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In metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (mRCC), recent clinical trials have shown efficacy of first-line combination therapy, as evidenced by better clinical outcome over target therapy. However, there are insufficient real-world evidences in mRCC patients in Japan.We performed a multicenter retrospective study of 72 mRCC patients who received nivolumab plus ipilimumab as first-line treatment between September 2018 and July 2021. Patient's characteristics, clinical outcomes and safety were retrospectively reviewed. We analyzed overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients treated with combination therapy.Of all patients, the median age was 70 years (range, 36-86) and the major type of histology was clear cell RCC (n = 55; 76.4%). Progressive disease (n = 25; 34.8%) and irAEs (n = 22; 30.6%) were the most common causes for discontinuing treatment. Median PFS and OS seemed similar between patients who discontinued treatment because of irAEs and for patients who did not (p = 0.360 and p = 0.069, respectively). Importantly, for patients with synchronous metastatic disease at diagnosis (n = 56), nephrectomy before initiating nivolumab plus ipilimumab had a significantly positive impact on better OS when compared to that in patients without nephrectomy (p = 0.028).This study confirms efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for mRCC patients in real-world settings. Furthermore, nivolumab plus ipilimumab was associated with a better outcome in patients who had undergone nephrectomy at diagnosis for synchronous mRCC.

Positive controls of anti-mouse and anti-human antibodies for immunohistochemistry

Detailed data were described.

Purpose: High-fat diet (HFD) could induce prostate cancer progression. The aim of this study is to identify mechanisms of HFD-induced prostate cancer progression, focusing on inflammation.Experimental Design: We administered HFD and celecoxib to autochthonous immunocompetent Pb-Cre+;Pten(fl/fl) model mice for prostate cancer. Tumor growth was evaluated by tumor weight and Ki67 stain, and local immune cells were assessed by flow cytometry at 22 weeks of age. Cytokines which correlated with tumor growth were identified, and the changes of tumor growth and local immune cells after inhibition of the cytokine signals were evaluated in the mice. IHC analyses using prostatectomy specimens of obese patients were performed.Results: HFD accelerated tumor growth and increased the myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) fraction and M2/M1 macrophage ratio in the model mice. Celecoxib-suppressed tumor growth, and decreased both local MDSCs and M2/M1 macrophage ratio in HFD-fed mice. HFD-induced tumor growth was associated with IL6 secreted by prostatic macrophages, as were phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3)-positive tumor cells. Anti-IL6 receptor antibody administration suppressed tumor growth, and decreased local MDSCs and pSTAT3-positive cell fractions in HFD-fed mice. The tumor-infiltrating CD11b-positive cell count was significantly higher in prostatectomy specimens of obese than those of nonobese patients with prostate cancer.Conclusions: HFD increased MDSCs and accelerated prostate cancer tumor growth via IL6/pSTAT3 signaling in the mice. This mechanism could exist in obese patients with prostate cancer. IL6-mediated inflammation could be a therapeutic target for prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 24(17); 4309–18. ©2018 AACR.

Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) is currently used worldwide for detecting bone metastases from prostate cancer. The 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer is > 95%. However, an increase in survival time may increase the incidence of bone metastasis. Therefore, detecting bone metastases is of great clinical interest. Bone metastases are commonly located in the spine, pelvis, shoulder, and distal femur. Bone metastases from prostate cancer are well-known representatives of osteoblastic metastases. However, other types of bone metastases, such as mixed or inter-trabecular type, have also been detected using MRI. MRI does not involve radiation exposure and has good sensitivity and specificity for detecting bone metastases. WB-MRI has undergone gradual developments since the last century, and in 2004, Takahara et al., developed diffusion-weighted Imaging (DWI) with background body signal suppression (DWIBS). Since then, WB-MRI, including DWI, has continued to play an important role in detecting bone metastases and monitoring therapeutic effects. An imaging protocol that allows complete examination within approximately 30 min has been established. This review focuses on WB-MRI standardization and the automatic calculation of tumor total diffusion volume (tDV) and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value. In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) will enable shorter imaging times and easier automatic segmentation.

Introduction Delayed onset of immune-related adverse events following immune-checkpoint inhibitor discontinuation is underrecognized because of little available evidence. Case presentation A 50-year-old man with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Case 1) and 58-year-old woman with renal cell carcinoma and retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis (Case 2) underwent nivolumab therapy. Case 1: Progressive disease forced nivolumab discontinuance after 18 months, and he underwent two courses of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. immune-related adverse events of pneumonitis, hepatitis, and renal dysfunction were diagnosed 142 days after nivolumab discontinuation, and he recovered with immunosuppressive treatment. Case 2: The immune-related adverse event of pneumonitis forced nivolumab discontinuance after 14 months, and two courses of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy were administered. The immune-related adverse event of hepatitis was diagnosed 436 days after nivolumab discontinuation, and she recovered with immunosuppressive treatment. Conclusion Two patients with delayed onset of immune-related adverse events after nivolumab discontinuation were recovered with immunosuppressive treatment.

