Evaluating the Oncological Outcomes of Pure Laparoscopic Radical Nephroureterectomy Performed for Upper-Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Patients: A Multicenter Cohort Study Adjusted by Propensity Score Matching.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the oncological feasibility of pure laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (p-LRNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) compared with conventional LRNU (c-LRNU) using a propensity-adjusted multi-institutional collaboration dataset. METHODS: Among the 503 UTUC patients who underwent RNU, we identified 219 who underwent c-LRNU (laparoscopic nephrectomy with open bladder cuff resection) and 72 who underwent p-LRNU (dissecting the kidney, ureter, and bladder cuff under complete laparoscopy). We adopted a propensity score (PS) matching method to achieve homogeneity with respect to patient backgrounds. PS matching-adjusted Cox-regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors that influenced oncological outcomes. RESULTS: Sixty-eight p-LRNU and 68 c-LRNU patients were matched. Overall, 51 (37.0%) developed intravesical recurrence (IVR), 21 (15.4%) had disease recurrence, and 20 (14.7%) died. Patients who underwent p-LRNU had a significantly shorter operation time and less blood loss than those who underwent c-LRNU. Although no significant differences in 3-year recurrence-free survival were found between the two methods, atypical recurrence sites were observed in the p-LRNU group, including the brain, sigmoid colon, vagina, and peritoneum. Regarding IVR, the 3-year IVR-free survival rate was 41.8% in the p-LRNU group, which was significantly lower than that in the c-LRNU group (66.6%, p = 0.004). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a history of bladder cancer, ureteral cancer, and p-LRNU were independent risk factors for subsequent IVR. CONCLUSION: Although p-LRNU is less invasive, the current technique may increase the incidence of atypical disease recurrence and subsequent IVR due to extravesical and intravesical tumor dissemination.

Significance of prophylactic urethrectomy at the time of radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prophylactic urethrectomy at the time of radical cystectomy is frequently recommended for patients with bladder cancer at a high risk of urethral recurrence without definitive evidence. The present study attempted to clarify the survival benefits of performing prophylactic urethrectomy. METHODS: We identified 214 male patients who were treated by radical cystectomy with an incontinent urinary diversion in our seven institutions between 2004 and 2017. We used propensity score matching and ultimately identified 114 patients, 57 of whom underwent prophylactic urethrectomy (prophylactic urethrectomy group) and 57 who did not (non-prophylactic urethrectomy group). RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the 5-year overall survival rate between the prophylactic urethrectomy and non-prophylactic urethrectomy groups in the overall. However, the local recurrence rate was significantly lower in the prophylactic urethrectomy group than in the non-prophylactic urethrectomy group (P = 0.015). In the subgroup of 58 patients with multiple tumours and/or concomitant carcinoma in situ at the time of transurethral resection of bladder tumour, the 5-year overall survival rate was significantly higher in the prophylactic urethrectomy group than in the non-prophylactic urethrectomy group (P = 0.021). A multivariate analysis revealed that performing prophylactic urethrectomy was the only independent predictor of the overall survival rate (P = 0.016). In those patients who were treated without neoadjuvant chemotherapy (n = 38), the 5-year overall survival rate was significantly higher in the prophylactic urethrectomy group than in the non-prophylactic urethrectomy group (P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic urethrectomy at the time of radical cystectomy may have a survival benefit in patients with multiple tumours and/or concomitant carcinoma in situ, particularly those who do not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Pembrolizumab-induced myasthenia gravis with myositis and presumable myocarditis in a patient with bladder cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Pembrolizumab cause immune-related adverse events. We herein report a case of advanced bladder cancer, who treated with pembrolizumab and exhibited intriguing clinical course. CASE PRESENTATION: A 63-year-old man with bladder carcinoma was treated by radical cystectomy, however, the bladder carcinoma recurred and invaded to the rectum. He was treated by combination therapy using gemcitabine and cisplatin, which were not effective for the tumor. He subsequently underwent treatment with pembrolizumab. In several 30 days, he suffered from the symptoms of myasthenia gravis. Serum levels of creatine kinase, its isozyme creatine kinase-myocardial band, and troponin I were elevated. Electrocardiography showed a right bundle branch block. These findings suggested that he was myasthenia gravis with general myositis and presumable myocarditis. Oral prednisolone administration significantly attenuated these findings. The tumor drastically shrunk only by the single injection of pembrolizumab. CONCLUSION: Early intervention with corticosteroid was effective for neuromuscular complications due to pembrolizumab.

