Vaginal cuff recurrence after radical cystectomy: an under - studied site of bladder cancer relapse

ABSTRACT Introduction: Vaginal cuff recurrence of tumor following radical cystectomy is a rare site of disease recurrence, however it has never been specifically studied. The aim of the study is to evaluate incidence, risk factors, and long-term oncologic outcomes of vaginal cuff recur- rence in a cohort of female patients treated with radical cystectomy for invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Materials and Methods: From 1985 to 2012, a prospectively maintained institutional blad- der cancer registry was queried for vaginal cuff recurrence post radical cystectomy. Over- all mortality and cancer-specific mortality were reported using the Kaplan-Meier method for patients with vaginal cuff recurrence, recurrence at another local or distant site, and those without evidence of recurrence. Comparisons were performed using the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression model was performed to assess predictors of vaginal cuff recurrence. Results: From 469 women treated with radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, 34 patients (7.3%) developed vaginal cuff recurrence, 130 patients (27.7%) had recurrence involving ei- ther a local or distant site, and 305 patients (65%) had no evidence of recurrence. The 5-year overall mortality-free survival rate was 32.4% for vaginal cuff recurrence, but 25.0% for other sites of recurrence. Cancer-specific mortality-free survival rate was 32.4% for vaginal cuff recurrence, and 30.3% for the other sites of recurrence. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of tumor in posterior location at radical cystectomy (Hazard Ratio [HR], 0.353 [95% CI, 0.159-0.783]) and anterior vaginec- tomy, compared to no vaginectomy (HR, 2.595 [95% CI, 1.077-6.249]) were independently associated with vaginal cuff recurrence. Conclusion: Anterior vaginectomy, despite our best attempts, is perhaps not sufficient to prevent vaginal cuff recurrence. Therefore, follow-up evaluation is essential, and further studies are necessary to address the optimal approach for initial management. Patient Summary: Although vaginal cuff recurrence is an unusual site of recurrence, careful evaluation is needed before cystectomy and during follow-up to identify patients at risk.

Oncological outcomes following radical prostatectomy for patients with pT4 prostate cancer

ABSTRACT Objectives: Radical prostatectomy (RP) for locally advanced prostate cancer may reduce the risk of metastasis and cancer-specific death. Herein, we evaluated the outcomes for patients with pT4 disease treated with RP. Materials and methods: Among 19,800 men treated with RP at Mayo Clinic from 1987 to 2010, 87 were found to have pT4 tumors. Biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival, systemic progression (SP) free survival and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association of clinic-pathological features with outcome. Results: Median follow-up was 9.8 years (IQR 3.6, 13.4). Of the 87 patients, 50 (57.5%) were diagnosed with BCR, 30 (34.5%) developed SP, and 38 (43.7%) died, with 11 (12.6%) dying of prostate cancer. Adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy was administered to 77 men, while 32 received adjuvant external beam radiation therapy. Ten-year BCR-free survival, SP-free survival, and OS was 37%, 64%, and 70% respectively. On multivariate analysis, the presence of positive lymph nodes was marginally significantly associated with patients' risk of BCR (HR: 1.94; p=0.05), while both positive lymph nodes (HR 2.96; p=0.02) and high pathologic Gleason score (HR 1.95; p=0.03) were associated with SP. Conclusions: Patients with pT4 disease may experience long-term survival following RP, and as such, when technically feasible, surgical resection should be considered in the multimodal treatment approach to these men.

Diagnostic microarray: an array of possibilities for parasitology

Parasites affect the majority of the world,s population. Despite this fact, trials to develop vaccines remain far-off. Scientists have studied the gene expression as a hallmark of gene activities reflecting the current cell conditions. Analyzing differentially expressed genes is a major initiative and most labs recoil at the amount of time and high costs required for obtaining results. By employing microarrays, researchers can decrease their reliance upon time-consuming techniques; consequently, microarray is beginning to dominate other molecular diagnostic technologies. Moreover, the ability of microarrays to monitor simultaneous gene expression of thousands of genes and to produce broad arrays of data has the potential to shift the resources of the scientists from data gathering to analyzing data that are already available. As microarray technology improves and its cost decreases, the role of the ability to "see" the molecular biology pathways involved in parasite host relationships will place this technology at the forefront of parasite research