How Did We Obtain Complete Remission in Patients Who Had Metastatic Renal Cancer in the Era of Targeted Therapies?

BACKGROUND: The management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) has been transformed by the use of targeted therapies, ablative therapies and improved surgical techniques. The objective of this study was to identify therapeutic strategies that resulted in complete remission (CR) and to assess survival of patients in CR. METHODS: In a prospective database, we included all patients treated for mRCC at a university hospital between 2007 and 2015. CR was defined as the absence of metastasis after a full-body computed tomographic scan. RESULTS: We treated 77 patients with mRCC and experienced a CR in 22 (29 %) patients. Patients in CR had, respectively, synchronous and metachronous metastases in 7 (32 %) and 15 (68 %) cases and unique and multiple metastases in 4 (18 %) and 18 (82 %) cases. All patients were treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy and 21 (96 %) had metastasectomy or percutaneous ablation of their metastases. One patient had a CR after systemic treatment with sunitinib. After a median (range) follow-up since metastatic diagnosis of 35 (1-89) months, 12 patients (55 %) had disease recurrence. The median (range) duration of CR before recurrence was 14 (1-39) months. After recurrence, a new CR was obtained in 7 patients (58 %). At the end of follow-up, 16 patients (73 %) were still in CR, 5 (23 %) were undergoing medical treatment, and 1 patient died during the postoperative course. CONCLUSIONS: In the era of targeted-therapies, CRs were obtained with multimodal treatment of metastatic kidney cancer. All patients in CR had a nephrectomy and almost all of them had multiple metastasectomies.

Clinicopathological characteristics of incidental prostate cancer discovered from radical cystoprostatectomy specimen: a multicenter French study.

PURPOSE: The present study assessed the incidence and histopathological features of incidentally diagnosed prostate cancer (PCa) in specimens from radical cystoprostatectomy (RCP) for bladder cancer. The patient outcomes also were evaluated. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the histopathological features and survival data of 4,299 male patients who underwent a RCP for bladder cancer at 25 French centers between January 1996 and June 2012. No patients had preoperative clinical or biological suspicion of PCa. RESULTS: Among the 4,299 RCP specimens, PCa was diagnosed in 931 patients (21.7%). Most tumors (90.1%) were organ-confined (pT2), whereas 9.9% of them were diagnosed at a locally advanced stage (≥pT3). Gleason score was <6 in 129 cases (13.9%), 6 in 575 cases (61.7%), 7 (3 + 4) in 149 cases (16.0%), 7 (4 + 3) in 38 cases (4.1%), and >7 in 40 cases (4.3%). After a median follow-up of 25.5 months (interquartile range 14.2-47.4), 35.4% of patients had bladder cancer recurrence and 23.8% died of bladder cancer. Only 16 patients (1.9%) experienced PCa biochemical recurrence during follow-up, and no preoperative predictive factor was identified. No patients died from PCa. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of incidentally diagnosed PCa in RCP specimens was 21.7%. The majority of these PCas were organ-confined. PCa recurrence occurred in only 1.9% of cases during follow-up.

Successful medical treatment of glans ischemia after voluntary buprenorphine injection.

INTRODUCTION: The diverted use of synthetic opioid buprenorphine by drug addicts can be responsible for serious ischemic and infectious complications, particularly in the case of intravenous injection. AIM: We present a case of serious glans ischemia after buprenorphine injection directly into the deep dorsal vein of the penis. Analysis using new medical imaging techniques and treatments is detailed below. METHODS: A 26-year-old male drug addict presented with glans pain 4 days after self-injection of buprenorphine into the deep dorsal vein of the penis. The patient was apyretic and presented a urethral discharge. His glans was blue without discoloration on digital pressure. Additionally, his biologic and serologic tests were normal while bacteriology showed the presence of Enterobacter cloacae urethritis. RESULTS: After 48 hours of intravenous antibiotic treatment without improvement, a specific medical treatment using enoxaparin and ilomedin was initiated, with the assumption that there was an ischemic complication. Laser speckle contrast imaging allowed confirmation of the presence of distal penis ischemia and provided an accurate mapping of the ischemic zone. A 28-day treatment combining antibiotics, subcutaneous heparin at curative dose, antiplatelet drug, ilomedin, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy resulted in clinical improvement of the lesions with no functional complications. CONCLUSIONS: To date, no consensus exists on the proper diagnostic and treatment approach to severe glans ischemia due to buprenorphine injection into the deep dorsal vein of the penis. The results of laser speckle contrast imaging were of real interest during the process of diagnosis. In addition, the combination of ilomedin with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs appeared to be an effective therapy.