Usefulness of Implementing Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Care for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Outpatients Treated with Pazopanib.

BACKGROUND: Pazopanib is an effective treatment option for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, the therapy is often limited by the appearance of adverse events (AEs), including nausea/vomiting, hepatic impairment, hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea, hypertension and oral mucositis. Early management of AEs is, therefore, extremely important in order to maximize treatment outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This non-randomized controlled before-and-after study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of our comprehensive pharmaceutical interventions in 37 outpatients receiving pazopanib for RCC (experimental group). Data were compared with those obtained from 13 patients before the start of pharmaceutical intervention (control group). RESULTS: The incidence rates of grade 2 or more nausea and anorexia were significantly lower in the experimental, than in the control group (3% versus 38% for nausea, respectively, p=0.003; 8% versus 46% for anorexia, respectively, p=0.005). Importantly, non-adherence based on patient self-assessment was not observed with intervention (0% versus 38%, p<0.001). Consequently, the median total dose of pazopanib was increased by the intervention (72,600 versus 18,200 mg, p=0.002). Moreover, the median time to treatment failure was significantly longer with intervention than before (10.2 versus 1.7 months, HR=0.23, 95% CI=0.110-0.499, p<0.001). These findings suggest that our interventions are highly effective for enhancing treatment outcomes.

A case in which bladder cancer invaded the ureteral orifice and was resected via photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection involving orally administered 5-aminolevulinic acid.

INTRODUCTION: Transurethral resection of bladder tumor is widely used in combination with photodynamic diagnosis to treat non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. We experienced an intriguing case, in which bladder cancer infiltrated into the right ureteral orifice and was resected via photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection involving the oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid. CASE PRESENTATION: This case was a 71-year-old Japanese man. He was diagnosed with bladder carcinoma, which had infiltrated into the right ureter (clinical classification: T1, N0, M0). He underwent transurethral resection involving the oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid. We successfully resected the tumor in the ureteral orifice, which was accomplished by resecting the ureteral orifice until the non-luminescent lumen was exposed. After the surgery, to prevent recurrence, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin was administered intravesically after right ureteral stent placement. CONCLUSION: Photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection involving the oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid has the potential to treat ureteral tumors derived from bladder tumors.

History of Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer May Have a Worse Prognostic Impact in cT2-4aN0M0 Bladder Cancer Patients Treated With Radical Cystectomy.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether a history of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) plays a prognostic role in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) treated with radical cystectomy in the era when neoadjuvant chemotherapy was established as standard therapy for MIBC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 282 patients who were diagnosed with cT2-T4aN0M0 bladder cancer treated with open radical cystectomy at our institutions were included. Initially diagnosed MIBC without a history of NMIBC was defined as primary MIBC group (n = 231), and MIBC that progressed from NMIBC was defined as progressive MIBC (n = 51). RESULTS: The rate of cT3/4a tumors was significantly higher in the primary MIBC group than in the progressive MIBC group (P = .004). Five-year recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates for the primary MIBC group versus progressive MIBC group were 68.2% versus 55.9% (P = .039) and 76.1% versus 61.6% (P = .005), respectively. Progressive MIBC (hazard ratio, 2.170; P = .008) was independently associated with cancer death. In the primary MIBC group, the 5-year CSS rate in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy was 85.4%, which was significantly higher than that in patients without (71.5%, P = .023). In the progressive MIBC group, no significant differences were observed in CSS between patients treated with and without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: MIBC that progressed from NMIBC had a significantly worse clinical outcome than MIBC without a history of NMIBC and may not respond as well to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These results are informative, even for NMIBC patients treated with conservative intravesical therapy.

Influence of dutasteride treatment on serum hormone levels and aging male symptoms in patients with benign prostatic enlargement.

