contributed equally to this work.• Finally, Treg frequency in pPB and TIL were correlated with conventional prognostic factors and scores of University of California Los Angeles and Kattan predictive models. RESULTS• Treg frequency was higher in TILs than in pPB ( P = 0.002), whereas there were no important differences between hPB and pPB. CD25 + cells isolated either from PB and tumours showed the ability to significantly suppress in vitro both proliferation and interferon-γ production by CD25-depleted MNC, thus demonstrating that they are active Tregs.• Treg frequency was found to significantly correlate both with pathological stage (pPB, P = 0.03; TIL, P = 0.04) and nuclear grade (TIL, P = 0.005), both for UCLA and Kattan models (all: P < 0.05 for both pPB and TIL). CONCLUSION• Treg frequency is significantly higher in TIL than in pPB of patients with RCC. Tregs showed in vitro an inhibitory activity on effector T cells isolated from kidney tumours. The increase in both peripheral and intratumoral Tregs in subjects affected with RCC were associated with worse prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS• Treg frequency in hPB, pPB and TILs was evaluated in 30 patients and 20 healthy controls by measuring both membrane-CD25 and intracytoplasmic-Foxp3 expression by flow cytometry.• Treg inhibitory activity was evaluated by an in vitro proliferation assay performed on total, CD25-depleted mononuclear cells (MNC) and CD25-depleted MNC cultured in the presence of purified CD25 + Tregs.

ObjectiveTo compare the perioperative, pathological and functional outcomes in two contemporary, large series of patients in different institutions and who underwent open partial nephrectomy (OPN) or robot-assisted PN (RAPN) for suspected renal tumours. Patients and MethodsThis was a retrospective, multicentre, international, matched-pair analysis comparing patients who underwent RAPN or OPN for suspected renal cell carcinoma.Data on patients who underwent OPN were extracted by an Italian observational registry collecting data from 19 different centres.Data on patients who received RAPN were extracted from a multicentre, international database collecting cases treated in four high-volume referral centres of robotic surgery.The matching was in a 1:1 ratio for the surgical approach and included 200 patients in each arm. ResultsThe mean warm ischaemia time was shorter in the OPN group than in the RAPN group, at a mean (SD) of 15.4 (5.9) vs 19.2 (7.3) min (P < 0.001).Conversely, the median (interquartile range) estimated blood loss was 150 (100-300) mL in the OPN group and 100 (50-150) mL in the RAPN group (P < 0.001).There were no differences in operating time (P = 0.18) and the intraoperative complication rate (P = 0.31) between the approaches.Postoperative complications were recorded in 43 (21.5%) patients who underwent OPN and in 28 (14%) who received RAPN (P = 0.02). Moreover, major complications (grade 3-4) were reported in nine (4.5%) patients after OPN and in nine (4.5%) after RAPN.Positive margins were detected in nine (5.5%) patients after OPN and in nine (5.7%) after RAPN (P = 0.98). The mean (SD) 3-month estimated glomerular filtration rate declined by 16.6 (18.1) mL/min from the preoperative value in the OPN group and by 16.4 (22.9) mL/min in the RAPN group (P = 0.28). ConclusionRAPN can achieve equivalent perioperative, early oncological and functional outcomes as OPN. Moreover, RAPN is a less invasive approach, offering a lower risk of bleeding and postoperative complications than OPN.

This trial demonstrates that in spinal cord injured patients a single 20 mg vardenafil administration achieved a significant decrease in maximum detrusor pressure, an improvement in maximum cystometric capacity and a remarkable increase in detrusor overactivity volume value.

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