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Copyright of Der Urologe A is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Der Unfallchirurg is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cancer patients represent a vulnerable cohort during the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. Oncological societies have generated a plethora of recommendations, but precise instructions about routine oncological procedures remain scarce. Here, we report on local COVID-19 protection measures established in an interdisciplinary approach at a tertiary care center during the first wave of the pandemia in Germany. Following these measures, no additional morbidity or mortality during oncological procedures was observed, and no nosocomial infections were registered. However, Validation of our measures is outstanding and regional SARS-CoV-2 prevalence was low. However, specific oncological measures might be important to ensure optimal oncological results, especially for advanced cancer stages during this and future pandemia. In the future, communication about these measures might be crucial to a cancer patient´s assigned network to reduce the danger of excess mortality within the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Der Nephrologe is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Der Onkologe is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The immunological checkpoints of programmed death 1 and its ligand (PD-L1) are currently in focus as novel therapeutic targets in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic association of PD-L1 expression in clear cell (cc) RCC with clinical parameters, tumor aggressiveness and overall survival (OS). Patients who underwent renal surgery due to RCC between 1994 and 2003 were retrospectively evaluated. Tumor specimens were analyzed for PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry. One hundred and seventy-seven ccRCC patients were eligible for analysis, in which 140 (79.1 %) were negative and 37 (20.9 %) were positive for PD-L1 expression. PD-L1 positivity was associated with female gender ( p = 0.001), lymph node metastasis ( p = 0.004), distant metastasis ( p = 0.002), higher AJCC stage ( p = 0.004), as well as advanced disease (pT3/4 and/or N+ and/or M1) ( p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significantly diminished 5- and 10-year overall survival of 46.7 and 28.3 % for PD-L1 compared to PD-L1 tumors with 66 and 53.4 % ( p = 0.005), respectively. Univariate analysis showed a significant negative association of OS with PD-L1 positivity [ p = 0.005; HR: 2 (95 % CI 1.2-3.3)], even though PD-L1 positivity only tends to predict independently the OS using multivariate analyses [ p = 0.066; HR: 1.6 (95 % CI 0.98-2.7)]. PD-L1 expression in ccRCC is associated with parameters of aggressiveness, as well as with poor OS, even though PD-L1 status was not identified as a significant independent prognostic parameter. However, further studies in larger cohorts are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of bone metastasis (BM) onset toward prognosis in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated with sunitinib. Methods: mRCC patients with BM and sunitinib as first targeted therapy between May 2005 and December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with synchronous (s) BM or metachronous (m) BM were compared with regard to treatment and outcome [time to clinical progression (TTcP), overall survival (OS), skeletal-related events (SRE)]. Descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier estimation of TTcP and OS, Cox regression analyses, and a landmark analysis were administered. Results: BM was identified in 127 mRCC patients; thereof, 82 sunitinib-treated patients were analyzed [sBM n = 57 (69.5 %), mBM n = 25 (30.5 %)]. Higher tumor grading ( p = 0.029), male predominance ( p = 0.02), and less second-line therapy ( p = 0.001) were detected in sBM compared to mBM. SRE remained similar between subgroups ( p = 0.462). TTcP during sunitinib was similar [median sBM 8.1 (95 % CI 3.9-12.3) vs. mBM 8.7 (95 % CI 2.7-14.8) months, p = 0.903]. OS remained significantly inferior in sBM patients compared to mBM [median sBM 21.1 (95 % CI 16-26.2) months vs. mBM 38.5 (95 % CI 15-62) months, p = 0.001], which was confirmed by landmark analyses at 1.5, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. However, OS after occurrence of BM was similar in both groups [median sBM 24.2 (95 % CI 17.3-31.1) months vs. mBM 17.2 (95 % CI 8.4-26) months, p = 0.519]. Conclusions: mBM is associated with an improved OS compared to sBM in mRCC with sunitinib treatment, despite similar efficacy of sunitinib treatment in both groups of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sunitinib induces partial remissions (PR) in a substantial proportion of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Only little is known about the activity of sunitinib in renal lesions in patients with metastatic disease, as most patients with synchronous metastases receive palliative nephrectomy. Methods: Fourteen patients with