OBJECTIVES: To clarify the effects of dutasteride on serum hormone levels and aging male symptoms in patients with benign prostatic enlargement. METHODS: The present prospective study was carried out in 110 symptomatic benign prostatic enlargement patients treated with daily administration of 0.5 mg dutasteride. We analyzed serum hormonal levels and aging related symptoms using a validated Aging Male Symptom questionnaire at baseline and after 3 months of dutasteride treatment. RESULTS: The mean total testosterone, free testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels after dutasteride treatment were approximately 20% higher than those at baseline. The percentage increases in total and free testosterone levels were negatively correlated with these baseline levels. Baseline age, levels of total testosterone and free testosterone, and the changes in the rate of luteinizing hormone after dutasteride treatment tended to be correlated with an increase in the rate of total testosterone and free testosterone after dutasteride treatment. In a subgroup of 26 patients with moderate-to-severe aging male symptoms, poor morning erection and free testosterone levels <8.5 pg/mL, total aging male symptoms, and somatic symptoms scores significantly decreased after dutasteride treatment with an increase of total and free testosterone. CONCLUSIONS: The increase of endogenous free testosterone and total testosterone by dutasteride might bring additional benefits of improvement of aging male-related symptoms, especially in patients with lower free testosterone baseline levels and moderate-to-poor aging-related symptoms.

Significance of a frozen section analysis of the ureteral margin in bladder cancer patients treated with radical cystectomy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Although the clinical utility of a frozen section analysis (FSA) at the time of radical cystectomy (RC) has already been established, its significance and utility in bladder cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have not yet been fully evaluated. We identified 458 patients (937 ureters) who underwent open RC for bladder cancer at our 7 Japanese institutions between 2004 and 2015. Among these patients, 139 (284 ureters) received NAC before RC (NAC group), while 319 (653 ureters) underwent RC alone (non-NAC group). FSA was performed on 356 out of 937 (38.0%) ureters and 179 out of 458 (39.1%) patients. FSA was positive in 30 out of 356 (8.4%) ureters and its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 89.3, 98.5, and 97.8%, respectively. In the NAC group, FSA was performed on 138 out of 284 (48.6%) ureters and 68 out of 139 (48.9%) patients. FSA was positive in 8 out of 138 ureters (5.8%), and its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 77.8, 99.2, and 97.8%, respectively. In the non-NAC group, FSA was performed on 218 out of 653 (33.4%) ureters and 111 out of 319 (34.8%) patients. FSA was positive in 22 out of 218 (10.1%) ureters, and its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 94.7, 98.0, and 97.7%, respectively. No correlation was observed between preoperative clinical factors and FSA positivity in the NAC group; however, in the non-NAC group, the incidence of FSA positivity in the ureters of patients with concomitant CIS in TUR-BT specimens was 8/41 (19.5%), which was significantly higher than that in their counterpart (14/177, 7.9%, p = 0.033). Even in the era of NAC in the management of bladder cancer patients, the performance of FSA does not change and FSA at the time of RC may provide useful diagnostic information.

Technical Improvement Using a Three-Dimensional Video System for Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is one of the major surgical techniques for small renal masses. However, it is difficult to manage cutting and suturing procedures within acceptable time periods. To overcome this difficulty, we applied a three-dimensional (3D) video system with laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, and evaluated its utility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 31 patients who underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy between November 2009 and June 2014. A conventional two-dimensional (2D) video system was used in 20 patients, and a 3D video system in 11. Patient characteristics and video system type (2D or 3D) were recorded, and correlations with perioperative outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 55.8±12.4, mean body mass index was 25.7±3.9 kg/m2, mean tumor size was 2.0±0.8 cm, mean R.E.N.A.L nephrometry score was 6.9±1.9, and clinical stage was T1a in all patients. There were no significant differences in operative time (p=0.348), pneumoperitoneum time (p=0.322), cutting time (p=0.493), estimated blood loss (p=0.335), and Clavien grade of >II complication rate (p=0.719) between the two groups. However, warm ischemic time was significantly shorter in the 3D group than the 2D group (16.1 min vs. 21.2min, p=0.021), which resulted from short suturing time (9.1 min vs. 15.2 min, p=0.008). No open conversion occurred in either group. CONCLUSIONS: A 3D video system allows the shortening of warm ischemic time in laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and thus may be useful in improving the procedure.

