Hereditary tendency of varicocele / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the hereditary tendency of varicocele.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We included in this study 112 varicocele patients, 117 direct male relatives of the patients, and 100 healthy men as controls. We compared the incidence of varicocele tween the direct relative group and the control group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The direct male relatives of the varicocele patients had a significantly higher incidence of varicocele than the healthy controls (36.8% vs 17%, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The increased incidence of varicocele in the direct male relatives of the patients indicated a hereditary tendency of the disease.</p>

Serum osteoprotegerin as a novel marker of bone metastasis in prostate cancer / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) in prostate cancer bone metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum osteoprotegerin were measured by ELISA assay in 30 healthy men, 30 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, 66 patients with prostate cancer including 36 without bone metastasis (30 with localized cancer, 6 with lymph node metastasis) and 30 with bone metastasis. The results associated with clinical data were calculated statistically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum osteoprotegerin were significantly increased in patients with bone metastasis compared with others (P<0.001). OPG level had a positive correlation with either prostate specific antigen (PSA) or Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level (r=0.427, 0.277; P<0.001); and a positive correlation with either Gleason score or grade (r=0.427, 0.277; P<0.001). ROC analysis proved that OPG had better diagnostic accuracy than ALP for detecting bone metastasis in prostate cancer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum osteoprotegerin could be used as a marker for diagnosis of bone metastasis in prostate cancer.</p>