Novel use of carboplatin, etoposide and durvalumab as neoadjuvant therapy in treatment of small cell bladder cancer.

Small cell carcinoma of the bladder (SCCB) is a rare and aggressive variant of bladder cancer requiring multimodal treatment. We present a case of an 82-year-old male with SCCB with bulky pelvic adenopathy treated with a novel neoadjuvant combination of carboplatin, etoposide, and durvalumab with complete response of the small cell component. We also describe a rare complication of retinopathy resulting from this treatment.

Quality of life and survivorship in patients with low-grade ovarian cancer.

Objective: High-grade (HGOC) and low-grade ovarian carcinoma (LGOC) are distinct malignancies with different biological features, treatment paradigms, and life expectancies. However, differences in quality of life (QOL), sleep, and depressive symptoms have not been examined by grade, and neither have inflammatory profiles associated with these symptoms. We aim to characterize QOL and biomarkers by OC grade.

Deep Phenotyping the Anterior Urethral Stricture: Characterizing the Relationship Between Inflammation, Fibrosis, Patient History, and Disease Pathophysiology.

Purpose: Anterior urethral stricture disease (aUSD) is a complex, heterogeneous condition that is idiopathic in origin for most men. This gap in knowledge rarely affects the current management strategy for aUSD, as urethroplasty does not generally consider etiology. However, as we transition towards personalized, minimally invasive treatments for aUSD and begin to consider aUSD prevention strategies, disease pathophysiology will become increasingly important.

Case report: Robotically visualized and biopsy-confirmed peritoneal carcinomatosis as initial identification of metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma in a patient with a history of prostatic urethral lift.

Background: Peritoneal carcinomatosis is a particularly rare presentation of prostate cancer. Here we report a rare clinical case of surgically identified peritoneal carcinomatosis at the time of a planned robotic prostatectomy in a patient with a history of prostatic urethral lift procedure.

Case Presentation: A 72-year-old man, with a history of urinary retention managed with tamsulosin, presented to his local urologist.

Biobehavioral factors predict an exosome biomarker of ovarian carcinoma disease progression.

Background: Biobehavioral factors such as social isolation and depression have been associated with disease progression in ovarian and other cancers. Here, the authors developed a noninvasive, exosomal RNA profile for predicting ovarian cancer disease progression and subsequently tested whether it increased in association with biobehavioral risk factors.

Methods: Exosomes were isolated from plasma samples from 100 women taken before primary surgical resection or neoadjuvant (NACT) treatment of ovarian carcinoma and 6 and 12 months later.

Tumor to Tumor Metastasis: A Case Report of Metastatic Angiosarcoma to an Ovarian Brenner Tumor and Review of the Literature.

While angiosarcoma metastatic to the ovary is rare, metastatic angiosarcoma to an ovarian tumor has never been reported in the literature, so far. We report a case of a 61-yr-old postmenopausal woman with history of breast cancer, presenting with metastatic angiosarcoma to an ovarian Brenner tumor. Initially at the frozen section examination, on limited sampling, and without knowledge of the patient's history, a diagnosis of at least proliferating Brenner tumor was rendered.

Mitochondria in epithelial ovarian carcinoma exhibit abnormal phenotypes and blunted associations with biobehavioral factors.

Malignant tumor cells exhibit mitochondrial alterations and are also influenced by biobehavioral processes, but the intersection of biobehavioral factors and mitochondria in malignant tumors remains unexplored. Here we examined multiple biochemical and molecular markers of mitochondrial content and function in benign tissue and in high-grade epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) in parallel with exploratory analyses of biobehavioral factors. First, analysis of a publicly-available database (n = 1435) showed that gene expression of specific mitochondrial proteins in EOC is associated with survival.

Comprehensive review of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) is the third most common type of RCC with distinct biology compared to other kidney cancer subtypes. The heterogeneity between the RCC subtypes is associated with noticeable differences in tumor aggressiveness and risk for the development of metastatic disease. ChRCC is characterized by chromosomal aneuploidy, TP53, PTEN, and mitochondrial gene mutations.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition polarization in ovarian carcinomas from patients with high social isolation.

Background: Social isolation has shown robust associations with clinical outcomes in the general population and in patients with cancer. In patients with ovarian cancer, social isolation has been found to be related to decreased survival and multiple biomarkers supporting tumor progression. However, to the authors' knowledge, little is known regarding the relationship between social isolation and the molecular characteristics of ovarian tumors.

Alpha-dystroglycan staining pattern and mortality in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy with lymph node positive prostate cancer.

Introduction: Dystroglycan (DG) is a cell surface receptor for extracellular matrix proteins involved in tissue mechanical stability and matrix organization. Initial work has demonstrated that alpha-DG expression is decreased in many types of adenocarcinoma, including prostate, and potentially associated with the development of metastatic disease. However, the consistency between prostate and lymph node alpha-DG staining has not been previously reported.

Non-Muscle Invasive Papillary Urothelial Carcinoma Metastatic to the Mandible.

Urothelial carcinoma, the most common histologic subtype of bladder cancer in the United States, most frequently presents as non-muscle invasive disease. Initially, therapy involves transurethral endoscopic resection and subsequent intravesical therapies with extended surveillance for high-risk disease. Even with the best treatments, recurrence and progression can occur.

