Corrigendum to "RPN (Radius, Position of tumour, iNvasion of renal sinus) Classification and Nephrometry Scoring System: An Internationally Developed Clinical Classification To Describe the Surgical Difficulty for Renal Masses for Which Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Is Planned" [Eur. Urol. Open Sci. 54 (2023) 33-42].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.euros.2023.05.007.].

Functional outcome after radical prostatectomy in 1313 patients: A single-center study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of urinary continence and erectile function on the quality of life in men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer (PC), we analyzed the preoperative and 1-year postoperative outcomes of five functional domains and their influencing factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, all patients undergoing open or robot-assisted RP between Febuary 2017 and March 2020 in a single academic center were included. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed pre- and 12 months postoperatively using the Expanded Prostate Index Composite (EPIC-26) survey, evaluating continence, irritative/obstructive micturition, gastrointestinal symptoms, sexuality, and overall vitality. We examined the impact of RP on sexual function and urinary continence using multivariable logistic regression models, accounting for patient and tumor characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 1313 consecutive patients gave consent for study participation and completed both surveys. The median age was 66 years (IQR: 60-70). The majority of patients (n = 601, 46%) had an intermediate risk PC. Robotic RP was performed in 71.6% and nerve-sparing technique in 81% of the cases. The median pre- versus postoperative scores were the following: urinary continence 100 (IQR: 91.8-100) versus 85.5 (64.8-100), irritative micturition 87.5 (IQR: 75-100) versus 93.8 (IQR: 87.5-100), gastrointestinal symptoms the same with 100 (IQR: 95.8-100), vitality 95 (IQR: 80-100) versus 90 (IQR: 75-100), and erectile function 65.3 (IQR: 38.8-87.5) versus 22.2 (IQR: 12.5-48.7), respectively. Age (p < 0.001), risk classification (p = 0.002), and nerve-sparing surgery (p = 0.016) were associated with good sexual function (EPIC-26 score ≥60), while only age (p = 0.001) was statistically significantly associated with good urinary continence (EPIC-26 score ≥80). CONCLUSION: Non-modifiable factors such as age and PC risk classification impact urinary continence and sexual function after RP. Nevertheless, urologic surgeons should further focus on improving nerve-sparing techniques, the only modifiable variable, to reduce the surgery's negative impact on urinary continence and sexual function.

Chicken RAPS: Chicken Robot-assisted Pyeloplasty Simulation. Validation Study of a Novel Chicken Model for Wet Laboratory Training in Robot-assisted Pyeloplasty.

Background: Since the introduction of minimally invasive surgery, the number of simulation models available for teaching new surgeons has continued to increase. Objective: To evaluate and validate use of a model for teaching robot-assisted pyeloplasty. Design setting and participants: Twenty simulated robot-assisted pyeloplasty procedures were performed by experienced (n = 4) and novice (n = 16) surgeons using a chicken crop model at two different training centers using third- and fourth-generation robotic systems. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: We evaluated the time needed to perform the procedure, and the sufficiency and patency of the anastomosis. Participants rated the efficiency, face validity, and possible acceptance of the model as part of a structured curriculum on a scale from 0 to10. Statistical significance for comparison of results was set at p < 0.05. Results and limitations: Robot-assisted pyeloplasty was successfully performed by 75% of the participants. The completion time was significantly higher in the novice group (p = 0.016). The model was deemed to be similar to the human ureteropelvic junction by the novice group. Both groups regarded the model as a useful simulation task as part of a standardized training curriculum, with mean scores of 6.5 versus 8.69 (p = 0.046) for face validity and 8 versus 9.25 for acceptance (p = 0.053) reported by the experienced versus novice group, respectively. Limitations of the study are the costs associated with the robotic system and the unequal number of participants in the groups. Conclusions: The chicken crop model is a low-cost and reproducible simulation model for accomplishing both the resection and reconstructive steps during the learning phase for robot-assisted pyeloplasty. Patient summary: We assessed the use of chickens as a model for practicing a robot-assisted operation called pyeloplasty to fix narrowing of the ureter (the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder) where it attaches to the kidney. This model can be used for simulation of robot-assisted pyeloplasty when training new robotic surgeons.

