Sebaceous carcinoma of the penis.

Sebaceous carcinoma is a very aggressive malignant tumor, derived from the adnexal epithelium of sebaceous glands. Extraocular sebaceous carcinoma is a very uncommon neoplasm usually localized on the head and neck. To our knowledge, there are only 2 previously reported cases of sebaceous carcinoma on the penis. We report the clinicopathologic data on 3 additional cases of sebaceous carcinoma arising in the penis. Treatment is debatable in view of the fact that this kind of tumor has a high recurrence rate and early regional lymph node involvement. Considering these facts, we used preoperative lymphoscintigraphy, intraoperative lymph node mapping and sentinel node biopsy before performing a bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy in 1 of 3 patients treated in our institute.

[Risk factors for postoperative hypothermia in the post-anesthetic care unit: a prospective prognostic pilot study]. / Fatores de risco para hipotermia pós­operatória em sala de recuperação pós­anestésica: estudo piloto prospectivo de prognóstico.

BACKGROUND: Hypothermia occurs in up to 20% of perioperative patients. Systematic postoperative temperature monitoring is not a standard of care in Brazil and there are few publications about temperature recovery in the postoperative care unit. DESIGN AND SETTING: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study, at Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal and Hospital Materno Infantil de Brasília. METHODS: At admission and discharge from postoperative care unit, patients undergoing elective or urgent surgical procedures were evaluated according to tympanic temperature, vital signs, perioperative adverse events, and length of stay in postoperative care unit and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: 78 patients, from 18 to 85 years old, were assessed. The incidence of temperatures <36°C at postoperative care unit admission was 69.2%. Spinal anesthesia (p<0.0001), cesarean section (p=0.03), and patients who received morphine (p=0.005) and sufentanil (p=0.003) had significantly lower temperatures through time. During postoperative care unit stay, the elderly presented a greater tendency to hypothermia and lower recovery ability from this condition when compared to young patients (p<0.001). Combined anesthesia was also associated to higher rates of hypothermia, followed by regional and general anesthesia alone (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this pilot study showed that perioperative hypothermia is still a prevalent problem in our anesthetic practice. More than half of the analyzed patients presented hypothermia through postoperative care unit admission. We have demonstrated the feasibility of a large, multicenter, cross-sectional study of postoperative hypothermia in the post-anesthetic care unit.

[Treatment of patients with recurrent superficial bladder cancer with lyophilized Moureau-Rio de Janeiro BCG strain. Brazillian National Cancer Institute experience]. / Traitement des patients présentant une tumeur superficielle de vessie par la souche de BCG Moureau-Rio de Janeiro. Expérience de l'Institut National Brésilien du Cancer.

PURPOSE: We present our experience with lyophilized Moureau-Rio de Janeiro BCG strain for treatment of patients with recurrent superficial bladder cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From October 1986 to January 2001, 114 patients were treated by transurethral resection followed by intravesical instillation of BCG at our institution. Follow-up ranged from 10 to 144 months (mean 50.16 months). The treatment included 6 inductions and 10 maintenance cycles of BCG instillations. The patients received an initial dose with 40 mg and subsequent doses with 80 mg of lyophilized Moureau-Rio de Janeiro BCG strain. Chi-square and Mantel-Haenszel test, with 95% significance, were used to evaluate possible associations among variables. The Kaplan-Meyer method was used to evaluate the disease-free survival rates while log-rank test was used to compare curves among the groups. RESULTS: Overall recurrence and progression rates after treatment were 45.6% and 13%, respectively. Four patients (3.5%) had complications following BCG instillations. Three of them had to be treated with antituberculous therapy. These patients presented pulmonary disease, granulomatous prostatitis and epididymo-orchitis respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Moureau-Rio de Janeiro BCG strain was overall well tolerated in intravesical instillations, similar to other strains used in literature. Recurrence rates were decreased with adjuvant BCG therapy. Tumor size, grade and presence of associated carcinoma in situ provided predictive information regarding the behavior of recurrent superficial tumors. The WHO/ISUP classification when compared with tumor grade was superior in selecting patients with high risk of progression.

