue.

Evidence of renal angiomyolipoma neoplastic stem cells arising from renal epithelial cells.

Renal angiomyolipomas (AML) contain an admixture of clonal tumour cells with features of several different mesenchymal lineages, implying the existence of an unidentified AML neoplastic stem cell. Biallelic inactivation of TSC2 or TSC1 is believed to represent the driving event in these tumours. Here we show that TSC2 knockdown transforms senescence-resistant cultured mouse and human renal epithelial cells into neoplastic stem cells that serially propagate renal AML-like tumours in mice.

Transcriptome-based network analysis reveals renal cell type-specific dysregulation of hypoxia-associated transcripts.

Accumulating evidence suggests that dysregulation of hypoxia-regulated transcriptional mechanisms is involved in development of chronic kidney diseases (CKD). However, it remains unclear how hypoxia-induced transcription factors (HIFs) and subsequent biological processes contribute to CKD development and progression. In our study, genome-wide expression profiles of more than 200 renal biopsies from patients with different CKD stages revealed significant correlation of HIF-target genes with eGFR in glomeruli and tubulointerstitium.