Lessons learned after one year of COVID-19 from a urologist and radiotherapist view: A German survey on prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, COVID-19 has changed the medical landscape. International recommendations for localized prostate cancer (PCa) include deferred treatment and adjusted therapeutic routines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To longitudinally evaluate changes in PCa treatment strategies in urological and radiotherapy departments in Germany, a link to a survey was sent to 134 institutions covering two representative baseline weeks prior to the pandemic and 13 weeks from March 2020 to February 2021. The questionnaire captured the numbers of radical prostatectomies, prostate biopsies and case numbers for conventional and hypofractionation radiotherapy. The results were evaluated using descriptive analyses. RESULTS: A total of 35% of the questionnaires were completed. PCa therapy increased by 6% in 2020 compared to 2019. At baseline, a total of 69 radiotherapy series and 164 radical prostatectomies (RPs) were documented. The decrease to 60% during the first wave of COVID-19 particularly affected low-risk PCa. The recovery throughout the summer months was followed by a renewed reduction to 58% at the end of 2020. After a gradual decline to 61% until July 2020, the number of prostate biopsies remained stable (89% to 98%) during the second wave. The use of RP fluctuated after an initial decrease without apparent prioritization of risk groups. Conventional fractionation was used in 66% of patients, followed by moderate hypofractionation (30%) and ultrahypofractionation (4%). One limitation was a potential selection bias of the selected weeks and the low response rate. CONCLUSION: While the diagnosis and therapy of PCa were affected in both waves of the pandemic, the interim increase between the peaks led to a higher total number of patients in 2020 than in 2019. Recommendations regarding prioritization and fractionation routines were implemented heterogeneously, leaving unexplored potential for future pandemic challenges.

Identification of patients at risk for biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy with intra-operative frozen section.

OBJECTIVE: To identify patients at risk for biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer (PCa) after radical prostatectomy (RP) with intra-operative whole-mount frozen section (FS) of the prostate. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined differences in BCR between patients with initial negative surgical margins at FS, patients with final negative surgical margins with initial positive margins at FS without residual PCa after secondary tumour resection, and patients with final negative surgical margins with initially positive margins at FS with residual PCa in the secondary tumour resection specimen. Institutional data of 883 consecutive patients undergoing RP were collected. Intra-operative whole-mount FS was routinely used to check for margin status and, if necessary, to resect more periprostatic tissue in order to achieve negative margins. Patients with lymph node-positive disease or final positive surgical margins were excluded from the analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses adjusting for clinical covariates were employed to examine differences in biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS) according to the resection status mentioned above. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 22.4 months. The 1- and 2-year BRFS rates in patients with (81.0% and 72.9%, respectively; P = 0.001) and without residual PCa (90.3% and 82.3%, respectively; P = 0.033) after secondary tumour resection were significantly lower compared to patients with initial R0 status (93.4% and 90.9%, respectively). On multivariable Cox regression only residual PCa in the secondary tumour resection was associated with a higher risk of BCR compared to initial R0 status (hazard ratio 1.99, 95% confidence interval 1.01-3.92; P = 0.046). CONCLUSION: Despite being classified as having a negative surgical margin, patients with residual PCa in the secondary tumour resection specimen face a high risk of BCR. These findings warrant closer post-RP surveillance of this particular subgroup. Further research of this high-risk subset of patients should focus on examining whether these patients benefit from early salvage therapy and how resection status impacts oncological outcomes in the changing landscape of PCa treatment.

To defer or not to defer? A German longitudinal multicentric assessment of clinical practice in urology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: After the outbreak of COVID-19 unprecedented changes in the healthcare systems worldwide were necessary resulting in a reduction of urological capacities with postponements of consultations and surgeries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An email was sent to 66 urological hospitals with focus on robotic surgery (RS) including a link to a questionnaire (e.g. bed/staff capacity, surgical caseload, protection measures during RS) that covered three time points: a representative baseline week prior to COVID-19, the week of March 16th-22nd and April 20th-26th 2020. The results were evaluated using descriptive analyses. RESULTS: 27 out of 66 questionnaires were analyzed (response rate: 41%). We found a decrease of 11% in hospital beds and 25% in OR capacity with equal reductions for endourological, open and robotic procedures. Primary surgical treatment of urolithiasis and benign prostate syndrome (BPS) but also of testicular and penile cancer dropped by at least 50% while the decrease of surgeries for prostate, renal and urothelial cancer (TUR-B and cystectomies) ranged from 15 to 37%. The use of personal protection equipment (PPE), screening of staff and patients and protection during RS was unevenly distributed in the different centers-however, the number of COVID-19 patients and urologists did not reach double digits. CONCLUSION: The German urological landscape has changed since the outbreak of COVID-19 with a significant shift of high priority surgeries but also continuation of elective surgical treatments. While screening and staff protection is employed heterogeneously, the number of infected German urologists stays low.

