The novel transcriptomic signature of angiogenesis predicts clinical outcome, tumor microenvironment and treatment response for prostate adenocarcinoma.

Angiogenesis plays the critical roles in promoting tumor progression, aggressiveness, and metastasis. Although few studies have revealed some angiogenesis-related genes (ARGs) could serve as prognosis-related biomarkers for the prostate cancer (PCa), the integrated role of ARGs has not been systematically studied. The RNA-sequencing data and clinical information of prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) as discovery dataset. Twenty-three ARGs in total were identified to be correlated with prognosis of PRAD by the univariate Cox regression analysis, and a 19-ARG signature was further developed with significant correlation with the disease-free survival (DFS) of PRAD by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression with tenfold cross-validation. The signature stratified PRAD patients into high- and low-ARGs signature score groups, and those with high ARGs signature score were associated with significantly poorer outcomes (median DFS: 62.71 months vs unreached, p < 0.0001). The predicting ability of ARGs signature was subsequently validated in two independent cohorts of GSE40272 & PRAD_MSKCC. Notably, the 19-ARG signature outperformed the typical clinical features or each involved ARG in predicting the DFS of PRAD. Furthermore, a prognostic nomogram was constructed with three independent prognostic factors, including the ARGs signature, T stage and Gleason score. The predicted results from the nomogram (C-index = 0.799, 95%CI = 0.744-0.854) matched well with the observed outcomes, which was verified by the calibration curves. The values of area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for DFS at 1-, 3-, 5-year for the nomogram were 0.82, 0.83, and 0.83, respectively, indicating the performance of nomogram model is of reasonably high accuracy and robustness. Moreover, functional enrichment analysis demonstrated the potential targets of E2F targets, G2M checkpoint pathways, and cell cycle pathways to suppress the PRAD progression. Of note, the high-risk PRAD patients were more sensitive to immune therapies, but Treg might hinder benefits from immunotherapies. Additionally, this established tool also could predict response to neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and some chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, and docetaxel, etc. The novel ARGs signature, with prognostic significance, can further promote the application of targeted therapies in different stratifications of PCa patients.

[Changes in the penis size of prostate cancer patients after radical prostatectomy and its influencing factors].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in the size of the penis after radical prostatectomy (RP) and the possible influencing factors. METHODS: This study included 45 cases of RP for PCa performed by the same surgeon from January to June 2019. Before and at 2 weeks after surgery, we measured the stretched penile length (SPL), flaccid penile length (FPL) and penile circumference of the patients. We conducted an IIEF-5 questionnaire investigation on the preoperative characteristics of the patients and their attitudes towards postoperative penile rehabilitation. We also analyzed the factors associated with the postoperative changes in the size of the penis. RESULTS: Compared with the baseline, the postoperative SPL (ï¼»9.72 ± 1.87ï¼½ vs ï¼»7.80 ± 1.57ï¼½ cm, P = 0), FPL (ï¼»6.26 ± 1.14ï¼½ vs ï¼»5.13 ± 1.10ï¼½ cm, P = 0) and penile circumference (ï¼»7.69 ± 0.83ï¼½ vs ï¼»7.26 ± 0.78ï¼½ cm, P = 0.012) were decreased significantly, by (1.92 ± 0.12) cm, (1.13 ± 0.09) cm and (0.43 ± 0.08) cm, respectively. The age of the patients was significantly correlated with the change of the FPL (P = 0.042), but not the other factors with the change of the penile size. Twenty-six (57.7%) cases of severe and moderate ED were observed in the patients postoperatively. Those with better preoperative sexual function took a more positive attitude towards penile rehabilitation and treatment postoperatively (n = 3, 75.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The penile size of the PCa patient is decreased markedly after radical prostatectomy, with a significant correlation between the patient's age and the postoperative change of the flaccid penile length. The patients with better preoperative sexual function are more likely to seek penile rehabilitation and treatment postoperatively.

