[Verrucous carcinoma of the penis: report of 2 cases]. / Carcinoma verrucoso de pene: a propósito de dos casos.

OBJECTIVE: To report two cases of verrucous carcinoma of the penis, a rare tumor with a characteristic course and specific treatment that accounts for approximately 1% of tumors in the male. METHODS: Two patients, aged 86 and 51 years, with verrucous carcinoma of the penis are described. Treatment was by partial penectomy and resection of the glans penis, respectively. The anatomopathological characteristics and prognostic aspects are reviewed. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Verrucous carcinoma of the penis usually presents as an exophytic lesion in the glans penis or prepuce and should be distinguished from epidermoid carcinoma which carries a worse prognosis and requires a different therapeutic approach. The differential diagnosis is based on the biopsy findings. Verrucous carcinoma of the penis carries a good prognosis and can be managed by conservative surgery (partial penectomy).

[Epididymal carcinoma. Bibliographic review in reference to a case]. / Carcinoma de epidídimo. Revisión bibliográfica con motivo de un caso.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of epithelial cell paratesticular carcinoma of the epididymis and briefly review the literature on this tumor type. METHODS/RESULTS: A 69-year-old male consulted for a testicular mass and intrascrotal pain, together with irritative bladder symptoms. The patient underwent orchidectomy, but consulted again shortly thereafter for persistent irritative bladder symptoms. A TUR biopsy of the bladder wall demonstrated undifferentiated carcinoma arising from the epididymis. The patient did not respond to chemotherapy. He developed systemic metastasis and died 4 months after the diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Carcinoma of the epididymis is a rare malignant paratesticular tumor arising from the epithelial cells with a very poor prognosis. Its clinical features are unspecific and this tumor type should be taken into account when making differential diagnosis from intrascrotal masses arsing from other causes. Due to the rarity of this disease, it has not been possible to identify treatments that might achieve better results.

[Upper tract urothelial tumor. Factors that influence survival]. / Tumor de urotelio de vías altas. Factores influyentes en la supervivencia.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study of the pathoanatomical features and influential factors on survival of 59 patients diagnosed with a tumour of the upper tract urothelium managed with radical surgery. RESULTS: Mean age 65 years, 83% male, and tumour located in the renal pelvis in 64% cases. 54% was pT1-2, 73% G1-2. 10% had node involvement and 15% metastasis. 44% presented concomitant vesical tumour. No surgery-related deaths were reported. 60% was still alive at study completion. Five-year overall actuarial survival was 60 +/- 7%. Mean survival was 134 months, and median survival 156(101-168 months. 95% CI). Gender, site, morphology, type, concomitant vesical tumour, nodes number and involvement do not significantly influence survival. Only tumour differentiation (p = 0.006) and pathological stage (p = 0.005) are significant in the univariate analysis. The multivariate study showed that pathological stage is the only factor that influences survival. CONCLUSIONS: The most influential independent factor on survival of patients with upper tract endothelium tumour is the pathological stage. Grade is influential in the univariate analysis, and is likely to be a subsidiary factor. Due to the small number of cases, it can not be ruled out that node involvement and type of tumour have an influence on survival.

[Radical prostatectomy in prostate adenocarcinoma. Clinical factors influencing the pathological stage. Diagnostic model]. / Prostatectomía radical en adenocarcinoma de próstata. Factores clínicos influyentes en el estadio patológico. Modelo diagnóstico.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study on the efficacy of stage diagnosis, how to support it based on clinical objective data and description of a prognostic model. Analysis of 160 patients diagnosed with localized prostate adenocarcinoma undergoing radical prostatectomy in the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra between 1988-1997. The statistical study used Fisher's or Pearson's tests for the comparison of qualitative variables. A logistic regression multivariate analysis was run to avoid confounding factors in the pathological stage. RESULTS: 85/160 (53%) were correctly staged. Incorrect staging occurred in patients with higher clinical stage (T1-T2a: 25%; T2bc: 65%). The univariate study shows that the pathological stage is significantly correlated to: a) serum PSA levels (15 ng/mL in P2 vr. 25 ng/mL in P3-4), the most suitable cutoff value being 15 ng/mL. b) digital rectal examination and Gleason. Negatively influencing factors in the multivariate study were: PSA greater than 15 ng/mL, Gleason greater than 5 and a T2bc clinical stage. Risk groups: 4 risk groups are established based on the above factors (inclusion in group 1 involves an 8% risk of having P3, 30% in group 2, 56% in group 3 and 84% in group 4). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical factors with influence in the pathological stage are PSA, Gleason and clinical stage. The reliability of the risk groups established based on these factors is remarkable.