Serum Hepcidin and GDF-15 levels as prognostic markers in urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract and renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a life-threatening disease that causes every fourth death. It is often hard to determine the time point of progression. Therefore, biomarkers for cancer entities that indicate disease progression or aggressiveness and thereby guide therapeutic decisions are required. Unfortunately, reliable biomarkers are rare. In this study, the potential of serum hepcidin and serum GDF-15 as biomarkers that correlate with patient's survival in the two entities upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas (UUTUC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were analyzed. METHODS: In this retrospective study n = 38 patients suffering from UUTUC, n = 94 patients suffering from RCC and n = 21 patients without infections or cancer, all hospitalized at the University Hospital Muenster, were included. Serum samples of patients were retrospectively analyzed. Serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels were measured and correlated to aggressiveness and progression of the disease as well as patient's outcome. RESULTS: For both entities, UUTUC and RCC, serum hepcidin levels as well as serum GDF-15 levels were increased compared to sera of controls. High serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels were associated with metastases and cancer relapse. Also, in both entities, the overall survival was decreased in patients with increased serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels. Hence, high serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels correlated with patient's outcome. CONCLUSION: To conclude, the data of this study show a correlation of high serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels with aggressiveness and progression of the disease and demonstrate potential prognostic properties of serum hepcidin and GDF-15 levels. The data support the further assessment of serum hepcidin and GDF-15 as prognostic markers in RCC and UUTUC.

Optimizing outcome reporting after radical cystectomy for organ-confined urothelial carcinoma of the bladder using oncological trifecta and pentafecta.

UNLABELLED: Radical cystectomy (RC) for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) is associated with heterogeneous functional and oncological outcomes. The aim of this study was to generate trifecta and pentafecta criteria to optimize outcome reporting after RC. METHODS: We interviewed 50 experts to consider a virtual group of patients (age ≤ 75 years, ASA score ≤ 3) undergoing RC for a cT2 UCB and a final histology of ≤pT3pN0M0. A ranking was generated for the three and five criteria with the highest sum score. The criteria were applied to the Prospective Multicenter Radical Cystectomy Series 2011. Multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the impact of clinical and histopathological parameters on meeting the top selected criteria. RESULTS: The criteria with the highest sum score were negative soft tissue surgical margin, lymph node (LN) dissection of at least 16 LNs, no complications according to Clavien-Dindo grade 3-5 within 90 days after RC, treatment-free time between TUR-BT with detection of muscle-invasive UCB and RC <3 months and the absence of local UCB-recurrence in the pelvis ≤12 months. The first three criteria formed trifecta, and all five criteria pentafecta. A total of 334 patients qualified for final analysis, whereas 35.3 and 29 % met trifecta and pentafecta criteria, respectively. Multivariable analyses showed that the relative probability of meeting trifecta and pentafecta decreases with higher age (3.2 %, p = 0.043 and 3.3 %, p = 0.042) per year, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Trifecta and pentafecta incorporate essential criteria in terms of outcome reporting and might be considered for the improvement of standardized quality assessment after RC for UCB.

Analysis of tissue and serum microRNA expression in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial cancer.

INTRODUCTION: MicroRNAs play an important role in many human malignancies; so far, their expression remains to be studied in upper urinary tract urothelial cancer (UUTUC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of eleven microRNAs (miR-10a, miR-21, miR-96, miR-135, miR-141, miR-182, miR-200b, miR-205, miR-429, miR-520b, miR-1244) formerly shown to be upregulated in urothelial bladder cancer were studied in corresponding normal and cancerous tissue samples of patients undergoing nephroureterectomy for UUTUC. Upregulated microRNAs were then measured in serum samples of patients with UUTUC and patients with non-malignant urological diseases to evaluate their potential as non-invasive biomarkers for UUTUC. RESULTS: MicroRNA expression allowed differentiation of normal and cancerous tissue: miR-21, miR-96, miR-135, miR-141, miR-182, miR-205, miR-429 and miR-520b were significantly overexpressed. Furthermore, miR-205 was upregulated in poorly differentiated UUTUC. The analysis of circulating RNA in serum demonstrated an increase of miR-141 in patients with UUTUC; receiver operator characteristic analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.726 for miR-141 as a diagnostic biomarker. Furthermore, we observed lower levels of miR-10a and miR-135 in UUTUC patients. CONCLUSIONS: MicroRNA expression is altered in UUTUC. The analysis of circulating miR-141 may be useful to identify patients with UUTUC.

