Tumor histologic grade is the most important prognostic factor in patients with penile cancer and clinically negative lymph nodes not submitted to regional lymphadenectomy

ABSTRACT Introduction: The presence and extension of inguinal lymph node metastasis are the main prognostic factors in patients with penile cancer. Physical exam and image exams are not adequate to evaluate inguinal lymph nodes and many patients are submitted to non-therapeutic lymphadenectomies. However, it is known that not all patients with clinically or histologically negative inguinal lymph nodes evolve favorably. Casuistic and Methods: the authors evaluated the clinical and pathologic characteristics of 163 patients with penile carcinoma and clinically negative inguinal lymph nodes followed for three or more years and their impact on global survival (GS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in the 10-year follow-up. Primary pathologic tumor stage (p=0.025) and the presence of high grade of tumor differentiation (p=0.018) were predictive of CSS. The presence of high grade tumor was an independent specific prognostic factor of death risk (RR 14.08; p=0.019). Conclusion: high histologic grade was an independent predictive factor of specific death risk in patients with penile carcinoma and clinically negative lymph nodes followed for three or more years.

Human Papilloma Virus: Prevalence, distribution and predictive value to lymphatic metastasis in penile carcinoma

Objectives To evaluate the prevalence, distribution and association of HPV with histological pattern of worse prognosis of penile cancer, in order to evaluate its predictive value of inguinal metastasis, as well as evaluation of other previous reported prognostic factors. Material and Methods Tumor samples of 82 patients with penile carcinoma were tested in order to establish the prevalence and distribution of genotypic HPV using PCR. HPV status was correlated to histopathological factors and the presence of inguinal mestastasis. The influence of several histological characteristics was also correlated to inguinal disease-free survival. Results Follow-up varied from 1 to 71 months (median 22 months). HPV DNA was identified in 60.9% of sample, with higher prevalence of types 11 and 6 (64% and 32%, respectively). There was no significant correlation of the histological characteristics of worse prognosis of penile cancer with HPV status. Inguinal disease-free survival in 5 years did also not show HPV status influence (p = 0.45). The only independent pathologic factors of inguinal metastasis were: stage T ≥ T1b-T4 (p = 0.02), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.04) and infiltrative invasion (p = 0.03). conclusions HPV status and distribution had shown no correlation with worse prognosis of histological aspects, or predictive value for lymphatic metastasis in penile carcinoma. .

Interleukin-10 but not interleukin-18 may be associated with the immune response against well-differentiated thyroid cancer

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the interleukin-18 +105A/C and interleukin-10 -1082A/G germline polymorphisms in the development and outcome of differentiated thyroid carcinoma associated or not with concurrent thyroiditis. METHODS: We studied 346 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinomas, comprising 292 papillary carcinomas and 54 follicular carcinomas, who were followed up for 12-298 months (mean 76.10 ± 68.23 months) according to a standard protocol. We genotyped 200 patients and 144 control individuals for the interleukin-18 +105A/C polymorphism, and we genotyped 183 patients and 137 controls for the interleukin-10 -1082A/G polymorphism. RESULTS: Interleukin-18 polymorphisms were not associated with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or any clinical or pathological feature of tumor aggressiveness. However, there was an association between the presence of interleukin-10 variants and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis was present in 21.74 percent of differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients, most frequently affecting women previously diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis who had received a lower 131I cumulative dose and did not present lymph node metastases. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the inheritance of a G allele at the interleukin-10 -1082A/G polymorphism may favor a concurrent thyroid autoimmunity in differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients, and this autoimmunity may favor a better prognosis for these patients.