Impact of reduced levels of APE1 transcripts on the survival of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

Molecular evidence indicates that alterations in genes involved in the maintenance of genome stability may be related to susceptibility to bladder carcinoma. Our goal was to evaluate the prognostic role of base excision repair (BER) genes in a cohort of patients diagnosed with primary urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). The levels of all APE1, XRCC1 and POLB transcripts were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) technique in tumor samples from 52 patients undergoing transurethral resection (TUR) for primary UCB at the Department of Urology, Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro. Increased levels of APE1, XRCC1 and POLB transcripts were significantly associated with high-grade tumors when compared to these levels in low-grade tumors (p<0.01) and could be attributed to different mechanisms of transcriptional regulation as a response to tumorigenesis and oxidative stress. By analyzing the collected data in the present study, regardless of pathological grade or stage, univariate analysis revealed that the reduced levels of APE1 transcripts were significantly associated with cancer-specific mortality (p=0.032). Furthermore, the variant genotype (TG/GG) of the APE1 T1349G polymorphism was observed in 75% of a subset of patients who concomitantly experienced reduced levels of the APE1 transcript and death and/or recurrence events. Taken together, our data reinforce the idea that human DNA repair mechanisms must be finely regulated in order to avoid instability leading to tumorigenesis and poor clinical outcomes in UCB patients.

[Merkel cell carcinoma of penis]. / Carcinome du pénis à cellules de Merkel.

We describe the second case in literature of Merkel cell carcinoma of penis, a rare, very aggressive neuroendocrine tumor. Treatment is debatable in view of the fact that this kind of tumor has unpredictable biological behaviour, early regional lymph node involvement, early distant metastases and a high recurrence rate. Considering these facts, we used pre-operative lymphoscintigraphy, intra-operative lymph node mapping and sentinel node biopsy before performing a bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy. All lymph nodes removed from each inguinal region were cancer-free. Although the patient had received a cycle of adjuvant chemotherapy he developed inguinal recurrence and iliac metastasis.

Risk factors for postoperative hypothermia in the post-anesthetic care unit: a prospective prognostic pilot study / Fatores de risco para hipotermia pós-operatória em sala de recuperação pós-anestésica: estudo piloto prospectivo de prognóstico

Abstract Background: Hypothermia occurs in up to 20% of perioperative patients. Systematic postoperative temperature monitoring is not a standard of care in Brazil and there are few publications about temperature recovery in the postoperative care unit. Design and setting: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study, at Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal and Hospital Materno Infantil de Brasília. Methods: At admission and discharge from postoperative care unit, patients undergoing elective or urgent surgical procedures were evaluated according to tympanic temperature, vital signs, perioperative adverse events, and length of stay in postoperative care unit and length of hospital stay. Results: 78 patients, from 18 to 85 years old, were assessed. The incidence of temperatures <36 ºC at postoperative care unit admission was 69.2%. Spinal anesthesia (p < 0.0001), cesarean section (p = 0.03), and patients who received morphine (p = 0.005) and sufentanil (p = 0.003) had significantly lower temperatures through time. During postoperative care unit stay, the elderly presented a greater tendency to hypothermia and lower recovery ability from this condition when compared to young patients (p < 0.001). Combined anesthesia was also associated to higher rates of hypothermia, followed by regional and general anesthesia alone (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In conclusion, this pilot study showed that perioperative hypothermia is still a prevalent problem in our anesthetic practice. More than half of the analyzed patients presented hypothermia through postoperative care unit admission. We have demonstrated the feasibility of a large, multicenter, cross-sectional study of postoperative hypothermia in the post-anesthetic care unit.

