Objectives Urinary incontinence is a major concern after radical prostatectomy because it can decrease quality of life. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of preoperative skeletal muscle on urinary quality of life after robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy. Methods A total of 762 patients underwent robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy. Longitudinal health‐related quality of life was evaluated using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite instrument. The skeletal muscle area at the level of the third lumbar vertebra was assessed preoperatively by computed tomography and was standardized to height to obtain the skeletal muscle index. Reduced skeletal muscle size (RSMS) was defined as a skeletal muscle index ≤ 53 or ≤ 43 cm2/m2 in patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 or < 25, respectively. Results A total of 301 patients were included in this study, of whom 91 were classified as having RSMS (30.2%). Non‐RSMS patients exhibited better urinary function at 12 months (P = .012) and better urinary continence recovery at 2 weeks and 12 months (P = .033 and P = .014, respectively) after prostatectomy compared with RSMS patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified preoperative RSMS as a significant and independent predictor of urinary incontinence (odds ratio = 1.77, P = .028). Conclusions Patients with RSMS had a lower urinary quality of life compared with non‐RSMS patients after robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy, and RSMS, independent of age or BMI, was predictive of postoperative urinary incontinence.

S100A11, a member of the S100 family of proteins, is actively secreted from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. However, the role of the extracellular S100A11 in PDAC progression remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the extracellular role of S100A11 in crosstalking between PDAC cells and surrounding fibroblasts in PDAC progression. An abundant S100A11 secreted from pancreatic cancer cells stimulated neighboring fibroblasts through receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) upon S100A11 binding and was followed by not only an enhanced cancer cell motility in vitro but also an increased number of the PDAC-derived circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in vivo. Mechanistic investigation of RAGE downstream in fibroblasts revealed a novel contribution of a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), tumor progression locus 2 (TPL2), which is required for positive regulation of PDAC cell motility through induction of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and its catalyzed production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a strong chemoattractive fatty acid. The extracellularly released PGE2 from fibroblasts was required for the rise in cellular migration as well as infiltration of their adjacent PDAC cells in a coculture setting. Taken together, our data reveal a novel role of the secretory S100A11 in PDAC disseminative progression through activation of surrounding fibroblasts triggered by the S100A11‐RAGE‐TPL2‐COX2 pathway. The findings of this study will contribute to the establishment of a novel therapeutic antidote to PDACs that are difficult to treat by regulating cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) through targeting the identified pathway.

The present study investigated the concordance between Gleason scores assigned to prostate biopsy specimens by outside pathologists and a urological pathology expert, and determined the risk of upgrading between opinion-matched Gleason grade group (GGG) 1 biopsy specimens and radical prostatectomy specimens. Between January 2012 and May 2018, 733 patients underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Patients whose original biopsy specimens from outside hospitals were reviewed by a urological pathology expert Okayama University Hospital were included. Patients who had received neoadjuvant hormonal therapy were excluded. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of upgrading among GGG 1 diagnoses. A total of 403 patients were included in the present study. Agreement in GGG between initial and second-opinion diagnoses was present in 256 cases (63.5%). Although opinion-matched cases improved concordance between biopsy and prostatectomy specimen GGG compared with single-opinion cases (initial, 35.2%; second-opinion, 36.5%; matched, 41.4%), 71% (56/79) of cases classified as GGG 1 were upgraded after prostatectomy. Multivariate analysis revealed that prostate-specific antigen density and Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 score were significant predictors of upgrading (odds ratio, 1.10; P=0.01; and odds ratio, 1.88; P=0.03, respectively). In conclusion, the GGG concordance rate between needle-core biopsy and radical prostatectomy specimens was higher in opinion-matched cases; however, 71% of opinion-matched GGG1 cases were upgraded after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Urologists should propose treatment strategies or further biopsy rather than active surveillance for patients with GGG1 and a high PSAD and/or PI-RADS score.

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Purpose To determine the impact of sarcopenia on erectile functional outcomes after a nerve-sparing (NS) robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) using patient-reported validated questionnaires. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, RARP was performed on 841 patients at Okayama University Hospital, of which 132 underwent NS RARP. Erectile functional outcomes were assessed using the 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite before and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Automated measurement of skeletal muscle at L3 was achieved using volume analyzer software and normalizing for height (cm 2 /m 2 ) to calculate skeletal muscle index (SMI). Patients who had an IIEF-5≤4 comprised the group with erectile dysfunction (ED), and those with an IIEF-5≤5 made up the non-ED group. Results This study enrolled 95 patients of median age 65 years with a preoperative IIEF-5 of 16. There were no significant differences between patients with and without sarcopenia among those with preoperative IIEF-5. Postoperatively, in the ED group, SMI and preoperative IIEF-5 were significantly lower than in the non-ED group. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that (1) both SMI and preoperative IIEF-5 were independent predictors of ED, and (2) sarcopenia and preoperative IIEF-5 were predictors of ED at 12 months after NS RARP. Conclusions Patients with sarcopenia can have worse erectile functional outcomes after NS RARP. Sarcopenia and a lower preoperative IIEF-5 score may be predictive of postoperative ED.

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