Study Type – Prognosis (prospective cohort) Level of Evidence 2b What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Previous data from clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa) series treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) have suggested that low preoperative serum total testosterone level is associated with more aggressive PCa; however, the definition of low preoperative total testosterone level varied among these studies (from 220 ng/dL to 387 ng/dL). Moreover, no relevant data exist in the literature regarding ethnic Chinese patients. The study shows that the most widely used threshold for low pretreatment total testosterone level (total testosterone < 300 ng/dL) is not appropriate for ethnic Chinese patients, because it could not distinguish patients with more aggressive PCa from those with less aggressive disease. Setting the threshold at the level of total testosterone < 250 ng/dL works better, because pretreatment total testosterone < 250 ng/dL is associated with a significantly higher incidence of Gleason score 8–10 disease in RP specimens. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between preoperative serum total testosterone level and prognostic factors of Chinese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 110 patients with localized PCa, treated by radical prostatectomy (RP), were included in this prospective study. Clinical and pathological data from each patient were collected. Total testosterone was measured on the morning of surgery. Total testosterone levels for each patient were compared using two thresholds: threshold 1 (total testosterone <300 ng/dL vs total testosterone ≥300 ng/dL) and threshold 2 (total testosterone <250 ng/dL vs total testosterone ≥250 ng/dL). RESULTS The median preoperative total testosterone level was 346 ng/dL. Gleason scores of ≤6, 7 and ≥8 were found in the RP specimens from 21 (19.1%), 67 (60.9%) and 22 (20.0%) patients, respectively. Compared with those with low grade disease, patients with high grade disease (Gleason score ≥ 8) in RP specimens had a significantly lower preoperative total testosterone. When comparing 35 patients with hypogonadism with 75 patients with eugonadism, classified by threshold 1, no significant relationships were found. When comparing 18 patients with hypogonadism with 92 patients with eugonadism, classified by threshold 2, pathological Gleason score ≥ 8 tumours were more common in patients with hypogonadism. CONCLUSION Setting the threshold for hypogonadism at the level of pretreatment serum total testosterone <250 ng/dL is appropriate for ethnic Chinese patients with localized PCa, because patients with pretreatment total testosterone <250 ng/dL are associated with a higher incidence of Gleason score 8–10 disease in RP specimens.

The skeleton is the most common metastatic organ in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Non-invasive biomarkers that can facilitate the detection and monitoring of bone metastases are highly desirable. We designed this study to assess the expression patterns of serum miR-141 in patients with bone-metastatic PCa. Serum samples were collected to measure the miR-141 level in 56 patients, including six with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), 20 with localized PCa and 30 with bone-metastatic PCa (10 with hormone-naive PCa, 10 with hormone-sensitive PCa and 10 with hormone-refractory PCa). A bone scan was performed for each patient with PCa to assess the number of bone lesions. The quantification of serum miR-141 levels was assayed by specific TaqMan qRT-PCR. The results showed that serum miR-141 levels were elevated in patients with bone metastasis (P,0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the serum miR-141 levels between patients with BPH and patients with localized PCa. Using Kendall's bivariate correlation test, both the Gleason score and the number of bone-metastatic lesions were found to correlate with serum miR-141 levels (P50.012 and P,0.001, respectively). The serum miR-141 level was found to be positively correlated with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level in patients with skeletal metastasis, using Pearson's bivariate correlation test. No relationship was found between the serum miR-141 level and the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. We concluded that serum miR-141 levels are elevated in patients with bone-metastatic PCa and that patients with higher levels of serum miR-141 developed more bone lesions. Furthermore, serum miR-141 levels are correlated with serum ALP levels but not serum PSA levels.

BackgroundAlthough conventional adenocarcinoma accounts for the majority of prostatic carcinomas, it is important to recognize rare variants, like basal cell carcinoma (BCC), which has distinctive histopathological and biological features.Case reportWe analyzed three cases of prostatic BCC and all of them complained of acute urinary retention and digital rectal examination disclosed a stony hard prostate. However, all of them presented with low prostate-specific antigen. The diagnosis relied on transrectal ultrasound-guided needle biopsies or transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). The microscopic findings suggested basaloid cells with large pleomorphic nuclei and scant cytoplasm, showing peripheral palisading and forming solid nests, and immunohistochemical markers like 34βE12, p63 and Ki67 staining, were positive. After active treatment, two of the patients are alive with tumor and one died five months after discharge from our hospital.

Background: Growing evidence has demonstrated immune reactivity as a confirmed important carcinogenesis and therapy efficacy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Aquaporin 9 (AQP9) is involved in many immune-related signals; however, its role in ccRCC remains to be elucidated. This study investigated AQP9 expression in tumor tissues and defined the prognostic value in ccRCC patients. Methods: A total of 913 ccRCC patients with available RNA-sequence data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) were consecutively recruited in analyses. Differential transcriptional and proteome expression profiles were obtained and validated using multiple datasets. A partial likelihood test from Cox regression analysis was developed to address the influence of independent factors on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were performed to assess survival. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to describe binary classifier value of AQP9 using area under the curve (AUC) score. Functional enrichment analyses and immune infiltration analysis were used to describe significantly involved hallmark pathways of hub genes. Results: Significantly elevated transcriptional and proteomic AQP9 expressions were found in ccRCC samples. Increased AQP9 mRNA expression was significantly associated with advanced clinicopathological parameters and correlated with shorter PFS and OS in TCGA and FUSCC cohorts (p < 0.001). ROC curves suggested the significant diagnostic and prognostic ability of AQP9 (PFS, AUC = 0.823; OS, AUC = 0.828). Functional annotations indicated that AQP9 is involved in the most significant hallmarks including complement, coagulation, IL6/JAK-STAT3, inflammatory response and TNF-alpha signaling pathways. Conclusion: Our study revealed that elevated AQP9 expression was significantly correlated with aggressive progression, poor survival and immune infiltrations in ccRCC patients, and we validated its prognostic value in a real-world cohort. These data suggest that AQP9 may act as an oncogene and a promising prognostic marker in ccRCC.