Cancer genetics-guided discovery of serum biomarker signatures for diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.

A key barrier to the realization of personalized medicine for cancer is the identification of biomarkers. Here we describe a two-stage strategy for the discovery of serum biomarker signatures corresponding to specific cancer-causing mutations and its application to prostate cancer (PCa) in the context of the commonly occurring phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) tumor-suppressor gene inactivation. In the first stage of our approach, we identified 775 N-linked glycoproteins from sera and prostate tissue of wild-type and Pten-null mice.

Exposure of treating physician to radiation during prostate brachytherapy using iodine-125 seeds: dose measurements on both hands with thermoluminescence dosimeters.

Background And Purpose: Only sparse reports have been made about radiation exposure of the treating physician during prostate seed implantation. Therefore, thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) measurements on the index fingers and the backs of both hands were conducted.

Material And Methods: Stranded iodine-125 seeds with a mean apparent activity of 27.

Simulation of stress urinary incontinence for in-vitro studies.

A simulation system that generates dynamic bladder pressures for the use of testing and examining artificial urinary sphincters is designed, implemented, and compared to in-vivo measurements of Valsalva and coughing profiles. Cylinder and piston, which are integrated into the universal testing machine, simulating the bladder are connected with explanted sow urethras. The AMS 800 artificial urinary sphincter closes the urethra with well-defined external pressures.

Scrotal hysterectomy in a male patient with mixed gonadal dysgenesis 46,XY(75%)/45,X(25%).

We report on a 20-year-old man in whom endocrinological investigation owing to dysmorphic signs characteristic for Turner syndrome revealed mixed gonadal dysgenesis. The patient was referred to us for further diagnostic investigations on a right intrascrotal tumour. Both testes were intrascrotal and hypotrophic with normal testosterone production.

Submucosal endocervicosis of the bladder: an ectopic, glandular structure of Müllerian origin.

Endocervicosis of the bladder is a rare, benign variant of endometriosis. The lesions are characterized by ectopic, glandular structures of Müllerian origin with intracytoplasmic mucin production. During placement of a ureteral stent, a cystic tumor in the posterior bladder wall was discovered in a 47-year-old woman with nephroureterolithiasis.

Prostate biopsy in Switzerland: a representative survey on how Swiss urologists do it.

Objective: The procedure of prostate biopsy is often performed but has not been standardized. Therefore, a survey of all urologists in Switzerland was carried out to investigate indications, patient preparation and technique with regard to transrectal prostate biopsy.

Material And Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to all 178 urologists working in Switzerland, either as self-employed urologists (SEUs) or as employed urologists at a hospital (EUHs), i.

Optimization of the artificial urinary sphincter: modelling and experimental validation.

The artificial urinary sphincter should be long enough to prevent strangulation effects of the urethral tissue and short enough to avoid the improper dissection of the surrounding tissue. To optimize the sphincter length, the empirical three-parameter urethra compression model is proposed based on the mechanical properties of the urethra: wall pressure, tissue response rim force and sphincter periphery length. In vitro studies using explanted animal or human urethras and different artificial sphincters demonstrate its applicability.

Chronic scrotal pain syndrome: management among urologists in Switzerland.

Introduction And Objectives: Management of patients presenting with chronic or recurrent pain located in the scrotum is often very challenging. Evidence-based literature and clinical practice guidelines for the management of chronic scrotal pain syndrome (CSPS) are not available. We assessed the current perception and management of chronic scrotal pain syndrome by urologists in Switzerland.

Sacral magnetic stimulation in non-inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Objectives: To prospectively evaluate sacral magnetic high-frequency stimulation as a treatment option for patients with non-inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS, category IIIB).

Patients And Methods: Fourteen men with CPPS IIIB were treated with high-frequency sacral magnetic stimulation, with 10 treatment sessions once a week for 30 min at a frequency of 50 Hz. The National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and quality-of-life index were determined before and after treatment.

Botulinum toxin as a new therapy option for voiding disorders: current state of the art.

Botulinum toxin is a presynaptic neuromuscular blocking agent inducing selective and reversible muscle weakness up to several months when injected intramuscularly in minute quantities. Different medical disciplines have discovered the toxin to treat mainly muscular hypercontraction. In urology, indications for botulinum-A toxin have been neurogenic detrusor overactivity, detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia, motor and sensory urge and, more recently, chronic prostatic pain.