clear cell mRCC with renal lesions and sunitinib therapy (50 mg OD, 4/2 scheme) were retrieved retrospectively from clinic records. Tumor assessment consisted of CT scans at least every two cycles, analyzed according to RECIST. In 5 of 14 patients, renal tumors were considered as the primary tumor, while the remaining patients had kidney metastases. In total, 65 target lesions were evaluated. Results: The median progression-free survival (PFS) of sunitinib was 8.7 months (range: 2.7-40.2). Median overall survival (OS) from initiation of TKI therapy was 26 months (range: 3-55). Best response according to RECIST consisted of partial remission (PR) in 4 patients, stable disease (SD) in 7 patients, a complete remission (CR) in 1 patient, and 2 patients with progressive disease (PD). Analyzing the response of renal lesions only, 1 patient had PD, 8 patients had SD, 4 patients had PR, and 1 had a CR. Palliative nephrectomy was performed after two courses of sunitinib in 2 patients. Conclusions: In our cohort, similar responses of renal tumors and peripheral metastases were achieved with sunitinib treatment. Our results support the use of sunitinib to control renal tumor lesions in metastatic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Best Practice Onkologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Der Onkologe is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Investigates the behavior of a number of well-established partitioning tools that were applied to finite-element meshes of tall buildings. Method for generating graphs to represent structures that consist of both one- and two-dimensional elements; Graph partitioning algorithms used in the study; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Some microorganisms which are pathogenic in humans share amino acid sequences with human proteins (molecular mimicry). It has been suggested that molecular mimicry might be a reason for autoimmunity as a result of immunological cross reactivity. A homologous sequence of six amino acids has been found in both Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase and the HLA-B27.5 molecule. In addition, (auto)antibodies to a synthetic peptide that contained the HLA-B27.5/klebsiella mimicking epitope have been detected in serum samples from HLA-B27 positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis and Reiter's syndrome. Confirmation of these data is important, because ankylosing spondylitis and Reiter's syndrome have so far been assumed to be 'seronegative' rheumatic diseases. It was, however, not possible to confirm the presence of autoantibodies against the mimicking peptide in serum samples from patients with ankylosing spondylitis and Reiter's syndrome. Serum samples from 81 patients with ankylosing spondylitis, 38 patients with Reiter's syndrome, and 81 healthy blood donors were tested against the 'mimicking peptide' in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Some of the serum samples from patients showed high but non-specific binding to the mimicking peptide. A highly significant correlation between binding to plastic coated with the mimicking peptide, to plastic coated with an irrelevant peptide, and even to non-coated plastic was observed. The nature of the serum component(s) in these patient serum samples (and some control serum samples) responsible for the high non-specific binding to plastic remains unclear. It was also shown that antibodies to the HLA-B27 peptide (containing the mimicking epitope) induced in rabbits do not cross react with the klebsiella peptide and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HLA-B27 subtypes can be defined by cellular, serological, and biochemical techniques. The seven subtypes so far identified represent structural variants of B27 with limited variations in the amino acid sequence of the B27 molecule. The routinely typed B27 'antigen' remains a common (shared, public) determinant present on various B27 molecules. The distribution of the subtypes varies strongly among different ethnic groups and they occur in different linkage disequilibria. In the healthy Dutch population only two subtypes were found: B27W (B27 X 1, B27M2+) (90%) and B27K (B27 X 2, B27M2-) (10%). A similar distribution of B27 subtypes was observed in 91 unrelated Dutch patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)--namely, 92% B27W and 8% B27K. In Oriental populations the subtype distribution is quite different: B27W occurs in less than 50%, whereas more than 50% individuals are of the B27C and B27D subtypes. Preliminary data indicate that the distribution of subtypes in healthy and diseased Oriental individuals is similar. These results suggest that the B27 and disease (AS) association is not correlated with the structural variations of one of the B27 subtypes, but with a common B27 determinant shared by various B27 subtypes. Consequently, the disease is older than the B27 variants. Further studies on disease and subtype distribution in various ethnic groups might contribute to a better understanding of the origin of both. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]