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Renal tumor biopsy was provided in patients candidate to radical nephrectomy for a renal mass ≥4 cm, to evaluate treatment deviation.Between 2008 and 2017, 102 patients with a solid renal mass ≥4 cm with no distant metastases underwent preliminary renal tumor biopsy. We investigated the proportion of patients who proceeded with radical nephrectomy, variables predicting non-renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and concordance between biopsy findings and definitive pathology.Median tumor size was 70 mm (IQR 55-110). Clinical stage was cT1b in 41, cT2 in 33, cT3 in 25 and cT4 in three patients. A median of three (IQR 2-3) renal tumor biopsies were taken with 16/18 Gauge needles in 97% of cases. Clavien grade I complications occurred in five cases. Malignant tumors were documented in 84 patients: 78 RCCs and six non-RCCs. Fifteen biopsies documented oncocytoma and three were non-diagnostic. Grade was reported in 50 RCCs: 42 (84%) were low and eight (16%) high grade. Eighty-three patients proceeded with radical nephrectomy; six non-RCC malignant tumors underwent combined and/or intensified treatment; 13 of 15 patients with oncocytoma did not undergo radical nephrectomy (eight underwent observation). Definitive pathology confirmed diagnosis in all cases. Grade concordance was 84%, considering two tiers (high vs low grade). No preoperative clinical variable predicted definitive pathology.Renal tumor biopsy is a safe procedure that leads to radical nephrectomy in most tumors ≥4 cm. Nonetheless, 20% of patients exhibited non-RCC histology. Renal tumor biopsy should be considered in this setting.

To support laparoscopic post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph-node dissection (L-PC-RPLND) as a potential new standard, we report on a large dataset of patients systematically undergoing L-PC-RPLND.Patients with unilateral residual mass (≥1 cm), normalized markers, limited encasement (30%) of gross retroperitoneal vessels underwent unilateral L-PC-RPLND with no adjuvant chemotherapy. Surgical performances, histology, hospital stay, complications within 30 days and follow-up visits were recorded. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used.Between February 2011 and January 2021, 151 consecutive patients underwent L-PC-RPLND. Median size of the residual mass was 25 mm (interquartile range [IQR] 20-35 mm). Overall median operative time was 208 min (IQR 177-241) and was 51 min longer (p-value0.001) for right L-PC-RPLNDs. Eleven procedures were converted to open surgery. Median number of removed and positive nodes was 11 (IQR 8-16) and 1 (IQR 1-2), respectively. Mean hospital stay was 2 days (IQR 2-3). Nine complications (6%) occurred: two were Clavien-Dindo grade III. Definitive pathology revealed post-pubertal teratoma in 65.6%, fibro-necrotic tissue in 23.8%, teratoma with malignant somatic component in 6.6% and viable tumour in 4.0% patients. In multivariable linear regression models, fibro-necrotic tissue (32 min, CI 8.5-55.5; p 0.01) and residual volume (1.05 min, CI 0.24-1.85; p 0.01) achieved independent predictor status for longer operative time. All patients, but one, are alive and disease-free after a median follow-up of 22 months (IQR 10, 48).L-PC-RPLND, when adequately planned, is safe and effective for most patients with low to medium volume residual masses.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is a rare tumor of vascular origin. It is quite common in HIV patients. It is rarely located on the glans penis, especially in HIV-negative patients (just some tens in the literature). Owing to the rarity of the disease, both the real impact on survival and the most suitable therapy are not known.However, in this 3-patient case series, carbon dioxide laser therapy was effective both for local control and survival. In fact, two late relapses but no disease-related death were recorded. Probably, KS in HIV-negative patients is a slowly progressive disease, not so aggressive as in HIV-positive patients. Laser therapy is easy, fast, and cheap, and may treat the disease radically.If these data are confirmed by further studies, in the foreseeable future, laser therapy may become the gold standard for treating HIV-negative patients affected by penile KS.

