Rubin H. Flocks and colloidal gold treatments for prostate cancer.

In the early 1950s, Rubin H. Flocks of the University of Iowa began to treat prostate cancer patients with colloidal gold (Au(198)) therapy, evolving his technique over nearly 25 years in 1515 patients. We reviewed the long-term outcomes of Flocks' prostate cancer patients as compared to those patients treated by other methods at the University of Iowa before Flocks' chairmanship.

TP53 gene mutations in prostate cancer progression.

Background: We assessed the predictive value of TP53 mutations and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for tumor progression in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

Materials And Methods: Ninety tumor tissue samples of patients with PCa from radical prostatectomy were used. Tumor progression was estimated biochemically by the PSA level (> 0.

Acute partial segmental thrombosis of the corpus cavernosum: imaging findings on ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Partial segmental thrombosis of the corpus cavernosum is a rare disease of unknown etiology; the thrombosis is always located in the proximal part of the corpus cavernosum, usually unilaterally. Typical clinical presentation with perineal pain and swelling in combination with cross-sectional imaging allows one to confidentially establish this diagnosis.

CD146 protein in prostate cancer: revisited with two different antibodies.

Aims: CD146 is a potentially metastasis promoting cell adhesion molecule and its expression has been described in various solid tumours. We aimed to evaluate the expression of CD146 in prostate cancer by immunohistochemistry in a clinically characterised study cohort to evaluate its prognostic properties.

Methods: We evaluated the CD146 protein expression using a polyclonal and a monoclonal antibody on 169 clinico-pathologically characterised cases.

Serum amyloid A as indicator of distant metastases but not as early tumor marker in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of the concentration of serum amyloid A (SAA) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). SAA protein was determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum samples of 55 healthy controls and 98 RCC patients subdivided into groups with localized tumor (N0M0, n=40), with lymph node metastases (N1M0, n=13), and distant metastases (M1, n=45). SAA concentrations in controls and N0M0 group of RCC were not different while SAA concentrations were significantly elevated in M1 patients compared to the N1M0 and N0M0 patients.

High expression of KLK14 in prostatic adenocarcinoma is associated with elevated risk of prostate-specific antigen relapse.

Objective: Reliable prognostic tools for prostate cancer are still needed and KLK14, a young member of the growing family of human kallikrein-related peptidases, has been estimated to become a new significant marker. It is the aim of this study to analyze the clinical value of immunohistochemical expression of KLK14 in prostate cancer tissue samples.

Methods: Protein expression of KLK14 was assessed immunohistochemically in 186 tissue samples from radical prostatectomies.

TP53 gene mutations as an independent marker for urinary bladder cancer progression.

This study evaluates the influence of the TP53 genetic status on tumour recurrence and progression with a highly effective electrophoretic technique. DNA from tissue of 75 non-invasive urinary bladder cancers was PCR amplified in the TP53 exons 5-8 and run on horizontal polyacrylamide gels under defined temperature conditions to yield specific gel shifts. Kaplan-Meier and Cox-Regression analysis were performed with tumour progression.

Body mass index (BMI) and mutations of tumor suppressor gene p53 (TP53) in patients with urinary bladder cancer.

Objective: Obesity is estimated to account for up to 20% of all cancer deaths. Mutations of TP53 are frequently correlated with tumor development and progression. We evaluated the effect of body mass index (BMI) and mutation status of tumor suppressor gene p53 (TP53) on patients with urinary bladder cancer.

Attitude to nephrolithiasis in the potential living kidney donor: a survey of the German kidney transplant centers and review of the literature.

Living donor kidney transplantation (LD-KTX) is increasing worldwide. With the prevalence of urolithiasis ranging between 4% and 15%, the number of donors with current nephrolithiasis or a history of the disease will increase as well. A questionnaire was sent to all German centers with LD-KTX programs (urologists and general surgeons).

Transrectal broadband-Doppler sonography with intravenous contrast medium administration for prostate imaging and biopsy in men with an elevated PSA value and previous negative biopsies.

Unlabelled: THE AIM of this study was to determine the prostate cancer detection rate of targeted biopsy using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US) in patients with elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and previous negative biopsy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 114 patients initially underwent ultrasonography using transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and power Doppler. All the patients had at least one previous biopsy series negative for prostate carcinoma.

Cross-over kidney transplantation with simultaneous laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy: initial experience.

With cross-over living donor kidney transplantation, immunologic incompatibilities within the original donor/recipient pair can be overcome. As minimal invasive techniques for organ recovery are increasingly applied, this should also be performed in a cross-over kidney transplantation. We present the first report of a successful simultaneous laparoscopic kidney recovery for cross-over kidney transplantation as well as a review of the international practice of cross-over kidney transplantation in the context of national laws.

[Thermal therapy of prostate cancer using magnetic nanoparticles].

A novel method of interstitial heating using magnetic nanoparticles and a direct injection technique has been evaluated in human cancers in recent clinical trials. In prostate cancer, this approach was investigated in two separate phase-I-studies, employing magnetic nanoparticle thermotherapy alone and in combination with permanent seed brachytherapy. The feasibility and good tolerability was shown in both trials, using the first prototype of a magnetic field applicator.

Serum (-5, -7) proPSA for distinguishing stage and grade of prostate cancer.

Background: ProPSA has been suggested for the detection of preferentially aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). We report on the use of proPSA and free PSA to enhance preoperative staging and grading.

Patients And Methods: Serum samples from 376 PCa patients within the PSA range 1-25 microg/l who underwent radical prostatectomy were analysed for PSA, free PSA (fPSA) and (-5, -7) proPSA.