Recent studies have shown that immune-related adverse events (irAEs) caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were correlated with favorable clinical outcome in patients with melanoma. However, in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients, there have been few reports about the correlation between irAEs and clinical efficacy of anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) therapy. We retrospectively investigated 160 mRCC patients who started nivolumab monotherapy between September 2016 and July 2019. IrAEs were defined as patients’ AEs having a potential immunological basis that required close follow-up, or immunosuppressive therapy. We compared the data of patients who received nivolumab into two groups based on the occurrence of irAEs and assessed clinical efficacy in both groups. Of all mRCC patients, 47 patients (29.4%) developed irAEs. In patients who developed irAEs, the objective response rate and disease control rate were 38.8% and 77.6%, which were significantly higher when compared to that in patients without irAEs (p = 0.012 and p

Background In cT1 renal cell carcinoma (RCC), very few studies have compared oncological outcomes and renal function preservation rates in nephron-sparing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) and percutaneous cryoablation (PCA). Patients and methods We retrospectively analysed 126 patients with cT1 RCC treated with RAPN (n=78) and computed tomography-guided PCA (n=48) between March 2016 and November 2019. Clinical data and outcomes were compared for the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in the 3-year overall survival and relapse-free survival rates in the two groups (p=0.17 and p=0.093, respectively). The median percentage of estimated glomerular filtration rate preservation at 6 months after surgery was 91.8% and 91.4% in the RAPN and PCA groups, respectively (p=0.9). Conclusion In patients with cT1a RCC, oncological outcomes and renal function appear similar following RAPN and PCA.

A 52-year-old man complained of asymptomatic gross hematuria and cough. Chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a right renal tumor, mediastinal lymph node metastasis, and right endobronchial metastasis. The right endobronchial metastasis was causing obstructive atelectasis in the lower lobe of the right lung. After tumor biopsy, the pathological diagnosis was clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Combination immunotherapy with ipilimumab and nivolumab was initiated, but CT showed enlargement of the metastatic lesion and lung abscess after two courses of treatment. The therapy was then switched to axitinib. Six days after initiation of axitinib, the lung abscess perforated into the pleural cavity, which resulted in the formation of pleural empyema with fistula. Ten days after initiation of axitinib, obstruction of the bronchus was relieved due to shrinkage of the right endobronchial metastasis, which resulted in development of a pneumothorax. Placement of a thoracic drainage tube and administration of an antimicrobial agent improved the pneumothorax and inflammatory response, but the drainage tube could not be removed. Long-term insertion of the thoracic drainage tube considerably diminished the patient's quality of life, and after 4 months, he was transferred to another hospital to receive the best supportive care.

When primary treatment has been inadequate, nivolumab and axitinib are often used as a secondary treatments for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). However, there have been few reports comparing the efficacy and safety of these drugs.We retrospectively investigated 58 patients treated with nivolumab and 57 patients treated with axitinib as secondary treatment between April 2013 and December 2019. We then assessed the clinical efficacy and safety of the treatments in both groups.The most common primary therapy was sunitinib (61.7%). Both nivolumab and axitinib groups showed no significant differences in terms of the objective response rate and disease control rate (p = 0.280 and p = 0.518, respectively). Importantly, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) seemed to be similar in patients treated with nivolumab and axitinib (p = 0.527 and p = 0.266, respectively), irrespective of the objective response to primary therapy. Furthermore, a Cox proportional hazards model showed that pretreatment Karnofsky Performance Status was significantly associated with PFS and OS. Although the incidence of adverse events was significantly higher in the patients treated with axitinib, there was no significant difference in time to treatment failure between the two groups.Nivolumab and axitinib showed similar clinical benefits as secondary treatment in patients with mRCC; thus, they should be an option in sequential therapy following treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Future studies and feasible therapeutic biomarkers would help predict the clinical response to TKIs or immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with mRCC.