[Attitudes of prostate cancer patients towards postoperative penile rehabilitation and their influencing factors].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the attitudes of prostate cancer (PCa) patients towards postoperative penile rehabilitation and their influencing factors. METHODS: Seventy-nine PCa patients underwent radical prostatectomy from January through June 2017 and all received a questionnaire investigation before surgery on IIEF-5 and their attitudes towards postoperative penile rehabilitation. We analyzed the reasons for the patients' rejection of postoperative penile rehabilitation. RESULTS: Totally 56 (71%) of the patients accepted and the other 23 (29%) refused postoperative penile rehabilitation. The factors influencing their attitudes towards penile rehabilitation mainly included age (P = 0.023), income (P = 0.040), tumor stage (P = 0.044), and preoperative sexual activity (P = 0.004). The patients who accepted penile rehabilitation had significantly higher IIEF-5 scores than those who refused it (14.75 ± 0.88 vs 8.48 ± 1.16, P = 0.000 2). During the follow-up period, only 29 (36.7%) of the patients bought the vacuum erection device but not the other 50 (63.3%). The tumor stage (P = 0.004), income (P < 0.01) and preoperative androgen-deprivation therapy (P = 0.039) significantly influenced the patients' decision on the purchase of the device. Relevant admission education achieved a 45% decrease in the number of the patients unwilling to accept penile rehabilitation for worrying about its negative effect on cancer treatment, a 25% decrease in those rejecting penile rehabilitation because of age, and a 20% decrease in those refusing it due to the tumor stage. The cost of treatment was an important reason for the patients' rejection of postoperative penile rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: The tumor stage and income are the main factors influencing PCa patients' decision on postoperative penile rehabilitation. Relevant admission education and reduced cost of rehabilitation are important for popularization of postoperative penile rehabilitation in PCa patients.

Nephrometry score-guided off-clamp laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: patient selection and short-time functional results.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is not a novel but a relatively technically challenging surgical procedure. Off-clamp LPN with zero ischemia can completely eliminate ischemic reperfusion injury to the kidney. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and functional outcome of nephrometry score-guided off-clamp technique in LPN. METHODS: A total of 44 patients underwent LPN between January 2015 and July 2015 for renal mass with radius, exophytic/endophytic, nearness to sinus, anterior/posterior location (RENAL) score 4 were enrolled. Twenty-two of them underwent off-clamp LPN with zero ischemia, and the other 22 received standard LPN with common renal artery clamp. Estimate blood loss (EBL), total operation time, resection time, renorrhaphy time, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), postoperative eGFR, eGFR change, and drainage after surgery were compared between these two groups using t test. RESULTS: Patients' characteristics including gender, age, BMI, tumor size, and RENAL score were balanced between the two groups. Average EBL was more in the off-clamp group than in the on-clamp group (134.32 versus 70.23 ml, p = 0.001). Average eGFR change was less in the off-clamp group than in the on-clamp group (-1.56 versus -6.45, p < 0.001). Average drainage after surgery was 203.41 ml for the off-clamp group and 145.46 ml for the on-clamp group, p = 0.062. No urinary leakage and hematuria occurred in both groups. There were no statistical difference in total operation time, resection time, renorrhaphy time, preoperative eGFR, and postoperative eGFR between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Off-clamp LPN is a safe and feasible approach to excise certain kidney tumors with RENAL score 4. This technique can better preserve kidney function without ischemic reperfusion injury.

Visceral fat accumulation is associated with different pathological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC): a multicentre study in China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether visceral obesity is associated with certain histological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) ina multicentre Chinese cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A kidney tumour database was created using three tertiary centres in China; 487 patients were enrolled presenting with localised RCC and complete computer tomography(CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information. A single-slice CT image was used to measure the area of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in each patient. Statistical methods were used to analyse clear-cell RCC (ccRCC) and non-clear-cell RCC (non-ccRCC) as they relate to visceral fat area (VFA) and other risk factors, such as age, gender, tumour size, diabetes, hypertension, total fat area (TFA) and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: In all, 418 patients had a ccRCC subtype and 69 had a non-ccRCC subtype. For all the patients with RCC, the mean VFA was 102 cm2, while mean BMI was 24 kg/m2. The mean VFA was greater in ccRCC than non-ccRCC patients by 25 cm2. There were significant differences in the mean VFA and TFA between patients with ccRCC and those with non-ccRCC.Multivariate analysis showed that the presence ofVFA was more important than the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes on pathology prediction. In patients with a normal BMI, those with a higher quartile of VFA were more likely to develop ccRCC than those with a low VFA. CONCLUSIONS: Increased visceral fat was found to be associated with ccRCC and the significance of VFA outweighed the effects of BMI and Type 2 diabetes for the prediction of RCC pathology in multivariate analyses. As a result, VFA could constitute a primary explanation for the link between obesity and ccRCC.

