Temporal dynamics of immune cell patterns in bladder cancer patients receiving Bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Background: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is capable of enhancing the infiltration of immune cells into the tumour. However the temporal dynamics of immune cell patterns in patients receiving BCG instillation remains unclear.

Methods: Ninety-six patients who underwent intravesical BCG therapy, comprising 46 responders and 50 non-responders, were retrospectively enroled to explore the evolving immune landscape.

Regular gastroscopy and colonoscopy during the evaluation of urachal cancer: do we really need them?

Purpose: Urachal cancer is similar to gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma in histology, and gastroscopy/colonoscopy is often administered during perioperative evaluation. However, gastroscopy and colonoscopy have corresponding disadvantages. This study discusses whether gastroscopy/colonoscopy is truly necessary for patients with urachal cancer.

Optimal interval timing between transurethral resection of bladder tumors and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin perfusion.

Objective: There is no consensus regarding the best interval time between transurethral resection of a bladder tumor and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) perfusion. This study was to explore whether the interval time has an impact on the prognosis and adverse effects.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of patients who received BCG intravesical perfusion at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) from September 2015 to October 2021.

Prognostic Value of Inflammation Biomarkers in Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Without Distant Metastasis.

Background: To investigate the value of the presurgical inflammatory biomarkers including C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin (ALB), C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR), Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), the modified GPS (mGPS), and the high-sensitivity modified GPS (Hs-mGPS) in penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) without distant metastasis and develop a tool to predict the overall survival (OS) of PSCC patients.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 271 PSCC patients without distant metastasis from 2006 to 2021. Patients were divided into 2 cohorts by a 7:3 ratio-a training cohort (n = 191) and a validation cohort (n = 80).

Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection in Penile Cancer With Inguinal Lymph Node Extranodal Extension: A Multicenter Experience.

The aim of this study is to determine the necessary extent of penile lymph node dissection (PLND) in penile cancer patients with inguinal lymph node extracapsular extension (ILN-ENE). Penile cancer patients who underwent PLND in 15 centers from January 2006 to April 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. PLND was performed in patients with ILN-ENE.

A novel robust nomogram based on peripheral monocyte counts for predicting lymph node metastasis of prostate cancer.

Accurate methods for identifying pelvic lymph node metastasis (LNM) of prostate cancer (PCa) prior to surgery are still lacking. We aimed to investigate the predictive value of peripheral monocyte count (PMC) for LNM of PCa in this study. Two hundred and ninety-eight patients from three centers were divided into a training set (n = 125) and a validation set (n = 173).

A panel of eight autophagy-related long non-coding RNAs is a good predictive parameter for clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) carries a variable prognosis. Prognostic biomarkers can stratify patients according to risk, and can provide crucial information for clinical decision-making. We screened for an autophagy-related long non-coding lncRNA (lncRNA) signature to improve postoperative risk stratification in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Risk-adapted treatment reduced chemotherapy exposure for clinical stage I pediatric testicular cancer.

Background: Different from adult clinical stage I (CS1) testicular cancer, surveillance has been recommended for CS1 pediatric testicular cancer. However, among high-risk children, more than 50% suffer a relapse and progression during surveillance, and adjuvant chemotherapy needs to be administered. Risk-adapted treatment might reduce chemotherapy exposure among these children.

Oncogenic potential of macrophage‑capping protein in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Macrophage‑capping protein (CapG) is a newly characterized oncogene involved in several types of cancer. However, the expression patterns and biological mechanisms of CapG in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) are unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of CapG in the prognosis, proliferation and metastasis of ccRCC.

Radiotherapy plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in penile cancer patients with extracapsular nodal extension after inguinal lymph node surgery: a multi-institutional study.

Purpose: Because there is a lack of evidence, it is not generally recommended to use adjuvant radiotherapy plus chemotherapy to treat lymph node disease in penile cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the benefit of using adjuvant radiotherapy after inguinal surgery for penile cancer.

Methods: Multi-institutional data were obtained from a total of nine centers from April 2003 to April 2015 and retrospectively analyzed.

Up-regulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) expression and catalytic activity is associated with immunosuppression and poor prognosis in penile squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Background: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and tryptophan (Trp) catabolism have been demonstrated to play an important role in tumor immunosuppression. This study examined the expression and catalytic activity of IDO1 in penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) and explored their clinical significance.

Methods: IDO1 expression level, serum concentrations of Trp and kynurenine (Kyn) were examined in 114 PSCC patients by immunohistonchemistry and solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Predictive value of cadherin-11 for subsequent recurrence and progression in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Background: Cadherin-11 (CDH11) is a type II cadherin and reported to function as an oncogene in various cancers. Our present study aims to investigate the role of CDH11 in bladder cancer (BCA).

Methods: Bioinformatics analysis was performed in four independent microarray data including 56 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and 132 muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) tissues from Gene Expression Omnibus to screen out differentially expressed genes.

Conservative treatment for urinary fistula following ileal conduit urinary diversion: a simple method.

Background: The presence of urinary fistula after ileal conduit urinary diversion is a challenging complication, and this study investigated the role of the intra-conduit negative pressure system (NPS) in the presence of urinary fistula following ileal conduit (IC) urinary diversion as a conservative treatment.

