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Background: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of site-specific metastases in patients with metastatic bladder cancer and analyze the roles that surgeries play in the treatment of this malignancy. Materials and methods: A population-based retrospective study using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results dataset was performed and metastatic bladder cancer patients were classified according to the sites of metastases (bone, brain, liver, lung and distant lymph nodes). Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank test was used for survival comparisons. Multivariate Cox regression model was employed to analyze the effect of distant metastatic sites on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Results: A total of 1862 patients with metastatic bladder cancer from 2010 to 2014 were identified. Bone, lung and distant lymph nodes were the most common metastatic sites. Patients with bone, brain, liver and lung involvement had worse OS and CSS compared to patients without the corresponding sites of metastases. Multivariate analysis showed that bone, brain, liver and lung metastases were independent prognostic factors for both OS and CSS, while distant node metastasis was not. Moreover, patients with a single metastatic site had more favorable OS (p<0.001) and CSS (p<0.001) than patients with multisite metastases. Among single-site metastatic patients, distant nodes and liver metastases represented the best and the worst prognosis, respectively. Moreover, radical cystectomy was an independent predictor for better OS and CSS, while in patients with liver metastasis and multiple metastatic sites, RC did not bring benefits. Besides, in patients with a single metastatic site, metastasectomy seemed to be associated with favorable OS (p=0.042), especially for patients with age <65 years (p=0.006) and for muscleinvasive bladder cancer patients (p=0.031). Conclusion: Distant metastatic sites have differential impact on survival outcomes in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. Surgeries, including radical cystectomy and metastasectomy, might still lead to survival benefits for highly selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) is increasingly being used for the surgical management of renal masses. The comparison of RAPN with open partial nephrectomy (OPN) has not yet led to a unified conclusion with regard to perioperative outcomes. Purpose: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on the perioperative outcomes of RAPN compared with OPN. Methods: We searched PubMed and EMBASE through January 31, 2016, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational comparative studies assessing the comparison of the two approaches (RAPN vs OPN). Primary outcomes were intraoperative complication rate and postoperative complication rate (including minor and major). Secondary outcomes were perioperative transfusion rate, positive surgical margin (PSM) rate, operative time (OT), warm ischemia time (WIT), estimated blood loss (EBL), length of hospital stay (LOS), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) change. Results: A total of 19 cohort studies with at least 3551 patients (RAPN, 1216; OPN, 2335) were included. Compared with OPN, RAPN had the advantages of (a) lower rates of postoperative complication (risk ratio [RR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.46, 0.78, p = 0.0002), postoperative minor complication (RR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.56, 0.96, p = 0.02), and postoperative major complication (RR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.30, 0.84, p = 0.01); (b) lower need for transfusion (RR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.41, 0.98, p = 0.04); (c) less EBL (weighted mean difference [WMD]=-98.82, 95% CI=-125.64, -72.01, p < 0.00001); and (d) shorter LOS (WMD=-2.64, 95% CI=-3.27, -2.00, p < 0.00001). Sensitivity analyses excluding studies with obvious selection bias based on tumor complexity confirmed all these advantages. RAPN had longer OT (WMD= 18.56, 95% CI = 2.13, 35.00, p = 0.03) and WIT (WMD= 3.65, 95% CI = 0.75, 6.56, p = 0.01) in the primary analyses. Sensitivity analyses, however, showed no differences between RAPN and OPN regarding OT and WIT. Intraoperative complication rate (RR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.29, 1.27, p = 0.19), PSM rate (RR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.56, 1.34, p = 0.52), and short-term eGFR change, including absolute eGFR change (WMD=-1.56, 95% CI=-3.41, 0.28, p = 0.10) and percentage eGFR change (WMD= 0.99, 95% CI=-0.52, 2.50), did not differ between the two approaches. Conclusions: Compared with OPN, RAPN appears to have lower morbidity and achieves similar short-term functional outcomes. However, evidence is limited regarding the long-term oncologic outcomes even though the PSM rate is similar between the two groups. Well-designed RCTs with large sample sizes and long-term follow-up are needed to confirm and update the findings of our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few data exist that correlate lesion-related risk factors such as conventional cardiovascular risks or lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) with tissue types within atherosclerotic plaques in patients with single-vessel and intermediate coronary lesions. Methods: One hundred and ninety-two patients with single-vessel and intermediate coronary lesions were enrolled in a cross-sectional study and divided into two groups: stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) groups. Data regarding clinical characteristics and Lp-PLA2 mass were collected. Using iMAP-IVUS, lumen areas were manually traced to determine the minimum lumen area (MLA) at 1-mm intervals in diseased segments. At the minimum lumen lesion, areas of different types of atherosclerotic tissue [i.e., areas of fibrous plaque tissue (FP), fibro-fatty tissue (FF), dense calcium(DC) and necrotic core (NC)], vascular external elastic membrane (EEMCSA) and plaque and media (P&MCSA) were calculated using the built-in iMap algorithm. Plaque burden was computed as P&MCSA divided by EEMCSA. Results: In a univariate analysis, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C (GHbA1C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), hypertension, Lp-PLA2 and a history of taking statins predicted the degree of FP and NC area, as well as plaque burden, but were not significant predictors of FF or DC area. In a multivariate analysis, Lp-PLA2 and HbA1c remained independent predictors of plaque burden, FP and NC area. However, the results of the regression analyses were not identical when the SAP and ACS groups were analyzed separately. Lp-PLA2, diabetes and NC area were significant predictors of acute coronary lesions, and the predictive value of Lp-PLA2 was confirmed by the finding of a high area-under-the-curve in a ROC analysis (0.837, 95% CI:0.778-0.895, P = 0.000), as well as by the reasonable sensitivity and specificity of cut-off values. Conclusions: GHbA1C and Lp-PLA2 were strong independent predictors of plaque burden and FP and NC area at the minimum lumen lesion in patients with single-vessel and intermediate coronary lesions. Furthermore, Lp-PLA2 has a certain predictive value for acute coronary lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that a history of diabetes mellitus (DM) may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis to explore this relationship. Methods: We identified studies by a literature search of Medline (from 1 January 1966) and EMBASE (from 1 January 1974), through 29 February 2012, and by searching the reference lists of pertinent articles. Summary relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model. Results: A total of 36 studies (9 case-control studies, 19 cohort studies and 8 cohort studies of patients with diabetes) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Analysis of all studies showed that DM was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer (the summary RR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.17-1.56, p < 0.001, I2 = 94.7%). In analysis stratified by study design, diabetes was positively associated with risk of bladder cancer in case-control studies (RR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.13-1.86, p = 0.005, I2 = 63.8%) and cohort studies (RR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.12-1.62, p < 0.001, I2 = 94.3%), but not in cohort studies of diabetic patients (RR = 1.25, 95% CI 0.86-1.81, p < 0.001, I2 = 97.4%). The RRs of bladder cancer were 1.38 (1.08-1.78) for men and 1.38 (0.90-2.10) for women with diabetes, respectively. Noteworthy, the relative risk of bladder cancer was negatively correlated with the duration of DM, with the higher risk of bladder cancer found among patients diagnosed within less than 5 years. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that men with diabetes have a modestly increased risk of bladder cancer, while women with diabetes were not the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]