Interval from transurethral resection of prostate to laparoscopic radical prostatectomy does not affect outcomes for incidental prostate cancer.

Introduction: Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) has become a common option for the treatment of prostate cancer. The aim of our study was to examine whether LRP performed within 12 weeks of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is associated with surgical difficulty or outcomes. Material and methods: A single-institutional retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent LRP for incidental prostate cancer after TURP between July 2009 and December 2017. The interval between TURP and LRP was determined and patients with intervals of ≤ 12 weeks were compared to those with intervals of > 12 weeks. Patient characteristics, perioperative, pathological, and postoperative functional outcomes were analyzed to determine statistically significant differences between the 2 groups. Multivariable analyses were performed to determine whether the interval between TURP and LRP was a significant independent predictor of these outcomes. Results: A total of 56 incidental prostate cancer patients detected by TURP were included in this study. No significant differences were detected in estimated blood loss, operative duration, postoperative length of stay, and rate of positive margin, Gleason score upgrading, major complications, incontinence and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence in patients with a TURP to LRP interval above and below 12 weeks. The TURP to LRP interval was not an independent predictor of outcomes during or after LRP. Conclusions: Our results showed that performing LRP within 12 weeks after TURP does not adversely influence surgical difficulty or outcomes.

lncRNA-DANCR Promotes Taxol Resistance of Prostate Cancer Cells through Modulating the miR-33b-5p-LDHA Axis.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignancies in men with high death rate worldwide. Paclitaxel (Taxol) is a widely used anticancer agent. Despite recent improvements in clinical application and research, development of drug resistance limits the efficacy of the Taxol-based chemotherapy. Previous studies revealed that the long noncoding RNA DANCR positively regulated progression of prostate cancer. However, the precise roles of DANCR in the Taxol sensitivity of PCa and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we report that the expressions of DANCR were significantly upregulated and miR-33b-5p were downregulated in prostate tumor specimens and cells as well as the Taxol-resistant prostate cancer cell line (PC3-TXR). Silencing DANCR or overexpressing miR-33b-5p effectively enhanced the Taxol sensitivity of PCa cells. Bioinformatics analysis, RNA pull-down assay, and luciferase assay consistently illustrated that DANCR was associated with miR-33b-5p, leading to downregulation of miR-33b-5p in PCa. Interestingly, glucose metabolism of PC3-TXR cells was remarkedly elevated. The glucose uptake, extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), and glycolysis speed-limiting enzyme expressions were significantly promoted in PC3-TXR cells. We further identified the glucose metabolism enzyme; LDHA was a direct target of miR-33b-5p in PCa cells. LDHA restoration attenuated miR-33b-5p-mediated PTX sensitization. Finally, the rescue of miR-33b-5p in DANCR-overexpressing PC3-TXR cells successfully overrode the DANCR-promoted Taxol resistance. In summary, this study uncovered biological roles and molecular mechanisms of the DANCR-promoted chemoresistance, contributing to the development of noncoding RNA-based therapeutic strategies against drug-resistant prostate cancer.

Prostate stromal tumor with prostatic cysts after transurethral resection of the prostate: A case report.

BACKGROUND: A prostatic stromal tumor is deemed to be a rare oncology condition. Based on the retrospective analysis of clinical data and scientific literature review, a case of prostatic stromal tumor was reported in this article to explore the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of this rare disease. CASE SUMMARY: The present case involved an older male patient who was admitted to our department for a medical consultation of dysuria. Serum prostate-specific antigen was 8.30 ng/mL, Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging suggested evident enlargement of the prostate and multiple cystic developments internally. Considering that the patient was an elderly male with a poor health status, transurethral resection of the prostate was performed to improve the symptoms of urinary tract obstruction. Furthermore, based on histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical staining, the patient was pathologically diagnosed with prostatic stromal tumor. The patient did not receive any further adjuvant therapy following surgery leading to a clinical recommendation that the patient should be followed up on a long-term basis. However, during the recent follow-up assessment, the patient demonstrated recurrence of lower urinary tract symptoms and gross hematuria. CONCLUSION: Referring to scientific literature review, we believe that the management of these lesions requires a thorough assessment of the patient. Furthermore, the treatment of prostate stromal tumors should be based on the imaging examination and pathological classification. Active surgical treatment is of great significance to the prognosis of patients, and subsequent surveillance after the treatment is warranted.

Association of plasma intermedin levels with progression and metastasis in men after radical prostatectomy for localized prostatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Adrenomedullin levels in the peripheral blood are associated with prognosis of some cancers. Intermedin is structural similarities to adrenomedullin. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of plasma intermedin levels for progression and distant metastasis in prostate cancers. METHODS: This study included 218 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostatic cancer and 218 age-matched healthy men. Plasma intermedin levels were measured using radioimmunoassay. The relationships between plasma intermedin levels and 5-year progression and 5-year distant metastasis were evaluated using a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Plasma intermedin levels were markedly higher in all patients than in healthy men. Patients with Gleason score ≥ 7, tumor node metastasis stage T2, organ unconfined, present extra-prostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion or positive lymph node had higher intermedin levels. Intermedin was identified as a prognostic predictor for 5-year progression and 5-year metastasis. Under receiver operating characteristic curves, intermedin had high predictive values for 5-year progression and 5-year metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma intermedin levels are independently associated with long-term recurrence and distant metastasis of prostate cancer and intermedin has potential to be a prognostic predictive biomarker for prostate cancer.

