Hormone sensitive protocol for metastatic prostate cancer, an update.

To review and update last protocols in hormone sensitive metastatic prostate cancer for improving clinical management in routine. Evidence analysis available about recent updates protocols in hormone sensitive metastatic prostate cancer according to expert panel of clinicians about this field. A nominal consensus group for unify and improve the recommendations to the management of sensitive metastatic prostate cancer patients is currently needed. This document unifies and improve the management of patients with hormone sensitive metastatic prostate cancer, with a methodology that combines data quantitative and qualitative and based on the participation of a broad scientific committee appointed by the Spanish Association of Urology.

[Growing incidence in renal cell carcinoma]. / Incidencia creciente en el carcinoma de células renales.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the change in the behavior of renal cell carcinoma for its presentation, treatment, histology and mortality during a 17 year period. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Retrospective study on 212 patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in our Department from the year 1988 up to 2004, analyzing the clinical and demographic data and comparing them to each other according to two periods: 1988-1996 and 1997-2004. RESULTS: An increase has been appreciated in the incidence of renal tumors in the second period and in a same way an increase in the incidental diagnosis and in the practice of nephron sparing surgery. Clear cell type was the most frequent in both periods and tumoral size was higher in the first period than in second. TNM stage I was the most frequent, although in first period it was higher percentage of stage IV. Cause-specific mortality has increased in the last years. CONCLUSION: An increase is appreciated in the incidence of renal cell tumors. Although the diagnosis is in earlier stages, a descent in the mortality has not been found.

p53 Gene mutations in superficial bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the presence of p53 gene mutations in superficial tumors of the urinary bladder (transitional cell carcinoma) and their relationship to classic prognostic factors for cancer recurrence and progression. To analyze the implication of these mutations on the P53 protein structure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional study of 90 consecutive patients, 60 with superficial transitional cell carcinoma (pTa and pT1) and 30 without neoplastic disease (control group). Samples of bladder tumor and control normal mucosa were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) to detect p53 mutations in exons 5-9. Automatic sequencing was used to characterize the mutations and their effect on the P53 protein was analyzed. Bivariate analysis was used to assess the association with other prognostic factors. RESULTS: PCR-SSCP found no mutations in any control group patient, whereas 38.3% of patients with superficial transitional cell carcinoma had one or more mutations in the exons analyzed. Thirty mutations were sequenced; all were point mutations and 86.67% were considered relevant for the P53 structure. A total of 93.3% of the mutations were located in highly conserved regions and 73.3% in mutational hot spots. The highest cell differentiation grades and pT1 stage were associated with a higher incidence of p53 gene mutations. Previous recurrences and other tumor-related histological variables were not associated with a higher percentage of mutations. CONCLUSION: Mutations at p53 did not appear in healthy bladder mucosa and were significantly more frequent in pT1 and high-grade (G-II and G-III) tumors. All mutations detected were point mutations and most caused considerable P53 structural abnormalities, implying major repercussions on P53 function. These data suggest that certain p53 mutations may have prognostic value, even though they were not associated with other classic recurrence and tumor progression parameters. Future analyses of the progress of patients with superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma and mutated p53 will help clarify this aspect.

[Surgery of large residual mass after chemotherapy in advanced testicular germ cell tumor]. / Cirugía de gran masa residual tras quimioterapia en tumor germinal testicular avanzado.

Treatment for testicular tumours has progress in such a manner in the last years that high cure percentages can at present be achieved. After chemotherapy, in most cases, residual mass can appear. In this cases surgery is considered a viable therapeutic option although it implies an advanced surgical training since it is a complex technique and implies serious implications. We submit the case of a patient who presented a large residual mass from a testicular germ cell tumour after being treated with orquiectomía and chemotherapy. Surgery was performed resulting in total and radical extirpation of residual mass.

[Nephron-sparing surgical treatment in renal tumors]. / Cirugía conservadora de parénquima en los tumores renales.