Patient age was an independent predictor of cancer-specific survival in male patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma treated by radical nephroureterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that there may be a prognostic difference in age between the genders and evaluated the influence of gender-adjusted age on prognosis in upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients. METHODS: A total of 839 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma from a retrospective multi-institutional cohort were included. The patients were divided into four groups consisting of males (N = 610) and females (N = 229) according to age ((i) <60 years, (ii) 60-69.9 years, (iii) 70-79.9 years and (iv) ≥80 years), and we evaluated the associations of patient age and gender with clinicopathological features and oncological outcomes following radical nephroureterectomy. The median follow-up duration was 34 months. RESULTS: Disease recurrence occurred in 249 patients and 192 patients died of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The 3-year cancer-specific survival rates were (i) 84.3%, (ii) 80.2%, (iii) 77.1% and (iv) 71.5% in the entire patient population (P = 0.001); (i) 84.5%, (ii) 81.1%, (iii) 76.8% and (iv) 69.7% in males (P = 0.010); and (i) 83.3%, (ii) 76.9%, (iii) 77.7% and (iv) 72.9% in females (P = 0.287), respectively. No significant differences between disease recurrence and age were found in the male or female population. In multivariate analysis, older age was an independent predictor of cancer-specific survival, in addition to advanced pT stage, the presence of lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement in males. In contrast, age was not associated with cancer-specific survival in females, while high grade, advanced pT stage, the presence of lymph node involvement and multifocal tumor were independent predictors. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that gender-adjusted age might be a new prognostic factor in upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients.

Visceral to total obesity ratio and severe hydronephrosis are independently associated with prolonged pneumoperitoneum operative time in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to evaluate the effect of visceral obesity and impact of severe hydronephrosis on surgical complexity in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (LRNU). METHODS: From January 2000 to December 2013, 169 patients underwent radical nephroureterectomy at our institution. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 70 patients who underwent LRNU. We measured total fat area (TFA) and visceral fat area (VFA) at the level of the umbilicus using computed tomography. We defined accumulated visceral fat distribution as a VFA/TFA ratio ≥0.45. Ipsilateral hydronephrosis was graded from 0 to 4 by two uro-radiologists blinded to the clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Among the 70 patients, VFA/TFA ratio was ≥0.45 in 40 patients (57.1%) and 28 (40.0%) had severe hydronephrosis (grade 3 or greater). Patients with a VFA/TFA ratio ≥0.45 had significantly longer pneumoperitoneum and total operation times compared to their counterparts (p = 0.047 and p = 0.002, respectively). Patients with severe hydronephrosis had significantly longer pneumoperitoneum and total operative times compared to their counterparts (p = 0.006 and p = 0.002, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a high VFA/TFA and severe hydronephrosis were independent predictive factors for prolonged pneumoperitoneum (p = 0.048, HR = 2.90; p = 0.015, HR = 3.82, respectively) and total operative times (p < 0.001, HR = 18.7; p = 0.003, HR = 10.7; respectively). Other pre-clinical factors such as age, gender, BMI, clinical stage, tumor size, location, laterality, degree of perinephric stranding, and surgical procedure did not affect the operation times. CONCLUSION: The present data indicated that the visceral type of adipose accumulation and presence of severe hydronephrosis could provide preoperative information on the degree of technical difficulty associated with LRNU.

How does visceral obesity affect surgical performance in laparoscopic radical nephrectomy?

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we described the relationship between operating time and obesity, particularly visceral obesity, in laparoscopic surgery. Operating time in laparoscopic surgery is affected by the experience and technique of the surgeon. Here, we investigated whether a difference in the surgeon's experience affects the operating time for laparoscopic radical nephrectomy in patients with visceral obesity. METHODS: From January 2006 to February 2012, 167 laparoscopic radical nephrectomies were performed at our institution. Visceral fat area was measured at the level of the umbilicus using computed tomography. A visceral fat area ≥ 100 cm(2) was used as the definition of visceral obesity. All laparoscopic radical nephrectomies were performed by six surgeons. Two of the six surgeons perform 50 cases or more laparoscopic surgeries every year and they were defined as the expert group. We analyzed the relationships between clinical findings, methods, surgeon experience, body mass index or visceral fat area and operating time. RESULTS: The expert and non-expert surgeons performed 77 and 90 laparoscopic radical nephrectomies, respectively, and the median operating time was 167.0 ± 44.0 and 227.5 ± 60.6 min. Twenty-five patients underwent laparoendoscopic single-site nephrectomy by the expert surgeons. For all surgeons, visceral obesity was a significant factor for prolonged operating time. Multivariate analysis showed that visceral obesity and clinical T stage were independent risk factors for prolonged operating time for the non-expert surgeons [P = 0.004, hazard ratio (HR): 5.15, P = 0.037, HR:10.41]. However, for the expert surgeons, clinical T stage was the only independent risk factor for prolonged operating time (P = 0.039, HR: 4.33). CONCLUSION: Visceral obesity was a factor of prolonged operating time in laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. The non-expert surgeons were particularly affected by visceral obesity.

