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OBJECTIVES To investigate the association of prostate size with aggressiveness of prostate cancer in Korean men who received radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) for clinically localized prostate cancer. METHODS We evaluated the association of RRP specimen weight and prostate volume measured by transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) with pathologic tumor grade, extraprostatic extension of disease, surgical margin status, and seminal vesicle invasion by reviewing data of 346 consecutive patients who underwent RRP for clinically localized prostate cancer at our institution without receiving preoperative radiation or hormonal treatment. RESULTS A strong correlation was observed between RRP specimen weight and TRUS-measured prostate volume (Spearman r = 0.76; P

Objective: We investigated the prognostic significance of tumor necrosis in primary transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of upper urinary tract. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 119 patients who received surgical management for primary TCC of upper urinary tract. The presence or absence of tumor necrosis was evaluated based on the macroscopic description of the tumor. Along with pathologic features of tumor necrosis, we assessed the impacts of various prognostic factors previously reported for TCC of upper urinary tract. Results: Tumor necrosis was identified in 19 (16.0%) patients. Patients with tumor necrosis were more likely to have higher local stage, nodal involvement, higher tumor grade, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and recurrence of disease. Among all subjects, disease-specific survival rates at 5 years after surgery for patients with and without macroscopic tumor necrosis were 36.7 and 83.2%, respectively (P ¼ 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, only pathologic T stage, LVI and tumor necrosis were shown to be independent predictors for disease-specific survival. For solely the invasive tumors, variables including age, surgical margin and tumor necrosis were observed to be independent prognostic factors for disease-specific survival in multivariate analysis, with tumor necrosis showing the highest rank order of statistical significance. Conclusions: Our results suggest that macroscopic tumor necrosis may be a useful prognostic indicator for primary TCC of upper urinary, especially for invasive tumors. Further investigation would be warranted for the prognostic implications of tumor necrosis in TCCs of upper urinary tract and on actual pathogenesis of tumor necrosis in upper tract TCC.

The silicon content was increased up to 6.5% (by weight, unless specified otherwise) to reduce the power loss of the silicon steels. These steels were prepared by the conventional casting method or by spray forming and were investigated with the aid of light optical microscopy (LOM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The difference in the casting method did not result in any difference in suppressing the B2 ordering. The D03 phase was observed only in the as-cast 6.5%Si steel. It was almost impossible to suppress the B2 ordered phase keeping the silicon level as high as 6.5% even after the heat treatment at 1000°C for 24 h or after hot rolling. It was necessary to change the Si level and control the cooling rate to suppress the ordering reaction, especially, in cooling after heat treatment. The silicon level of 5.87% was observed to be a critical value in suppressing the B2 ordering reaction. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

By employing epitaxial NiFe (111) films as ferromagnetic bottom electrodes, magnetic tunnel junctions with layer sequence of Si (111)/epitaxial Ag/epitaxial Cu/epitaxial NiFe/Al-oxide/CoFe/IrMn/NiFe/Ta were prepared. High tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratios were obtained and the bias dependence of TMR was remarkably reduced. The reason for the small bias dependence of TMR was explained by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy. It was clearly elucidated that a well-defined sharp interface formed between the tunnel barrier and the ferromagnetic electrode that is nearly free of crystalline defects. This magnetic tunnel junction has a large capability in engineering aspects if we can reduce the barrier thickness further by decreasing the interface roughness.