Radium-223 (Ra-223) is a targeted alpha therapy that has been shown to prolong overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) with bone metastases. However, prognosis after Ra-223 administration varies among patients. The aim of the present study was to assess risk factors associated with the poor prognosis of patients treated with Ra-223. We retrospectively reviewed patients’ records of treatment with Ra-223 between October 2016 and December 2019. All patients had mCRPC, bone metastasis, and no known visceral metastases, and received up to six cycles of Ra-223 (55 kBq/kg). Prognostic factors for OS were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank test. We identified 42 patients who received at least one cycle of Ra-223 (median six cycles, range 1–6). Approximately two-thirds of patients had received at least two lines of therapy for mCRPC. The median age was 74 years, and the median follow-up duration was 13.6 months. The median OS time was 16.6 months. On multivariate analysis, PSA doubling time (PSADT) (0–3 months) at baseline, number of bone metastases (≥ 20), and treatment line of Ra-223 (4th–5th line) remained significantly correlated with the poor OS (HR 4.354, P = 0.003; HR 2.855, P = 0.020; and HR 4.871, P = 0.001, respectively). Our study demonstrated that a shorter PSADT, a heavier volume of bone metastases, and a later treatment line before Ra-223 are poor prognostic factors for mCRPC patients. These newly discovered risk factors may help select patients who potentially have long-term OS after Ra-223 treatment.

We report the failure to achieve castrate level of serum testosterone during luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy in a patient with prostate cancer. A 76-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of an elevated serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level (191.10 ng/ml) in August 2011. He was diagnosed with T3aN0M1b prostate adenocarcinoma. A combined androgen blockade using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist (the 1-month depot of leuprorelin acetate) and antiandrogen was administered. Due to liver dysfunction, antiandrogens, both bicalutamide and flutamide, were stopped. The 1-month depot was switched to the 3-month depot in May 2013, but the patient complained of induration and abscess at the infection site. Leuprorelin acetate was replaced by goserelin acetate. Because no adverse event appeared after injection of the 1-month depot of goserelin acetate, the 3-month depot was administered in October 2013. The PSA level increased gradually, and the testosterone level was greater than 50 ng/dl, that is, above castrate range. The 3-month depot of both leuprorelin acetate and goserelin acetate was not effective for this patient. For this reason, the 1-month depot of leuprorelin acetate was started resulting in a rapid decrease in PSA and testosterone levels. Thereafter, androgen depriving therapy could be continued. Androgen deprivation therapy is the standard treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone aims to suppress serum testosterone to castrate range. We recommend assessing the serum testosterone levels during luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy for monitoring treatment efficacy and verifying progression when the PSA level increases.

Introduction Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor with an unfavorable prognosis in the advanced stage for which second-/third-line chemotherapy is not well established. Case presentation A 34-year-old woman was referred to our institution for left adrenal tumor with multiple liver metastases and tumor thrombus extending to the inferior vena cava. According to her clinical diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma (T4N0M1, European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors stage IV), we resected the left adrenal tumor and tumor thrombus. Pathological examination confirmed the adrenocortical carcinoma diagnosis. After four courses of etoposide, doxorubicin, cisplatin, and mitotane therapy, the liver metastases progressed, and we started gemcitabine, capecitabine, and mitotane therapy as second-line chemotherapy. After 7 months, significant shrinkage of the liver metastases was observed, and they remained stable over 16 months. Conclusion We reported a case of advanced adrenocortical carcinoma with significant shrinkage of liver metastases following gemcitabine, capecitabine, and mitotane therapy, with the effect maintained over 16 months.

It is important to evaluate the clinical importance of both CD8 T cells and CD4 T cells expression simultaneously because they have crucial networks in tumour targeting immune responses. In 97 RCC patients, RNA sequencing and gene set enrichment analysis of both CD8 and CD4 T cells based on the expression levels of PD-1 and TIM-3 implied that the populations of PD-1+TIM-3+ CD8 T cells and PD-1lowTIM-3 + CD4 T cells were characterized as exhausted CD8 T cells and regulatory CD4 T cells, respectively. These populations of CD4 and CD8 T cells were significantly upregulated in the patients with RCC of higher WHO/ISUP grade (grades 3, 4) (P P P = 0.026). This study showed that tumour grade significantly correlated with dysfunction of both CD4+ and CD8+ TILs and the efficacy of nivolumab treatment.

