Laparoscopic and open retroperitoneal lymph-node dissection for clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ-cell testis tumors.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (L-RPLND) has been reported as efficacious for staging of the retroperitoneum in patients with stage I nonseminomatous germ-cell testis tumors (NSGCT). However, reports are limited to a few centers, and this procedure has yet to be widely accepted as an alternative to open retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (O-RPLND). Thus, we compared our contemporary open and laparoscopic experience with RPLND. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review identified 28 patients who underwent either open (N = 6) or laparoscopic (N = 22) RPLND for clinical stage I NSGCT since 2000. Each patient received the appropriate modified template dissection. Perioperative demographic data, histologic nodal status, and recurrence data were evaluated. The mean follow-up was similar in the two groups. RESULTS: The mean operative time was not significantly different (313 minutes for L-RPLND v 284 minutes for O-RPLND). However, L-RPLND did have a significantly shorter hospitalization (1.2 v 8.5 days). Significantly more lymph nodes were removed with O-LPLND than with L-RPLND (mean 33 v 17). There was a single recurrence outside the modified template after both L-RPLND and O-RPLND and one within-the-template recurrence in the O-RPLND group. CONCLUSIONS: The L-RPLND is associated with less blood loss and a shorter hospital stay than O-RPLND, whereas the lymph-node yield of O-RPLND is greater. However, during the critical early follow-up period, the oncologic effectiveness and morbidity of L-RPLND for clinical stage I NSGCT appears similar to that of O-RPLND.

Efficacy of high dose per fraction radiation for implanted human prostate cancer in a nude mouse model.

PURPOSE: SBRT is a new therapeutic paradigm using large dose per fraction treatments (aggressive hypofractionation). While SBRT has shown efficacy for treating patients with lung, liver and spine tumors, to our knowledge there have been no preclinical studies evaluating the efficacy of this treatment for prostate cancer. We investigated the dose-response characteristics of SBRT for treating human prostate cancer in a nude mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nude mice were injected subcutaneously into the right flank with C4-2 prostate cancer cells grown in culture. A dose escalation trial was performed to assess toxicity and response. Tumor bearing animals were radiated with 3 fractions (1 per week) for a total dose of 15 Gy in 11, 22.5 Gy in 9 and 45 Gy in 10, while 8 untreated animals served as controls. The mice were weighed, and tumor volume and PSA measurements were performed at baseline and weekly until 4 weeks after treatment. RESULTS: There was no treatment related toxicity. There was a significant difference in the tumor response to higher radiation doses. In the 15 and 22.5 Gy groups mean tumor volume decreased to 58% and 90% of the original volume, respectively, but the rats experienced progressive tumor regrowth within 1 week after the completion of therapy. The 45 Gy group had a mean tumor volume and PSA decrease of greater than 90%, which was sustained 1 month after treatment in all except 2 mice. CONCLUSIONS: SBRT dose level treatments were able to significantly decrease tumor volume and PSA. However, using 15 and 22.5 Gy durable responses were not achieved except in a few mice. The 45 Gy group demonstrated sustained PSA and tumor volume decreases in most mice. These results clearly show an increasing dose-response relationship for a range of hypofractionated dose levels, as used in SBRT.

Pre-operative percent free PSA predicts clinical outcomes in patients treated with radical prostatectomy with total PSA levels below 10 ng/ml.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the association of total prostate specific antigen (T-PSA) and percent free PSA (%F-PSA) with prostate cancer outcomes in patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP). METHODS: Pre-operative serum levels of T-PSA and F-PSA were prospectively measured in 402 consecutive patients treated with RP for clinically localized prostate cancer who had T-PSA levels below 10 ng/ml. RESULTS: T-PSA was not associated with any prostate cancer characteristics or outcomes. Lower %F-PSA was significantly associated with higher percent positive biopsy cores, extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle involvement, lympho-vascular invasion, perineural invasion, positive surgical margins, and higher pathologic Gleason sum. When adjusted for the effects of standard pre-operative features, lower %F-PSA significantly predicted non-organ confined disease, seminal vesicle involvement, lympho-vascular invasion, and biochemical progression. %F-PSA did not retain its association with biochemical progression after adjusting for the effects of standard post-operative features. Based on data from 22 patients with biochemical progression, lower %F-PSA was correlated with shorter T-PSA doubling time after biochemical progression (rho = 0.681, p = 0.010). %F-PSA was lower in patients who failed salvage radiation therapy (p = 0.031) and in patients who developed distant cancer metastases compared to patients who did not (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative T-PSA is not associated with prostate cancer outcomes after RP when levels are below 10 ng/ml. In contrast, pre-operative %F-PSA is associated with adverse pathologic features, biochemical progression, and features of aggressive disease progression in patients treated with RP and T-PSA levels below 10 ng/ml. %F-PSA may improve pre-operative predictive models for predicting clinical outcomes of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer nowadays.

Overactive bladder in the male patient: bladder, outlet, or both?

Generations of urologists have presumed that the cause of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men is infravesical (prostatic) obstruction. When symptoms such as urinary urgency and frequency can't easily be explained directly by obstruction, secondary effects of obstruction on the bladder are identified as causative factors. Although to some extent this explanation may still be accurate, emerging concepts in the pathophysiology of LUTS in men may be at odds with these traditional explanations. The idea that primary bladder pathology may explain the symptom complex in at least one subset of men with LUTS has both experimental and clinical support. This review discusses the physiologic and clinical observations used to explain the mechanisms underlying LUTS. Specifically, this review focuses on two data sets: one supporting infravesical obstruction as the causative factor for LUTS, and another positing that a primary bladder abnormality is responsible.