Serum microRNAs as biomarkers in patients undergoing prostate biopsy: results from a prospective multi-center study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Increased levels of microRNAs in serum/plasma have been identified in various malignancies. We aimed to investigate serum levels of miR-26a-1 and miR-141 in patients undergoing prostate biopsy clinical suspicious for prostate cancer (PCA) in a prospective multi-center study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Pre-biopsy serum samples of 170 patients were collected in three different study Centres. Serum RNA was isolated, and microRNA lev-els were quantified using real-time PCR. Relative miR-26a -1 and miR-141 levels were determined using RNU1-4 and SNORD43 as reference genes. RESULTS: After exclusion of pa-tients with metastatic prostate cancer (n=9) and isolation failures (n=28), 133 patients (prostate cancer n=54, non-malignant n=79) were used for further analysis. The levels of miR-26a-1 and miR-141 were similar in patients with positive and negative biopsies. We observed a significant increase of miR-141 in patients with higher Gleason Score. CONCLUSION: The analysis of circulating microRNAs does not seem to help identify patients with cancer undergoing prostate biopsy. However, their levels may be useful to identify patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

DNA hypermethylation as a predictor of PSA recurrence in patients with low- and intermediate-grade prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: DNA CpG island hypermethylation causes gene silencing and is a common event in prostate carcinogenesis and progression. We investigated its role as a possible prognostic marker in patients with PCA Gleason score ≤7. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used a quantitative, methylation-specific PCR to analyze methylation patterns at five gene loci (APC, GSTP1, PTGS2, RARbeta and TIG1) in 84 prostate cancer (PCA) tissues (Gleason Score ≤7). Methylation was correlated with established clinico-pathological parameters (preoperative PSA, pathological Gleason score, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle penetration, lymph node involvement, surgical margins and age) and PSA recurrence. RESULTS: DNA hypermethylation was frequently detected at APC (95.2%), GSTP1 (84.5%), PTGS2 (100%), RAR-beta (81.0%) and TIG1 (95.2%). DNA hypermethylation was correlated with Gleason Score (p=0.027; PTGS2) and lymph node involvement (p=0.024; RARbeta). High methylation levels at RARbeta (p=0.023) was a significant predictor of PSA recurrence following radical prostatectomy. CONCLUSION: The analysis of DNA hypermethylation provides prognostic information in prognosis of low- and intermediate-grade PCA.

Gender-specific differences in cancer-specific survival after radical cystectomy for patients with urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder in pathologic tumor stage T4a.

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (UCB) staged pT4a show heterogeneous outcome after radical cystectomy (RC). No risk model has been established to date. Despite gender-specific differences, no comparative studies exist for this tumor stage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cancer-specific survival (CSS) of 245 UCB patients without neoadjuvant chemotherapy staged pT4a, pN0-2, M0 after RC were analyzed in a retrospective multi-center study. Seventeen patients were excluded from further analysis due to carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the prostatic urethra and/or positive surgical margins. Average follow-up period was 30 months (IQR: 14-45). The influence of different clinical and histopathologic variables on CSS was determined through uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Two risk groups were generated using factors with independent effect in multivariate models. Internal validity of the prediction model was evaluated by bootstrapping. RESULTS: Eighty-four percent of the patients (n = 192) were male; 72% (n = 165) showed lymphovascular invasion (LVI). The 5-year CSS rate was 31%, and significantly different between male and female (35% vs. 15%, P = 0.003). Multivariate Cox regression modeling, female gender (HR = 1.83, P = 0.008), LVI (HR = 1.92, P = 0.005), and absence of adjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 0.61, P = 0.020) significantly worsened CSS. Two risk groups were generated using these 3 criteria, which differed significantly between each other in CSS (5-year-CSS: 46% vs. 12%, P < 0.001). The c-index value of the risk model was 0.61 (95% CI: 0.53-0.68, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Prognosis in UCB staged pT4a is heterogeneous. Female gender and LVI are adverse factors. Adjuvant chemotherapy seems to improve outcome. The present analysis establishes the first risk model for this demanding tumor stage.

