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Introduction The rapid development and invention of ever more technologically advanced ureterorenoscopes as well as other instruments used in fragmenting ureteral stones have made the traditional surgical treatment of ureterolithiasis very rare. Material and methods We investigated 727 patients treated for ureterolithiasis. 769 ureteroscopic lithotripsies (URSL) with the holmium laser were performed. We evaluated the relation of the stone size, the section of the ureter involved, length of time of the stone within the ureter and the condition of the urinary tract to the results of the ureterolithiasis treatment. Results A good result of breaking up the stone and passing its fragments out of the ureter within 3 months following the first URSL was observed in 642 (90.9%) out of 706 patients. The remaining 64 (9.1%) patients required additional procedures: ESWL was performed on 44 patients; URSL was repeated for 20 patients. The most serious early post-URSL complications involved: urinary tract infection with symptoms of urosepsis in 10 patients, leading to death in 1 case, ureteral perforation in 3 patients, including 1 case presenting a periureteral leak that necessitated a surgical intervention. Conclusions URSL with the holmium laser is an effective and safe method for treating ureterolithiasis.

Introduction The human prostate gland contains all the compounds of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), including AT1 and AT2 angiotensin receptors. The role of local RAS in the prostate pathology is recently discussed. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of AT1 and AT2 expressions in human prostate cancers. Material and methods The investigation was performed in 20 paraffin-embedded needle biopsy specimens from routine diagnostic prostate cancer biopsies. The specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunostained with anti-AT1 and anti-AT2 antibodies. For visualization of primary antibodies, the streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase technique was applied. The expression of both receptor proteins was evaluated quantitatively using image analysis method. Results The positive immunostaining with both anti- AT1 and anti-AT2 antibodies can be found in stromal as well as epithelial structures. The results of quantitative evaluation showed the positive correlation between AT1 and AT2 expressions in neoplastic epithelium and overexpression of both AT1 and AT2 in neoplastic epithelium of Gleason grade 2, but not in cancerous structures of Gleason grades 3-5. Conclusions The data on AT1 and AT2 receptor expressions may suggest the involvement of RAS in prostate cancerogenesis. Moreover, the persistence of AT1 receptors in prostate cancer speaks in favor of attempts to use of AT1 receptor blockers (i.e. sartanes) and/or AT2 agonists in prostate cancer prophylaxis and/or treatment.

Introduction Tumors originating from transitional epithelium of the renal pelvis and ureter are infrequent. Their course is asymptomatic at early stages of the disease, and diagnosis and institution of appropriate treatment delayed. The aim of the study is to assess the results of treatment in patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas (UUT-TCC). Material and methods Fifteen patients treated in 2005-2010 for UUT-TCC were qualified for the retrospective study. Clinical symptoms, diagnostic methods, tumor location, clinical stage and histopathological characteristics of the tumors were assessed. Then, the instituted treatment and its results were analyzed. Results The average follow-up period was 51 month (range 6-65), UUT-TCC accounted for 6.7% of renal tumors treated. Concurrent treated vesical tumors were observed in 4 (26.7%) patients. Primary UUT-TCC was diagnosed in 10 (66.7%) patients. Radical surgery was performed in 10 (66.7%) patients, whereas 5 (33.3%) underwent sparing operations. Macroscopic hematuria was the predominant clinical symptom. In most cases T2-T3 clinical stage (60.0%) and high-grade (66.7%) were observed. Development of an upper urinary tract tumor after treatment of a vesical tumor was noted in 4 (26.7%) patients. During the follow-up period, urinary bladder carcinomas were diagnosed in 5 (33.3%) patients with primary upper urinary tract tumors. Conclusions Nephroureterectomy remains the standard treatment for UUT-TCC. Organ-sparing surgery is possible in selected patients with low clinical stage and low grade tumors. Patients treated for urinary bladder carcinomas require regular monitoring of the upper urinary tract.

Purpose The sensitivity and specificity of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) alone to select men for prostate biopsy remain suboptimal. This review aims at presenting a review of current prostate cancer (PCa) nomograms that incorporate Prostate Cancer Gene 3 (PCA3), which was designed to outperform PSA at predicting biopsy outcome. Materials and methods The PubMed database and current literature search was conducted for reports on PCA3-based nomograms and tools for examining the risk of a positive prostate biopsy in a man without a known PCa diagnosis. Results and conclusions The introduction of PCA3 into clinical practice has led to the development of a set of PCA3-based nomograms to predict biopsy outcome. Combining PCA3 results with established PCa risk factors has produced significant improvements over PSA alone in predicting the risk of a positive prostate biopsy for cancer.

The ionized cluster beam (ICB) deposition method has been used to obtain high quality films of metals, semiconductors and insulators. A review of the ICB technique is given with a discussion of recent developments and examples of the results obtained with different materials. The characteristics of ICB deposited films of TiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 ), and CaF 2 and their dependence on the process parameters are discussed in more detail. Deposition of epitaxial Al-CaF 2 -Si heterostructures is also discussed. The crystallographic structure and physical properties of thin films are found to be strongly dependent on the energy of the ionized species, controlled by the acceleration voltage during film deposition. Some of the properties of the films usually associated with high substrate temperature in conventional vacuum depositions can be obtained at low substrate temperature in the ICB technique, which may give it a distinct advantage in device fabrication. While the ICB method has proven to be successful in deposition of high quality thin films, more fundamental studies of the processes are needed. In particular, finding correlations between the ionized beam characteristics and the film properties is most desirable.