S100A8, S100A9, and the S100A8/A9 complex in circulating blood are not associated with prostate cancer risk-A re-evaluation study.

Background: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of plasma S100A8, S100A9, and the S100A8/A9 complex as novel markers to discriminate between benign and malignant prostatic diseases as recently suggested for S100A9.

Methods: The study included 90 prostate cancer (PCa) patients (pN0M0, n = 50; pN1M0, n = 27; M1, n = 13), 50 controls without PCa, and six patients within 72 hr after radical prostatectomy for repeated measurements. The S100 proteins were analyzed with specific ELISAs.

Elevated plasma osteopontin as marker for distant metastases and poor survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate diagnostic and prognostic significance of plasma osteopontin (OPN) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: The retrospective study included 80 patients with RCC (pN0M0, n = 32; pN1M0, n = 11; M1, and n = 37), and 52 healthy controls (27 females and 25 males). OPN, the bone marker bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP) and carboxyterminal telopetide of type-I collagen (ICTP), and the enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) were evaluated together with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) laboratory parameters.

Different prostate-specific antigen assays give different results on the same blood sample: an obstacle to recommending uniform limits for prostate biopsies.

Objective: To show the effect of different results for total prostate specific antigen (tPSA) and percentage free/total PSA (%fPSA) obtained with different assays for differentiating between benign and malignant prostate diseases.

Patients And Methods: Data were used for tPSA and fPSA levels from 596 patients with prostate cancer (314) or no evidence of cancer (282) within the PSA range 0.5-10 ng/mL, analysed with assays from Abbott (AxSYM), Beckman Coulter (Access), DPC (Immulite 2000), and Roche (Elecsys 2010), and with tPSA and complexed PSA (cPSA) assays from Bayer (ADVIA Centaur), as already reported.

Serial markers of bone turnover in men with metastatic prostate cancer treated with zoledronic Acid for detection of bone metastases progression.

Objectives: This study assessed the usefulness of serial measurements of bone turnover markers in men with metastatic prostate cancer treated with zoledronic acid to detect disease progression.

Methods: Serum measurements of total alkaline phosphatase (tALP), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP), cross-linked N-terminal (NTx) and cross-linked C-terminal (CTx) telopeptides of type I collagen, amino-terminal procollagen propeptides of type I collagen (PINP), C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (ICTP), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were performed in 77 prostate cancer patients suffering from bone metastases and treated with zoledronic acid up to 15 mo. Fifty patients were with and 27 patients without objective evidence of metastatic bone progression during the administration of zoledronic acid.

Electrophoretic subforms of free prostate-specific antigen in serum as promising diagnostic tool in prostate cancer diagnostics.

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic performance of the major electrophoretic subforms of free prostate-specific antigen (PSA), named F2 and F3, for differentiating between benign and malignant prostatic disease in men with total PSA (tPSA) concentrations up to 10 microg/L.

Methods: In sera from 50 patients with prostate cancer (PCa) and 44 men without evidence of malignancy (NPCa), F2 and F3 were quantified by two-dimensional electrophoresis and Western blotting. The F2/F3 ratios were compared with the conventional parameter tPSA and percentage fPSA/tPSA ratio (%fPSA) in univariate and multivariate analyses using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Plasma osteopontin in comparison with bone markers as indicator of bone metastasis and survival outcome in patients with prostate cancer.

Background: The study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of plasma osteopontin (OPN) in comparison to bone markers as well as the relationships between the markers and clinico-pathological factors in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

Methods: OPN and the bone markers carboxyterminal-telopeptide of type I collagen, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP), and aminoterminal-propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) were measured in 90 PCa patients with and without bone metastases, 35 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and 29 healthy men.

Results: OPN and bone markers were significantly elevated in patients with bone metastases compared to the other groups.

Thermotherapy of prostate cancer using magnetic nanoparticles: feasibility, imaging, and three-dimensional temperature distribution.

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of thermotherapy using biocompatible superparamagnetic nanoparticles in patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer and to evaluate an imaging-based approach for noninvasive calculations of the three-dimensional temperature distribution.

Methods: Ten patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer following primary therapy with curative intent were entered into a prospective phase 1 trial. The magnetic fluid was injected transperineally into the prostates according to a preplan.

Diagnostic and prognostic validity of serum bone turnover markers in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of bone markers in the serum of patients with renal cell carcinoma to detect bone metastases and evaluate the prognostic potential concerning renal cell carcinoma caused mortality.

Materials And Methods: The bone formation markers total and bone specific alkaline phosphatase, the bone resorption markers cross-linked N-terminal and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase isoenzyme 5b, and the osteoclastogenesis markers osteoprotegerin and ligand of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB, were measured in the serum of 72 patients with renal cell carcinoma, including 28 with pN0M0, 8 with pN1M0 and 36 with M1, and in 32 female and 36 male controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques. Data were evaluated by receiver operating characteristics and survival analysis.

Combined determination of plasma MMP2, MMP9, and TIMP1 improves the non-invasive detection of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) play a major role in the maintenance of extracellular matrix homeostasis and are involved in the process of tumour invasion and metastasis in several malignant tumour entities. The goal of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of various circulating MMPs and TIMPs in blood plasma for a non-invasive detection of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCC).

Methods: In this study the concentrations of MMP1, MMP2, MMP3, MMP9, their inhibitors TIMP1, TIMP2, and the MMP1/TIMP1-complex (MTC1) were quantified in blood plasma with the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).