Methods: Using the intra-conduit NPS, a minor drainage tube was placed within a silicon tube to suck urine from the conduit with consistent negative pressure. Patients with urinary fistula following IC from August 2012 to July 2017 were recorded, and the clinical characteristics and outcome were retrospectively analyzed.

Kinesin family member C1 accelerates bladder cancer cell proliferation and induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition via Akt/GSK3β signaling.

Kinesin family member C1 (KIFC1) is implicated in the clustering of multiple centrosomes to maintain tumor survival and is thought to be an oncogene in several kinds of cancers. In our experiments, we first performed bioinformatics analysis to investigate the expression levels of KIFC1 in bladder cancer (BC) specimens and normal bladder epitheliums and then, using our samples, verified findings by quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting assays. All data showed that KIFC1 was significantly upregulated in BC specimens at both the mRNA and protein levels.

Relapse in children with clinical stage I testicular yolk sac tumors after initial orchiectomy.

Purpose: To evaluate risk factors of relapse in pediatric patients with clinical stage I (CS1) testicular yolk sac tumors.

Methods: With retrospective analysis, the medical records of children with pure testicular yolk sac tumors who were referred to Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and The First Affiliated Hospital from January 1995 to December 2015 were selected and recorded. Histopathology and staging were retrieved and multivariate analysis was performed with SPSS 20.

A modified clinicopathological tumor staging system for survival prediction of patients with penile cancer.

Background: The 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor-node-metastasis (AJCC-TNM) staging system is based on a few retrospective single-center studies. We aimed to test the prognostic validity of the staging system and to determine whether a modified clinicopathological tumor staging system that includes lymphovascular embolization could increase the accuracy of prognostic prediction for patients with stage T2-3 penile cancer.

Methods: A training cohort of 411 patients who were treated at 2 centers in China and Brazil between 2000 and 2015 were staged according to the 8th AJCC-TNM staging system.

EGFR mono-antibody salvage therapy for locally advanced and distant metastatic penile cancer: Clinical outcomes and genetic analysis.

Purpose: There are limited therapeutic options for patients with advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) after chemotherapy failure. Thus, we evaluated the feasibility of salvage treatment using the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mono-antibody nimotuzumab in chemotherapy-failed PSCC patients and explored potential response or resistance biomarkers.

Materials And Methods: Six chemotherapy-failed PSCC patients with locally advanced disease or distant metastasis were enrolled consecutively to nimotuzumab treatment.

Elevated serum LAMC2 is associated with lymph node metastasis and predicts poor prognosis in penile squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Molecular biomarkers, especially serologic factors, have been widely applied in cancer diagnosis and patient follow-up. However, there are few valuable prognostic factors in penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC). Here, the authors investigated whether laminin gamma 2 (LAMC2) expression, especially serum LAMC2 (sLAMC2) level, was a suitable prognostic factor that could aid in the prediction of survival in PSCC.

Molecular characterization and integrative genomic analysis of a panel of newly established penile cancer cell lines.

Cell line models are essential tools to study the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor initiation and progression. There are limited treatment options for penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC), accounting for 1-2% of male tumors in developing countries, and limited progress in preclinical research in PSCC due to lacking available models with identified genomic characteristics. Here, biological and molecular characteristics and whole-genomic alterations were analyzed in a panel of PSCC cell lines newly established in our laboratory.

Overexpression of PTK6 predicts poor prognosis in bladder cancer patients.

Protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase and works as an oncogene in various cancers. Recently, PTK6 has been used as a therapeutic target for breast cancer patients in a clinical study. However, the prognostic value of PTK6 in bladder cancer (BC) remains vague.

More precise prediction in Chinese patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma: protein kinase CK2α catalytic subunit (CK2α) as a poor prognosticator.

Purpose: In this study, we assess the CK2α expression in human penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its clinical significance.

Methods: A total of 157 human penile SCC tissue samples were immunohistochemically analyzed. In addition, 12 human penile SCC and adjacent normal tissues were examined for CK2α protein and mRNA expression by Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR, respectively.

Trends of testis-sparing surgery for pediatric testicular tumors in South China.

Background: Testis-sparing surgery is not popular in South China. This study aimed to investigate this procedure for pediatric testicular tumors.

Methods: Children with testicular benign tumors were retrospectively analyzed from January 2001 to June 2015 in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) and the First Affiliated Hospital (SYSU-1st).

Bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection for Chinese patients with penile cancer: a multicenter collaboration study.

Background: Current guidelines recommend pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND) for patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis and special state. However, these data and recommendations do not distinguish the role of PLND in different patient groups and confirm the final benefits. The aim of this study was to confirm the efficacy of pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND) for the different groups of patients.

Management of adrenal incidentaloma: the role of adrenalectomy may be underestimated.

Background: To demonstrate clinical characteristics of adrenal incidentaloma in South China and explore its comprehensive management.

Methods: The clinical data of patients with adrenal neoplasm from Jan 1998 to Dec 2012 were retrospectively analysed. Patients with suspicion of adrenal abnormalities or those in whom adrenal abnormalities were detected in the staging procedures of other cancers were excluded.