Although several studies have reported that microRNA (miR)‐92b‐3p is involved in various cellular processes related to carcinogenesis, its physiological role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unclear. To clarify the role of miR‐92b‐3p in ccRCC, we compared miR‐92b‐3p expression levels in ccRCC tissues and adjacent normal renal tissues. Significant upregulation of miR‐92b‐3p was observed in ccRCC tissues. Overexpression of miR‐92b‐3p using a miRNA mimic promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion activities of ACHN cells. Functional inhibition of miR‐92b‐3p by a hairpin miRNA inhibitor suppressed Caki‐2 cell growth and invasion activities in vitro. Mechanistically, it was found that miR‐92b‐3p directly targeted the TSC1 gene, a known upstream regulator of mTOR. Overexpression of miR‐92b‐3p decreased the protein expression of TSC1 and enhanced the downstream phosphorylation of p70S6 kinase, suggesting that the mTOR signaling pathway was activated by miR‐92b‐3p in RCC cells. Importantly, a multivariate Cox proportion hazard model, based on TNM staging and high levels of miR‐92b‐3p, revealed that miR‐92b‐3p expression (high vs. low hazard ratio, 2.86; 95% confidence interval, 1.20‐6.83; P = .018) was a significant prognostic factor for overall survival of ccRCC patients with surgical management. Taken together, miR‐92b‐3p was found to act as an oncomiR, promoting cell proliferation by downregulating TSC1 in ccRCC., MicroRNA‐92b‐3p was found to act as an oncomiR, promoting cell proliferation by downregulating TSC1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and predicts poor patient overall survival.

A 32-year-old Japanese man was referred to our hospital with a chief complaint of the delayed puberty with having been aware of it since he was in his teens. Physical examination demonstrated the small penis, the impalpable left testis, and the atrophic right testis in the scrotum. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging showed the left testis of 8 mm in the external inguinal ring. Endocrinological blood tests revealed that testosterone and luteinizing hormone were 0.34 ng/mL and 1 mIU/mL, respectively, leading to a diagnosis of the left cryptorchidism with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The hCG therapy was initiated, resulting in the increased volume and spontaneous descent into the scrotum of the left testis after 6 months of the treatment. The hCG therapy could be an alternative treatment for surgery for cryptorchidism with hypogonadism in adults.

Cabazitaxel is a next-generation taxane that can prolong overall survival after docetaxel treatment in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, the efficacy of cabazitaxel varies among these patients. The clinical indicators of the prognosis after cabazitaxel treatment were analyzed.A retrospective review of patients who received cabazitaxel between February 2015 and June 2021 was performed. All patients had metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Prognostic factors for prostate-specific antigen progression-free and overall survival were analyzed by Cox proportional-hazards analysis and the log-rank test.The study comprised 57 patients who received cabazitaxel (median 4 cycles, range 1-27) at a starting dose of 15-25 mg/mPrevious androgen receptor-axis-targeted therapy was the only risk factor for biochemical progression. Poor performance status, anemia, and high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio were risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with cabazitaxel. These risk factors seem useful for identifying patients with survival benefit from cabazitaxel treatment.

66 Background: In the PREVAIL study, enzalutamide was demonstrated to be effective in men with chemo-naïve metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In Japan, enzalutamide was introduced in 2014. Real-world evidence is needed for the long-term safety and efficacy of enzalutamide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and prognostic factors in CRPC treated with enzalutamide. Methods: This multicenter, prospective, observational study enrolled 163 Japanese CRPC patients between January 2016 and March 2019. Eligibility criteria were men with chemo-naïve CRPC, no prior treatment with novel androgen receptor signaling inhibitors, and an ECOG- Performance Status ≤ 2. The switching of bicalutamide and flutamide was eligible. Written consent for participation has been obtained from the patient. Enzalutamide 160 mg/day was administered once daily according to usual practice. Data were collected from medical records at baseline and every 3 months until march 2021. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), and factors associated with OS were examined. Cox proportional hazards model was used for statistics. The secondary endpoints were PSA response and safety. Results: At a median follow-up of 26.0 months, the median OS was 42.1 months and 24-month OS rate was 69%. Univariate analysis showed that time to CRPC, pretreatment serum PSA, baseline NSE, and baseline interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were associated with OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that pretreatment serum PSA (hazard ratio [HR] 2.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30-4.10), baseline NSE (HR 2.97, 95%CI 1.24-7.11), and baseline IL-6 (HR 2.32 95%CI 1.32-4.09) were independent risk factors for OS. PSA decline more than 50% was 74% (n=120). Fatigue (30%, n=49), constipation (20%, n=32) and appetite loss (18%, n=29) were the most common adverse events (AEs). Dose reduction/drug discontinuation rates were 20% (n=33) due to AEs and 18% (n=29) due to patient request. Conclusions: The efficacy and safety of enzalutamide in Japanese real clinical practice were comparable to those reported in PREVAIL study. The present analysis also suggests that serum PSA, NSE and IL-6 levels are independent prognostic factors in CRPC patients. Clinical trial information: UMIN000019855 . [Table: see text]

This paper utilizes IEEE 802.11aa GCR Block Ack and TXOP-Bursting for lossless groupcast of computer data. Both mechanisms are mainly for audiovisual communications. We adopt them for computer data groupcast. We propose a dynamic control method of EDCA parameters to allow TXOP-Bursting without interfering with other traffic. We perform a computer simulation to evaluate the required time for lossless transmission. As a result, we show that GCR Block Ack using TXOP-Bursting with the dynamic control of the EDCA parameters can shorten the time needed for lossless transmission.