A Phase II trial of dosage escalation of sorafenib in Asian patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the role of sorafenib dosage escalation in Asian patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma that had progressed after routine dosages. PATIENTS & METHODS: Sorafenib dosage escalation to 600 or 800 mg twice a day was offered to 41 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who had progressed on normal dosages. Clinical outcome, toxicity and favorable clinical covariables for progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated. RESULTS: The median PFS with dosage-escalated therapy was 7 months. Drug-related adverse events were tolerable. The pre-escalation Karnofsky performance status, serum calcium concentration, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, PFS and the highest toxicity grade at the routine dosage were associated with a longer PFS in the dosage-escalation period. CONCLUSION: Sorafenib dosage escalation was efficacious and tolerable in Asian patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (no. ChiCTR-ONRC-12002088).

[Hematologic adverse effects in patients with renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the hematologic adverse effects in patients with renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib. METHODS: A total of 136 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were treated with sunitinib at our hospital from 2008 to 2011. There were 91 males and 45 females with an average age of 55.5 years. They received sunitinib in repeated 6-week cycles consisting of 4 weeks of sunitinib 50 mg per day followed by 2 weeks of treatment (schedule 4/2). The hematologic toxicities, collected at baseline and 14, 28, 42 (after a 2-week rest period) days, were graded according to the National Cancer Institute common terminology criteria for adverse events version 3.0. The paired Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the kinetics of hematologic adverse effects at days 14, 28, and 42 post-treatment. RESULTS: The hematologic toxicities included leukopenia (n = 91, 66.9%), neutropenia (n = 95, 69.8%), lymphopenia (n = 58, 46.2%), thrombopenia (n = 89, 65.4%) and hypohemoglobinemia (n = 48, 35.3%). Among them, 31 cases (22.8%) had the high-grade (including grades 3 and 4) toxicity of thrombopenia. There were depressions in hematopoietic cell populations including leukocytes, neutrophils, and platelets at days 14, 28 and 42 versus the baseline level (all P < 0.05). The median hemoglobin level transiently increased at days 14 and 28 (both P < 0.01) and returned to the level of baseline at days 42 (P = 0.754). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of hematologic adverse effects of sunitinib slightly varies with what have been observed in previous studies. And the incidence of high-grade toxicity of thrombocytopenia is higher than that reported in studies conducted in the US and Europe.

[Exploratory analysis of the effect of toxicity of sunitinib on the clinical outcome of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of toxicity of sunitinib on the clinical outcome of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) . METHODS: A total of 136 patients with advanced RCC were treated with sunitinib from 2008 to 2011. There were 91 males and 45 females with an average age of 56 years. Their 6-week therapy cycle was 4 weeks of sunitinib 50 mg daily followed by 2-week off-treatment (schedule 4/2). The median follow-up time was 15 months. Correlation between toxicities and overall survival (OS) was evaluated in a Cox model using log-transformed levels after adjusting for MSKCC model.Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model were used to assess the value of drug toxicity as the prognostic factors. RESULTS: The increased hemoglobin on cycle 1 day 14 (HR:0.950, 95%CI:0.923-0.978) and the increased lymphocytes on cycle 1 days 28 and 42 (HR:0.405, 95%CI:0.203-0.809, HR:0.394, 95%CI:0.179-0.867) were significantly associated with OS (P adj = 0.001, 0.014 and 0.022 respectively). Hypertension class III/IV (HR:0.066, 95%CI:0.008-0.582), and the number of neutrophils screening and lymphocyte count ratio (HR:2.537, 95%CI:1.182-5.404) were the survival prognosis independent predictors. CONCLUSION: Early hematopoietic toxicities may potentially predict the outcomes of advanced RCC after a therapy of sunitinib.

Study on the influence of urban tree canopy on thermal environment in Luoping County.

