Clinical analysis of febrile neutropenia in urological anticancer chemotherapy: retrospective single center study.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to clarify the frequency and prognosis of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients who received urological anticancer chemotherapy. METHODS: Between May 2005 and January 2010, 141 patients underwent urological anticancer chemotherapy at the Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan. They consisted of 124 men and 17 women aged 62 (range 16-80) years. The patients underwent a total of 626 treatment courses of urological anticancer chemotherapy. RESULTS: Of the 626 urological anticancer chemotherapy courses, grades 3 and 4 neutropenia occurred in 451 (72.0 %) courses. FN developed in 57 (9.1 %) courses in which 7 (12.3 %) and 50 (87.7 %) patients were classified as high risk and low risk, respectively, according to the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk index scoring system. There was no anticancer chemotherapy-related death in either the high- or low-risk group. The frequencies of bacteria isolated from courses with FN were 0 and 10.0 % for the high- and low-risk groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the MASCC scoring system, there were fewer patients in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group in this study. There were no cases of anticancer chemotherapy-related death in either group. Therefore, urological anticancer chemotherapy can be conducted safely with the proper management of neutropenia and FN.

The primary local stage at diagnosis predicts regional symptoms caused by local progression in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the characteristics that predict occurrence of local progression-related events (LPREs) in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) to adjust its management. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 39 patients with CRPC. LPREs were defined as regional symptoms caused by local progression and categorized into urinary events and rectal events. Urinary events were defined as ureteral obstruction, acute urinary retention, or hematuria requiring treatment, and rectal events were rectal obstruction or rectal bleeding caused by tumor invasion. RESULTS: The median prostate-specific antigen level at diagnosis was 185 ng/mL. During the median follow-up period of 4.4 years, 10 patients (25.6%) had LPREs. Urinary events were observed in 8 patients (20.5%) and rectal events in 2 (5.1%). The proportion of T4 in patients with LPREs was higher than in those without LPREs (70.0% vs. 10.3%; P <.001). Stage T4 at diagnosis was an independent factor to predict LPREs in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 8.62; P = .004). The 5-year cumulative incidence of LPREs in patients with stage T4 was 70.0%, whereas in those with stage ≤T3, they were 3.6% (P <.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with stage T4 at diagnosis are more likely to have a risk of LPREs than those with stage ≤T3. These results indicate that patients with locally advanced prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy need to be closely monitored for early diagnosis of CRPC and treated with the appropriate intervention for LPREs at the appropriate time.

[A case of IgG4-related kidney disease mimicking a renal cell carcinoma].

A 56-year-old man who had a 28mm renal mass on computed tomography (CT) pointed out at another hospital visited our department. The tumor was buried and located in the renal hilus, which was slightly enhanced in the early phase and washed out in the delayed phase. We diagnosed it as papillary renal cell carcinoma and conducted partial nephrectomy. The tumor was ocher and a solid nodule without capsule formation. Although there was no malignancy in histopathological examination, plasma cell infiltration was found and the IgG4/IgG-positive cell ratio was over 40%. Additionally, the serum IgG4 level was elevated postoperatively and the patient was diagnosed as having IgG4-related kidney disease. IgG4-related kidney disease is often found as multiple low-density lesions in CT. Because of the solitary nodule-like formation, it was difficult to distinguish from hypovascular renal cell carcinoma such as the papillary type. When a buried and solitary hypovascular tumor is detected, we must consider IgG4-related kidney disease as a differential diagnosis. Measuring the serum immunoglobulin and complement levels may be helpful for avoiding unnecessary surgery.

[A case of Crohn's disease developing bladder rupture 4 months after laparoscopic sigmoidectomy with partial cystectomy for vesicosigmoidal fistula].

A 32-year-old well-nourished man having a vesicosigmoidal fistula due to Crohn's disease received laparoscopic sigmoidectomy with partial cystectomy. The bladder wall was closed with an all-layer running suture and additional interrupted sutures using 2-0 Vicryl. Four months after surgery, the suture site on the bladder showed perforation to the abdominal cavity. Since the same event occurred again 6 months after surgery, open partial cystectomy was performed to repair the perforated site 8 months after the initial surgery. The perforated site showed a thinning bladder wall composed of normal urothelium, scar tissue and thin detrusor muscle. Non-caseating granuloma was not found in the specimen, even though it was slightly observed in the margin of the detrusor muscle resected in the initial surgery. Although it was possible that the persisting activity of Crohn's disease, subclinical impaired nutrition due to Crohn's disease or insufficient suturing of the bladder wall were involved in the bladder rupture, the definitive cause remains unknown.

[Scleroderma-like skin sclerosis induced by docetaxel chemotherapy for hormone refractory prostate cancer: a case report].

We report the first case of scleroderma-like skin sclerosis induced by docetaxel chemotherapy for prostate cancer in Japan. A 67-year-old man underwent radical prostatectomy for cT3aN0M0 prostate cancer in 2003. Thereafter PSA recurrence developed and antiandrogen deprivation therapy was used. However, we diagnosed this case as hormone refractory prostate cancer and began docetaxel chemotherapy in October 2008. There were no nonhematological adverse events through two courses of treatment. He presented to dermatology due to pain and swelling of both upper arms on the second day of the third course. However, when treated with a cooling method, swelling of the upper arms became worse and CPK rose to 1,921 IU/I on the eighth day. We administered a steroid ointment and an antibiotic due to suspicion of thrombophlebitis. Nevertheless, CPK rose to 2,791 IU/I and a skin biopsy was done. In consequence, scleroderma-like skin sclerosis induced by docetaxel chemotherapy was diagnosed. Swelling appeared in both lower limbs and the pain got worse on the 17th day. Therefore docetaxel chemotherapy was discontinued and prednisolone was increased to 30 mg/day, in addition to beginning codeine use for the pain. Thereafter, the painful sclerosis was ameliorated.