Analysis of sex differences in cancer-specific survival and perioperative mortality following radical cystectomy: results of a large German multicenter study of nearly 2500 patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

BACKGROUND: Outcome of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) varies between sexes. Although overall incidence is higher in men, cancer-specific survival (CSS) has been suggested to be lower in women. Although the former effect is attributed to greater exposure to carcinogens in men, the latter has not been elucidated. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to identify sex-specific outcomes based on one of the largest databases of patients with UCB who underwent radical cystectomy (RC). METHODS: This retrospective multicenter series comprised 2483 patients in Stage M0 who underwent RC for UCB from 1989 to 2008; 20.4% of patients were women. The impact of sex on CSS in the entire study group and in specific subgroups was analyzed. The median follow-up time was 42 months (interquartile range, 21-79). RESULTS: Histopathologic criteria of pathologic tumor (pT), pathologic nodal (pN), grade, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and associated carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the study did not differ between sexes. The percentage of female patients increased over time. Five-year CSS in female patients was significantly lower than in male patients (60% vs 66%; P = 0.005). In multivariate analysis adjusted to other covariates, tumor stage ≥pT3 (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.44; P < 0.001), positive pN status (HR = 1.91; P < 0.001), LVI (HR = 1.48; P < 0.001), lower count of lymph nodes removed (HR = 0.98; P = 0.002), older age (HR = 1.01; P < 0.001), and female gender (HR = 1.26; P = 0.011) had an independent impact on CSS. Deterioration of CSS in female patients was pronounced when LVI was present (HR = 1.57; P < 0.001) and when RC was performed in the earlier time period (HR = 2.44; P < 0.001). However, women showed significantly lower perioperative mortality (within 90 days after RC) compared with men. CONCLUSIONS: After RC for UCB, cancer-specific mortality was higher in female patients; this disadvantage was more pronounced in earlier time periods. In addition, worse outcome of women with verified LVI was shown to be comparable with men. These findings were suggestive of different tumor biology and potentially unequal access to timely RC in earlier time periods because of reduced awareness of UCB in women. Further studies are required to improve UCB outcome in both sexes, notably in female patients.

Analysis of serum microRNAs (miR-26a-2*, miR-191, miR-337-3p and miR-378) as potential biomarkers in renal cell carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Emerging evidence suggest that microRNAs could serve as non-invasive biomarker for cancer patients. Our study was designed to analyze circulating serum microRNAs in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum RNA was isolated from patients with clear cell RCC (ccRCC) and non-malignant disease; an artificial microRNA (cel-miR-39) was spiked-in prior the isolation procedure to control isolation efficiency. The levels of miR-26a-2*, miR-191, miR-337-3p and miR-378 in serum were determined using quantitative real-time PCR; the microRNA levels were normalized to cel-miR-39. RESULTS: First, miR-26a-2*, miR-191, miR-337-3p and miR-378 were quantified in serum of each 25 patients with ccRCC and non-malignant disease. The level of miR-378 was significantly increased in ccRCC patients, and thus chosen for validation. The analysis of miR-378 in the validation cohort with 117 RCC patients and 123 control subjects did not confirm a different level of miR-378. Also, miR-378 was not correlated to pT-stage, lymph node/distant metastasis, vascular invasion and Fuhrman grade. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of circulating serum levels of miR-26a-2*, miR-191, miR-337-3p and miR-378 is unlikely to provide helpful diagnostic/prognostic information in RCC patients.