Impact of Combined Use of Blood-based Inflammatory Markers on Patients with Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Following Radical Nephroureterectomy: Proposal of a Cumulative Marker Score as a Novel Predictive Tool for Prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed the prognostic impact of preoperative levels of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), plasma fibrinogen, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in surgically treated upper tract urothelial carcinoma; however, few papers have discussed the proper use of these indices. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether combinations of these three markers, as a cumulative marker score (CMS), improve the accuracy of prognostic models following radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 394 patients from multiple institutions were included. Median follow-up was 30 mo. INTERVENTION: All patients underwent RNU without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Associated outcomes were assessed using multivariate analysis. The CMS was defined as the number of elevated levels of preoperative NLR, plasma fibrinogen, and serum CRP. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Multivariate analyses revealed that an increasing CMS was independently associated with high rates of disease recurrence, cancer-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality following RNU. Addition of the CMS to a model that included standard clinicopathologic predictors significantly improved predictive accuracy by 2.7% for disease recurrence, 3.9% for cancer-specific mortality, and 4.0% for all-cause mortality, which were the highest among other prognostic models using each marker alone or combinations of two. The study is limited by its retrospective nature. CONCLUSIONS: Although the use of each inflammatory marker alone may be as predictive as clinicopathologic indices for prognosis, combinations like CMS can provide more accurate prognostic models following RNU. PATIENT SUMMARY: Elevation of blood-based inflammatory markers may be useful for predicting prognosis because of their low cost and accessibility. Among blood-based indices, we examined the efficacy of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, plasma fibrinogen, and serum C-reactive protein levels. Although use of each marker alone provides additional prognostic information, the combination of all three markers would be more predictive than any single marker or combinations of two.

Impact of an adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimen on the clinical outcome in high risk patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a Japanese multi-institution experience.

PURPOSE: Current guidelines do not yet provide any recommendations for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma managed with radical nephroureterectomy. We evaluated whether an adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimen would affect the clinical outcome in patients with high risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified 873 patients who had undergone radical nephrouretectomy for localized upper tract urothelial carcinoma at 14 Japanese institutions between 1993 and 2011. We assessed whether the type of regimen, such as methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin, and gemcitabine and cisplatin, in an adjuvant setting, could affect the subsequent clinical outcome of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. RESULTS: On multivariate analysis pathological T stage, tumor grade, lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement were prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival and cancer specific survival. We defined 229 patients with 3 or more of these factors as the high risk group. In an analysis according to adjuvant regimen, Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the 1 and 2-year recurrence-free survival rates in the methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin treated group were 71.4% and 47.9%, which were significantly higher than in the gemcitabine and cisplatin treated group (48.2% and not reached, p=0.022) or those not treated with adjuvant chemotherapy (53.4% and 39.6%, p=0.039). Similar results were observed in terms of cancer specific survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that pT3-4, tumor grade 3, positive lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement were independent risk factors for disease mortality in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma treated with radical nephroureterectomy. In the high risk group methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin adjuvant chemotherapy contributed to improve subsequent mortality compared to gemcitabine and cisplatin or no adjuvant chemotherapy.

Visceral obesity is associated with better recurrence-free survival after curative surgery for Japanese patients with localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic significance of visceral obesity to predict recurrence after curative surgery for Japanese patients with localized renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: The data of 285 patients who underwent curative surgery for localized renal cell carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed. Median follow-up was 36.7 months. The association between visceral obesity and recurrence-free survival rate was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models. Visceral fat area at the level of the umbilicus measured using pre-operative computed tomography was used as an index of visceral obesity. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients (10.2%) experienced recurrence. Five-year recurrence-free survival rates were 91.3% in high visceral fat area group (≥ 120 cm(2)) and 76.9% in low visceral fat area group (<120 cm(2)) (P = 0.037); however, visceral fat area was not an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival in multivariate analysis. In the patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma, 28 patients (11.6%) experienced recurrence. Five-year recurrence-free survival rates were 88.7% in high visceral fat area group and 71.0% in low visceral fat area group (P = 0.043), and visceral fat area was an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio: 1.974, P = 0.042) as well as C-reactive protein, Fuhrman nuclear grade, tumor size and microvascular invasion. In patients with organ confined clear cell renal cell carcinoma in particular, visceral fat area was also a useful and independent predictor of recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio: 2.807, P = 0.038). Body mass index was not useful in either cohort. CONCLUSIONS: High visceral fat area was a positive predictive biomarker for better recurrence-free survival after curative surgeries for localized clear cell renal cell carcinomas; however, body mass index was not a predictor.

