Nucleobindin 2 expression is an independent prognostic factor for bladder cancer.

Nucleobindin 2 (NUCB2) has been reported to play an important role in both tumorigenesis and cancer progression. This study aimed to examine the clinical significance of NUCB2 expression urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB).The expression level of NUCB2 and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed in 225 UCB tissues by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to investigate the correlation between NUCB2 expression and the prognosis of UCB patients. High NUCB2 expression of UCB patients significantly correlated with aggressive clinicopathological features. Patients with high NUCB2 had shorter overall survival and recurrence-free survival in Kaplan-Meier survival curve (P = .018 and P = .001, respectively).Our results show that high expression of NUCB2 associated with aggressive clinicopathological feature and predicted unfavorable prognosis in patients with UCB might serve as feasible biomarker for clinical outcome of UCB patients after surgery and potential therapeutic target in the future.

Comparison of an Indwelling Period Following Ureteroscopic Removal of Stones between Double-J Stents and Open-Ended Catheters: A Prospective, Pilot, Randomized, Multicenter Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether long-term, postoperative ureteral stenting is necessary after ureteroscopic removal of stones (URS) during an uncomplicated surgical procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively examined 54 patients who underwent URS for lower ureteral stones from February 2010 to October 2010. Inclusion criteria were a stone less than 10 mm in diameter, absence of ureteral stricture, and absence of ureteral injury during surgery. We randomly placed 5 Fr. open-tip ureteral catheters in 26 patients and removed the Foley catheter at postoperative day 1. The remaining 28 patients received double-J stents that were removed at postoperative day 14 by cystoscopy under local anesthesia. All patients provided visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores at postoperative days 1, 7, and 14 and completed the storage categories of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at postoperative day 7. RESULTS: The VAS scores were not significantly different on postoperative day 1 but were significantly smaller in the 1-day ureteral catheter group at postoperative days 7 and 14 (p<0.01). All of the storage categories of the IPSS were significantly lower in the 1-day ureteral stent group (p<0.01). The ratio of patients who needed intravenous analgesics because of severe postoperative flank pain was not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.81). No patients experienced severe flank pain after postoperative day 2, and no patients in either group had any other complications. CONCLUSIONS: One-day ureteral catheter placement after URS can reduce postoperative pain and did not cause specific complications compared with conventional double-J stent placement.