[Radical prostatectomy in clinically localized prostatic adenocarcinoma. Factors influencing biochemical progression free survival]. / Prostatectomía radical en adenocarcinoma de próstata clínicamente localizado. Factores influyentes en la supervivencia libre de progresión bioquímica.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Study of biochemical progression (PSA > 0.5 ng/ml) and biochemical progression-free survival in 160 patients diagnosed with clinically localized prostate adenocarcinoma who underwent radical prostatectomy at the University Clinic in Navarra between 1988-1997. RESULTS: At the end of the study, 120 patients (75%) are alive and free of progression, 33 (20%) are alive and in progression, 3 (1.9%) died of cancer, and 4 (2.5%) died for other causes. Biochemical progression occurred in 43/160 (27%) patients. Progression is related to previous PSA, both in absolute terms and divided into greater or smaller than 15 ng/ml; to Gleason grade greater or smaller than 7 or divided into 2-4, 5-7, 8-10; to pathological stage and to urethro-vesical junction stenosis. Biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS) in the univariate study is related to PSA (the ideal prognostic cut-off value being 15 ng/ml); to Gleason, specially when divided into 2-4, 5-7, 8-10; to the pathological stage and to margins. The multivariate study evidences that the single most influential factors are PSA (divided as greater or smaller than 15 ng/ml), Gleason grade (divided into: 2-4, 5-7, 8-10) and margins involvement. There are 3 highly reliable risk groups based on PSA, Gleason and clinical stage. When these are introduced as variables in the multivariate study, they appear as the strongest predictive variables. CONCLUSIONS: The influential factors on progression-free survival are PSA (15 ng/ml being the best prognostic cut-off value), Gleason grade (divided into 2-4, 5-7, 8-10) and margins' positivity, which are the single most significant pathological factor ahead of clinical stage. Serum PSA, clinical stage and Gleason grade allow to define three reliable risk groups.

[Radical prostatectomy. The surgical complications]. / Prostatectomía radical. Complicaciones quirúrgicas.

Study of 165 patients with prostate adenocarcinoma who underwent radical prostatectomy using a retropubic approach. Mean PSA is 19 ng/ml, mean age 63 years and median follow-up 26 months. 22 patients (13.2%) reported complications during the first month post-surgery, primarily urinary fistula of more than 5 days long in 5 patients and rectal injury in 3.49 patients (29%) reported complications after the first month, mainly urinary incontinence in 26 cases and stenosis of the urethrovesical juncture in 15. The group with early complications showed no significant differences compared to those who had none, neither in PSA (p = 0.3) or a worse pathological stage (p = 0.1), and no evidence is shown in terms of biochemical progression or in disease free progression (p = 1). Patients with urethrovesical juncture stenosis have higher mean PSA (p = 0.01), greater biochemical progression (p = 0.006), worse Gleason (p = 0.03 = and worse progression free survival (p = 0.01). Patients with stress incontinence showed no differences compared to the other groups relative to the studied factors.

[Radical prostatectomy in clinically localized prostatic adenocarcinoma. Study of patients with positive margins and their impact on survival free from biochemical progression]. / Prostatectomía radical en adenocarcinoma de próstata clínicamente localizado. Estudio de los pacientes con márgenes positivos y su influencia en la supervivencia libre de progresión bioquímica.

OBJECTIVES: Margins involvement in T1-T2 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy is a negative prognostic factor. We aimed to: a) Study the clinical and pathological features of patients with surgical margins involvement; b) Elucidate the influence of margins involvement on the progression-free survival. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study included the group with "positive margins" out of a series of 160 patients with localised prostate adenocarcinoma who underwent radical prostatectomy at the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra between 1988-1997. statistics used: Fisher's or Pearson's test for qualitative variables. Kaplan-Meyer, Log-rank and Cox's multivariate tests for the survival study. RESULTS: The group accounts for 28% (45/158) of all patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Mean PSA (22 +/- 14 ng/ml) is similar to the remaining group although there is greater significant rates of PSA > 15 ng/ml (p: 0.006), worse Gleason (p: 0.01), higher proportion of T2bc (p: 0.003) and node involvement (0.001). Progression-free survival (BPFS) is significantly lower in this group (32 +/- 12% vs 61 +/- 6% at 5 years). Margins are the single factor with higher influence (RR:5) in the multivariate study. Influence is clear in patients with Gleason < 5 (0% vs 87%) and PSA < 30 ng/ml (33 +/- 14 vs 70 +/- 7%), but has no influence on BPFS of patients with PSA > 30 ng/ml or Gleason 5-10. CONCLUSIONS: Positive margins in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy is associated to higher PSA, worse Gleason and higher stage. They are the most significant independent risk factor (except for PSA > 30 ng/ml) for biochemical progression-free survival as evidenced in the multivariate study, although it is likely this influence is diluted in patients with PSA > 30 ng/ml and/or Gleason 5-10.

