The relationship of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio with testicular cancer

ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess the relationship between testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and to determine whether this ratio can be used as a serum tumor marker. Material and Methods: Sixty-one patients with testicular germ cell tumors were included into the study. Patients were grouped as localized and non-localized. Histologically patients were categorized as seminoma and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. Complete blood cell count was measured the day before surgery and at the postoperative 1st month. Preoperative and postoperative mean NLR values were compared. Results: Thirty-six patients (59%) had seminomas and 25 patients (41%) had nonseminomatous testicular cancer. Forty-five patients (73.8%) had localized and 16 patients (26.2%) had non-localized testicular cancer. There was a statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative mean NLR of the localized patients (p=0.001) but no such difference was detected for non-localized patients (p=0.576). Nineteen patients with localized seminomas had normal preoperative serum tumor markers. There was a significant difference between preoperative and postoperative mean NLR in this group of patients (p=0.010). Twenty-six patients with localized tumors had preoperative increased serum tumor markers which normalized after orchiectomy. Mean NLR of these patients significantly decreased from 3.10±2.13 to 1.62±0.59 postoperatively (p=0.010). Conclusions: NLR appears to be a useful marker for TGCT. It is successful in predicting localized and non-localized disease in early postoperative period.

The relationship of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio with testicular cancer.

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship between testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and to determine whether this ratio can be used as a serum tumor marker. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-one patients with testicular germ cell tumors were included into the study. Patients were grouped as localized and non-localized. Histologically patients were categorized as seminoma and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. Complete blood cell count was measured the day before surgery and at the postoperative 1st month. Preoperative and postoperative mean NLR values were compared. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients (59%) had seminomas and 25 patients (41%) had nonseminomatous testicular cancer. Forty-five patients (73.8%) had localized and 16 patients (26.2%) had non-localized testicular cancer. There was a statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative mean NLR of the localized patients (p=0.001) but no such difference was detected for non-localized patients (p=0.576). Nineteen patients with localized seminomas had normal preoperative serum tumor markers. There was a significant difference between preoperative and postoperative mean NLR in this group of patients (p=0.010). Twenty-six patients with localized tumors had preoperative increased serum tumor markers which normalized after orchiectomy. Mean NLR of these patients significantly decreased from 3.10 ± 2.13 to 1.62 ± 0.59 postoperatively (p=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: NLR appears to be a useful marker for TGCT. It is successful in predicting localized and non-localized disease in early postoperative period.

Oxidative stress and phenotype frequencies of paraoxonase-1 in teratozoospermia.

Oxidative stress causes infertility in men by affecting especially sperm morphology. The aim of the study was to examine the frequencies of paraoxonase-1 (PON1) phenotypes and the serum PON1, arylesterase, total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index, catalase and thiol levels in teratozoospermic infertile men and normospermic fertile men. The study included 184 teratozoospermic infertile men and 72 normospermic fertile men. The double substrate method was employed to determine the phenotype distribution of PON1. The evaluation of sperm morphology was made in accordance with the Kruger's criteria. TAS, catalase and thiol levels were determined to be significantly lower in teratozoospermic infertile men compared to normospermic fertile men. A significant change was not observed in the levels of TOS, PON1 and arylesterase. There was a positive correlation between catalase and thiol levels and sperm morphology. While there were significantly more teratozoospermic men with AA phenotypes compared to normospermic men, there were significantly more persons with AB and BB phenotypes in normospermic men than in teratozoospermic men. As far as we know, such a study was conducted for the first time and suggests that PON1 phenotypic distribution may play a significant role in sterile males because of impaired sperm morphology.

Functional genetic variants in apoptosis-associated FAS and FASL genes and risk of bladder cancer in a Turkish population.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to evaluate the role of functional polymorphisms of apoptosis-associated Fatty acid synthase (FAS) and fatty acid synthase ligand (FASL) genes in bladder cancer susceptibility as first presentation in a Turkish population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Genotypes of 91 patients with bladder cancer and 101 healthy controls were evaluated for the polymorphism of FAS-1377 G/A and FASL-844 T/C genes by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. RESULTS: The frequency of the FAS-1377 G allele was significantly higher in patients with bladder cancer compared to controls (p<0.001). A significantly increased risk for developing bladder cancer was found for the group bearing a T allele for FASL-844 compared to the homozygous FASL-844 CC genotype (p=0.027). FAS-1377 GG genotype and FASL-844 T allele were found to be independently associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. Additionally, gene-gene interaction analysis revealed that the frequency of FAS-1377AA with FASL-844TC was significantly lower in patients with bladder cancer in comparison to those of controls (p<0.001). Extensive studies for gene-gene interaction are still needed. CONCLUSION: Our study provides new evidence that FAS-1377 G and FASL-844 T alleles may be used as low-penetrant risk factors for bladder cancer development in a Turkish population.

Giant condyloma acuminatum.

BACKGROUND: Giant condyloma acuminatum is a warty lesion that is characterized by its large size and propensity to infiltrate into deeper tissues contrasting with its microscopically benign pattern. It is proposed that giant condyloma represents an intermediate lesion between condyloma acuminatum and verrucous carcinoma. OBJECTIVE: A primary therapeutic option of giant condyloma is radical surgery with or without adjunctive chemotherapy. Because of the tumor's large extent in this case, curative therapy would have been achieved by wide surgical excision. METHOD: We present a morphologically and histologically classic example of giant condyloma with respect to origin from common genital warts. The reason for extensive exophytic growth was due to delay in therapy because of the patient's self neglect but not due to immune deficiency. The patient was treated with wide surgical excision. RESULTS: The postoperative period was uneventful, allowing satisfactory functional and cosmetic results. CONCLUSION: This case is an interesting case because of its exceptionally huge size without any deep tissue involvement and tissue atypia. This suggests that giant condyloma is an intermediate condition that exhibits a continuous tendency for growth.

Ureteroscopy and pneumatic lithotripsy, followed by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for the treatment of distal ureteral stones.

BACKGROUND: We retrospectively reviewed our experience with retrograde ureteroscopy (URS) and a pneumatic lithotriptor in 160 patients with distal ureteral stones to determine whether prior extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a limiting factor in the ureteroscopic procedure. METHODS: From January 1999 to September 2000, we performed URS and pneumatic lithotripsy in 160 patients with distal ureteral stones. Seventy-four patients were treated with URS primarily (Group 1), while the remaining 86 patients received URS only after ESWL had failed (Group 2). For URS and lithotripsy, we used a 9.5 French rigid instrument and vibrolith (Elmed, Ankara, Turkey). RESULTS: In Group 1, 73 of 74 patients (98.6%) were treated successfully by URS alone, as were 81 of 86 patients (94.4%) in Group 2. Impacted stones were also observed in 17 patients from Group 2. In these patients, endoscopic observation revealed edematous inflammation above and below the calculus. Ureteral perforation occurred in one patient from Group 2, which required surgical repair. There was no significant difference in the stone-free rates of the two groups t = 1.4 < 1.96t( infinity,0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that when ESWL fails, URS and pneumatic lithotripsy is as safe and effective as primary URS. Pneumatic lithotripsy also seems to be an effective treatment modality for impacted stones.