Resumo Justificativa: A hipotermia ocorre em até 20% dos pacientes no perioperatório. A monitoração sistemática pós-operatória da temperatura não é um padrão de atendimento no Brasil e há poucas publicações sobre recuperação da temperatura na sala de recuperação pós-anestésica. Desenho e cenário: Estudo multicêntrico, observacional, transversal, conduzido no Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal e no Hospital Materno Infantil de Brasília. Métodos: Na admissão e alta da sala de recuperação pós-anestesia, os pacientes submetidos a procedimentos cirúrgicos eletivos ou de urgência foram avaliados de acordo com a temperatura timpânica, sinais vitais, eventos adversos perioperatórios, tempo de permanência na sala de recuperação pós-anestesia e tempo de internação hospitalar. Resultados: Setenta e oito pacientes com idades entre 18 e 85 anos foram avaliados. A incidência de temperatura <36 ºC na admissão à sala de recuperação pós-anestesia foi de 69,2%. Raquianestesia (p < 0,0001), cesariana (p = 0,03) e os pacientes que receberam morfina (p = 0,005) e sufentanil (p = 0,003) apresentaram temperaturas significativamente menores ao longo do tempo. Durante a permanência na sala de recuperação pós-anestesia, os pacientes idosos apresentaram uma tendência maior a apresentarem hipotermia e menor capacidade de recuperação dessa condição, em comparação com os pacientes jovens (p < 0,001). Anestesia combinada também foi associada a taxas mais altas de hipotermia, seguida pelas anestesias regional e geral isoladas (p < 0,001). Conclusão: Em conclusão, este estudo piloto mostrou que a hipotermia perioperatória ainda é um problema prevalente em nossa prática anestésica. Mais de metade dos pacientes analisados apresentaram hipotermia durante a admissão à sala de recuperação pós-anestésica. Demonstramos a viabilidade de um grande estudo multicêntrico, transversal, de hipotermia pós-operatória em sala de recuperação pós-anestésica.

Surgical treatment of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the penis: Brazilian National Cancer Institute long-term experience.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We reviewed our long-term experience with surgical treatment of patients with penile carcinoma. METHODS: From 1960 to 2006, 688 patients with penile carcinoma underwent surgical treatment at our Institute. Several forms of surgical treatment were compared and follow-up data analyzed. RESULTS: Stage stratification demonstrated a better survival rate for patients with stages T1N0 and T1N1,T2N0-1. Patients with well differentiated carcinoma had a higher survival rate than those with moderately and poorly differentiated carcinoma (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.006). Risk stratification showed a better survival rate for patients in the low-risk group (T1G1,T1G2) (P = 0.013 and P < 0.00001). Patients in the intermediate group (T2G1,T2G2,T3G1,T3G2) presented a higher survival rate than patients in the high-risk group (T1-3G3,T4G1-3) (P < 0.00001). Patients who underwent immediate lymphadenectomy had a better survival rate than those who underwent delayed lymphadenectomy (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Stage and tumor grade affected the prognosis of the disease. The presence and the extent of metastasis to the inguinal region were the most important prognostic factors for survival in our patients. Immediate lymphadenectomy is indicated in all patients. Since recurrences were noted within 8, 10, and 25 years after primary treatment, a frequent and lasting follow-up is essential for all patients.

Conservative treatment of penile melanoma: case report and literature review

Melanomas do pênis são tumores malignos muito agressivos. Descrevemos o caso de um paciente com uma lesão confinada ao prepúcio e com linfonodos inguinais clinicamente negativos, tratados conservadoramente. O pacientesubmeteu-se à ressecção alargada da lesão para tratamento e diagnóstico. O tratamento das regiões inguinais em pacientes com melanoma de pênis permanece controvertido, uma vez que a incidência de doença metastática é significativamente mais baixa nos pacientes com estádios patológicos iniciais. Como nesse paciente o estádio patológico do melanoma de pênis era T2a (profundidade 1,9 mm, sem ulceração), decidimos usar linfocintigrafia pré-operatória, mapeamento intra-operatório dos linfonodos e biópsia do linfonodo sentinela para avaliar o comprometimento metastático inguinal. Cortes de congelação do linfonodo sentinela direito retirado foram negativos para malignidade e nenhum tratamento adjuvante foi realizado. A ressecção alargada da lesão permitiu efetivocontrole local do tumor peniano e o paciente é mantido em acompanhamento clínico pós-operatório.

Melanomas of the penis are highly aggressive malignant tumors. We report on a patient with a lesion confined tothe prepuce and with clinically negative inguinal lymph nodes, treated conservatively. The patient underwent wide local excision (WLE) for treatment and histological diagnosis. Treatment of the inguinal region in patients withpenile melanoma remains controversial, since the incidence of metastatic disease in those with early pathologicalstagedisease is significantly lower. Since our patient presented penile melanoma pathological stage T2a (depth 1.9mm, without ulceration), we chose to use pre-operative lymphoscintigraphy, intra-operative lymph node mapping,and sentinel node biopsy to evaluate inguinal metastatic involvement. Frozen sections in an excised right sentinelnode were negative, and no adjuvant treatment was performed. WLE provided effective local control of the peniletumor, and the patient remains under postoperative surveillance.