The association of genitourinary cancer among Saudi patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors and a systematic literature review.

The gastrointestinal tract's most commonly occurring primary mesenchymal tumor is the gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). However, few cases worldwide were reported associated with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Therefore, we aimed to identify the association of genitourinary tumors in patients with GIST in our tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia and compare it to the literature. We identified all patients in the pathology department database with the diagnosis of GIST. We excluded duplicate and recurrent cases. We examined patients' files for the presence of RCC, adrenal tumors, or other genitourinary cancer. A systematic review of the association was conducted. From 2003 to 2020, 170 patients had a histopathologic diagnosis of primary GIST, 100 men and 70 women, median age of 57 (range 9-91) years at the time of diagnosis. The site of primary GIST was gastric 103, small bowel 43, mesenteric 5, omentum/peritoneum 7, abdomen 4, isolated adrenal 1, and other 7. Six patients had associated primary genitourinary cancer. Three patients had RCC (two clear cell RCC and one radiologic diagnosis only), and three had adrenal tumors (one adrenal carcinoma, one an isolated adrenal GIST, and one pheochromocytoma). In addition, two patients had a tumor invading the urinary bladder. Although the cohort included 63 men aged 60 or above (median 71 ± 8.7 years, range 60-94), none demonstrated clinical prostatic carcinoma. Data was compared to 69 systematic review articles. We report the rare association between GIST tumors and primary genitourinary cancer, mainly RCC and adrenal tumors. Also, we identified a secondary invasion of the urinary bladder. Unlike the reported series, none of the older male patients had clinical prostate cancer.

Ascorbic Acid for Prevention of Intraoperative Blood Loss and Related Complications During Myomectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Leiomyomas are inherently well-vascularized neoplasms; thus, they are very vulnerable to bleeding-associated complications during myomectomy. Ascorbic acid has well-established functions in tissue healing and the prevention of bleeding tendencies. Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have explored the antihemorrhagic utility of ascorbic acid administration during myomectomy. This research aimed to systematically and meta-analytically summarize the clinical antihemorrhagic efficacy of ascorbic acid (i.e., the intervention arm) versus placebo/no treatment (i.e., the control arm) during myomectomy. We electronically searched six sources, i.e., PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar. Our search was from inception until October 2022. We used the Cochrane Risk of Bias Scale (version 2) to assess the quality of the included studies. We summarized the effect sizes as the mean difference (MD) or risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) in a fixed-effects or random-effects model. Overall, three RCTs met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 193 patients: 99 patients were allocated to the ascorbic acid arm, whereas 94 patients were allocated to the control arm. The overall study quality was "low" and "some concerns" risk of bias in two and one RCT(s), respectively. There was no significant difference between the ascorbic acid and control arms regarding the mean intraoperative blood loss (n=2 RCTs, MD = -190.29 ml, 95% CI [-626.62, 246.05], p=0.39) and mean change in hemoglobin level (n=3 RCTs, MD = -0.26 mg/dl, 95% CI [-0.56, 0.04], p=0.09), respectively. Conversely, the ascorbic acid arm had statistically significant reductions in the mean operative time (n=3 RCTs, MD = -24.10 min, 95% CI [-30.67, -17.53], p<0.001) and the rate of blood transfusion (n=3 RCTs, RR=0.36, 95% CI [0.15, 0.87], p=0.02) compared with the control arm. No serious adverse events related to ascorbic acid were identified. In conclusion, ascorbic acid administration was associated with several beneficial effects, including reductions in mean operative time and rate of blood transfusion, but without affecting the mean intraoperative blood loss and mean change in hemoglobin level. In view of the limitations of the present meta-analysis, the use of ascorbic acid as an antihemorrhagic additive among patients undergoing myomectomy is not strongly recommended.