Treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG): Biological markers and simulation studies.

Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is the preferred first line treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder carcinoma (NMIBC) in order to prevent recurrence and progression of cancer. There is ongoing need for the rational selection of i) BCG dose, ii) frequency of BCG administration along with iii) synergistic adjuvant therapy and iv) a reliable set of biochemical markers relevant to tumor response. In this review we evaluate cellular and molecular markers pertinent to the immunological response triggered by the BCG instillation and respective mathematical models of the treatment.

Key signaling pathways in the muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma: Clinical markers for disease modeling and optimized treatment.

In this review, we evaluate key molecular pathways and markers of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Overexpression and activation of EGFR, p63, and EMT genes are suggestive of basal MIBC subtype generally responsive to chemotherapy. Alterations in PPARγ, ERBB2/3, and FGFR3 gene products and their signaling along with deregulated p53, cytokeratins KRT5/6/14 in combination with the cellular proliferation (Ki-67), and cell cycle markers (p16) indicate the need for more radical treatment protocols.

Could the sextant prostate biopsy be replaced by transurethral resection?

Aim Of The Study: We studied patients with elevated serum levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and low urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) aiming to determine whether histological examination after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) could detect prostate cancer (PC) missed by previous routine transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided sextant prostate biopsies.

Materials And Methods: We considered 98 consecutive men with serum tPSA level from 4 to 12 ng/mL who were submitted to TRUS-guided sextant biopsies.

Results: PC was detected in 28 (28.

Our experience in endoscopic treatment of vesico-ureteral reflux in children.

Aim Of The Study: To define the guidelines of endoscopic treatment of vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) in children in relation to grade of VUR, of the location of the ureteral orifice, of the stage of reflux nephropathy and of the association with other urinary tract malformations.

Materials And Methods: 498 children with vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) were observed in 702 ureters. All the patients were submitted to a complete urological evaluation and to endoscopic treatment (ET) of the VUR with the implant of a stable polyacrylamid gel (DAM+).

Adjuvant therapy in different risk-groups of patients with superficial bladder cancer.

Objectives: We assessed and compared the outcomes of two different courses of adjuvant therapy to patients with superficial bladder TCC.

Methods: The study included 142 patients (28 women and 114 men with a median age of 58.5 years) with newly diagnosed bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) between October 2002 and October 2003.

The choice of urinary drainage in patients with ureteral calculi of solitary kidneys.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the treatment of patients with ureteral calculi of solitary kidneys (UCSK) in relation to the modality of urinary drainage.

Materials And Methods: We have studied a total of 55 patients with UCSK during the period from 1999 to 2002, 15 of them (27.3%) with radio-opaque calculi (ROC).