A 12-year-old girl was found to have decending colon diverticulum perforation and retroperitoneal abscess on computed tomography (CT) carried out to determine the cause of fever and stomachache. CT-guided drainage tube placement was performed. She was suspected of having MEN2B from her specific facial appearance, Marfan-like body shape and lingual mucosa neuroma. Cervical ultrasonography and serum tumor marker revealed medullary thyroid carcinoma and metastasis to cervical lymph node. Genetic examination revealed a mutation of RET gene codon 918. Therefore, she was diagnosed as having MEN2B. Laboratory data showed elevated urinary catecholamines. Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) adrenal scintigraphy showed bilateral adrenal uptake and a definitive diagnosis of bilateral adrenal pheochromocytomas was made. Discharge from the drainage tube persisted and it was difficult to continue conservative treatment. Therefore, laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy and transverse colon colostomy were performed. Subsequently, total thyroidectomy and cervical lymph node dissection were performed. At five years of follow up, bilateral lung metastases were observed, but the serum calcitonin level was normal and the patient is under observation.

BACKGROUND/AIM Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated a survival benefit for patients with cancer. However, the clinical outcomes of subsequent tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) after ICI failure in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) remain unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively examined 38 patients with mRCC who started TKIs immediately after nivolumab with (combination group) or without ipilimumab (nivolumab group) between September 2016 and July 2019. RESULTS Of the 38 patients, 16 and 11 achieved partial response and stable disease, respectively, resulting in a 42.1% objective response rate and 71.1% disease control rate. The median progression-free survival (PFS) from TKI initiation was 8.8 and 12.9 months in the nivolumab and combination groups, respectively. PFS and overall survival were significantly longer in patients with long-term responses to previous ICI treatment (p=0.0152 and p=0.0155, respectively). CONCLUSION TKIs demonstrate adequate anti-tumour activity after treatment with ICIs in real-world settings.

Background Computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) systems for bone scans have been introduced as clinical quality assurance tools, but few studies have reported on its utility for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic validity of the CAD system for bone scans and to construct a novel diagnostic system for bone metastases in RCC patients. Methods We evaluated bone scan images of 300 RCC patients. Artificial neural network (ANN) values, which represent the probability of abnormality, were calculated by BONENAVI, the CAD software for bone scans. By analyzing ANN values, we assessed the diagnostic validity of BONENAVI. Next, we selected 108 patients who underwent measurements of bone turnover markers and assessed the combined diagnostic validity of BONENAVI and bone turnover markers. Results Forty-three out of 300 RCC patients had bone metastases. The AUC of ANN values was 0.764 and the optimum sensitivity and specificity were 83.7 and 62.7%. By logistic analysis of 108 cases, we found that ICTP, a bone resorption marker, could be a diagnostic marker. The AUC of ICTP was 0.776 and the optimum sensitivity and specificity were 57.1 and 86.8%. Subsequently, we developed a novel diagnostic model based on ANN values and ICTP. Using this model, the AUC was 0.849 and the optimum sensitivity and specificity were 76.2 and 80.7%. Conclusion By combining the high sensitivity provided by BONENAVI and the high specificity provided by ICTP, we constructed a novel, high-accuracy diagnostic model for bone metastases in RCC patients.

Most upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUC) are muscle invasive at the time of diagnosis. Current standard methods for the diagnosis of UTUC are invasive. Urine cytology is the only non-invasive test for detecting UTUC, but its sensitivity is low. A novel non-invasive assay for UTUC detection would improve patient outcome. This study aimed to investigate the mutation of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in urine supernatant to develop a reliable diagnostic biomarker for UTUC patients. We studied urinary cfDNA from 153 individuals, including 56 patients with localized UTUC, and carried out droplet digital PCR assay for TERT promoter and FGFR3 hotspot mutations. We could detect mutations of TERT C228T in 22/56 (39.3%), TERT C250T in 4/56 (7.1%), and FGFR3 S249C in 9/56 (16.1%) patients. FGFR3 mutation was detected only in ≤pT1 tumors (positive predictive value: 100.0%). In combination with cytology results, the sensitivity was 78.6%, and the specificity was 96.0%. Although these data need to be validated in a larger-scale cohort, mutation analysis of TERT promoter and FGFR3 in urinary cfDNA has the potential to be a non-invasive diagnostic marker and reliable factor for tumor staging.