External validation of postoperative nomograms for prediction of all-cause mortality, cancer-specific mortality, and recurrence in patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

BACKGROUND: The Bladder Cancer Research Consortium (BCRC) created nomograms to predict all-cause mortality (ACM), cancer-specific mortality (CSM), and recurrence after radical cystectomy (RC) for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). OBJECTIVE: To perform a formal validation of the BCRC nomograms in a large multi-institutional patient cohort from Europe. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Records of 2501 patients who underwent RC for UCB at eight European centers were reviewed. Complete information for external validation was available in 2404 patients for the ACM and CSM nomograms and in 2243 patients for the recurrence nomogram. MEASUREMENTS: For the purpose of external validation, model discrimination was measured using the receiver operating characteristics derived area under the curve. Calibration plots examined the relationship between predicted and observed probabilities at 2 yr, 5 yr, and 8 yr. Decision curve analyses were applied to assess the net benefit derived from the three models. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The discrimination accuracies of the BCRC nomograms for ACM and CSM at 2 yr, 5 yr, and 8 yr after RC were 71.0%, 69.1%, and 68.2%, and 74.9%, 73.1%, and 72.4%, respectively. The accuracy of discrimination for the recurrence nomogram at the same time points was 76.5%, 75.3%, and 74.9%, respectively. Calibration plots revealed slight underestimations from ideal predictions. Decision curve analyses showed an increased net benefit for the use of the BCRC nomograms in this cohort. Limitations include the retrospective study design, potential surgeon bias, and lack of a central pathologic review. CONCLUSIONS: The ACM, CSM, and recurrence nomograms showed acceptable predictive accuracies and could thus be adopted into clinical practice in UCB patients treated in Europe.

MicroRNAs in renal cell carcinoma: diagnostic implications of serum miR-1233 levels.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNA expression is altered in cancer cells, and microRNAs could serve as diagnostic/prognostic biomarker for cancer patients. Our study was designed to analyze circulating serum microRNAs in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We first explored microrna expression profiles in tissue and serum using taqman low density arrays in each six malignant and benign samples: Although 109 microRNAs were circulating at higher levels in cancer patients' serum, we identified only 36 microRNAs with up-regulation in RCC tissue and serum of RCC patients. Seven candidate microRNAs were selected for verification based on the finding of up-regulation in serum and tissue of RCC patients: miR-7-1*, miR-93, miR-106b*, miR-210, miR-320b, miR-1233 and miR-1290 levels in serum of healthy controls (n = 30) and RCC (n = 33) patients were determined using quantitative real-time PCR (TaqMan MicroRNA Assays). miR-1233 was increased in RCC patients, and thus validated in a multicentre cohort of 84 RCC patients and 93 healthy controls using quantitative real-time PCR (sensitivity 77.4%, specificity 37.6%, AUC 0.588). We also studied 13 samples of patients with angiomyolipoma or oncocytoma, whose serum miR-1233 levels were similar to RCC patients. Circulating microRNAs were not correlated with clinical-pathological parameters. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: MicroRNA levels are distinctly increased in cancer patients, although only a small subset of circulating microRNAs has a tumor-specific origin. We identify circulating miR-1233 as a potential biomarker for RCC patients. Larger-scaled studies are warranted to fully explore the role of circulating microRNAs in RCC.

Association between the number of dissected lymph nodes during pelvic lymphadenectomy and cancer-specific survival in patients with lymph node-negative urothelial carcinoma of the bladder undergoing radical cystectomy.

BACKGROUND: A larger number of dissected lymph nodes (LN) during pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients with muscle-invasive transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder treated by radical cystectomy (RC) is crucial for exact tumor staging and is associated with a positive oncological outcome. METHODS: Clinical and pathological records of 1291 patients undergoing RC due to LN-negative transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder were summarized and evaluated in a multi-institutional database. The number of removed LNs and the presence or absence of lymphovascular invasion were assessed. On the basis of multivariate Cox regression analyses, a threshold number of removed LNs was defined that exerted an independent influence on cancer-specific survival (CSS). RESULTS: In multivariate Cox regression models for different numbers of removed LNs, a statistically significant enhancement of CSS could be demonstrated for a LN count of 16. Furthermore, the integration of the dichotomized LN count of 16 resulted in a statistically significantly enhanced predictive ability of the model for CSS. Patients with <16 and ≥16 removed LNs showed CSS rates after 5 years of 72% and 83%, respectively (P = 0.01). In addition, age, sex, pT stage, and lymphovascular invasion had independent influences on CSS in every Cox regression model. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing RC, removal of a higher LN count is associated with an improved oncological outcome. The information resulting from an assessment of lymphovascular invasion and an extended lymphadenectomy is critical for stratification of risk groups and identification of patients who might benefit from adjuvant treatment.