[Influence of neoadjuvant treatment on bladder infiltrating tumors treated with radical cystectomy]. / Influencia del tratamiento neoadjuvante en los tumores infiltrantes de vejiga tratados con cistectomía radical.

Retrospective study of 107 patients diagnosed with infiltrant tumour of the bladder in stage T3-T4 N0-N1, treated with radical surgery. Eighty-four (84) received neoadjuvant therapy with radio- and/or chemotherapy. The neoadjuvant treatment was seen to provide significantly better survival, but the specific type of neoadjuvant treatment appears to have no influence. The multivariate study evidenced that the two most influential variables for survival are the complementary treatment and the clinical stage.

[Gene sequence analysis of suppressor oncogene p53 in bladder carcinoma]. / Análisis por secuenciación genómica del oncogen supresor p53 en el carcinoma vesical.

A prospective study which analyzes the presence of mutations in the suppressor oncogene p53 through automated genome sequentiation in 75 specimens of transitional cell carcinoma. The presence of mutations correlated to the pathological stage and cellular grade. Also, both the different types of mutations detected and the diversity of their location indicate the heterogeneity of bladder transitional cells carcinoma. The automated genome sequentiation method allows to detect both the type of mutation and the exact location. The detection of suppressor oncogene p53 mutations allows to identify those patients who may be at higher risk of disease progression and therefore those who should undergo a more intense follow-up.

[Paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma]. / Rabdomiosarcoma paratesticular.

Contribution of one case of right paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma in a 3-year and 4-month old male patient. Following radical orchiectomy and clinical staging, grading is IRS Group I (fully resected localized disease). Subsequently, the patient received 7 polychemotherapy courses and was found to be asymptomatic 4 years after treatment.

[Pheochromocytoma]. / Feocromocitoma.

Presentation of 7 case reports of pheochromocytome, diagnosed and treated in our Centre between 1981 and 1995. Clinically all patients had hypertension. Three presented the triple condition of hypertension, pulsatile headache and palpitations. The most useful analytical studies were urine vainillylmandelic acid (VMA) and catecholamines. The main radiologic method was the scanner (CT). Pre-surgical preparation was with alpha-blockers in 5 patients, adding beta-blockers in 3. Treatment was surgical in all cases, and the approach was selected based on the tumour's size and location. One patient with severe rheumatic heart disease died on day 3 post-surgery. Mean follow-up is 19 months, and only one patient requires anti-hypertensive medication following surgery.

[The complications of retropubic radical prostatectomy]. / Complicaciones de la prostatectomía radical retropúbica.

Between January 1989 and October 1995, 104 prostatectomies were performed in patients with prostate carcinoma in our centre. Mean follow-up 22 months, range 3-84 months. Overall frequency of complications was 33%. No fatal complications were reported. Complications in the early post-operative occurred in 17 patients (16%); late complications in 18 patients (17%), the most frequent one was stenosis of urethrovesical by-pass. No case of total incontinence has been recorded. The rate of stress incontinence at 3 months was 36% and 15% at 9 months.

[Bladder metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma]. / Metástasis vesical de adenocarcinoma de pulmón.

Secondary or metastatic vesical tumours are a very uncommon condition (less than 1% of vesical tumours). Dissemination routes are usually through blood and lymph, and diagnosis occurs typically in advanced stages. This paper presents one case of metastatic vesical neoplasia that developed 5 years after diagnosis of the primary lung tumour.

[Retroperitoneal sarcomas]. / Sarcomas retroperitoneales.

Presentation of 11 cases of retroperitoneal sarcoma. Mean time from the beginning of symptoms to diagnosis is 6 months. The primary complementary study is CT. Surgery was performed in all cases, using complete resection in 6 cases, and partial resection in 5. Ten patients relapsed. 9 of which were treated with surgical rescue, in one or more occasions; chemotherapy was added in 6 cases and radiotherapy in 7. Survival at five years is 68%, with a mean follow-up of 66 months.