Rare Case of Renal-type Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Prostate and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Renal-type clear cell carcinoma (RTCCC) occurring as a primary tumor in an extra-renal location, especially in the prostate, is very rare. In this report, we present a rare case of RTCCC of the prostate and review the current literature on this condition. CASE REPORT: The patient was a 76-year-old man who presented with urinary symptoms. Cystoscopic findings showed tumor-like lesions in the dome, neck, and anterior wall of the urinary bladder. Biopsy revealed clear cell carcinoma (CCC). Transrectal needle biopsy of the prostate revealed prostatic adenocarcinoma with CCC features. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells of the bladder and prostate were compatible with prostatic carcinoma. The whole-body radiologic workup did not reveal any renal or other organ malignancies. Transurethral resection of the prostate and bladder tumor was performed. The patient underwent regular follow-up cystoscopic examination and urine cytology. No recurrence was observed 19 months after the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This was a case of RTCCC arising in the prostate. RTCCC of the prostate is extremely rare and shows very similar histological and immunohistochemical features to those of CCC occurring in the kidney. Pathologists should be aware of such an entity whenever they see clear cells in urinary tract malignancies.

Role of CDK8 and beta-catenin in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Colorectal adenocarcinoma is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway plays an important role in colon cancers. However, relatively little is known about the regulatory mechanism of beta-catenin in colon cancers. CDK8 is a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) member of the mediator complex that couples transcriptional regulators to the basal transcriptional machinery, and is implicated in the transcriptional regulation of key pathways involved in colon cancers. To determine the relationship between CDK8 and beta-catenin expressions, a population-based study was conducted for immunohistochemical staining analysis of tumor tissues, and Western blot analysis and CDK8 interference studies of colon cancer cell lines. The hypothesis that colorectal cancers with CDK8 expression have distinct clinical, prognostic and molecular attributes was tested. Among 127 colorectal cancers, CDK8 expression was detected in 96 (76%) tumors by immunohistochemistry. CDK8 and beta-catenin expression had significant positive correlation with carcinogenesis, tumor progression and patient survival. Immunohistochemically, CDK8 expression in colorectal cancer was independently associated with beta-catenin activation (P=0.0002). However, beta-catenin expression was not completely suppressed by CDK8 interference in the colon cancer cell lines HCT-116, HT-29 and SNU-C5. These data support a potential link between CDK8 and beta-catenin, and suggest that CDK8 may identify a subset of colon cancer patients with a poor prognosis. However, control of CDK8 is not an effective therapeutic strategy through beta-catenin regulation of general colon cancer.

Hyperthermia switches glucose depletion-induced necrosis to apoptosis in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Both cellular and clinical studies have shown that hyperthermia is one of the most potent sensitizers for the action of ionizing radiation. Although hyperthermic improvement in clinical outcome is suggested to be linked to its ability to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and to activate the immune system and to cause increases in blood flow and tumor oxygenation, the mechanism behind this is still unclear. Previously, we demonstrated that glucose deprivation (GD), a common characteristic of the tumor microenvironment, induced necrosis, which is implicated in tumor progression and aggressiveness, through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in A549 lung carcinoma cells. We examined the effects of heat shock on ROS production and necrosis in response to GD. Here we show that mild, but not harsh, heat shock prevented GD-induced necrosis and switched the cell death mode to apoptosis in A549 cells through the ERK1/2 pathway that could suppress GD-induced CuZnSOD release and ROS production. These results demonstrate that contrary to severe heat shock, mild heat shock has the ability to decrease oxidative stress in cells, thereby causing the cell death mode switch from tumor promoting necrosis to tumor suppressive apoptosis, which may contribute to its anti-neoplastic activities.