Urban forest is an integral part of the complex urban ecosystem, and tree canopy plays a key role in improving urban climatic environment. Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is strongly linked to urban thermal environment and living quality of residents. In this study, Luoping County, a mountainous county in southwest China, was selected as the study area to uncover the inner connections between tree canopy and thermal environment, and provide relevant scientific references for the construction of livable forest cities in similar areas. Through eCongnition Developer, ENVI and ArcGIS software, the distribution of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and land cover types in the study area was extracted, 63 patches with super-large and extra-large tree canopy coverage selected, to explore the regulatory effect of UTC patches on urban thermal environment based on SPSS software. Results showed that the highest LST in the research area was 37.63 â„ƒ, the lowest 24.73 â„ƒ, and the average 30.83 â„ƒ. Among the land cover types, the area of buildings and impervious surfaces was 1615.71 hm2, accounting for 55.76% of the total study area, which was the largest proportion and with widespread distribution; the area of grassland and water body was 57.48 hm2 and 12.35 hm2, respectively, taking up 1.98% and 0.43%, with a smaller proportion. Mean LST: impervious surface > bare land > grassland > tree canopy > water body. By increasing the area and perimeter of the patch covered by tree canopy, the cooling rate of the patch can be increased while the temperature inside the patch can be reduced. The relationship between the area and cooling rate is closer than that between perimeter and cooling rate. The increase of perimeter has a stronger alleviation effect on the internal temperature of the patch, whereas, the increase of area has a weaker effect in this respect.

[Efficacy of low dose ketoconazole therapy for Chinese patients with castration resistant prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of low dose ketoconazole therapy for Chinese patients with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and explore possible prognosis factors. METHODS: From August 2006 to August 2011, 71 patients with CRPC were analyzed retrospectively, who received oral ketoconazole 200 mg, three times a day with prednisone 5 mg, twice a day. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) response rate was defined as the percentage of patients with PSA decline ≥ 50% compared to baseline PSA level during low dose ketoconazole therapy. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve were used to assess the prognostic factors and their accuracy. RESULTS: The mean initial serum PSA level was (205 ± 38) ng/ml for these patients with mean age (69 ± 1) years old. After first androgen deprivation therapy failure, the prostate cancer progressed into castration resistant stage. The baseline PSA was (93 ± 24) ng/ml and the baseline serum testosterone was (0.13 ± 0.02) ng/ml. During the low dose ketoconazole therapy, 31 patients (43.7%) had PSA decrease and 22 cases (31.0%) were effective with PSA decline more than 50%. PSA doubling time and baseline serum testosterone were positive correlation with PSA response rate by multivariate Logistic regression analysis. Patients with PSA doubling time of ≥ 3.0 months had a PSA response rate of 64.3% and the PSA response rate in those with < 3.0 months decreased to 22.8%, hazard rate (HR) = 0.149 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.029 - 0.766), P = 0.023, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.707. The PSA response rate for patients with baseline serum testosterone ≥ 0.1 and < 0.1 µg/L were 55.6% and 5.7%, respectively, HR = 0.068 (95%CI 0.012 - 0.380), P = 0.002, AUC = 0.749. The common adverse reactions included liver dysfunction (17.9%), renal dysfunction (16.4%), fatigue (11.9%), nausea (6.0%) and anorexia (4.5%) and so on. CONCLUSIONS: Low dose ketoconazole therapy was a moderate, low toxicity hormonal therapy option for patients with CRPC. PSA doubling time ≥ 3 months and baseline serum testosterone ≥ 0.1 µg/L were predictors of desired effect for low dose ketoconazole therapy.

Combination of Androgen Deprivation Therapy with Radical Local Therapy Versus Androgen Deprivation Therapy Alone for Newly Diagnosed Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer: A Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested that men with metastatic prostate cancer might benefit from local treatment of the primary tumor. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether radical local therapy (RLT) improves survival for men with oligometastatic prostate cancer (OMPCa). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This open-label randomized controlled trial included patients with newly diagnosed OMPCa defined as five or fewer bone or extrapelvic lymph node metastases and no visceral metastases. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly allocated to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) or ADT and RLT. Men allocated RLT received either cytoreductive radical prostatectomy (RP) or prostate radiation therapy (RT) with a radical dose schedule. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The primary outcome was radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS). Secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Between September 2015 and March 2019, 200 patients were randomized, with 100 men allocated to each group. The median age was 68 yr and the median PSA at diagnosis was 99 ng/ml. In the study group, 96 patients underwent RLT (85 RP and 11 RT). In the control group, 17 patients eventually received RLT (15 RP and two RT). All patients were included for an intention-to-treat analysis. After a median follow-up of -48 mo, the median rPFS was not reached in the study group and was 40 mo in the control group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27-0.70; p = 0.001). The 3-yr OS rate was 88% for the study group and 70% for the control group (HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.24-0.81; p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Men with newly diagnosed OMPCa who received ADT plus RLT (mainly prostatectomy) had significantly higher rates of rPFS and OS than those who received ADT alone. PATIENT SUMMARY: This study investigated the effect of radical local therapy (RLT) of the primary tumor on survival in patents with oligometastatic prostate cancer. In our group, RLT improved radiographic progression-free and overall survival.