OBJECTIVE: A retrospective study on the nephron-sparing surgical treatment in patients with renal tumors, and in addition a literature review on the subject. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Since January 1988 until February 2002, 44 partial nephrectomies have been carried out in our unit because of renal tumors in 43 patients. The clinical protocols of these 43 patients have been reviewed, with an analysis of various clinical-pathological parameters, and utilizing in this analysis percentages, central tendency measures and dispersion and confidence intervals. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 55.8 years (19-76), and 29 patients were males. Elective partial nephrectomy was carried out in 79.5% of the patients, while in the rest they were submitted to imperative surgery for various causes. The diagnosis of the tumors was mostly as an incidental finding upon carrying out some diagnostic test by another cause (68.2%). In the symptomatic cases, the most common presentation was the combination of pain and hematuria (11.4%). Histopathological study revealed malignant neoplasms in 88.7%, most of them (61.4%) clear cell carcinomas. A Furhman grade 2 was observed in 76.3% of tumors. The average size of the renal masses was of 4.53 cm (1,5-11). As a whole, 61.5% were pT1, 33.3% were pT2 and only one case was pT3. Operative complications were observed in 11.4% of the cases and postoperative complications in 25%. No patient showed local or distant recurrence, and all of them survived disease-free. A patient died after 74 months of the surgery for causes not related to the disease. Average follow-up was 49.77 months (1-168). CONCLUSIONS: Renal nephron-sparing surgery is such a valid therapeutic option as radical nephrectomy in selected patients with renal tumors, since the cancer-specific survival is 100%, which means that this can be considered a therapeutic indication even in patients with healthy contralateral kidney.

Prognostic implications of p53 gene mutations in bladder tumors.

PURPOSE: Alterations in the p53 gene related to neoplastic progression were studied in tumor tissue samples from patients with transitional cell carcinoma and correlated with classic staging parameters. On this basis, biological characterization of the tumor was performed to establish subgroups of patients at high risk and those with a more favorable prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational, analytical and cross-sectional study included 115 patients divided into 4 homogeneous groups of 1-control, 2-primary superficial transitional cell carcinoma, 3-recurrent superficial transitional cell carcinoma, and 4-infiltrative transitional cell carcinoma. DNA was obtained from tumor tissue samples and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism analysis was performed on exons 5 to 9 of the p53 gene. Samples showing mutations were submitted to automatic sequencing. Statistics included bivariate analysis and logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the tumors the 63.8% were superficial and 37.2% were infiltrative transitional cell carcinoma. Of the infiltrative tumors 23.5% (8 of 34) resulted from recurrent transitional cell carcinoma. Mutations were found in samples from 46.8% of patients, all with bladder tumors. There was a trend toward increasing appearance of mutations as the size of the tumor, number of tumor implants, degree of dedifferentiation and stage of local infiltration increased. The presence of mutations in p53 was 2.5 times greater in infiltrative tumors than in low stage and 4.3 times greater in moderate to high grade than in low grade tumors. All mutations found were point mutations and 79.25% provoked severe alterations in protein structure. CONCLUSIONS: Mutations in the p53 gene are mainly point mutations that aggregate in hot spots, and provoke genetic instability and substantial changes that alter p53 function, implying a trend to tumor progression and dissemination (with a greater proportion of mutations in high stage high grade tumors). Since a large percentage of bladder tumors are under staged, analysis of p53 gene mutations could be useful as a factor for prognosis and therapeutic decisions.

The impact of benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery on patients' quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of surgical treatment of benign hyperplasia of the prostate on patients' quality of life (QoL). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The QoL of 181 patients was assessed by the health questionnaire SF-36. The measurement was carried out before and 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: After surgery, SF-36 scales improved their scores, fundamentally General Health (57.4%) and Physical Functioning (57.1%). 70.3% improved their physical component summary (PCS) and 49.1% their mental component summary (MCS). The improved PCS and MCS were not associated with the improved I-PSS or urine flow. The improved PCS was 2.2 times higher in patients who had previously scored under 44 in the PCS, 2.2 in patients who had scored over 25 in the I-PSS, and 2.9 times higher in patients without chronic diseases. With regard to MCS improvement, this was 17.1 times higher in patients who scored under 50 previously on the MCS, 3.1 in patients who scored over 4 on the IQL, 5.7 in patients without postoperative incontinence, and 3.3 times higher in patients who lived in urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in QoL after surgery is noted more in physical than in psychological aspects. Although a reduction in the intensity of prostatic symptoms and an increase in urine flow values were noted postoperatively, the improvement QoL was not associated with improved symptoms or urinary flow.

An unusual retroperitoneal cystic tumor.

This report describes a case of textiloma (term given to an inflammatory swelling caused by a retained textile foreign body) in a 60-year-old patient who had undergone surgery for a perforated gastroduodenal ulcer 17 years earlier. On examination the presence of a large mass was detected on the left hypochondria. A CT scan confirmed a cystic tumor with images suggesting detritus or necrosis in its lower part, as well as calcifications. Transperitoneal midline laparotomy was performed with extension by thoracophrenolaparotomy. Splenectomy was necessary. Macroscopic examination showed a spherical mass. After opening the tumor, retained surgical gauze was found. The histopathological diagnosis was granulomatosis reaction to a foreign body.

