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Prostate cancer was the most common form and had the second highest death rate of male cancer in the United States in 2015. Current diagnosis techniques, such as prostate-specific antigen tests, transrectal ultrasound scans, and biopsies, are often inconclusive, and in the latter case, invasive. Here, we explore the use of clofazimine hydrochloride nanoparticles (CFZ-HCl NPs), a repurposed formulation from an FDA-approved antimycobacterial agent, as a photoacoustic contrast agent for the evaluation of prostate cancer due to its macrophage-targeting capabilities and high optical absorbance at 495 nm. Using a transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) mouse model, our results indicate a preferential accumulation of intravenously injected CFZ-HCl NPs in cancerous prostates over normal prostates. Differences in accumulation of CFZ-HCl NPs between cancerous and normal prostates were determined using a two-wavelength unmixing technique via ex vivo photoacoustic imaging. Thus, intravenous injection of CFZ-HCl NPs leads to differences in the interactions of the particles with cancerous vs normal prostates, while allowing for photoacoustic detection and analysis of prostate cancer. These findings could lead to the development of a new noninvasive technique for the detection and monitoring of prostate cancer progression in an animal model that can potentially be translated to human patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is the most common and second most deadly form of cancer in men in the United States. The classification of prostate cancers based on Gleason grading using histological images is important in risk assessment and treatment planning for patients. Here, we demonstrate a new region-based convolutional neural network framework for multi-task prediction using an epithelial network head and a grading network head. Compared with a single-task model, our multi-task model can provide complementary contextual information, which contributes to better performance. Our model is achieved a state-of-the-art performance in epithelial cells detection and Gleason grading tasks simultaneously. Using fivefold cross-validation, our model is achieved an epithelial cells detection accuracy of 99.07% with an average area under the curve of 0.998. As for Gleason grading, our model is obtained a mean intersection over union of 79.56% and an overall pixel accuracy of 89.40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delays in time to treatment initiation (TTI) for new cancer diagnoses cause patient distress and may adversely affect outcomes. We investigated trends in TTI for common solid tumors treated with curative intent, determinants of increased TTI and association with overall survival. Methods and findings: We utilized prospective data from the National Cancer Database for newly diagnosed United States patients with early-stage breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, renal and pancreas cancers from 2004–13. TTI was defined as days from diagnosis to first treatment (surgery, systemic or radiation therapy). Negative binomial regression and Cox proportional hazard models were used for analysis. The study population of 3,672,561 patients included breast (N = 1,368,024), prostate (N = 944,246), colorectal (N = 662,094), non-small cell lung (N = 363,863), renal (N = 262,915) and pancreas (N = 71,419) cancers. Median TTI increased from 21 to 29 days (P<0.001). Aside from year of diagnosis, determinants of increased TTI included care at academic center, race, education, prior history of cancer, transfer of facility, comorbidities and age. Increased TTI was associated with worsened survival for stages I and II breast, lung, renal and pancreas cancers, and stage I colorectal cancers, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.005 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.002–1.008) to 1.030 (95% CI 1.025–1.035) per week of increased TTI. Conclusions: TTI has lengthened significantly and is associated with absolute increased risk of mortality ranging from 1.2–3.2% per week in curative settings such as early-stage breast, lung, renal and pancreas cancers. Studies of interventions to ease navigation and reduce barriers are warranted to diminish potential harm to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The five-year survival rate for men diagnosed with localized PCa is nearly 100%, yet for those diagnosed with aggressive PCa, it is less than 30%. The pleiotropic cytokine Interleukin-24 (IL-24) has been shown to specifically kill PCa cells compared to normal cells when overexpressed in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Despite this, the mechanisms regulating IL-24 in PCa are not well understood. Since specific microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in PCa, we used miRNA target prediction algorithm tools to identify miR-4719 and miR-6556-5p as putative regulators of IL-24. This study elucidates the expression profile and role of miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p as regulators of IL-24 in PCa. qRT-PCR analysis shows miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p overexpression significantly decreases the expression of IL-24 in PCa cells compared to the negative control. Compared to the