Life stress as a risk factor for sustained anxiety and cortisol dysregulation during the first year of survivorship in ovarian cancer.

Background: Patients with ovarian cancer often report elevated anxiety at diagnosis that decreases posttreatment. However, a minority of patients experience sustained anxiety. Few studies have examined risk factors for persistent anxiety or its physiologic sequelae in ovarian cancer.

Urethral lichen sclerosus under the microscope: a survey of academic pathologists.

Introduction: Given the poor understanding of the pathophysiology of genital lichen sclerosus (GLS) and a lack of accepted definitive diagnostic criteria, we proposed to survey pathologists regarding their understanding of GLS. We hypothesized that significant disagreement about GLS will exist.

Materials And Methods: All urologists participating in the Trauma and Urologic Reconstruction Network of Surgeons identified genitourinary (GUP) and dermatopathologists (DP) at their respective institutions who were then invited to participate in an online survey regarding their experience with diagnosing GLS, GLS pathophysiology and its relationship to urethral stricture disease.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma mimicking a mucocele (ranula) in the floor of the mouth.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common salivary gland malignancy. The submandibular gland is rarely involved, about less than 10% of all other major salivary glands. We report a case of a 49-year-old female who presented with a mass on the left side of the floor of the mouth.

Struma Ovarii With Malignant Transformation and Germline KIT Mutation: A Case Report With Review of the Literature.

Struma ovarii accounts for 5% of ovarian teratomas. Malignant transformation occurs in <0.3%, however, the underlying molecular mechanism is unknown.

Osseous Metaplasia in Mucinous Tubular and Spindle Cell Carcinoma of the Kidney: A Case of Massive, Bilateral Tumors.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common kidney malignancy, with many histologic subtypes. One of the rare forms of RCC is mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma (MTSCC), which is newly described with limited information on clinical picture and outcome. Heterotopic bone formation (osseous metaplasia) is a rare finding within any renal mass.

Eudaimonic well-being and tumor norepinephrine in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: The impact of psychological well-being on the physiologic processes involved in cancer progression remains unclear. Prior research has implicated adrenergic signaling in tumor growth and metastasis. Given that adrenergic signaling is influenced by both positive and negative factors, the authors examined how 2 different aspects of well-being (eudaimonic and positive affect) and psychological distress were associated with tumor norepinephrine (NE) in patients with ovarian cancer.

Diurnal cortisol and survival in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Introduction: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) deregulation is commonly observed in cancer patients, but its clinical significance is not well understood. We prospectively examined the association between HPA activity, tumor-associated inflammation, and survival in ovarian cancer patients prior to treatment.

Materials And Methods: Participants were 113 women with ovarian cancer who provided salivary cortisol for three days prior to treatment for calculation of cortisol slope, variability, and night cortisol.

Imaging spectrum of renal oncocytomas: a pictorial review with pathologic correlation.

Objectives: The purpose of this pictorial review is to present the imaging spectrum of renal oncocytomas with radiological-pathological correlation.

Conclusion: The differences in tumour cellularity (high cellularity or low cellularity with abundant stroma) and haemorrhagic/cystic change contribute to a wide spectrum of imaging findings of renal oncocytomas. Imaging findings substantially overlap those of common subtypes of clear cell and non-clear cell renal cell carcinomas.

pT0 Prostate Cancer: Predictive Clinicopathologic Features in an American Population.

Introduction: The pT0 stage of prostate cancer describes the radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen where no cancer can be identified. Given known racial and geographic differences in prostate cancer incidence and survival, we reviewed our experience with pT0 disease to determine applicability of these predictive features in an American population.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for all RPs at one state tertiary care institution during a 20-year period (1991-2011).

Sleep disturbance, distress, and quality of life in ovarian cancer patients during the first year after diagnosis.

Background: Sleep disturbance is a common clinical complaint of oncology patients and contributes to substantial morbidity. However, because most sleep studies have been cross-sectional, associations between sleep quality and distress in patients with ovarian cancer over time remain unclear. This prospective longitudinal study examined rates of sleep disturbance; contributions of depression, anxiety, and medication use in sleep disturbance; and associations between sleep quality and quality of life (QOL) during the first year after diagnosis among women with ovarian cancer.

ANA (+) ANCA (+) systemic vasculitis associated with the use of minocycline: case-based review.

Minocycline is a synthetic tetracycline-derived antibiotic with significant anti-inflammatory properties that may benefit patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Surprisingly, chronic exposure to minocycline can also cause a breach in immunologic tolerance resulting in a variety of autoimmune syndromes such as drug-induced lupus or autoimmune hepatitis. Vasculitis, most commonly resembling cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa, has also been seen in patients taking this drug.

Cortisol and inflammatory processes in ovarian cancer patients following primary treatment: relationships with depression, fatigue, and disability.

Elevations in the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and alterations in the anti-inflammatory hormone cortisol have been reported in a variety of cancers. IL-6 has prognostic significance in ovarian cancer and cortisol has been associated with fatigue, disability, and vegetative depression in ovarian cancer patients prior to surgery. Ovarian cancer patients undergoing primary treatment completed psychological self-report measures and collected salivary cortisol and plasma IL-6 prior to surgery, at 6 months, and at 1 year.