Primary epithelioid angiosarcoma of the adrenal gland is extremely rare. Only 37 cases have been reported in the scientific literature.Here we describe the case of a 55-year-old woman affected by metastatic angiosarcoma in the right adrenal gland, who died few days after the histological diagnosis made by fine-needle aspiration (FNA). This is the second case of primary epithelioid angiosarcoma diagnosed by FNA among scientific articles published in English in PubMed. Microscopically, the tumor showed a predominant epithelioid differentiation, thus making the diagnostic process more difficult than usual. Immunohistochemical examination revealed positive reactivity for cytokeratin, CD31, and CD34. The literature shows that epithelioid adrenal angiosarcoma has poor clinical outcome, especially when metastatic at presentation.

We addressed the use of perioperative chemotherapy in nodal metastates from penile cancer. Forty-seven N2 to 3M0 patients received perioperative taxane, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (T-PF) and 38.3% are disease-free at 22 months. Neoadjuvant T-PF allowed 12 (43%) clinical responsesand4 (14%) complete pathologic remissions among 28 patients, and the 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 7.1%. The 2-year DFS was 36.8% after adjuvant T-PF. T-PF is active and is associated with long-term survival after surgery. Chemotherapy must be offered with caution in patients with resectable nodal metastases. Background: The role of chemotherapy in nodal metastases from penile squamous cell carcinoma is not defined. We evaluated the efficacy of a combination of T-PF(a taxane, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. Patients and Methods: Since June of 2004, T-PF was administered to stage N2 to 3 patients. With time, neoadjuvant chemotherapy administration prevailed with respect to use in the adjuvant setting. Primary end points were progression-free (PFS) and overall (OS) survival. Secondary objectives were tolerability and activity in the neoadjuvant setting. Nonparametric tests, Kaplan-Meier, and regression analyses were performed. Results: As of October of 2012, 47 consecutive N2 to 3 M0 patients had undergone neoadjuvant (n = 28) or adjuvant (n = 19) T-PF: 18 patients (38.3%) remain disease-free after a median follow-up of 22 months (interquartile range, 17-42 months). The 2-year disease- free survivals were 36.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.2-58.5) versus 7.1% ( 95% CI, 0-16.7) after adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy, respectively. N3 metastases were associated with a poorer PFS, and bilateral metastases and mutated p53 were associated with a poorer OS. After neoadjuvant treatment, 43% clinical responses and 14% complete pathologic remissions were recorded, but responses were not associated with survival. Neutropenia (25.5%) was the most frequent Grade >= 2 toxicity. Conclusion: The T-PF regimen is well tolerated and compares with other regimens in terms of activity and efficacy in the neoadjuvant setting, and very long survivals have been recorded after adjuvant administration. The role of perioperative treatment in these patients remains controversial. Some caution in administering preemptive treatment in patients with resectable disease is needed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

377 Background: Bulky nodal metastases (N2-N3) of PSCC represent a negative prognostic factor, yet efficacy of multimodal treatment is not defined. For these patients (pts) we explore T-PF combination in adjuvant and neo-adjuvant setting. Methods: Paclitaxel (120 mg/m2, d1) or docetaxel (75 mg/m2 d1) plus cisplatin (75-100 mg/m2 d1) and 5-fluorouracil (5FU, 750-1000 mg/m2 96h d1) were scheduled prior to or following radical inguino-pelvic dissections in N2-3 M0 pts, according to protocol indications. Primary endpoints were overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS); safety and response-rate represented secondary endpoints. Association of survival with treatment setting and pre-specified covariates was explored. Results: From 6/2004 to 10/2012, 47 consecutive pts received neoadjuvant (N=28) or adjuvant (N=19) T-PF. 18 (38.3%) were disease-free after a median follow-up (FU) of 22 mos (IQR 17-42). Durable remissions were more frequently observed in adjuvant (52.6%; median FU: 42 mos) than in neoadjuvant group (28.6%; median FU: 17 mos). Distribution of OS and PFS were statistically in favour of adjuvant T-PF (p=0.01 at Wilcoxon test; p=0.008 at t test). However, Kaplan-Meyer curves did not show significant differences. A model including therapy setting, N category, laterality, pelvic extent and p53 status showed that only adjuvant administration was associated with improved OS (p=0.008), while adjuvant therapy (p=0.002), pelvic extent (p=0.029) and laterality (p=0.086) were associated with PFS. In neoadjuvant group we recorded 43% responses (complete [CR] and partial) and 4 (14%) pathologic CR. Surgery was possible in 18 (64.3%) pts, independently of response. Neither OS nor PFS were associated with response. Tolerability was mild to moderate. Conclusions: Adjuvant chemotherapy was the most important favourable predictor of OS and PFS. Adjuvant T-PF results are among the best available ones. Neoadjuvant T-PF compares with other recent schedules in terms of activity and efficacy. Surgery remains the mainstay treatment for resectable nodal metastases from PSCC.