indolent PCa and normal prostate epithelial cells, miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p are significantly overexpressed in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cell lines, indicating that their gain may be an early event in PCa progression. Moreover, miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p are significantly overexpressed in the CRPC cell line of African-American males (E006AA-hT) compared to CRPC cell lines of Caucasian males (PC-3 and DU-145), indicating that miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p may also play a role in racial disparity. Lastly, the inhibition of expression of miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p significantly increases IL-24 expression and inhibits proliferation and migration of CRPC cell lines. Our findings indicate that miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p may regulate CRPC progression through the targeting of IL-24 expression and may be biomarkers that differentiate between indolent and CRPC. Strategies to inhibit miR-4719 and miR-6756-5p expression to increase IL-24 in PCa may have therapeutic efficacy in aggressive PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers in the United States with a five-year survival rate of 7.2% for all stages. Although surgical resection is the only curative treatment, currently we are unable to differentiate between resectable patients with occult metastatic disease from those with potentially curable disease. Identification of patients with poor prognosis via early classification would help in initial management including the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiation, or in the choice of postoperative adjuvant therapy. PDAC ranges in appearance from homogeneously isoattenuating masses to heterogeneously hypovascular tumors on CT images; hence, we hypothesize that heterogeneity reflects underlying differences at the histologic or genetic level and will therefore correlate with patient outcome. We quantify heterogeneity of PDAC with texture analysis to predict 2-year survival. Using fuzzy minimum-redundancy maximum-relevance feature selection and a naive Bayes classifier, the proposed features achieve an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.90 and accuracy (Ac) of 82.86% with the leave-one-image-out technique and an AUC of 0.80 and Ac of 75.0% with three-fold cross-validation. We conclude that texture analysis can be used to quantify heterogeneity in CT images to accurately predict 2-year survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. From these data, we infer differences in the biological evolution of pancreatic cancer subtypes measurable in imaging and identify opportunities for optimized patient selection for therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were among the first population-level studies to incorporate objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behavior, allowing for greater understanding of these behaviors. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive examination of these data in cancer survivors, including short- and long-term survivors of all cancer types. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to use these data to describe activity behaviors in short- and long-term cancer survivors of various types. A secondary aim was to compare activity patterns of cancer survivors to that of the general population. Cancer survivors (n = 508) and age-matched individuals not diagnosed with cancer (n = 1,016) were identified from a subsample of adults with activity measured by accelerometer. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were summarized across cancer type and demographics; multivariate regression was used to evaluate differences between survivors and those not diagnosed with cancer. On average, cancer survivors were 61.4 (95% CI: 59.6, 63.2) years of age; 57% were female. Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns varied by cancer diagnosis, demographic variables, and time since diagnosis. Survivors performed 307 min/day of light-intensity physical activity (95% CI: 295, 319), 16 min/day of moderate-vigorous intensity activity (95% CI: 14, 17); only 8% met physical activity recommendations. These individuals also reported 519 (CI: 506, 532) minutes of sedentary time, with 86 (CI: 84, 88) breaks in sedentary behavior per day. Compared to non-cancer survivors, after adjustment for potential confounders, survivors performed less light-intensity activity (P = 0.01), were more sedentary (P = 0.01), and took fewer breaks in sedentary time (P = 0.04), though there were no differences in any other activity variables. These results suggest that cancer survivors are insufficiently active. Relative to adults of similar age not diagnosed with cancer, they engage in more sedentary time with fewer breaks. As such, sedentary behavior and light-intensity activity may be important intervention targets, particularly for those for whom moderate-to-vigorous activity is not well accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 47th annual Pancreas Club meeting was held on 17 and 18 May 2013 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel, Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA. Two hundred fifty-eight attendees comprised a remarkably international congress, with 