Clinical significance of serum levels of endostatin in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess serum levels of endogenous endostatin in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) and to determine the relationship of these levels to tumor stage, grade.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From March 2004 to October 2008, preoperative serum were obtained from 138 consecutive patients with CCRCC (73 patients in T1, 39 patients in T2, 20 patients in T3, and 6 patients in T4) and 40 healthy controls. Serum levels of endostatin were measured by sandwich-ELISA. Associations between circulating endostatin levels and clinicopathologic factors and clinical outcome were determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Endostatin levels did not differ significantly between the patients with CCRCC (93.1 microg/L) and healthy controls (78.9 microg/L, P > 0.05). Serum levels of endostatin were significantly higher in the T2-4 CCRCC patients (107.2 microg/L) than those of the T1 patients (80.4 microg/L, P < 0.01). No significant difference was found in the endostatin levels among the T2-4 patients, or between healthy controls and the T1 patients. The serum endostatin concentration was significantly higher in the metastasis group (118.4 microg/L) than in the no metastasis group (89.5 microg/L, P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between patients with distant metastasis group (122.0 microg/L) and lymph nodes metastasis (110.0 microg/L, P > 0.05). Patients with G3-4 tumors had significantly higher endostatin levels (111.8 microg/L) than those of patients with G1 (80.4 microg/L) and G2 tumors (86.2 microg/L, P < 0.01), but endostatin levels did not differ significantly between the two groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Preoperative serum levels of endostatin elevated in patients with CCRCC and associated with higher stage and grade.</p>

Study of prognostic factors of ureter cancer / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the prognostic factors of ureter transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 2001 and December 2005 133 TCC patients were treated. And the data was retrospectively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A mean age of the 133 patients was 68 years (range 43 - 87 years) at diagnosis. Altogether the non-invasive ureter TCC was found in 42 patients (31.6%) and the invasive ureter TCC in 91 patients (68.4%). Invasive ureter TCC growth was more common in distally located tumors (82.5%) compared to mid (62.5%) and proximal ureter (47.1%). Tumor stage, grade and location of the tumor were all correlated with disease specific survival in a univariate analysis. In a multivariate Cox analysis, tumor stage and grade were significantly associated with disease specific survival.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>More invasive tumors are found in ureter than in bladder. Ureter cancer is more frequently found in the distal part. Distally located ureteral tumors are more likely invading into the muscular cell layers compared to proximally located tumors. Tumor stage and grade are still the more important prognostic factors for ureter TCC.</p>