The safety and efficiency of a 1470 nm laser in obtaining tract hemostasis in tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: It is challenging to perform a tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) in patients with tract bleeding. The present study was designed to study the safety and efficacy of the 1470 nm laser for hemostatic completion in tubeless PNL patients with tract bleeding. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 2020 and October 2021, 120 patients were retrospectively included and divided into two groups. The hemostasis group included 60 patients receiving tubeless PNL, in which a 1470 nm laser was used to manage tract bleeding. The other group included 60 patients receiving tubeless PNL in which the hemostasis procedure was not performed, serving as the control group. The differences in the patients' demographic characteristics, procedural information, and posttreatment outcomes between the two groups were statistically compared. RESULTS: The differences associated with sex, age, weight, body mass index, urine culture, stone burden, calyx of puncture, degree of hydronephrosis and comorbidities between the two groups were not statistically significant. Compared with the control group, the hemostasis group showed greatly reduced blood loss (0.61 ± 0.31 vs. 0.85 ± 0.46 g/dL) and decreased postoperative hospitalization duration (2.83 ± 0.81 vs. 4.45 ± 0.91 days). The differences in operative time, stone-free rate, Visual Analogue Score and postoperative complications between the two groups were not statistically significant. In the subgroup analysis, the obese patients and patients with moderate to severe hydronephrosis in the hemostasis group also showed a significantly less blood loss (0.51 ± 0.22 vs. 0.83 ± 0.48 g/dL; 0.54 ± 0.27 vs. 0.85 ± 0.47 g/dL, respectively) and shorter length of postoperative hospitalization (2.62 ± 0.51 vs. 4.47 ± 1.19 days; 2.97 ± 0.63 vs. 4.41 ± 0.91 days, respectively) than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that 1470 nm laser is a safe, feasible and effective method to obtain tract hemostasis in tubeless PNL.

Cancer Associated Fibroblasts Promote Renal Cancer Progression Through a TDO/Kyn/AhR Dependent Signaling Pathway.

Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play crucial roles in cancer development, however, the specific mechanisms of CAFs associated renal cancer progression remain poorly understood. Our study observed enriched CAFs in high degree malignant tumor tissues from renal cancer patients. These CAFs isolated from tumor tissues are prone to facilitate drugs resistance and promote tumor progression in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, CAFs up-regulated tryptophan 2, 3-dioxygenase (TDO) expression, resulting in enhanced secretion of kynurenine (Kyn). Kyn produced from CAFs could up-regulated the expression of aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), eventually resulting in the AKT and STAT3 signaling pathways activation. Inhibition of AKT signal prevented cancer cells proliferation, while inhibition of the STAT3 signal reverted drugs resistance and cancer migration induced by kynurenine. Application of AhR inhibitor DMF could efficiently suppress distant metastasis of renal cancer cells, and improve anticancer effects of sorafenib (Sor)/sunitinib (Sun), which described a promising therapeutic strategy for clinical renal cancer.

RB1CC1 functions as a tumor-suppressing gene in renal cell carcinoma via suppression of PYK2 activity and disruption of TAZ-mediated PDL1 transcription activation.

Rb1-inducible coiled-coil 1 (RB1CC1) has been demonstrated to function as an inhibitor of proline-rich/Ca-activated tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2) by binding to the kinase domain of PYK2, which promotes the proliferation, invasion, and migration of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells. Additionally, in breast cancer, PYK2 positively regulates the expression of transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) which in turn can enhance PDL1 levels in breast and lung cancer cells. The current study was performed to decipher the impact of RB1CC1 in the progression of RCC via regulation of the PYK2/TAZ/PDL1 signaling axis. Expression of RB1CC1 and PYK2 was quantified in clinical tissue samples from RCC patients. The relationship between TAZ and PYK2, TAZ and PDL1 was then validated. The cellular processes of doxorubicin (DOX)-induced human RCC cell lines including the abilities of proliferation, colony formation, sphere formation and apoptosis, as well as the tumorigenicity of transfected cells, were evaluated after the alteration of RB1CC1 expression. RB1CC1 exhibited decreased expression in RCC tissues and was positively correlated with patient survival. RB1CC1 could inhibit the activity of PYK2, which in turn stimulated the stability of TAZ protein by phosphorylating TAZ. Meanwhile, TAZ protein activated PDL1 transcription by binding to the promoter region of PDL1. RB1CC1 overexpression or PYK2 knockdown could help everolimus (EVE) to inhibit tumor proliferation and activate immune response. Taken together, RB1CC1 can potentially augment the response of RCC cells to immunotherapy by suppressing the PYK2/TAZ/PDL1 signaling axis.

Successful treatment with plasma exchange followed by intravenous immunoglobulin in a critically ill patient with COVID-19.

Here we report a case of a laboratory-confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-infected patient with COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) who developed respiratory failure and shock accompanied by persistent diarrhoea despite conventional therapeutic interventions. The patient avoided mechanical ventilation and showed an immediate clinical and radiological improvement following treatment with intensive plasma exchange (PE) followed by intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Successful therapeutic strategies in this case suggest that timely initiation of PE treatment followed by IVIG in critically ill patients with COVID-19 may prevent the disease from worsening and help to reduce the requirement for mechanical ventilation and intensive supportive care. Moreover, it may improve poor clinical outcomes of these patients.