92 international pancreatologists contributing to the meeting. Two hundred eleven abstracts were submitted from which 54 oral presentations and 140 posters were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: It is known that African American men have a greater risk of prostate cancer than white men. We investigated whether this was true for first-generation black Caribbean and black African men in the United Kingdom. Methods: A clinical cohort study design recruiting all cases of prostate cancer diagnosed over a 5-yr period and residing in defined areas of London and Bristol. We calculated the age-standardised incidence rates and relative risk for all black men, and black Caribbean and black African men versus white men. Results: Black men had higher age-adjusted rates of prostate cancer (166 per 100,000, 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 151–180 per 100,000) than white men (56.4 per 100,000, 95%CI, 53.3–59.5 per 100,000). The relative risks for all black, black Caribbean, and black African men were 3.09 (95%CI, 2.79–3.43; p <0.0001), 3.19 (95%CI, 2.85–3.56; p <0.0001) and 2.87 (95%CI, 2.34–3.53; p <0.0001), respectively. There was no strong evidence that the rates for black Caribbean differed from black African men. The higher risk in black men compared with white men was more apparent in younger age groups (p value for interaction <0.001). Conclusions: Black men in the United Kingdom have substantially greater risk of developing prostate cancer compared with white men, although this risk is lower than that of black men in the United States. The similar rates in black Caribbean and black African men suggest a common genetic aetiology, although migration may be associated with an increased risk attributable to a gene–environment interaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lacrimo-auriculo-dento-digital syndrome [LADD (MIM 149730)] is an autosomal-dominant multiple congenital anomaly disorder characterized by aplasia, atresia or hypoplasia of the lacrimal and salivary systems, cup-shaped ears, hearing loss, and dental and digital anomalies. Loss of function mutations in FGF10 were recently described in aplasia of the lacrimal and salivary glands [ALSG (MIM 180920; MIM 103420)] (Entesarian et al., Nat Genet 2005: 37: 125–127, Milunsky et al., American College of Medical Genetics Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, 2005: A100). Due to the significant phenotypic overlap between LADD syndrome and ALSG and the variable expressivity of both the disorders, we hypothesized that FGF10 mutations could also result in LADD syndrome. A de novo missense mutation was found in exon 3 of FGF10 in a 3-year-old female (Family 1) with LADD syndrome. This missense mutation, resulting in a non-conservative amino acid change, was confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion and was not found in 500 control chromosomes. A nonsense mutation was also found in exon 2 of FGF10 (Family 2) in a 19-year-old mother with ALSG and her 2-year-old daughter with LADD syndrome. Previous studies of FGF10 mutant mice have demonstrated abnormalities consistent with ALSG and LADD syndrome. We conclude that ALSG and LADD syndrome may represent variable presentations of the same clinical spectrum caused by FGF10 mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid uptake of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has occurred in the United States despite inconclusive evidence regarding mortality benefit.We examined data (n = 927) from the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey to assess prevalence of self-reported PSA use and its association with patients'' decision making.Over half (55.2%) the sample reported ever having had a PSA test. Men aged 65–74 (OR = 2.53, 1.49–4.31), with some college (OR = 2.41, 1.22–4.77) or college degrees (OR = 5.01, 2.53–9.90) were more likely to have had PSA tests, while men without health insurance (OR = 0.32, 0.12–0.88) or a usual source of care (OR = 0.35, 0.22–0.54) were less likely. In a model including healthcare provider communication and information seeking, men who reported that providers involved them in decisions (OR = 1.76, 1.02–3.03) and recommended PSA (OR = 236.3, 70.5–791.4) were more likely to have had the tests. Men aged 65–74 (OR = 2.30, 1.33–4.00), with college degrees (OR = 2.91, 1.45–5.82), and greater information attention/seeking (OR = 1.23, 1.07–1.40) were more likely to report PSA recommendations, while those without usual care were less likely (OR = 0.37, 0.22–0.64). Men without usual care (OR = 0.38, 0.20–0.71) and Hispanic men (OR = 0.40, 0.19–0.85) were less likely to report that healthcare providers involved them in healthcare decisions.Results emphasize the relevance of patient decision making and the importance of healthcare providers in PSA testing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cites a study conducted by researchers in the U.S. which found that the alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare neoplasm that most commonly presents in the lower extremities. Creation of diagnostic problems of ASPS when it arises in unusual locations; Revelation in excision the lesion's alveolar architecture along with xanthomatous cells; Confirmation on the diagnosis of ASPS which revealed membrane-bound rhomboidal crystals.