Background There are no previous reports directly evaluating immunologic conditions in tumor microenvironment including both bladder cancer (BCa) and upper urinary tract carcinoma (UTUC). In this study, we aimed to clarify the difference of immunity status and its clinical significance depending on the tumor site in urothelial carcinoma. Patients and Methods Tumor tissue–infiltrating lymphocytes were extracted from 70 urothelial cancer patients who underwent surgical resection (52 cases of BCa and 18 cases of UTUC). The immunologic classification was established by unsupervised clustering analysis according to the expression ratio of 9 extracellular surface markers measured by flow cytometry, and we examined the relationship between immunologic classification and clinical importance such as pathologic status and prognosis (progression-free survival and cancer-specific survival). Results The immunologic condition was classified into 2 groups. Group 1 (n = 41) comprised the CD4 T-cell–dominant group and group 2 (n = 29) the immunologically activated group. This immunologic classification was significantly correlated with tumor grade (P = .020) but not tumor location in multivariate analysis. In invasive BCa patients (n = 33), progression-free survival and cancer-specific survival of group 2 were significantly worse than those of group 1 (P = .021 and P = .022, respectively), while there was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 in patients with invasive UTUC (n = 17). Conclusion Although there was no difference in the local immunologic condition of urothelial carcinoma between BCa and UTUC, its significance as a prognostic predictor might vary depending on tumor site.

Background Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes are present in blood, urine, and saliva and contain proteins, microRNAs, and messenger RNAs. We investigated microRNAs in urinary EVs to discover new biomarkers of prostate cancer (PCa). Methods We isolated EVs from urine obtained following digital rectal examination (DRE) of 14 men with elevated levels of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) [negative biopsy (n=4) and PCa with Gleason scores of 6 (n=3), 7 (n=3), and 8-9 (n=4)]. MicroRNAs extracted from EVs were analyzed by microRNA microarray. Results MicroRNAs miR-30b-3p and miR-126-3p were identified as being overexpressed in urinary EVs of the PCa patients versus the biopsy-negative men, but no microRNAs were associated with the Gleason score. In the independent cohort as well, these two microRNAs were overexpressed in urinary EVs from the PCa patients versus the negative-biopsy men. Logistic regression analysis adjusted by age and PSA showed that these two microRNAs were significantly associated with the prediction of PCa in biopsy specimens. Sensitivity and specificity of miR-30b-3p and miR-126-3p for the prediction of PCa were 46.4% and 88.0% and 60.7% and 80.0%, respectively, which were better than those of serum PSA (53.5% and 64.0%, respectively). Conclusions MiR-30b-3p and miR-126-3p in urinary EVs could be potential biomarkers of PCa.

The incidence rate and risk factors of antiresorptive agent-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (ARONJ) in prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis are not clear. We retrospectively reviewed patients’ records of prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis who were treated with zoledronic acid or denosumab between 1/Dec/2008 and 31/Mar/2019. ARONJ-free survival rate was analyzed with Kaplan–Meier analysis, and risk factors for ARONJ were analyzed with Cox proportional hazard model. We identified 124 and 67 patients treated with zoledronic acid and denosumab, respectively. Seventy-six patients were hormone sensitive, and 115 patients were castration resistant when they started bone-modifying agents (BMA). Twenty-eight patients developed ARONJ during the observation period (median: 23 months, range 1–130 months). Their number of doses of BMA ranged 3–69 (median: 21.5). The 2-year ARONJ-free survival rate was 91.1%, and the 5-year ARONJ-free survival rate was 72.5%. There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of ARONJ between zoledronic acid and denosumab. However, multivariate analysis revealed that use of denosumab (hazard ratio [HR] 3.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–13.31; p = 0.0484), serum calcium

A 64-year-old man was diagnosed as having Cushing's disease due to multiple lumbar compression fracture in 2009. Although various treatments including three times transsphenoidal surgery and twice radiotherapy were performed, his serum cortisol level rose again and intractable cutaneous ulcer occurred. Just after discontinuation of medication to treat the progression due of severe hepatic dysfunction, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary artery embolism occurred. To control the Cushing's disease, laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy was performed.

