Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treatment by Transurethral Enucleation of the Prostate Using a 2-µm Laser.

This study investigates the efficacy of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treatment by prostate transurethral enucleation using a 2-µm laser. A total of 107 patients with BPH were treated by prostate transurethral enucleation using a RevoLix 2-µm laser surgery system. Bleeding volume, operation time, catheterization time, voiding situation, maximum urinary flow rate, and hospital stay were observed. The mean operation time was 74 min ± 12 min (range 45 to 150 min), the mean follow-up period was 2 to 6 months, the mean catheter time was 5 days, and the mean peak urinary flow rate increased from 6.3 ± 0.6 to 17.5 ± 1.5 mL/s. The International Prostate Symptom Score and quality of life significantly declined (p < 0.01). No significant differences were observed in the hemoglobin and blood electrolytes before and after operation. Prostate transurethral enucleation using a 2-µm laser is safe and efficient for BPH treatment.

Oleanolic acid suppresses the proliferation of human bladder cancer by Akt/mTOR/S6K and ERK1/2 signaling.

Oleanolic acid has significant pharmacological activities, such as anti-tumor, regulating blood sugar level and liver protection, which are more effective compared with free aglyconeoleanolic acid. However, it is still unknown if oleanolic acid affects the proliferation of human bladder cancer. We utilized T24 cells to study the effect of oleanolic acid on the proliferation and apoptosis of human bladder cancer. In this study, we found that the anti-cancer effect of oleanolic acid significantly suppressed cell proliferation and increased apoptosis and caspase-3 activity of T24 cells. Furthermore, Akt, mTOR and S6K protein expression was greatly inhibited in T24 cells under oleanolic acid treatment. Meanwhile, ERK1/2 of phosphorylation protein expression was significantly promoted by oleanolic acid treatment. Taken together, we provided evidences that oleanolic acid was Akt/mTOR/S6K and ERK1/2 signaling-targeting anti-tumor agent. These findings represent new evidences that oleanolic acid suppresses the proliferation of human bladder cancer by Akt/mTOR/S6K and ERK1/2 signaling, and oleanolic acid may be used to prevent human bladder cancer.

[Prognostic and long term follow-up analysis of sporadic bilateral renal cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pathological feature, therapy and prognosis of bilateral sporadic renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: The data of 59 bilateral sporadic renal cell carcinoma patients diagnosed from Apr. 1986 to Dec. 2009 were collected. We retrospectively analyzed the treatment, pathological features, long term survival and prognosis factors of the disease. RESULTS: We found 59 patients with bilateral sporadic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the database diagnosed from Apr. 1986 to Dec. 2009. The median age was 56 years. Of all the cases, 37 were bilateral synchronous sporadic renal cell carcinoma and 22 bilateral metachronous sporadic renal cell carcinoma. Forty-three patients underwent bilateral surgeries, 11 unilateral surgery, and 5 no treatment. There were 122 masses in the 59 patients and 109 masses had pathological reports. All the 59 cases were RCC, and clear cell carcinomas was the main subtype (96.6%). The median follow-up time was 62.1 months (range 4-277 months). Thirty-nine patients (66.1%) survived without tumor recurrence, 4 survived with tumors recurrence, and 16 (27.1%) died. Kaplan-Meier curve revealed that the 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates were 83.5% and 81.1%, respectively; the 3-year and 5-year cancer special survival rates were 73.1% and 64.8%, respectively. The disease-free survival rates of bilateral synchronous and bilateral metachronous RCC were similar. Multivariate regression suggested that post-operative application of interferon-α and bilateral surgeries were related with a better prognosis. CONCLUSION: The main subtype of bilateral sporadic renal cell carcinoma was clear cell carcinoma (96.6%). Bilateral synchronous and bilateral metachronous RCC both had a long time disease-free survival. Interferon-α application after surgery and bilateral surgeries were related with a better prognosis.

[Adenocarcinoma of the prostate in patients under 50 years of age: analysis of 10 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinicopathologic features of 10 Chinese prostate adenocarcinoma patients under 50 years. METHODS: Between January 2007 and April 2012, 10 cases of prostate adenocarcinoma patients under 50 years (age: 36-49) were diagnosed at our institution through prostate biopsy. The indications of biopsy were abnormal digital rectal examination (7 cases) and/or a total prostate specific antigen (PSA) over 4.0 µg/L (4 cases). The clinicopathological data of these patients were reviewed. The results of biopsy were 1 case with Gleason score (GS) 6, 4 cases with GS 7 and 5 cases with GS 9. In the study, 7 patients were diagnosed with cT4. Lymph node metastasis and bone metastasis were found in 5 and 4 cases, respectively. The treatments were hormonal therapy in 5 cases, radical prostatectomy in 2 cases and combination therapy in 3 cases. RESULTS: During the follow-up, 6 patients were in progression within 3 to 7 months, 1 patient died after 3 years, and 4 patients were lost of the follow-up. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the Chinese prostate adenocarcinoma patients with age under 50 years are likely to have more aggressive tumor and combination therapy might be appropriate.

[Clinical utility of fluorescence in situ hybridization improves the sensitivity in the diagnosis of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical utility of a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay as a non-invasive method for diagnosing and monitoring urothelial carcinoma (UC) in the upper urinary tract (UUT). METHODS: Urine specimens from 63 consecutive patients with UUT-UC and 69 controls with benign disease were analyzed by means of cytology and FISH. For FISH analysis, labeled probes specific for chromosomes 3, 7, and 17 and for the p16 (9p21) gene were used to assess chromosomal abnormalities indicative of malignancy.Sensitivity and specificity of both techniques were determined and compared. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations of malignant cells from UUT-UC was also determined. RESULTS: Of 63 patients with UUT-UC, FISH affords an overall sensitivity of 84.1% (53/63), the figure being 71.4% (20/28) for PTa and PT1 tumors,94.3% (33/35) for PT2-4 tumors. The sensitivities of urine cytology were 35.7% (10/28) for PTa and PT1 tumor,45.7% (16/35)for PT2-4 tumors,with an overall sensitivity of 41.3% (26/63). The sensitivities of the two methods for the low grade tumors were 80% (20/25) and 44% (11/25), and for high grade tumors were 86.8% (33/38) and 39.5% (15/38), respectively. Specificities for FISH and urine cytology were 91.3% (63/69) and 94.2% (65/69)respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the results,the sensitivity of FISH for the detection of UUT-UC is superior to that of urine cytology and the specificities of FISH and urine cytology are not significantly different. FISH can promote the diagnosis of UUT-UC, especially for the low stage and low grade cases,it may be a new promising non-invasive method for the diagnosis of UUT-UC.