A multi-institutional validation of the prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for upper tract urothelial carcinoma treated with radical nephroureterectomy.

BACKGROUND: To externally validate the prognostic impact of preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (pre-NLR) in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) following radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). METHODS: A total of 665 patients from 12 institutions were included. The median follow-up was 28 months. Associations between pre-NLR level and outcome were assessed using multivariate analysis. A pre-NLR level of >3.0 was defined as elevated. RESULTS: Pre-NLR levels were elevated in 184 patients (27.7 %), and pre-NLR elevation was significantly associated with worse pathological features such as tumor grade 3, advanced pT stage, positive lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and lymph node involvement in RNU specimens. The 5-year recurrence-free and cancer-specific survival rates were 57.0 % (p < 0.001) and 60.2 % (p < 0.001), respectively, in patients with elevated pre-NLR, and 69.2 and 77.3 %, respectively, in their counterparts. Multivariate analysis showed that elevated pre-NLR was an independent risk factor for predicting subsequent disease recurrence (p = 0.037; hazard ratio (HR) 1.38) and cancer-specific mortality (p = 0.036;, HR 1.47), although the addition of pre-NLR slightly improved the accuracies of the base model for predicting both disease recurrence and cancer-specific mortality to 79.8 % (p = 0.041) and 83.0 % (p = 0.039), respectively (gain in predictive accuracy: 0.2 and 0.1 %, respectively). CONCLUSION: This multi-institutional study revealed that elevated pre-NLR was significantly associated with worse pathological features such as tumor grade 3, advanced pT stage, positive LVI, and lymph node involvement in RNU specimens, and elevated pre-NLR was an independent risk factor of disease recurrence and cancer-specific mortality in UTUC patients treated with RNU.

Unidirectional barbed suture for vesicourethral anastomosis during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the impact of unidirectional barbed suture (UBS) for vesicourethral anastomosis (VUA) during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. METHODS: The polyglyconate UBS V-Loc 180 was used for VUA during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in 30 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with organ-confined prostate cancer between January and October 2012. The operative and postoperative parameters were then compared with those of 30 consecutive patients who had previously undergone the same procedure but with the monofilament poliglecaprone suture Monocryl. All procedures were performed by the same experienced surgeon. RESULTS: VUA time was significantly shorter in the V-Loc group (13.2 ± 2.3 min) than in the Monocryl group (19.1 ± 3.3 min) (P < 0.001). The V-Loc group required significantly more stitches than the Monocryl group (11.4 ± 1.3 vs 10.6 ± 1.6 stitches; P = 0.031). The percentage of patients who required no more than one pad per day at 3 months postoperatively was significantly higher in the V-Loc group (63.3%) than in the Monocryl group (23.3%) (P = 0.020). No significant differences in other perioperative parameters were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Using UBS prevents suture slippage and enables tieless anastomosis. VUA using a UBS may relieve surgeon stress because a rapid and secure anastomosis is achievable.

Androgen deprivation therapy improves pneumoperitoneum time during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in Japanese patients with enlarged prostates.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate if neoadjuvant hormone therapy (NHT) is associated with surgical outcomes of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. METHODS: A total of 286 patients with organ-confined prostate cancer and a preoperative prostate volume that could be estimated by transrectal ultrasound underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy between 2006 and 2011 at our institution. We examined whether NHT was associated with pneumoperitoneum time (PT) or estimated blood loss during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. RESULTS: NHT was performed in 80 patients; the mean duration of NHT was 5.2 ± 0.2 months. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that history of NHT and no NHT were not independent predictors of prolonged PT or higher estimated blood loss. Next, we evaluated 57 patients whose estimated preoperative baseline prostate volume was over 50 mL. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that no history of NHT (P = 0.011) was an independent predictor of prolonged PT. PT was significantly shorter in the NHT group (164.5 ± 39.0 min, n = 26) than in the non-NHT group (184.0 ± 36.7 min, n = 31) (P = 0.048). In the NHT group, mean prostate volume was reduced from 63.7 ± 16.0 mL to 42.1 ± 18.6 mL (33.9% reduction) by NHT. CONCLUSION: NHT shortened the PT of the patients whose preoperative baseline prostate volume was over 50 mL. This suggests NHT downsized prostate volume, resulting in greater working space and shorter PT.