Summary Background The oral AKT inhibitor ipatasertib is being investigated in cancers with a high prevalence of PI3K/AKT pathway activation, including triple-negative breast cancer. The LOTUS trial investigated the addition of ipatasertib to paclitaxel as first-line therapy for triple-negative breast cancer. Methods In this randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial, women aged 18 years or older with measurable, inoperable, locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer previously untreated with systemic therapy were recruited from 44 hospitals in South Korea, the USA, France, Spain, Taiwan, Singapore, Italy, and Belgium. Enrolled patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive intravenous paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 (days 1, 8, 15) with either ipatasertib 400 mg or placebo once per day (days 1–21) every 28 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Randomisation was by stratified permuted blocks (block size of four) using an interactive web-response system with three stratification criteria: previous (neo)adjuvant therapy, chemotherapy-free interval, and tumour PTEN status. The co-primary endpoints were progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population and progression-free survival in the PTEN-low (by immunohistochemistry) population. This ongoing trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02162719). Findings Between Sept 2, 2014, and Feb 4, 2016, 166 patients were assessed for eligibility and 124 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to paclitaxel plus ipatasertib (n=62) or paclitaxel plus placebo (n=62). Median follow-up was 10·4 months (IQR 6·5–14·1) in the ipatasertib group and 10·2 months (6·0–13·6) in the placebo group. Median progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population was 6·2 months (95% CI 3·8–9·0) with ipatasertib versus 4·9 months (3·6–5·4) with placebo (stratified hazard ratio [HR] 0·60, 95% CI 0·37–0·98; p=0·037) and in the 48 patients with PTEN-low tumours, median progression-free survival was 6·2 months (95% CI 3·6–9·1) with ipatasertib versus 3·7 months (1·9–7·3) with placebo (stratified HR 0·59, 95% CI 0·26–1·32, p=0·18). The most common grade 3 or worse adverse events were diarrhoea (14 [23%] of 61 ipatasertib-treated patients vs none of 62 placebo-treated patients), neutrophil count decreased (five [8%] vs four [6%]), and neutropenia (six [10%] vs one [2%]). No colitis, grade 4 diarrhoea, or treatment-related deaths were reported with ipatasertib. One treatment-related death occurred in the placebo group. Serious adverse events were reported in 17 (28%) of 61 patients in the ipatasertib group and nine (15%) of 62 patients in the placebo group. Interpretation Progression-free survival was longer in patients who received ipatasertib than in those who received placebo. To our knowledge, these are the first results supporting AKT-targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer. Ipatasertib warrants further investigation for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. Funding F Hoffmann-La Roche.

Our systematic review found that statin significantly reduced the all-cause and prostate cancer-specific mortality and improved the BCR in certain subgroup of men with prostate cancer. In future, randomized controlled trials should be conducted to establish efficacy of statins among men with prostate cancer.

The presence of HFB has less effect than it thought to be on the performance of the novice trainees. This may suggest that better HFB is still needed. However, there may be visual compensation for the lack of haptics. Playing videogames has a positive impact on economy, and the speed of the dominant had motion without affecting its accuracy. Further research is needed to clarify the value of haptics to the expert surgeon and compare it to the new trainees.

Background Conflicting evidence exists regarding the beneficial effects of metformin in prostate cancer. Objective To determine the association between metformin and clinical outcomes in prostate cancer using systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Original articles published in English until third week of July, 2014 were searched in electronic databases (Medline-Ovid, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest) for studies on metformin use in prostate cancer. The clinical outcomes assessed were: development of biochemical recurrence, metastases or castration-resistant metastatic cancer (CRPC), all-cause and prostate cancer-specific mortality. Meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled hazard ratio (pHR) and their 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Heterogeneity between the studies was examined using I2 statistics. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of findings and publication bias was assessed by the Egger’s regression asymmetry test and contour plot. Results Out of 230 retrieved citations, eight retrospective cohort studies and one nested-case-control study met the inclusion criteria. Metformin use was marginally associated with reduction in the risk of biochemical recurrence (pHR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.01, P-value = 0.06, I2= 25%, 5 studies). Metformin use was not significantly associated with metastases (pHR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.38-1.18, P-value = 0.14, I2 = 74%, 3 studies), all-cause mortality (pHR: 0.86; 95% CI, 0.65, 1.15, P-Value = 0.31, I2: 78%, 5 studies) and prostate cancer-specific mortality (pHR: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.58, 2.56, P-value = 0.60, I2 = 60%, 4 studies). Pooled estimates for all outcomes varied in sensitivity analysis by diabetes status and primary treatment of prostate cancer. Systematic review revealed mixed findings on metformin use and the risk of CRPC. Conclusion Metformin may reduce the risk of biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer. Given the potential of selection-bias in the observational studies, randomized trials should be designed to assess the efficacy of metformin use in prostate cancer.

