Marta Suárez-Santamaría¹, Francisco Santolaria², Alina Pérez-Ramírez², María-Remedios Alemán-Valls², Antonio Martínez-Riera², Emilio González-Reimers², María-José de la Vega¹, Antonio Milena¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.21, No.1, pp. 19-26, 2010, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0185

Abstract Objective. Procalcitonin is useful for the diagnosis of sepsis, but its prognostic value regarding mortality is unclear. Our objective was to determine the prognostic value of procalcitonin determined at the onset of sepsis, and to compare it with other markers of inflammatory response, malnutrition and organ dys-function data. Methods. We studied 253 hospitalized patients (146 men, 107 women) with a median age of 65 years. Sepsis was defined as infection, and at least two SIRS criteria. We assessed co-morbidities, nutritional status, bacteremia, procalcitonin and other inflammatory markers (PCR, TNF-α, IL6, TREM-1, IL-10, IL-1ra, CD14 and… More >

Susan Costantini¹, Francesca Capone¹, Eliana Guerriero¹, Patrizia Maio², Giovanni Colonna³, Giuseppe Castello¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.21, No.4, pp. 251-256, 2010, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2010.0214

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can present as an acute manifestation, and can lead to severecomplications such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It represents a globalhealth problem because there is no vaccine currently available. Cytokines play an important role in viralclearance, infection control, inflammation, regeneration and fibrosis, and also are implicated in the pathologicalprocesses occurring in the liver during viral infection. Immunological markers of chronic HCV hepatitis pro-gression as compared to cirrhosis and HCC would be extremely useful, particularly for distinguishing betweenthe molecules produced during HCV-induced chronic inflammation and those secreted during… More >

Amalia A. Vartanian, Eugenia V. Stepanova, Sergey L. Gutorov, Elico Sh. Solomko, Irina N. Grigorieva, Irina N. Sokolova, Anatoly Yu. Baryshnikov, Mikhail R. Lichinitser

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.16, No.4, pp. 4726-4732, 2009

Abstract Background: The ability of aggressive tumors to form nonendothelial tumor cell-lined microvascular channels is known as "vasculogenic mimicry" (VM). VM channels are revealed as periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive patterns, and in some tumors their presence predicts clinical outcomes.
Objective: We aimed to study VM channels in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (cRCC) tumors and explore their prognostic significance and relationship to other suggested prognostic factors such as thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression.
Methods: We retrospectively studied 45 patients who had undergone radical nephrectomy for clinically confined cRCC (stage T2-T3N0M0) at the Russian Cancer Research… More >

Ericka Wiebe¹, George Rodrigues^1,2, Michael Lock¹, David D’Souza¹, Larry Stitt²

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 4078-4083, 2008

Abstract Introduction: The optimal management of prostate cancer patients presenting with prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels greater than 50 ng/ml is controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with overall survival and biochemical outcome in a high-risk prostate cancer population with PSA > 50.0 ng/ml at time of diagnosis, and no clinical or radiological evidence of metastatic disease.
Materials and methods: A single institution chart review was conducted at the London Regional Cancer Program on 138 patients who presented with PSA levels greater than 50 ng/ml. Forty-eight (34.8%) of these patients had no clinical… More >

Kaili Mao¹, Cécile Badoual², Philippe Camparo³, Nicolas Barry Delongchamps¹, Annick Vieillefond⁴, Anh-Tuan Dinh-Xuan⁵, Michaël Peyromaure¹

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.15, No.5, pp. 4257-4262, 2008

Abstract Objectives: To study the prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and its receptor VEGFR-1 in localized prostate cancer.
Methods: One hundred patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) for clinically localized prostate cancer were prospectively included. Plasma levels of VEGF-A were measured preoperatively. After intervention, tissue microarrays were built from the RP specimens. VEGF-A and VEGFR-1 expressions in prostate cancer tissue were determined using immunochemistry. Then the associations between plasma levels of VEGF-A, VEGF-A and VEGFR-1 expressions in prostate cancer tissue, and the outcome of patients were analyzed.
Results: After a median follow-up of 22 months, 14 patients More >

Wayne S. Kendal^1,2

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.14, No.1, pp. 3435-3442, 2007

Abstract Introduction: Leiomyosarcoma of the kidney and renal pelvis is a rare tumor that, on the basis of limited data, has been ascribed a particularly poor prognosis compared to other subtypes of renal malignancy. Here the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry is used to study the survival of renal leiomyosarcomas.
Methods: There were 95,935 cases of invasive cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis retrieved from the SEER registry to provide 112 cases of leiomyosarcoma. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to compare the survival of leiomyosarcomas to other renal… More >

Ewa Lech-Maranda^1,2, Jacques Bienvenu^1,4, Anne-Sophie Michallet³, Roch Houot³, Tadeusz Robak², Bertrand Coiffier^1,3, Gilles Salles^1,3

European Cytokine Network, Vol.17, No.1, pp. 60-66, 2006

Abstract The aim of the study was to confirm whether plasma levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) correlate with the prognosis in diffuse, large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Plasma IL-10 levels were determined at the time of diagnosis in a group of 157 consecutively treated, DLBCL patients. Of those, 122 patients (78%) had IL-10 plasma levels below the detection limit (< 5 pg/mL) and 35 (22%) above this value. The median value for patients with detectable IL-10 levels was 35 pg/mL (range, 5 to 2480 pg/mL). Detectable plasma IL-10 levels were significantly associated with age > 60 years,… More >

Ivar Bleumer¹, Pieter H. M. de Mulder², Peter F. A. Mulders¹

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.13, Suppl.2, pp. 57-62, 2006

Abstract Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) presents as localized disease in 54% of the cases. For these patients, surgery is the primary curative treatment. Unfortunately, up to 65% of all patients show recurrent disease. For metastatic RCC non-specific immunotherapy is currently the treatment of choice. Nevertheless, several new modalities, e.g. WX-G250, oncophage and anti-angiogenic compounds like sunitinib and sorafenib are being explored with favorable results. Still, their place in the primary treatment of advanced RCC has yet to be determined. Because of the high percentage of recurrent disease, there is a need to identify these patients with… More >

Antonio Carlos Lima Pompeo

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.12, Suppl.1, pp. 30-36, 2005

Abstract Introduction and objective: There are many controversies regarding the optimal management of the inguinal nodes in patients with penile cancer. The inflammatory response of the draining regional lymph nodes can cause enlargement without implying the presence of metastases. On the other hand, 20% of patients with clinically non-suspicious nodes contain micrometastases. We studied the dissemination risk factors of the primary lesion in penile cancer, the preferential lymphatic pathways, and the extension of lymphadenectomies, in order to understand how to better control this cancer.
Patients and methods: In this prospective study of 50 patients (aged 21-73; median age 54)… More >

Les Bowles^1,2, Hanna Bialkowska-Hobrzanska^1,2,3,4, Bernard Bukala⁵, Linda Nott⁵, Hassan Razvi^2,5

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.11, No.6, pp. 2438-2444, 2004

Abstract Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression has been considered a surrogate marker for telomerase activity based on its parallel detection in urological malignancies, including transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of urine hTERT mRNA marker and urine cytology in the detection of bladder cancer.
The multiplex hTERT/GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase) reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was employed to assess hTERT mRNA expression in urine sediments from 43 patients with clinically apparent TCC undergoing transurethral resection. Tumor grade and pathological stage… More >