// Yoshiyuki Yamamoto 1 , Motohide Uemura 1, 2 , Kosuke Nakano 1 , Yujiro Hayashi 1 , Cong Wang 1 , Yu Ishizuya 1 , Toshiro Kinouchi 1 , Takuji Hayashi 1 , Kyosuke Matsuzaki 1 , Kentaro Jingushi 2 , Taigo Kato 1 , Atsunari Kawashima 1 , Takeshi Ujike 1 , Akira Nagahara 1 , Kazutoshi Fujita 1 , Ryoichi Imamura 1 and Norio Nonomura 1 1 Department of Urology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita 565-0871, Japan 2 Department of Therapeutic Urologic Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita 565-0871, Japan Correspondence to: Motohide Uemura, email: uemura@uro.med.osaka-u.ac.jp Keywords: circulating cell-free DNA; renal cell carcinoma; plasma; level; fragment size Received: December 14, 2017 Accepted: March 11, 2018 Published: April 17, 2018 ABSTRACT Background: Reliable biomarkers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have yet to be found. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is an emerging resource for the diagnosis and prognosis of various cancers. This study aims to identify novel blood biomarkers for RCC. Materials And Methods: Plasma cfDNA was extracted from RCC patients ( n = 92) and healthy controls ( n = 41). Levels of cfDNA were determined using quantitative real-time PCR of ACTB as the target gene, and cfDNA fragment size was measured using a microfluidics-based platform. Diagnostic potential was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and logistic regression analysis, and prognostic potential was evaluated using log-rank test. Results: Median levels of cfDNA from RCC patients were significantly higher than those from healthy controls (3803 vs 2242 copies/ml, p < 0.001). Median fragment sizes of cfDNA in RCC patients were shorter than those in healthy controls (170 vs 171 bp, p = 0.052). To evaluate level of cfDNA as a diagnostic tool for RCC, ROC curve analysis revealed a sensitivity of 63.0% and a specificity of 78.1%. Multivariate analysis indicated that age, gender and the level of cfDNA were significantly associated with the presence of RCC ( p < 0.001, p = 0.013, p < 0.001, respectively). Additionally, shorter cfDNA fragment size was negatively associated with progression-free survival ( p = 0.006). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the diagnostic and prognostic potential of plasma cfDNA as a biomarker for RCC.

Summary There are no blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in routine clinical use. We focused on the gene expression profile of peripheral blood cells obtained from RCC patients to discover novel biomarkers for RCC diagnosis. Using microarray analysis and quantitative verification, CXCL7 was shown to be significantly up-regulated in the peripheral blood cells of RCC patients. Importantly, aberrant CXCL7 expression was confirmed even in peripheral blood cells obtained from early stage (pT1a) RCC patients, and the expression level of CXCL7 in peripheral blood cells was a potential independent biomarker for the diagnosis of RCC by Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis (sensitivity of 70.0% and specificity of 64.0%, AUC = 0.722, a multiple logistic regression analysis, OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.11; P = 0.0004). Moreover, CXCL7 expression in peripheral blood cells significantly decreased after resection of the primary tumor. CXCL7 is more highly expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells than in neutrophils from both healthy controls and RCC patients. Interestingly, CXCL7 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers was significantly elevated following co-culture with RCC cells compared to those co-cultured with normal cells as a control. These results suggest that aberrant CXCL7 expression in peripheral blood cells is induced by RCC cells and may serve as a novel biomarker in the diagnosis of RCC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Circulating levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and testosterone are widely used for the detection of prostate cancer prior to prostate biopsy; however, both remain controversial. Effective screening strategies based on quantitative factors could help avoid unnecessary biopsies. Here, we sought to clarify the predictive value of free testosterone (FT) vs total testosterone (TT) in identifying patients likely to have positive biopsies. This study aims to develop a novel model for predicting positive prostate biopsy based on serum androgen levels. This study included 253 Japanese patients who underwent prostate biopsy at our institution. TT and FT, %FT (=FT/TT), age, PSA, prostate volume (PV) and PSA density (PSAD = PSA/PV) were assessed for association with prostate biopsy findings. The following results were obtained. Of 253 patients, 145 (57.3%) had positive biopsies. Compared to the negative biopsy group, the positive biopsy group demonstrated higher age, PSA and PSAD but lower PV, FT and %FT by univariate analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated PSA, PSAD and %FT were independent predictors of cancer detection. We developed a predictive model based on PSAD and %FT, for which the area under the curve was significantly greater than that of PSA (0.82 vs 0.66), a well-known predictor. Applying this analysis to the subset of patients with PSA

A 57-year-old female patient on hemodialysis with chronic renal failure due to chronic glomerular nephritis received deceased donor kidney transplantation. Induction immunosuppressive therapy was combination of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, everolimus, prednisolone, and basiliximab. She was diagnosed with secondary thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) by clinical findings such as hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute kidney injury not by pathological findings on the 4th post-operative date. Plasma exchange was performed with suspension of tacrolimus. General conditions recovered, and the graft function was preserved.