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography is increasingly used by many centers for staging and response assessment of metastatic transitional cell carcinoma. We prospectively evaluated 31 patients undergoing metabolic restaging after only 2 cycles of first-line chemotherapy (PET2). Early metabolic response was associated with patient outcome. The aim was to provide a proof of principle for a risk-adapted approach based on PET2 that may guide new trial design for early-recognized unresponsive patients. Background: The prognostic impact of early metabolic response by fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) after 2 cycles of first-line chemotherapy is still unrecognized in metastatic transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Patients and Methods: Patients with metastatic TCC receiving the modified combination of methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC), according to institutional protocol, underwent computed tomography (CT) and FDG-PET imaging at baseline, a restaging with PET imaging after 2 cycles only (PET2), and a CT (+/- FDG-PET) scan at the end of treatment and during follow-up. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method; univariate (UVA) and multivariate (MVA) Cox models were fitted. Prespecified variables were the presence of visceral metastases, nodal or soft tissue disease, and early PET response. Results: In the period from May 2010 to October 2012, 31 patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0 received the modified MVAC regimen every 3 weeks. In all, 6 patients (19.3%) had a complete response (CR) and 17 (54.8%) a partial metabolic response (PR), 4 had stable disease (SD), and 4 progressed. PET2 responders had a median PFS of 8 months (95 % CI, 7-11 mo) compared with 3 months (95 % CI, 2-5 mo) of patients without response (P = .024). They also had a significant benefit in 8-month PFS (P < .001 via Klein test) and 15-month OS (P = .016). PET2 response was significant for PFS in both UVA and MVA Cox models (P = .027 and P = .023, respectively). Conclusion: PET response after 2 cycles of first-line chemotherapy, compared with detection by early CT, was associated with longer PFS and OS in advanced TCC and warrants further investigation in the field. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Though uncommon, the collecting duct carcinoma (CDC) of Bellini is a very aggressive primary renal tumour occurring in less than 1% of all renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cases. This rare subtype was always excluded from the prospective trials with targeted therapies. Few data so far available concern the subgroup analyses from the expanded access programs with sorafenib and sunitinib, and from temsirolimus randomized study.From December 2004 to May 2010, 333 patients with advanced RCC have been treated in our Institution with targeted therapies: of these, 7 (2.6%) were affected by CDC. General characteristics, symptoms, pathological features, treatments and patients' outcome were recorded.All patients affected by CDC received targeted agents as first-line therapy: more precisely, 4 patients were treated with sorafenib, 2 with temsirolimus and 1 with sunitinib. After progression 2 patients received a second-line treatment with sunitinib. No patients were alive at 5 years. Five patients developed early progression of disease with a very short 4-month survival, while 2 cases had a long-lasting disease control with an overall survival time accounting for 49 and 19 months, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events were manageable consisting of fatigue, diarrhoea, hand-foot syndrome, hypertension and anemia, the latter being the most frequent. No treatment discontinuations due to adverse event were needed.This investigation shows that targeted agents are safe, displaying some degree of activity in CDCs: therefore, they could be considered as an alternative in patients not eligible to chemotherapy regimens. Further studies including biomarkers as predictive factors of tumour biology and clinical features are required to improve the management of this challenging disease.