Comparison of accuracy among three generations of Partin tables in a Chinese cohort.

INTRODUCTION: To perform a head to head comparison among three generations of Partin tables, namely from 1997, 2001 and the last updated version of 2007, in a Chinese cohort of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical and pathological data of 198 consecutive Chinese patients were retrospectively analyzed, who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between January 2005 and May 2010. Three versions of the Partin tables were compared for their accuracy and performance to predict final pathological stage using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: Of the whole cohort 58.6% were presented with organ-confined disease (OCD), 10.1% had lymph node involvement (LNI), and 31.3% had locally advanced disease (LAD), while 21.2% had extraprostatic extension (ECE) and 10.1% showed seminal vesicle involvement (SVI). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the Partin Tables 1997, 2001 and 2007 was 0.732, 0.722 and 0.695 for OCD; 0.647, 0.594 and 0.577 for LAD; 0.856, 0.872 and 0.829 for LNI, respectively. CONCLUSION: All three generations of the Partin tables showed a good accuracy to predict OCD, and LNI. However, the predictive accuracy for LAD was more limited. Overall, the newer versions of the Partin tables could not exceed the version of 1997 in their predictive accuracy for the present Chinese cohort. Our results suggest caution when using newly introduced predictive tools that are not supported by population-specific accuracy tests.

[Establishment of regression model predicting the probability of the capsular penetration of prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the regression model predicting the probability of the capsular penetration according to the Chinese prostate cancer samples. METHODS: Men enrolled in the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre and undergoing radical prostatectomy between January 2006 and April 2010 were used to establish the predicting model. According to the pathology after radical prostatectomy, all cases were divided into two groups: organ confined disease group and locally advanced disease group, the difference of which were whether had the capsular penetration. The cases with regional lymph node metastasis were excluded. Serum prostate specific antigen level, Gleason grade, clinical stage were collected. Multiple Logistic regression model was established according to preoperative clinical data and postoperative pathological data to predict the incidence of capsular penetration. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used for the internal validation of the model. RESULTS: 83 Chinese men were identified in the organ confined disease group with the age of 66.8 ± 5.8 years, and 36 in the locally advanced disease group with the age of 66.0 ± 6.8 years. The difference of the age between the two groups were of no statistic significance (t = 0.650, P = 0.517). The serum prostate specific antigen level (Wilcoxon W = 4562.0, P = 0.016), Gleason score (Wilcoxon W = 4586.5, P = 0.016), and clinical stage (Wilcoxon W = 4444.5, P = 0.001) of the locally advanced disease group were higher than the other group. The equation of the multiple Logistic regression model was Logit P = 0.488 × Gleason score + 0.104 × clinical stage -6.187, with the freedom degree of two and the likelihood ratio χ(2) test of 11.263 (P = 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for capsular penetration was 0.696 (P = 0.001), with the 95% confidence interval of 0.598 - 0.793. CONCLUSION: The multiple Logistic regression model based on the Chinese population can accurately predict the probability of capsular penetration of the prostate cancer and work on well with high internal accuracy when clinical decisions are made.

[Experiences of open transperitoneal radical nephrectomy for large renal masses].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of technical improvements of transperitoneal radical nephrectomy on the patients with large renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: From May 2002 until May 2009, 45 patients with large (> 12 cm) renal cell carcinoma underwent transperitoneal radical nephrectomy. A subcostal incision was selected to expose the extraperitoneal area. The modified operative methods included exposing the operative field via a liver retractor and initially ligating renal artery to block the blood supply of kidney and tumor. The method of tumor-free tissue dissociation was applied. Hem-o-lock was employed for clipping so as to avoid hemorrhage. This modified technique was evaluated in respects of operating time, estimated blood loss, intra-operative complications, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay and pathological diagnoses. RESULTS: The tumor diameter was from 12.2 cm to 28.3 cm with a mean of 14.5 cm. The mean operative time was (150 +/- 58) min and the average estimated blood loss (350 +/- 180) ml. Three cases received blood transfusion. The average length of hospital stay was (12 +/- 6) days. Three cases developed complications, including spleen injury in 2 and pancreatic injury in 1. The treatment modalities were splenectomy and resection of pancreatic tail respectively. The pathological diagnoses were all of renal cell carcinoma. The pathological stage included T(2)N(0 approximately 1)M(0 approximately 1)(n = 13), T(3)N(0 approximately 1)M(0 approximately 1)(n = 23), T(4)N(0 approximately 1)M(0 approximately 1)(n = 9). After a follow-up period of 3 - 63 months, 3 cases of tumor recurrence were found in primary renal clutch. CONCLUSION: Improved radical nephrectomy is feasible for large renal cell carcinoma. And it can reduce the volume of blood loss and decrease the occurrence of complications.