[Prostatic symptoms problems after surgery of benign hyperplasia of the prostate]. / Problemática de los síntomas prostáticos tras la cirugía de la hiperplasia benigna de la próstata.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of surgical therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia on the problems caused by prostatic symptoms to patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 122 patients were evaluated with regards to the issues arising from prostatic symptoms through the Symptom Problem Index (SPI) questionnaire. Symptoms intensity (I-PSS questionnaire) and flow data were analyzed. Measurements were performed prior and six months after surgery. RESULTS: Mean age 68.8 +/- 6.9 SD years. In 46.3% cases a surgical approach was decided upon based only on symptoms. After surgery, I-PSS score improvement was seen in 91.0%, 78% stated they were delighted or very satisfied with their symptoms and 70% showed peak flow improvement. SPI score prior to surgery was 15.9 +/- 6.7 SD and after surgery 4.3 +/- 5.7 SD (p < 0.0001). Worse rated symptoms after surgery are still nycturia, urgency, and pollakiuria; obstructive symptoms were better tolerated than irritative symptoms. Interestingly, there is also greater tolerance of nycturia (p < 0.001) relative to the previous problem. A higher tolerance of prostatic symptoms with surgery correlates with an improvement of scores in irritative symptoms (r = 0.888; p < 0.0001), and even more with improvement of obstructive symptoms (r = 0.925; p < 0.0001). Tolerance increased with improved scores in I-PSS questionnaire (r = 0.644; p = < 0.0001), in patients with previous higher I-PSS (r = 0.333; p < 0.001), worse IQL quality of life (r = 0.215; p < 0.018), and worse previous tolerance to prostatic symptoms (r = 0.690; p < 0.001), in younger patients (r = -0.179; p = 0.05) and in the absence of problems with the development of sexual activity and post-operative complications, basically urinary incontinence. CONCLUSIONS: The problems suffered by patients as a result of symptoms after surgery show greater improvement than the symptoms intensity and is greater in patients with worse pre-operative clinical condition and those previously more concerned with their symptoms. It should be highlighted the lower repercussion from nycturia after the procedure and the fact that irritative symptoms are less well tolerated. On the other hand, the frequent changes in sexual activity caused by this procedure result in symptoms being less well tolerated, as it also happens with the possible existence of post-operative urinary incontinence.

[Survival of patients with upper urothelial tumor]. / Estudio de supervivencia en pacientes con tumor de urotelio superior.

OBJECTIVE: A descriptive analysis of 35 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract is presented. The actuarial survival was analyzed to determine which circumstances associated with superficial bladder cancer had a prognostic significance. METHODS: The records of 35 patients with upper urothelial tumor diagnosed from 1987 to 1993 were retrospectively analyzed. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed on all the variables. Correlation was determined by Pearson's Xi2 test, Yates' and Fisher's exact test. McNemar's test was used to determine which diagnostic method had the highest yield. The actuarial survival data were analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier and Mantel-Haenzel test. RESULTS: Patient mean age was 67.74 yrs, mean follow up was 26.83 months, 40% were ureteral tumors, 25.7% were pelvic tumors, 60.6% were superficial tumors and 62.6% were GI and GII, 48.5% were associated with bladder tumors and no correlation was found between the grade and stage of bladder relapses and the upper urinary tract tumors. Intravenous urography demonstrated function was abolished in 45.5%. Cytology gave the highest diagnostic yield (84.6%). Nephroureterectomy with perimeatal cystectomy was the surgical technique most frequently used (57.1%). To date, 71.4% of the patients have survived. Significantly women demonstrated the most undifferentiated cellular grade (p < 0.001), although no prognostic value was found for sex. 95% of the patients with non-infiltrating tumor stages and 95% of the patients with GI-GII tumors survived, whereas 61.5% of the patients with infiltrating tumors and 58.3% of those with GIII tumors did not survive (p < 0.002). Evidently, the grade of cellular differentiation and the stage of infiltration were interrelated (p < 0.002). Analysis of the actuarial survival data showed that the probability of survival after 24 months (mean follow up) was 67.07% and the probability of reaching 74 months (maximum follow up) was 60.04%. CONCLUSIONS: After a comparative analysis of the survival with the Mantel-Haenzel test, it was found that the grade of cellular differentiation (p < 0.001) and stage of infiltration (p < 0.01) had significant differences in the survival curves.