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) were fabricated using an Al–O insulating layer prepared on an epitaxially grown Ni80Fe20 bottom electrode and on a polycrystalline Ni80Fe20 bottom electrode. Crystallographic orientations and surface morphology of the films were examined using x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The MTJ with an epitaxial bottom electrode showed a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 51% after annealing at 250 °C. This value was about two times larger than that of the MTJ with a polycrystalline bottom electrode (27%). The applied bias voltage dependences of the TMR ratios were also much different. The Vhalf values of epitaxial and polycrystalline samples were about 750 and 400 mV, respectively.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the impact of variations in bony pelvic dimensions observed from preoperative magnetic resonance imaging on operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and surgical margin status on performing open radical retropubic prostatectomy. METHODS A prospective study was undertaken in which preoperative magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 190 patients who were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer before radical retropubic prostatectomy. Using the magnetic resonance image findings, various bony pelvic dimensions were measured. The associations of the measured pelvic dimensions and various clinicopathologic factors with the operative time, estimated blood loss, and surgical margin status were analyzed on multivariate analyses. RESULTS For operative time, none of the individual pelvic dimensions measured demonstrated significant associations on univariate analysis. In contrast, only the newly developed parameter, the pelvic dimension index, approached significance (P = 0.095). Only body mass index (BMI) proved to be independently associated with the operative time on multivariate analysis (P = 0.030). Also, only the prostate volume (P = 0.015) was independently associated with the estimated blood loss. For the surgical margin status, the preoperative PSA level (P = 0.041), pathologic Gleason score (P = 0.015), and BMI (P = 0.020), along with the pelvic dimension index (P = 0.048), demonstrated significant associations on univariate analyses. However, only the PSA level (P = 0.071) and BMI (P = 0.059) approached significance on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Our results have demonstrated that variations in the bony pelvic dimensions might have some impact, but not significantly so, on open radical retropubic prostatectomy compared with other patient-related baseline factors such as the BMI or prostate volume.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the significance of variations in neurovascular bundle (NVB) formation observed on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) regarding postoperative potency after nerve-sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP). METHODS Preoperative MRI was performed in 93 patients who underwent bilateral nerve-sparing RRP for clinically localized prostate cancer and were followed up for at least 12 months after surgery. Judging from the MRI scans, patients were categorized into three groups: group 1, patients with no definite NVB observed on MRI, group 2, those with probable NVB formation observed on MRI but not definite, and group 3, those with NVB more definitely observed on MRI. Patients' erectile function status was assessed preoperatively and postoperatively using the International Index Erectile Function 5-item (IIEF-5) questionnaire. RESULTS Of the 93 patients, 40.9% were in group 1, 21.5% in group 2, and 37.6% in group 3 according to the MRI findings. The patient characteristics, including age, serum prostate-specific antigen, pathologic Gleason score, and preoperative IIEF-5 scores, were not significantly different among the three groups. However, the changes in the IIEF-5 scores after bilateral nerve-sparing RRP demonstrated a significantly larger decrease for group 1 compared with groups 2 and 3. Similar trends were observed when patients 60 years old or younger and those older than 60 years were analyzed separately. CONCLUSIONS In patients with no definite NVB formation observed on MRI, the nerves associated with erectile function may run along both sides of the prostate and spread more anteriorly than those with the NVB more definitely observed. Thus, to preserve the NVBs completely at all times, it would be important to widely dissect the lateral aspects of the prostate during nerve-sparing RRPs.

Purpose: Metabolic syndrome, a concurrence of disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism, overweight, abdominal fat distribution, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, has been reported to have some association with prostate cancer. Here, we assessed the relationship between metabolic syndrome and prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: We assessed a total of 261 men who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy between January 2004 and May 2005. The patients were stratified into two groups, with metabolic syndrome (n=75) or without (n=186). Metabolic syndrome was defined by the criteria of National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. We compared the clinical and pathologic features of specimens between the groups. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean age, serum prostate specific antigen level, prostate size, Gleason score, and pathologic stage. The tumor volume of prostate cancer was significantly higher in the metabolic syndrome group (6.6±5.5cc vs 5.0±4.5cc, p=0.010). No significant differences were observed in extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, bladder neck invasion, angiolymphatic invasion, perineural invasion, and multicentricity of cancer between the two groups. As the component of metabolic syndrome increased, the tumor volume was also found to increase (p-value=0.025). Conclusions: The data from our study support that metabolic syndrome is closely associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:585-591) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and identify the predicting factors of extraprostatic extension (EPE) in T1c prostate cancers. Materials and Methods: Of 267 consecutive men who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) as initial treatment for prostate cancers, 131 (49.1%) presented with a clinical stage T1c disease. Clinicopathological data were collected, and factors related to biopsy collected; i.e. the number of positive cores (No. (+) core); the percentage of positive cores (% (+) core); the maximal tumor length (Max. mm cancer); the sum of tumor length (Total mm cancer); the maximal ratio of tumor/core length (Max. % mm cancer) and the mean ratio of tumor/core length (Mean % mm cancer). A logistical regression analysis was performed after dividing the cases into organ-confined (OC) and EPE. Results: Of the T1c tumors, 107 (81.7%) and 24 (18.3%) were found to be OC and to have EPE after RRP, respectively. The preoperative factors that showed a significant difference between the two groups (OC vs. EPE) were %free prostate-specific antigen (17.7 vs. 11.1%), prostate volume (43.5 vs. 34.6ml), Gleason score (6.4 vs. 6.8), % (+) core (17.9 vs. 27%), Max. mm cancer (3.5 vs. 6.7mm) and Max. % mm cancer (24.0 vs. 41.6%). Of these factors, those significantly predicting EPE in the receiver operator characteristics curve were: the Gleason score, % (+) core, Max. mm cancer and Max. % mm cancer. Of these, only the % (+) core and Max. mm cancer were significant in predicting EPE in the multivariate logistical regression. When the cutoff of % (+) core was 19%, the risk of EPE increased 2.3 times, and when the cutoff of Max. mm cancer was 5mm the risk increased 3.6 times. Conclusions: Max. mm cancer and % (+) core during a biopsy are preoperative factors that predict the EPE of a clinical stage T1c disease, and should be considered for modifying the surgical technique and in establishing treatment plans. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:797-803) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

