ABSTRACT
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the fifth leading malignant condition for men and tenth for women, accounts for 3% of all malignancies in Canada. It is a heterogeneous epithelial malignancy with different subtypes and varied tumour biology. Although most cases of RCC are sporadic, up to 4% of patients have an inherited predisposition for the disease. In this article, we review the current molecular genetics of the different subtypes in hereditary and sporadic RCC. Significant developments in understanding the underlying genetic basis of RCC over the last 2 decades are attributed to intensive research about rare inherited renal cancer syndromes and the identification of the genes responsible for them. Many of these genes are also found in sporadic RCC. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of RCC has aided the development of molecular-targeted drugs for this disease.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the effect of mannitol in reducing testicular damage after ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury in rabbitsMaterials and Methods: three groups of male rabbits were included in the study: 1. Baseline group (n=6), underwent bilateral orchiectomy to serve as baseline; 2. Control group (n=24), testicular torsion simulated for 4 hours; 3 Mannitol group (n=24), testicular torsion simulated for 4 hours and mannitol administered during the last 30 minutes of ischemia. The latter two (2) groups underwent bilateral orchiectomy after one week. Architecture and germinal epithelial cell thickness were determined by histological examination on each testis. Average thickness (in cell layers) of the mannitol group was compared with control group using the T-testResults: The mannitol group showed a significant increase in epithelial cell thickness compared with control group (4.8 +/- 0.09 versus 3.0 +/- 0.1 cell layers, p0.01)Conclusion: Mannitol therapy administered during testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury significantly reduced damage to the testis in this animal model. (Author)
