Search

Objective: To assess whether the phosphorylated Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) at 194 serine (p-FADD) is valuable as a marker of biochemical recurrence in hormone-naive patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods: We used radical prostatectomy specimens from 106 patients. None of the patients had received neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. The percentage of positive p-FADD cells (nuclear staining) was immunohistochemically evaluated. The correlation between FADD phosphorylation and the clinicopathologic parameters was assessed. The correlation between the biochemical recurrence-free rate and the p-FADD expression level was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Overall, 39 patients developed biochemical recurrence. We investigated the expression of p-FADD in 106 patients with prostate cancer using immunohistochemistry. We compared our findings with the clinicopathologic parameters, including the follow-up data. Patients with a greater positive p-FADD rate had a significantly lower biochemical recurrence rate than those with a lower positive p-FADD rate (P < .001). A significant inverse correlation was found between the positive p-FADD rate and the Gleason score. Conclusion: A low expression of p-FADD could be a predictor of biochemical recurrence in hormone-naive patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the chronologic changes in the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), uroflowmetric parameters, and prostate volume (PV) in patients who received low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Methods: Between July 2004 and December 2006, 110 patients received low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Of the 110 patients, 82 were treated with seed implantation alone and 28 with combined external beam radiotherapy. The IPSS, uroflowmetric parameters, and PV were evaluated before seed implantation and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after seed implantation. Results: The mean IPSS showed a significant increase at 1 and 6 months after seed implantation and had returned to baseline 12 months later. The maximal flow rate, voided volume, and postvoid residual urine volume showed transient deterioration at 1 and 6 months after seed implantation and had returned to the baseline 12 months later. The mean PV compared with the baseline PV showed a significant 3.8-cm decrease (11.2%) at 12 months after implantation. The patients who did not receive neoadjuvant hormonal therapy had a 5.9-cm decrease in PV (20.2%) 12 months later. In contrast, those who received neoadjuvant hormonal therapy had no change in PV after seed implantation. Conclusions: This is the first report to evaluate the chronologic changes in subjective parameters (IPSS) and objective parameters (uroflowmetry) and PV, concurrently. The changes in subjective parameters correlated with the changes in objective parameters during the first 12 months after seed implantation. The change in the PV was different after seed implantation in patients with or without neoadjuvant hormonal therapy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma is a rare malignant neoplasm in the urinary bladder. A 46-year-old man presented with gross hematuria and increased serum concentrations of both carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG). The tumor was composed of conventional urothelial carcinoma and plasmacytoid variant, both positive for epithelial markers. In addition, plasmacytoid tumor cells were positive for an accepted marker of plasma cell origin, CD138. CA19-9 was mainly expressed in conventional urothelial carcinoma cells, and β-hCG was mainly produced by plasmacytoid tumor cells. This is the first report, to our knowledge, indicating β-hCG can be produced by plasmacytoid bladder cancer cells lacking trophoblastic features. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]