Inactivated Sendai virus particles (hemagglutinating virus of Japan envelope (HVJ-E)) have a novel antitumor effect: HVJ-E fused to prostate cancer cells via cell surface receptor causes apoptosis of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. HVJ-E also induces antitumor immunity by activating natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T cells and suppressing regulatory T cells in vivo. We conducted an open-label, single-arm, phase I/II clinical trial in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) to determine the safety and efficacy of intratumoral and subcutaneous injection of HVJ-E. Patients with CRPC who were docetaxel-resistant or could not receive docetaxel treatment were eligible. HVJ-E was injected directly into the prostate on day 1 and subcutaneously on days 5, 8 and 12 in two 28-day treatment cycles using a 3+3 dose-escalation design. The primary end points were to evaluate safety and tolerability of HVJ-E. The secondary end points were to analyze tumor immunity and antitumor effect. The study is registered at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, number UMIN000006142. Seven patients were enrolled, and six patients received HVJ-E. Grade 2 or 3 adverse events (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Ver. 4.0) were urinary retention and lymphopenia from which the patients recovered spontaneously. No Grade 4 adverse events were observed. Radiographically, three patients had stable disease in the low-dose group, and one patient had stable disease and two had progressive disease in the high-dose group. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) declined from 14 to 1.9 ng ml−1 in one patient in the low-dose group after two cycles of HVJ-E treatment, and the PSA response rate was 16.6%. NK cell activity was elevated from day 12 to day 28 after HVJ-E administration, whereas serum interleukin-6, interferon (IFN)-α, IFN-β and IFN-γ levels were not affected by HVJ-E treatment. Intratumoral and subcutaneous injections of HVJ-E are feasible and PSA response was observed in a subgroup of CRPC patients.

To evaluate the clinical and histopathological effects of presurgical treatment with sunitinib on inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombus. Between 2010 and 2014, we treated seven patients with renal cell carcinoma and IVC tumor thrombus presurgically with sunitinib. We retrospectively evaluated primitive tumor size, the level of tumor thrombus according to Novick's classification, its distance above the renal vein, thrombus diameter at its widest segment, and histopathological change after sunitinib treatment. Three patients were diagnosed histologically. Percutaneous biopsy of the renal mass before sunitinib treatment was performed in two patients. One patient was diagnosed after sunitinib treatment following nephrectomy. The primitive tumors shrank upon sunitinib therapy in four cases; however, although the caval thrombus was downstaged (from level II to I) in one patient, the level of caval thrombus did not change in five patients and increased in one patient (from level III to IV). We evaluated the histopathological effects in two patients. In one patient, the IVC tumor thrombus was mostly replaced with necrotic tissue, but its thrombus level was not downstaged. In the other patient, the IVC tumor thrombus was downstaged, but tumor thrombus was not replaced with necrotic tissue and viable tumor cells remained. Presurgical treatment with sunitinib for renal cell carcinoma with IVC tumor thrombus appears to have limited effect on IVC tumor thrombus, in contrast to its effects on primitive tumor shrinkage. In the absence of evidence of presurgical benefits from prospective studies, this treatment may not be systematically advisable.

A 25-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of right scrotal pain and upper abdominal pain. A computed tomographic scan indicated a right scrotal mass, a huge liver mass, and multiple lung masses, although there was no enlarged retroperitoneal lymph node swelling. Laboratory tests showed severe liver and kidney dysfunction and high levels of serum α-fetoprotein (11 997 ng/ml). Although needle biopsies of the testicular and liver masses were performed, the tissues were insufficient for a pathological diagnosis. As liver and kidney function worsened, we started chemotherapy with bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP chemotherapy), which was modified because of the liver and renal dysfunction. We also used continuous hemodiafiltration and rasburicase to prevent tumor lysis syndrome. After induction of chemotherapy, the liver and kidney dysfunction improved immediately and the high orchiectomy was performed on day 8 after chemotherapy. The pathological diagnosis was a yolk sac tumor. He underwent four courses of the BEP regimen and five courses of the TIN regimen (paclitaxel, ifosphamide, and nedaplatin), followed by the resection of liver metastases. There was no evidence of viable cells in the resected liver and no recurrence was evident at 1 year postoperatively.