Efficacy and Safety of Transurethral Columnar Balloon Dilation of the Prostate for the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Multicenter Trial.

Objective: To observe the efficacy and safety of transurethral columnar balloon dilation of the prostate (TUCBDP) for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in a multicenter trial. Method: This multicenter study included 2050 patients with BPH who underwent TUCBDP from 11 cities of Zhejiang Province, from September 2015 to June 2021. Clinical assessment included recording and measurement of preoperative and postoperative data including prostate volume, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, IPSS score, quality of life (QoL), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), postvoid residual urine (PVR), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5), and Male Sexual Health Questionnaire-Ejaculatory Dysfunction Short Form (MSHQ-EjD-SF). Additionally, the correlation of the indicators was analyzed using linear regression and early postoperative complications were also recorded. Results: One month after surgery, the patients' IPSS score, QoL, and PVR were significantly decreased, while the Qmax, IIEF-5, and MSHQ-EjD-SF scores were increased considerably, compared with preoperative data. After surgery, the patient's IPSS score, QoL, and Qmax were improved year by year, while PVR gradually decreased. Three months after TUCBDP, IIEF-5 and MSHQ-EjD-SF levels reached the climax. Linear regression analysis showed that the serum PSA level was significantly positively correlated with Qmax at 3 months after TUCBDP, while at 6 months after surgery, it was negatively related to IPSS and QoL. Early postoperative complications appeared in 384 cases during follow-up. Conclusion: Collectively, TUCBDP may effectively improve the urinary and sexual function of BPH patients, with fewer postoperative complications, and its efficacy is not limited by age and prostate volume. It can be considered a better treatment option for BPH.

A multicenter retrospective study of transurethral prostate split for benign prostate hyperplasia.

Background: Transurethral split of the prostate (TUSP) is effective in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). However, there is still a lack of research focusing on the optimal target population for TUSP. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of TUSP in patients with different prostate volumes or ages. Methods: The study was a multicenter retrospective study. The outcomes of TUSP in BPH patients with different prostate volumes or different ages were compared. A total of 439 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups according to prostate volume, with a cut-off value of 50 mL. Similarly, the cut-off value for the age groups was 70 years. Baseline patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes were recorded. Follow-up was performed at 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Results: The mean age of the patients was 73.4 years, and the mean prostate volume was 51.2 mL. At 12-month follow-up after TUSP treatment, the patients' International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS), quality of life (QoL) scores, and postvoid residual (PVR) volumes decreased significantly, while peak urinary flow rate (Qmax) increased significantly. Intraoperative hemoglobin (Hb) reduction was significantly lower in the small volume group than in the large volume group. The incidence of postoperative urinary urgency and transient incontinence was lower in the small volume group. IPSS score, PVR, and Qmax in the small volume group showed more remarkable changes at several time points compared to the preoperative period. Postoperative pain scores were higher in the small volume group than in the large volume group. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of long-term complications. The younger group showed greater variation in PVR and Qmax at some time points but less variation in QoL than the older group. Conclusions: TUSP is overall safe and effective in treating BPH. This study showed differences in the outcomes of TUSP in treating different prostate volumes or ages of BPH patients. The optimal surgical approach for BPH patients might be selected clinically based on a combination of prostate volume or patient age.

LINC00461 affects the survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma by acting as a competing endogenous RNA for microRNA­942.

The present study aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms of human miR­942 in the sunitinib­resistance of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). A sunitinib­resistant OS­RC­2 cell line was established by continuous exposure to increasing concentrations of sunitinib for ~12 weeks. The expression levels of four miRNAs were determined by reverse transcription­quantitative (RT­q)PCR. miR­942 mimics were transfected into OS­RC­2 cells and RNA sequencing was performed on the miR­942­ and negative control­transfected cells. Downregulated genes, including those of long non­coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and mRNAs, were identified. The target genes of miR­942 were predicted, followed by protein­protein interaction network construction and functional enrichment analyses of miR­942 target genes. In addition, RCC RNA­seq and miRNA­seq data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The contributions of lncRNA and/or mRNAs to survival prediction were assessed and a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network consisting of miR­942, lncRNA and mRNAs was constructed. The expression levels of LINC00461, miR­942, spalt­like transcription factor 1 (SALL1), methionyl aminopeptidase 1 (METAP1) and DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 1 (DCAF11) were verified using RT­qPCR. The role of LINC00461 in cell viability was detected by MTT assay. The expression level of miR­942 was significantly increased in sunitinib­resistant cells. A total of seven lncRNAs and 155 mRNAs were predicted as target genes of miR­942 in the miR­942 mimic­treated samples, compared with the mimic control­treated group. These potential target genes were significantly associated with 'protein binding', 'TNF­ß signaling pathway', 'negative transcriptional regulation' and 'RNA binding'. Through the integrated analysis of RNA­sequencing and TCGA data, an miR­942­related ceRNA network, which was predicted to significantly affect the survival of patients with RCC, was constructed. The expression levels of lncRNA LINC00461 and the genes SALL1, METAP1, and DCAF11 were further verified. The viability of OS­RC­2 cells was decreased following co­transfection with miR­942 mimics and LINC00641 siRNA, and was comparable to that of wild type OS­RC­2 cells (P>0.05). Therefore, lncRNA LINC00461 may act as an miR­942 ceRNA, and affect the survival of patients with RCC by regulating the expression of SALL1, METAP1 and DCAF11.