Radiation cystitis is a potential complication following the therapeutic irradiation of pelvic cancers. Its clinical management remains unclear, and few preclinical data are available on its underlying pathophysiology. The therapeutic strategy is difficult to establish because few prospective and randomized trials are available. In this review, we report on the clinical presentation and pathophysiology of radiation cystitis. Then we discuss potential therapeutic approaches, with a focus on the immunopathological processes underlying the onset of radiation cystitis, including the fibrotic process. Potential therapeutic avenues for therapeutic modulation will be highlighted, with a focus on the interaction between mesenchymal stromal cells and macrophages for the prevention and treatment of radiation cystitis.

These elements should be included in future classification reassessment to efficiently determine the time for surgery in grade IV renal traumas, generally leading to nephrectomy.

A 45-year-old man with a left testis tumor with a 25 mm para-aortic lymph node swelling, multiple bilateral pulmonary metastases, bilateral pulmonary embolism, and inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombus underwent a radical orchidectomy in our institution. The thrombus extended from the left gonadal vein to the left renal vein to the IVC. The fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (f-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) computerized tomography (CT) demonstrated a hypermetabolic focus in the retroperitoneum and in the IVC thrombus. Before orchidectomy only lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was high but all the serum tumor markers increased postoperatively. The tumor was staged pT1N2M1aS1, which was an intermediate prognosis, based on the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group consensus (IGCCCG). After 4 courses of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) chemotherapy the patient's tumor markers normalized and the thrombus disappeared. There was only one residual retroperitoneal lymph node M1. Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection was performed. The pathological examination revealed only necrotic tissues. The patient has been disease-free since surgery.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. For patients with advanced or metastatic prostate cancer, available treatments can slow down its progression but cannot cure it. The development of innovative drugs resulting from the exploration of biodiversity could open new therapeutic alternatives. Dermaseptin-B2, a natural multifunctional antimicrobial peptide isolated from Amazonian frog skin, has been reported to possess antitumor activity. To improve its pharmacological properties and to decrease its peripheral toxicity and lethality we developed a hormonotoxin molecule composed of dermaseptin-B2 combined with d-Lys6-LHRH to target the LHRH receptor. This hormonotoxin has a significant antiproliferative effect on the PC3 tumor cell line, with an IC50 value close to that of dermaseptin-B2. Its antitumor activity has been confirmed in vivo in a xenograft mouse model with PC3 tumors and appears to be better tolerated than dermaseptin-B2. Biophysical experiments showed that the addition of LHRH to dermaseptin-B2 did not alter its secondary structure or biological activity. The combination of different experimental approaches indicated that this hormonotoxin induces cell death by an apoptotic mechanism instead of necrosis, as observed for dermaseptin-B2. These results could explain the lower toxicity observed for this hormonotoxin compared to dermaseptin-B2 and may represent a promising targeting approach for cancer therapy.