Purpose: There have been reports that clinical stages do not reflect patients' postoperative prognosis well. On the contrary, the clinical application of the percentage of positive core (% (+) core), which predicts tumor volume has been increasing. We developed nomogram for predicting pathologic outcome using prostate-specific antigen (PSA), Gleason score and % (+) core based on data of radical prostatectomy and compared it with nomogram using clinical stage instead of % (+) core. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty nine patients with clinically confined prostate cancers were included in the study. Nomogram for predicting pathologic outcome was developed through multinominal logistic regression analysis, and pathologic outcomes were extracapsular invasion (ECE), seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) and bladder neck invasion (BNI). The accuracy of each nomogram for predicting each pathologic outcome was compared on the basis of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The mean % (+) core was 24.6% and clinical stages T1c, T2a,b and T2c were 58.7%, 32.0% and 9.3%, respectively. ECE was observed in 45 (17.4%), SVI in 9 (3.5%), and BNI in 12 (4.6%). With an increase in PSA, Gleason score, clinical stage, or % (+) core, the incidence of extraprostatic involvement increased gradually. Two nomograms for predicting pathologic outcome were developed. In quantifying expected predictive improvement, area under ROC curve for predicting ECE was greater in the nomogram using % (+) core than clinical stage (0.815 vs. 0.778). These values for predicting SVI were 0.886 and 0.760, respectively, and for predicting BNI, 0.743 and 0.764, respectively. Conclusions: We developed nomogram for predicting pathologic outcomes using % (+) core instead of clinical stage. Nomogram using % (+) core predicted ECE and SVI with greater accuracy than nomogram using clinical stage. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:789-796) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

To examine the pathologic characteristics of prostate cancers missed by application of the age-specific prostate-specific antigen(PSA) reference in Korean men over sixties in clinical practice based on PSA cutoff 3.0ng/ml. Materials and Methods: We made retrospective analysis of 1,063 patients aged between 60-79 who had had transrectal ultrasonography(TRUS)- guided biopsy due to the rise of PSA over 3.0ng/ml or abnormal findings in digital rectal examination(DRE) or TRUS. Age-specific PSA reference was set at 3.9ng/ml for 60s and 5.4ng/ml for 70s. Results: Prostate cancer was detected in 34.3%(365/1,063) as a whole, and 31.5% in 60s, and 39.5% in 70s according to the age. When age-specific reference 3.9ng/ml was applied to 60s, 20(9.6%) cancers were missed compared with clinical cutoff value(3.0ng/ml). When age-specific reference 5.4ng/ml was applied to 70s, 23(16.0%) cancers were missed. On the average, 43(12.2%) of cancers were missed in 60s and 70s. Of 43 missed cancers, 39(90.7%) were with normal DRE and TRUS. Of these cancers, 16(41.0%) were clinically insignificant on biopsy, but only 7(22.6%) were insignificant in the pathologic examination of 31 radical prostatectomy specimens. Conclusions: In our clinical practice based on PSA cutoff 3.0ng/ml, most cancers missed by application of age-specific reference are clinically significant. But, considering the positive effect of age-specific reference on avoidance of unnecessary biopsies, large prospective study is needed to evaluate the efficacy of age-specific reference in Korean men over sixties.