Despite advances in the field of male reproductive health, idiopathic male infertility, in which a man has altered semen characteristics without an identifiable cause and there is no female factor infertility, remains a challenging condition to diagnose and manage. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress (OS) plays an independent role in the etiology of male infertility, with 30% to 80% of infertile men having elevated seminal reactive oxygen species levels. OS can negatively affect fertility via a number of pathways, including interference with capacitation and possible damage to sperm membrane and DNA, which may impair the sperm's potential to fertilize an egg and develop into a healthy embryo. Adequate evaluation of male reproductive potential should therefore include an assessment of sperm OS. We propose the term Male Oxidative Stress Infertility, or MOSI, as a novel descriptor for infertile men with abnormal semen characteristics and OS, including many patients who were previously classified as having idiopathic male infertility. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) can be a useful clinical biomarker for the classification of MOSI, as it takes into account the levels of both oxidants and reductants (antioxidants). Current treatment protocols for OS, including the use of antioxidants, are not evidence-based and have the potential for complications and increased healthcare-related expenditures. Utilizing an easy, reproducible, and cost-effective test to measure ORP may provide a more targeted, reliable approach for administering antioxidant therapy while minimizing the risk of antioxidant overdose. With the increasing awareness and understanding of MOSI as a distinct male infertility diagnosis, future research endeavors can facilitate the development of evidence-based treatments that target its underlying cause.

Summary Since sperm require high energy levels to perform their specialised function, it is vital that essential nutrients are available for spermatozoa when they develop, capacitate and acquire motility. However, they are vulnerable to a lack of energy and excess amounts of reactive oxygen species, which can impair sperm function, lead to immotility, acrosomal reaction impairment, DNA fragmentation and cell death. This monocentric, randomised, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial investigated the effect of 6 months of supplementation with l‐carnitine, acetyl‐l‐carnitine and other micronutrients on sperm quality in 104 subjects with oligo‐ and/or astheno‐ and/or teratozoospermia with or without varicocele. In 94 patients who completed the study, sperm concentration was significantly increased in supplemented patients compared to the placebo (p = .0186). Total sperm count also increased significantly (p = .0117) in the supplemented group as compared to the placebo group. Both, progressive and total motility were higher in supplemented patients (p = .0088 and p = .0120, respectively). Although pregnancy rate was not an endpoint of the study, of the 12 pregnancies that occurred during the follow‐up, 10 were reported in the supplementation group. In general, all these changes were more evident in varicocele patients. In conclusion, supplementation with metabolic and antioxidant compounds could be efficacious when included in strategies to improve fertility.

The BMI could have a relevant role in the clinical management of T1G3 NMIBC, if associated with bladder cancer recurrence and progression. In particular, this anthropometric factor should be taken into account at initial diagnosis and in therapeutic strategy decision making.

No abstract

No abstract

Background: Serum levels of neutrophils, platelets, and lymphocytes have been recognized as factors related to poor prognosis for many solid tumors, including bladder cancer (BC). Objective: To evaluate the prognostic role of the combination of the neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) in patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive urothelial BC (NIMBC). Design, setting, and participants: A total of 1151 NMIBC patients who underwent first transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) at 13 academic institutions between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2012 were included in this analysis. The median follow-up was 48 mo. Intervention: TURBT with intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy.

No abstract

High-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) progresses to metastatic disease in 10-15% of cases, suggesting that micrometastases may be present at first diagnosis. The prediction of risks of progression relies upon EORTC scoring systems, based on clinical and pathological parameters, which do not accurately identify which patients will progress. Aim of the study was to investigate whether the presence of CTC may improve prognostication in a large population of patients with Stage I bladder cancer who were all candidate to conservative surgery. A prospective single center trial was designed to correlate the presence of CTC to local recurrence and progression of disease in high-risk T1G3 bladder cancer. One hundred two patients were found eligible, all candidate to transurethral resection of the tumor followed by endovesical adjuvant immunotherapy with BCG. Median follow-up was 24.3 months (minimum-maximum: 4-36). The FDA-approved CellSearch System was used to enumerate CTC. Kaplan-Meier methods, log-rank test and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis was applied to establish the association of circulating tumor cells with time to first recurrence (TFR) and progression-free survival. CTC were detected in 20% of patients and predicted both decreased TFR (log-rank p < 0.001; multivariable adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.92 [95% confidence interval: 1.38-6.18], p 5 0.005), and time to progression (log-rank p < 0.001; HR 7.17 [1.89-27.21], p 5 0.004). The present findings provide evidence that CTC analyses can identify patients with Stage I bladder cancer who have already a systemic disease at diagnosis and might, therefore, potentially benefit from systemic treatment.High-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is defined as any transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder that is high-grade, whether it is primary or recurrent. This high-risk group includes patients with high-grade papillary Stage Ta or T1 tumors and any patient with carcinoma in situ (CIS). 1 Following transurethral resection bladder (TURB) of the initial tumor with no additional therapy, there is a recurrence rate of 50-70% and a progression rate of 25-50%, leading to cancer death after bladder-sparing treatment within 5 years in about 16-23% of cases. 2 To date, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) risk tables is the best-established predictive tools to help decision making for patients with NMIBC. These tables group patients by risk (low, intermediate and high) with the sums of factors (number of tumors, tumor size, prior recurrence rate, T category, presence of CIS and grade) to enable easy prediction of the recurrence and progression of NMIBC. 3 CUETO tables were developed with a similar structure to the EORTC tables but were adapted for patients treated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG). 4 Nevertheless, recent studies underline that both EORTC and CUETO risk tables have a low positive predictive value (PPV), thus not able to identify patients with higher risk to progress. 5 Circ...