Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men worldwide. The current gold standard for diagnosing PCa relies on a transrectal ultrasound-guided systematic core needle biopsy indicated after detection changes in a digital rectal examination (DRE) and elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in the blood serum. PSA is a marker produced by prostate cells, not just cancer cells. Therefore, an elevated PSA level may be associated with other symptoms such as benign prostatic hyperplasia or inflammation of the prostate gland. Due to this marker’s low specificity, a common problem is overdiagnosis, which leads to unnecessary biopsies and overtreatment. This is associated with various treatment complications (such as bleeding or infection) and generates unnecessary costs. Therefore, there is no doubt that the improvement of the current procedure by applying effective, sensitive and specific markers is an urgent need. Several non-invasive, cost-effective, high-accuracy liquid biopsy diagnostic biomarkers such as Progensa PCA3, MyProstateScore ExoDx, SelectMDx, PHI, 4K, Stockholm3 and ConfirmMDx have been developed in recent years. This article compares current knowledge about them and their potential application in clinical practice.

The non-muscle invasive bladder cancer tends to recur and progress. Therefore, it requires frequent follow-ups, generating costs and making it one of the most expensive neoplasms. Considering the expensive and invasive character of the current gold-standard diagnostic procedure, white-light cystoscopy, efforts to find an alternative method are ongoing. Although the last decade has seen significant advancements in urinary biomarker tests (UBTs) for bladder cancer, international guidelines have not recommended them. Currently, the paramount urgency is to find and validate the test with the best specificity and sensitivity, which would allow for the optimizing of diagnosis, prognosis, and a treatment plan. This review aims to summarise the up-to-date state of knowledge relating to UBTs and new developments in the detection, prognosis, and surveillance of bladder cancer and their potential applications in clinical practice.

The high occurrence of bladder cancer and its tendency to recur in combination with a lifelong surveillance make the treatment of superficial bladder cancer one of the most expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, carcinoma in situ often leads to muscle invasion with an unfavorable prognosis. Currently, invasive methods including cystoscopy and cytology remain a gold standard. The aim of this study was to explore urine-based biomarkers to find the one with the best specificity and sensitivity, which would allow optimizing the treatment plan. In this review, we sum up the current knowledge about Cytokeratin fragments (CYFRA 21.1), Excision Repair Cross-Complementation 1 (ERCC1), Tumour Protein p53 (Tp53), Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 (FGFR3), Tumor-Associated Trypsin Inhibitor (TATI) and their potential applications in clinical practice.

In a prospective study, we measured the associations between three serum elements (Se, Zn and Cu) and the prognosis of 1475 patients with four different types of cancer (breast, prostate, lung and larynx) from University Hospitals in Szczecin, Poland. The elements were measured in serum taken after diagnosis and prior to treatment. Patients were followed from the date of diagnosis until death from any cause or until the last follow-up date (mean years of follow-up: 6.0–9.8 years, according to site). Kaplan–Meier curves were constructed for all cancers combined and for each cancer separately. Age-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox regression. The outcome was all-cause mortality. A Se level in the highest quartile was also associated with a reduced mortality (HR = 0.66; 95%CI 0.49–0.88; p = 0.005) in all-cause mortality for all cancers combined. Zn level in the highest quartile was also associated with reduced mortality (HR = 0.55; 95%CI 0.41–0.75; p = 0.0001). In contrast, a Cu level in the highest quartile was associated with an increase in mortality (HR = 1.91; 95%CI 1.56–2.08; p = 0.0001). Three serum elements—selenium, zinc and copper—are associated with the prognosis of different types of cancer.

The treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma has undergone considerable advances in the last two decades. Cytoreductive nephrectomy and metastasectomy retains a role in patients with a limited metastatic burden. The choice of optimal treatment regimen remains a matter of debate. The article summarises the current role of surgery in metastatic kidney cancer.

Small and low-grade renal cell carcinomas have little potential for metastasis and disease-related mortality. As a consequence, the main problem remains the use of appropriately tailored treatment for each individual patient. Surgery still remains the gold standard, but many clinicians are questioning this approach and present the advantages of focal therapy. The choice of treatment regimen remains a matter of debate. This article summarizes the current treatment options in the management of small renal masses.

Although the oligometastatic type of prostate cancer (PCa) is the subject of much research, it still has no clear biological and clinical specification. It is a condition between localized and extensive PCa, in which early diagnosis and treatment are favorable prognostic factors. Not so long ago, just the presence of metastases was considered a poor prognosis with limited therapeutic options. Such patients were treated as if they had advanced cancer and received hormonal treatment. However, clinical trials have shown that Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) can be delayed in patients with an oligometastatic PCa (OMPCa). New therapeutic methods are being developed thanks to the advanced research and various concepts to understand the underlying biology of this type of cancer. In this review, the intention is to bring together the latest information in this domain.

Purpose: Demonstrating the harmfulness of disinformation and summarizing the COVID-19 false information to which recipients are most often exposed. Confrontation of the most popular myths about SARS-CoV-2 with the results of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). Design/methodology/approach: A review of original papers and reviews of myths about COVID-19. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the public with information overload related to SARSCoV- 2. Some of this information may be false and potentially harmful. The rapid spread of information reaching a wide audience is also a threat. Research limitations/implications: The subject of COVID-19 is still unknown and is under constant research, there are many new publications that we are not able to include and this publication needs to be updated. Originality/value: We have not found a similar publication on this topic. The article draws attention to the problem of misinformation, thus helping in the prevention of infections and misguided harmful behaviors.