Treatment of large fibroepithelial polyps in the proximal ureter with antegrade plus retrograde endoscopic laser polypectomy.

The diagnosis and treatment of large fibroepithelial polyps in the proximal ureter have been the clinical challenges. This study retrospectively summarized the clinical diagnosis and treatment of fibroepithelial polyps >5 cm in length in the proximal ureter of 6 patients who received treatment in the Affiliated Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine between December 2010 and February 2017. The length of fibroepithelial polyps ranged from 5.8 to 8.2 cm. There were 4 males and 2 females with the mean age of 32.6 ±â€Š9.8 years. Unilateral polyps were found in all patients (right: n = 4; left: n = 2). Hydronephrosis of different extents was noted in these patients, 4 complained of back pain and 2 were diagnosed with hydronephrosis by ultrasonography. 1 patient had macroscopic hematuria. All these patients received antegrade plus retrograde endoscopic laser polypectomy after admission. Symptoms were significantly improved after surgery, and ultrasonography showed hydronephrosis was attenuated to different extents 2 weeks later. Three months later, computed tomography urography revealed favorable recovery in 5 patients and deterioration of hydronephrosis due to ureteropelvic stenosis in 1 patient.

Feasibility and preliminary experience of quantitative T2* mapping at 3.0 T for detection and assessment of aggressiveness of prostate cancer.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility of quantitative T2* mapping at 3.0 T for prostate cancer detection and to investigate the use of T2* values to characterize tumor aggressiveness, with whole-mount step-section pathologic analysis as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prostate multiecho T2* was performed in 55 consecutive patients with prostate cancer using a multishot fast-field echo sequence at 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging. T2* mapping was obtained by exponentially fitting the multiecho T2* images pixel by pixel with different echo times for each slice. Generalized estimating equations were used to test the T2* value difference between normal and malignant prostate regions and the association between T2* value and tumor Gleason scores. RESULTS: The T2* values of the cancerous prostatic regions (mean: 42.51 ± 0.65 milliseconds) were significantly lower (P < .001) than those of the normal prostatic regions (mean: 74.87 ± 0.99 milliseconds). Adopting a threshold value of 59.27 milliseconds, T2* mapping resulted in 94.8% sensitivity and 77.3% specificity in the identification of prostate cancer. A lower mean T2* value was significantly associated with a higher tumor Gleason score (mean T2* values of 53.53, 43.75, 33.66, and 22.95 milliseconds were associated with Gleason score of 3 + 3, 3 + 4, 4 + 3, and ≥8, respectively P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: From these preliminary data, quantitative T2* mapping seems to be a potential method in the characterization of prostate cancer. T2* mapping may provide additional quantitative information that significantly correlated with prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Increased expression of forkhead box M1 protein is associated with poor prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Forkhead box protein M1 (FoxM1) is crucial in the regulation of various biological processes, including cell proliferation, organogenesis, and angiogenesis. Overexpression of FoxM1 is associated with carcinogenesis. In this study, immunohistochemistry was carried out to examine FoxM1 expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), and these data were examined for correlation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. FoxM1 protein had high expression in 37 of 87 cases of ccRCC (42.5 %), which was significantly higher than in normal tissues, and FoxM1 overexpression was significantly associated with tumor stage (P = 0.005) and recurrence (P = 0.027). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that FoxM1 expression was significantly associated with shorter recurrence-free survival and overall survival (P = 0.007 and P = 0.008, respectively). Multivariate analysis further demonstrated that FoxM1 was an independent prognostic factor for patients with ccRCC. So FoxM1 might be a potential molecular marker to predict the prognosis of patients with ccRCC.