This study examined the relationship between patient and partner ratings of self-efficacy for symptom control and quality of life (QOL) among 40 African American prostate cancer survivors and their intimate partners. Data analyses revealed that cancer survivors who had rated their self-efficacy for symptom control higher reported better QOL related to urinary, bowel, and hormonal symptoms and better general health QOL (i.e., better physical functioning and better mental health). Data analyses also revealed that partners who rated their self-efficacy for helping the patient manage symptoms as higher reported better QOL (i.e., less negative mood and less caregiver strain). Finally, exploratory analyses indicated that higher self-efficacy in patients was associated with less anxiety and caregiver strain in partners, and higher self-efficacy in partners was associated with better adjustment to bowel and hormonal symptoms and better mental health in patients. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed and future directions for research on self-efficacy in African American prostate cancer survivors are identified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract. Knowledge of chemical ecology of haematophagous triatomine bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) could be of practical value because this polyphyletic subfamily includes species of medical importance, such as vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the aetiological agent of Chagas disease. For particular species of Dipetalogaster, Panstrongylus, Rhodnius and Triatoma, therefore, we review information on exocrine glands and products, interpreting their apparent roles as semiochemicals in the aggregation, alarm, defence, host-finding and sexual behaviour of these Triatominae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder affecting approximately 3% of the population in the United States. This disease has a female predilection and affects exocrine glands, including lacrimal and salivary glands. Dry eyes and dry mouths are the most common symptoms due to the loss of salivary and lacrimal gland function. Symptoms become more severe in secondary SS, where SS is present along with other autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, or rheumatoid arthritis. It is known that aberrant activation of immune cells plays an important role in disease progression, however, the mechanism for these pathological changes in the immune system remains largely unknown. This review highlights the role of different immune cells in disease development, therapeutic treatments, and future strategies that are available to target various immune cells to cure the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer mortality is primarily attributed to metastasis and the resulting compromise of organs secondary to the initial tumor site. Metastasis is a multi-step process in which the tumor cells must first acquire a migratory phenotype and invade through the surrounding tissue for spread to distant organs in the body. The ability of malignant cells to migrate and breach surrounding tissue/matrix barriers is among the most daunting challenges to disease management for men in the United States diagnosed with prostate cancer (CaP), especially since, at diagnosis, a high proportion of patients already have occult or clinically-detectable metastasis. The interaction between hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) secreted by the stroma, with its receptor c-Met located in the epithelium, must occur for epithelial CaP cells to become migratory. We studied the effects of grape-derived phytochemical resveratrol on the transition of epithelial tumor cells from sedentary to a mobile, penetrant phenotype. A time lapse microscopy assay was used to monitor the acquisition of the migratory phenotype by resveratrol. The results show that resveratrol inhibits HGF-mediated interaction between the stroma and epithelium and suppresses epithelial CaP cell migration by attenuating the control of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common non-cutaneous cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related death for men in the United States. The nonprotein coding gene locus plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) is located at 8q24 and is dysregulated in different cancers. PVT1 gives rise to several alternatively spliced transcripts and microRNAs. There are at least twelve exons of PVT1, which make separate transcripts, and likely have different functions. Here, we demonstrate that PVT1 exon 9 is significantly overexpressed in PCa tissues in comparison to normal prostate tissues. Both transient and stable overexpression of PVT1 exon 9 significantly induced greater prostate epithelial cell migration, as well as increased proliferation and corresponding proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression. Notably, implantation into mice of a non-tumorigenic prostate epithelial cell line stably overexpressing PVT1 exon 9 resulted in the formation of malignant tumors. Furthermore, PVT1 exon 9 overexpression significantly induced castration resistance. Consequently, PVT1 exon 9 expression is important for PCa initiation and progression, and holds promise as a therapeutic target in PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports that half of all men in the United States have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by the age of 60. This non cancerous proliferation of tissue in the prostate gland may interfere with men's normal urination and affect their activities of daily living. Although the cause of BPH isn't known, an imbalance of hormones that occurs with aging may be responsible. A man with a family history of BPH is more likely to develop the problem, so heredity may also be a factor. Signs and symptoms of BPH include hesitancy, urgency, nocturia, and straining to void as well as reduced force of the urine stream, dribbling, and urine retention.

The article presents a study on the evaluation data on men treated with either androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) or conservative management for prostate cancer in the U.S. Study shows that ADT did not show advantage compared to conservative management for either mortality specifically related to prostate cancer or all-cause mortality. The authors concluded that despite its recent popularity, ADT for localized disease has no mortality advantage over conservative management techniques.