[External validation of the Partin tables 2007 in Chinese prostate cancer patients].

OBJECTIVE: To validate the 2007 Partin tables externally, which are based on the population of United States, using a cohort of Chinese prostate cancer patients. METHODS: All of the patients enrolled and underwent radical prostatectomy between January 2006 and February 2010 were reviewed. The cases without preoperative hormone therapy and pelvic lymph node involvement according to radiologic tests were used for the external validation of the 2007 Partin tables. A comparative analysis of the clinical and pathological parameters of this Chinese cohort and Partin tables cohort was performed. Values of areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to assess predictive accuracy for the Chinese cohort. RESULTS: The mean age of the whole cohort was 67 years. The serum prostate specific antigen level, Gleason score and clinical stage of this cohort were higher than the Partin tables cohort. The pathological outcomes analysis revealed that the rates of organ confined disease, capsular penetration, seminal vesicle involvement and lymph node involvement were 62.3%, 16.7%, 12.3% and 8.8%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for organ confined disease, capsular penetration, seminal vesicle involvement and lymph node involvement were 0.735, 0.653, 0.601 and 0.845. CONCLUSIONS: The Partin tables discriminate well for Chinese patients at risk for positive lymph node. The discrimination of organ confined disease is also acceptable and the discrimination of capsular penetration and seminal vesicle involvement is more limited.

[The survival analysis of metastatic prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the clinical and pathological informations of metastatic prostate cancer patients to find the predictive factors of the survival. METHODS: To filter 364 cases of metastatic prostate cancer in the 940 cases of prostate cancer that were treated in Cancer Hospital Fudan University in Shanghai from March 1998 to June 2009, the cases had hormonal therapy and full clinical and pathological records. All the 364 cases were followed up and the clinical and pathological informations were analyzed, to find the predictive factors that related to the prognosis. Statistic software SPSS 15.0 was used for analysis. Cumulative survival was analyzed by the method of Kaplan-Meier. Cox regression was used for univariate and multivariate analysis. Log-rank method was used for the significance test. RESULTS: The last follow-up date was 30th June 2009 and the median follow-up time was 24 months. At the final follow-up, 240 cases were alive, 109 cases were dead and 15 cases were lost to follow up. The median survival time of metastatic prostate cancer was 64 months, and the one-year, two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year survival rate was 92%, 78%, 66%, 60%, 54%. The univariate analysis indicated that Gleason score (P = 0.033), clinical stage (P < 0.001), the effectiveness of hormonal therapy (P < 0.001), the prostate specific antigen (PSA) nadir during hormonal therapy (P < 0.001) and the time from the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir (P = 0.002) were predictive factors for the survival time of metastatic prostate cancer. The multivariate analysis indicated that the PSA nadir during hormonal therapy (P < 0.001) and the time from the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir (P < 0.001) were independent factors that predict the survival time of metastatic prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: The PSA nadir during hormonal therapy and the time from the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir are independent factors that predict the survival time of metastatic prostate cancer.

