Renal-cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) denotes cancer originated from the renal epithelium and accounts for >90% of cancers in the kidney. The disease encompasses >10 histological and molecular subtypes, of which clear cell RCC (ccRCC) is most common and accounts for most cancer-related deaths. Although somatic VHL mutations have been described for some time, more-recent cancer genomic studies have identified mutations in epigenetic regulatory genes and demonstrated marked intra-tumour heterogeneity, which could have prognostic, predictive and therapeutic relevance. Localized RCC can be successfully managed with surgery, whereas metastatic RCC is refractory to conventional chemotherapy. However, over the past decade, marked advances in the treatment of metastatic RCC have been made, with targeted agents including sorafenib, sunitinib, bevacizumab, pazopanib and axitinib, which inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR), and everolimus and temsirolimus, which inhibit mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), being approved. Since 2015, agents with additional targets aside from VEGFR have been approved, such as cabozantinib and lenvatinib; immunotherapies, such as nivolumab, have also been added to the armamentarium for metastatic RCC. Here, we provide an overview of the biology of RCC, with a focus on ccRCC, as well as updates to complement the current clinical guidelines and an outline of potential future directions for RCC research and therapy.

Renal cell carcinoma.

Magnetic resonance imaging (2)

The introduction of an effective blood test, prostate specific antigen (PSA), has made it possible to diagnose more and more men in an earlier stage where they can be offered potentially curative treatments. The other side of the coin is that if effective diagnostic procedures are used unselectively in elderly men with a short life expectancy, a problem with over diagnosis and over treatment might occur. Thus the same stage of prostate cancer may need different treatment strategies, pending on the patient’s life expectancy. This, and many other issues regarding the disease, is the subject of the EAU guidelines on prostate cancer. G UI DE LI N ES O N P RO ST AT E CA N CE R 10

/pdf/guidelines-on-prostate-cancer-xdnunn4th8.pdf

Guidelines on Prostate Cancer

IN the 12 years since the topic was last reviewed in the Journal,1 prostatic cancer has become the most common newly diagnosed cancer in men It is the cause of death in more than 28,000 men per year, accounting for 11 percent of cancer deaths, third in men after lung and colon cancer2 Important questions remain about the cause and prevention of prostatic cancer, but new advances permit earlier diagnosis and more accurate staging Curative therapy is possible for localized disease with much less morbidity than previously In advanced disease, androgen-deprivation therapy remains the mainstay of treatment Biology and   

Carcinoma of the Prostate

By using a flow chart, the nature of a given entity may be evaluated by selecting the most appropriate studies in sequence. The authors present such a schema for the differential diagnosis of renal masses, based on evaluation of approximately 200 renal lesions. In this way, duplication of studies is avoided, hospitalization costs are minimized, complications are lessened, radiation exposure is reduced, and conservative treatment of benign lesions is encouraged. Life-threatening renal masses may be separated from those of lesser consequence with an accuracy approaching 100%.

A systematized approach to the differential diagnosis of renal masses.

Pelvic magnetic resonance images obtained at 1.5 T of 29 male patients with no known genitourinary tract disease were retrospectively reviewed. Normal anatomic features of the prostate and its adjacent structures were studied with spin echo techniques with short and long repetition times/echo times (TR/TE). Long TR/TE (T2-weighted) images routinely showed differentiation of peripheral and central prostatic zones, as well as a separate periprostatic venous plexus. Guidelines were developed to optimize imaging of the relationship of the prostate to adjacent structures.

Normal prostate and adjacent structures: MR imaging at 1.5 T.

High-density renal masses are atypical lesions that represent a diagnostic dilemma for computed tomography (CT). The differential diagnosis includes mainly complicated benign cysts and malignant neoplasms. This report analyzes the CT findings in 17 cases of discrete, sharply marginated masses that initially exceeded the density of the uninvolved renal parenchyma, averaging 50 H or more. The subsequently proven pathologic entities responsible for these high attenuation values included primary malignancies in six patients, one of whom also had multiple retention cysts containing highly proteinaceous, gelatinous material; a hemorrhagic cysts with an associated desmoplastic, fibrotic reaction in one patient; and single or multiple hemorrhagic cysts in four patients. No histologic proof was obtained in six patients, three with neoplastic disease and one mentally retarded youth who underwent renal aspiration without sufficient material obtained for analysis. Two patients with presumed hemorrhagic cysts have had serial CT scans without interval change in 8-12 months. An approach to the therapeutic management of affected patients is described.

Hyperdense renal masses: a computed tomographic dilemma

With use of a specially designed ultrasonic transducer with a central lumen, pericardial effusions could be detected and, if indicated, aspirated. A standard needle was directed through the hole in the ultrasonic transducer into the pericardial sac. The path of the needle tip as it entered the effusion could be followed Ultrasonically. The same transducer was used to monitor the procedure continuously as the fluid was aspirated.

Ultrasonically guided pericardiocentesis.

Vesicourethral anastomotic strictures are an important complication of radical prostatectomy for prostatic cancer. Their formation has been attributed to extravasation of urine at the anastomosis and to the surgical technique used to construct the anastomosis. Our study examines whether the formation of a vesicourethral anastomotic stricture correlates with (a) contrast extravasation seen on postoperative voiding cystourethrograms and (b) the surgical technique used to construct the vesicourethral anastomosis. We also describe the postoperative appearances of the anastomosis.One hundred and forty-two patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy at our institution between June 1, 1987, and December 31, 1991, were included in the study. Of these, 101 had a direct end-to-end vesicourethral anastomosis, and 41 had their anastomosis constructed with traction sutures (Vest procedure). Voiding cystourethrograms were obtained 3 weeks after the prostatectomy. The appearance of the anastomosis, the prese...

Howard M. Pollack

Papers

A systematized approach to the differential diagnosis of renal masses.

Normal prostate and adjacent structures: MR imaging at 1.5 T.

Hyperdense renal masses: a computed tomographic dilemma

Ultrasonically guided pericardiocentesis.

Voiding cystourethrography after radical prostatectomy: normal findings and correlation between contrast extravasation and anastomotic strictures.