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ContextThe initial report of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) found no reduction in risk of prostate cancer with either selenium or vitamin E supplements but a statistically nonsignificant increase in prostate cancer risk with vitamin E. Longer follow-up and more prostate cancer events provide further insight into the relationship of vitamin E and prostate cancer.ObjectiveTo determine the long-term effect of vitamin E and selenium on risk of prostate cancer in relatively healthy men.Design, setting, and participantsA total of 35,533 men from 427 study sites in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico were randomized between August 22, 2001, and June 24, 2004. Eligibility criteria included a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of 4.0 ng/mL or less, a digital rectal examination not suspicious for prostate cancer, and age 50 years or older for black men and 55 years or older for all others. The primary analysis included 34,887 men who were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups: 8752 to receive selenium; 8737, vitamin E; 8702, both agents, and 8696, placebo. Analysis reflect the final data collected by the study sites on their participants through July 5, 2011.InterventionsOral selenium (200 μg/d from L-selenomethionine) with matched vitamin E placebo, vitamin E (400 IU/d of all rac-α-tocopheryl acetate) with matched selenium placebo, both agents, or both matched placebos for a planned follow-up of a minimum of 7 and maximum of 12 years.Main outcome measuresProstate cancer incidence.ResultsThis report includes 54,464 additional person-years of follow-up and 521 additional cases of prostate cancer since the primary report. Compared with the placebo (referent group) in which 529 men developed prostate cancer, 620 men in the vitamin E group developed prostate cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 1.17; 99% CI, 1.004-1.36, P = .008); as did 575 in the selenium group (HR, 1.09; 99% CI, 0.93-1.27; P = .18), and 555 in the selenium plus vitamin E group (HR, 1.05; 99% CI, 0.89-1.22, P = .46). Compared with placebo, the absolute increase in risk of prostate cancer per 1000 person-years was 1.6 for vitamin E, 0.8 for selenium, and 0.4 for the combination.ConclusionDietary supplementation with vitamin E significantly increased the risk of prostate cancer among healthy men.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00006392.

Extragonadal germ cell tumors account for 2-5.7% of germ cell tumors (GCTs). Of these, primary mediastinal GCTs (PMGCTs) are responsible for 16-36% of cases. Given the rarity of these tumors, specific treatment strategies have not been well defined. We report our experience in treating these complex patients. In total, 318 men treated at our institution with chemotherapy for GCTs between 1980 and 2016 were reviewed. PMGCT was defined as clinically diagnosed mediastinal GCT with no evidence of testicular GCT (physical exam/ultrasound). We identified nine patients diagnosed with PMGCT. All patients presented with an anterior mediastinal mass and no gonadal lesion; four patients also had metastatic disease. Median age at diagnosis was 30 years (range, 14-56) and median mass size at diagnosis was 9 cm (range, 3.4-19). Eight patients had non-seminoma and one had pure seminoma. All patients received cisplatin-based chemotherapy initially. Surgical resection was performed in four patients; three patients had a complete resection and one patient was found to have an unresectable tumor. At a median follow-up of 2 years (range, 3 months-28 years) six patients had progressed. Progression-free survival was short with a median of 4.1 months from diagnosis (range 1.5-122.2 months). Five patients died at a median of 4.4 months from diagnosis. One and 5-year overall survivals were 50% and 38%, respectively. PMGCT are rare and aggressive. Our real-life Canadian experience is consistent with current literature suggesting that non-seminoma PMGCT has a poor prognosis despite prompt cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by aggressive thoracic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvage cryoablation (SCA) is an accepted treatment for radio-recurrent prostate cancer with well-established oncological and functional outcomes. Based on one of the longest reported prospective follow-ups in the literature (median 12 years) on 187 patients, this study reports what appears to be an under-appreciated finding in eight patients with dystrophic calcifications (DC) of the prostate following SCA, causing severe bladder outlet obstruction. Between 1995 and 2004, 187 patients underwent SCA, with a median follow-up of 12 years. This database was reviewed for functional and oncological outcomes and DC were evaluated. Functional data was available in 85 patients, amongst whom eight patients were found to develop DC (9.4%) proven when the patients presented with urinary difficulties and attempted transurethral resection was undertaken for bladder outlet obstruction. Mean time for emergence of significant symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction was 8.6 years from SCA (standard deviation (SD) = 6 years). All eightpatients required permanent drainage (seven suprapubic catheters, one nephrostomy). All patients with DC experienced biochemical recurrence (BCR), compared to 57.1% of the patients with no DC (p = 0.01). DC following SCA appears to be an under-reported late adverse effect which may only become evident with long follow-up, and should be included in preoperative counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) domain protein-1 (EPAS-1)/hypoxia-inducible factor-2alpha (HIF-2alpha) is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix/PAS domain protein family and is considered to be an endothelial-specific, hypoxia-inducible transcription factor. Because hypoxia is a fundamental element of tumor biology determining clinical outcome, we performed an immunohistochemical study of EPAS-1 expression in a cohort of bladder cancer cases and assessed the possible correlation of EPAS-1 expression with tumor hypoxia and growth. In the 67 cases (37 radical cystectomy and 30 transurethral resection) studied, overexpression of EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha protein was not found in cancer cells or in normal tissues but was mostly found in stroma around cancer cells, and strong positive staining was noted in perinecrotic regions. The perinecrotic/tumorous expression of EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha was correlated statistically with higher histological grade (P < 0.001), advanced pathological T stage (P < 0.001), and presence of necrosis (P < 0.001). A parallel immunohistochemical analysis of a marker gene of vascular endothelial growth factor demonstrated its positive correlation with tumor grade, stage, and EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha overexpression, supporting the correlation of EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha up-regulation with tumor angiogenesis. To further clarify the relationship between hypoxia and vascularity in the perinecrotic/tumorous area with EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha expression, tissue microvessel density (MVD) was assessed. No significant correlation (P = 0.442) was found between EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha expression and MVD if the 67 tumors of different stages were all included. However, EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha-positive cases had lower MVD than EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha-negative cases (P = 0.001) if only invasive cancer cases were analyzed. In addition, in all EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha-positive staining cases, EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha-positive foci had lower MVD than EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha-negative foci (P < 0.001). Finally, using serial sections, the location of EPAS-1/HIF 2alpha expression was identified mainly in tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) as well as in some fibroblast cells. Focal TAM infiltration was identified at a higher level in EPAS-1-positive cases than EPAS-1-negative cases (P < 0.001). This is the first clinical report suggesting that hypoxia-induced, perinecrotic EPAS-1/HIF-2alpha expression is correlated with tumor progression and angiogenesis at higher grade and stage through focal TAM infiltration in invasive bladder cancer.