[The survival analysis of the advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze predictive factors of advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. METHODS: From December 1996 to March 2008, 250 cases of advanced metastatic prostate cancer progressed into the stage of hormonal independent prostate cancer. The last follow-up date was 31 March 2008 and the median follow-up time was 24 months. During the follow-up, 131 cases were alive, 105 cases were dead and 14 cases were lost to follow-up. Clinical and pathological information of the cases was analyzed to find the predictive factors that related to the prognosis. RESULTS: The median survival time of advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer was 30 months, and the one-year, two-year, three-year survival rate was 79%, 59%, and 41%. The univariate analysis indicated that prostate specific antigen (PSA) at diagnosis, clinical stage, the PSA nadir during hormonal therapy, the time form the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir, the time of response duration during hormonal therapy, PSA velocity (PSAV) and PSA doubling time (PSADT) at the emergency of castration-resistant prostate cancer, age and PSA at the diagnosis of castration-resistant prostate cancer were factors that predicted the survival time of advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The multivariate analysis indicated that the PSA nadir during hormonal therapy, the time form the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir, PSAV at the emergency of castration-resistant prostate cancer, the time of response duration during hormonal therapy were independent factors that predicted the survival time of advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: The PSA nadir during hormonal therapy, the time form the start of hormonal therapy to the PSA nadir, PSAV at the emergency of castration-resistant prostate cancer and the time of response duration during hormonal therapy are independent factors that predict the survival time of advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Elevated MRE11 expression associated with progression and poor outcome in prostate cancer.

Objective: Growing evidence has proved that MRE11, a protein underpinned to be involved in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair process, is correlated with cancer outcomes. However, its role in prostate cancer (PCa) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the expression of MRE11 in tumor tissue and defining its value in predicting prognosis of PCa patients. Methods: A total of 578 patients from two cohorts were enrolled in this study. Distribution of categorical clinical-pathological data together with levels of MRE11 expression was compared with χ2-test in a contingency table. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and evaluation was detected from 78 paired PCa and adjacent normal tissues. Partial likelihood test from univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was developed to address the influence of independent factors on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in two cohorts. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were performed to assess the survival benefits between discrete levels. Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to select related genes and pathways from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Results: In the current study, we demonstrated that MRE11 was highly expressed in PCa compared with normal tissues (P=0.011). In addition, in the TCGA cohort, the median DFS in patients with IHC positive and negative MRE11 expression levels was 24.5 and 30.6 months, and median OS was 28.7 and 33.0 months, respectively. In FUSCC cohort, median DFS in patients with IHC positive and negative MRE11 expression was 28.0 and 35.6 months. Furthermore, survival curves suggested that PCa patients with elevated MRE11 expression levels showed poorer OS (P=0.019) in TCGA cohort and poor DFS (P=0.047) in FUSCC cohort. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study reveals that elevated MRE11 expression is significantly correlated with cancer progression and poor survival in PCa patients. These data suggest that MRE11 may act as an oncoprotein and a promising prognostic marker for PCa patients.

Genetic variants in RTEL1 influencing telomere length are associated with prostate cancer risk.

Telomere length measured in lymphocytes has been evaluated as a potential biomarker for prostate cancer (PCa) risk. Identifying genetic variants that affect telomere length and testing their association with disease could clarify any causal role. We therefore investigated associations between genetic variants in three telomere length-related genes and PCa risk in a case-control study. The influence of these variants on the leukocyte telomere lengths was then appraised by real-time PCR. RTEL1 rs2297441 [odds ratio (OR): 1.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.46, P = 0.021] and rs3208008 (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.03-1.46) were associated with PCa risk. These two risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.39-0.89, P = 0.012 and OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.38-0.87, P = 0.009, respectively) and another SNP PARP1 rs1136410 (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.01-2.31, P = 0.043) were also associated with leukocyte telomere length. These findings support that genetic determinants of telomere length may influence PCa risk.

Clinical significance of urine prostatic exosomal protein in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

PSA may be elevated in non-malignant conditions such as prostatitis and leads to unnecessary prostate needle biopsy. Urine prostatic exosomal protein (PSEP) has been proved to be a promising biomarker of prostatic inflammation. The aim of this study is to determine the relationships between PSEP and the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa), and their association with histologic prostatic inflammation. Prostate needle biopsies from 674 patients were evaluated for the presence of histological inflammation and PCa. The urine PSEP levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. 286 cases were diagnosed as PCa and prostatic inflammation was observed in 33.7% of the biopsies. The presence of histological inflammation was significantly associated with a lower PCa risk (P < 0.001). The urine PSEP levels was significantly lower in PCa patients compared to the controls (P = 0.003). When subanalyzed by PSA levels, the difference was more evident in cases with PSA 4-10 ng/ml (P = 0.039). The urine PSEP levels was correlated with histological inflammation on prostate needle biopsy (P = 0.018, r = 0.12). Urine PSEP examination may be helpful to eliminate false positive PSA levels due to prostatic inflammation and reduce unnecessary prostate needle biopsy in cases with PSA grey zone.