Vitamin C and E intake and risk of bladder cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

Epidemiologic studies that investigate whether vitamin C and E intake protects against bladder cancer have yielded inconsistent results. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published cohort and case-control studies to summarize the epidemiologic evidence investigating vitamin C and E intake and bladder cancer. Studies were identified through a search of PubMed and Embase databases and of references from relevant publications. Meta-analyses were conducted to estimate summary risk estimates (REs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for vitamin C and E intake using fixed- or random-effects model depending on the heterogeneity of the studies. Subgroup analyses were performed according to study design, sex, geographical regions and source of vitamins intake. The summary REs of bladder cancer for all published studies was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.79-1.00) and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.72-0.90) for vitamin C and E intake, respectively, with no evidence of between-study heterogeneity for vitamin E, but some heterogeneity for vitamin C intake. Although some of the summary effects were non-significant, subgroup analyses showed that these inverse relationships were not modified by study design, sex, geographical regions and source of vitamins intake for vitamin E intake. Our results indicated that high intake of vitamin E could reduce bladder cancer risk. However, the inverse association between vitamin C and bladder cancer seemed to be limited. Further studies using larger samples and a rigorous methodology are warranted.

Langerhans' cell density and degree of keratinization in foreskins of Chinese preschool boys and adults.

BACKGROUND: Recent epidemiological studies have proposed that male circumcision reduces the relative risk of acquiring HIV-1. Here, we evaluated the density of Langerhans' cell and degree of keratinization in the foreskins of Chinese preschool boys and adults. METHODS: Sixty preschool boys and 20 healthy men without infectious history following male circumcisions were included. The keratin thickness and Langerhans' cells were quantified by using keratin staining, immunohistochemistry, and image analysis. RESULTS: The extent of keratinization was much greater in the inner foreskin than in the outer foreskin in adults and boys with infectious history. It was likely to be less keratinized in boys' foreskins compared with those of adults. The density of Langerhans' cells was higher in the outer foreskin than in the inner foreskin of adults and healthy boys. Furthermore, an increased density of Langerhans' cells of inner foreskin was also found in boys with infectious history compared with healthy boys. There was much higher Langerhans' cell density in boys' foreskin compared with those of adults. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that Chinese men may have a different feature of keratin in the foreskin, and a higher Langerhans' cells density in boys' foreskin may be due to it being less keratinized.

The use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) density in detecting prostate cancer in Chinese men with PSA levels of 4-10 ng/mL.

AIM: To investigate the utility of prostate specific antigen density for detecting prostate cancer in men with serum PSA levels of 4-10 ng/mL. METHODS: Between January 2003 and November 2007, 237 men (aged 48-84 years, median 71) with total PSA levels of 4-10 ng/mL participated in a protocol for prostate cancer screening. Eligible patients were recommended for transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies after measuring prostate volumes transrectally. The diagnostic value of PSA levels and the free-to-total PSA ratio (f/tPSA), PSA densities (PSAD) were compared using receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Prostate cancer was diagnosed in 44 (18.6%) of the 237 men who had biopsies. There were significant differences between the groups in the prostate volumes determined by TRUS, PSAD, PSA levels and f/tPSA, whereas there was no significant difference in patient age. The area under the curve (AUC) of PSA (0.6786) and PSAD (0.717) was similar and significantly greater than that of f/tPSA (AUC 0.329). PSAD was a significantly better indicator of prostate cancer than f/tPSA. The sensitivity and specificity of PSA density at a cutoff of 0.134 ng/mL(2) was 90 and 33.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: PSAD was a better predictor of prostate cancer in Chinese men with PSA levels of 4-10 ng/mL, especially those who have had prior ultrasound-determined measurements of prostate volume. Our data suggest that different PSAD cutoffs may need to be defined for Chinese.

Feasibility of preparing nanodrugs by high-gravity reactive precipitation.

To study the feasibility of producing nanoparticles of organic pharmaceuticals using a novel high-gravity reactive precipitation (HGRP) technique, reactive precipitation of benzoic acid as a model compound was carried out in a rotating packed bed under high gravity. The main factors such as the rotating bed speed, concentration and volume flow rate of the reactants (sodium benzoate and HCl) affecting the particle size of the precipitate were studied. Particle size was measured by transmission electron microscopy. Benzoic acid was precipitated as nanoparticles as fine as 10nm. The particle size was decreased with increasing rotating bed speed, concentration and volume flow rate of the reactants. The formation of ultrafine particles was due to intensified micro-mixing of reactants in the rotating bed to enhance nucleation while suppressing crystal growth. The results have demonstrated the feasibility to produce nanodrugs by the principle of acid-base precipitating reaction using HGRP.