BOO mediates both functional and structural changes in the mouse bladder. Six weeks of obstruction caused an increase in BC, detrusor overactivity and voiding pressure, and mediated an increase in bladder weight, detrusor muscle hypertrophy and collagen deposition in the lamina propria and smooth muscle. Treatment with 6 weeks of oral sildenafil beginning at the time of BOO prevented the increase in detrusor overactivity without affecting voiding pressures, and prevented the increase in detrusor muscle hypertrophy and collagen deposition that otherwise occurred with BOO. It appears therefore that sildenafil citrate acts on the bladder rather than on the outlet.

Aims: Pharmacological treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is limited to the use of nonselective alpha-agonists, which are often ine¡ective. Non-adrenergic mechanisms have also been implicated in urethral closure, including angiotensin II (Ang-II), which has been demonstrated throughout the urinary tract. We investigate the role of Ang-II in urethral tone in a rat model of SUI. Methods: Abdominal leak point pressure (ALPP) and retrograde urethral pressure pro¢lome-try (RLPP) were measured in 70 female virgin rats. Thirty rats underwent pudendal nerve injury (PNT), 30 had circumferential urethrolysis (U-Lys), and 10 had sham surgery. Rats received daily doses of Angiotensin Type 1 (AT-1) receptor inhibitor (20 mg/kg), Angiotensin Type 2 (AT-2) receptor antagonist (10 mg/kg), or Ang-II (2 mg/kg). Results: Following U-Lys, RLPP and ALPP decreased from 21.4 AE 2.0 and 39.2 AE 3.3 mm Hg, to 13.1 AE1.5 and 21.6 AE 1.9 mmHg, respectively (P<0.01). After PNT, RLPP, and ALPP decreased from 21.0 AE 1.6 and 41.9 AE 3.0 mmHg to 13.1 AE1.5 and 24.7 AE 3.3 mmHg, respectively (P<0.01). AT-1 inhibitor caused signi¢cant decrease in RLPP and ALPP from 21.0 AE 6.2 and 41.8 AE 9.4 mmHg, to 12.0 AE 3.8 and 25.6 AE 6.6 mmHg, respectively (P<0.01). Likewise, AT-2 treatment reduced RLPP and ALPP from 21.4 AE 6.3 and 40.1 AE1.7 mmHg, to 13.5 AE 5.7 and 31.0 AE 7.2 mmHg, respectively (P<0.01). Following surgery, Ang-II administration restored RLPP and ALPP to baseline presurgical values. Conclusions: AT-1 and AT-2 receptor inhibition signi¢cantly lowers urethral resistance, comparable to either neurogenic or urethrolytic injury. Ang-II treatment restored urethral tone in rats with intrinsic sphincter dysfunction. Ang II appears to serve a functional role in the maintenance of urethral tone and stress continence.

Partial BOO caused functional and structural changes in the rat bladder. SNS in obstructed rats prevents these alterations, without adversely affecting detrusor contractility.

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether angiotensin II (AII) receptor antagonism decreases the inflammation and oedema in acute murine experimental autoimmune cystitis (EAC), as interstitial cystitis (IC) might have an autoimmune component and AII has been implicated in autoimmune‐mediated vascular congestion, oedema and scarring. MATERIALS AND METHODS Female Balb/cAN mice were divided into three treatment groups (eight in each group) that were autoimmunized with bladder homogenate to induce EAC. One group received an AII type 1 receptor (AT1) antagonist, one group an AII type 2 receptor (AT2) antagonist, and one group remained untreated (EAC). A control and sham‐injected group were also included. After 10 weeks, bladders were removed, sectioned, and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. RESULTS Grossly, there was no thickening or adhesions in the bladders of the control or sham‐injected mice. In five of seven surviving EAC bladders, there were dense adhesions to surrounding peritoneal structures. There were also adhesions and bladder thickening in all of the AT2 antagonist‐treated mice (though in a milder form) but in only two of seven surviving AT1 antagonist‐treated mice. There was no inflammation or oedema in the sham and control groups. All the EAC bladders were inflamed, with submucosal oedema and urothelial detachment from the lamina propria. In the AT1 antagonist‐treated mice there was no inflammation or oedema. By contrast, all AT2 antagonist‐treated mice had moderate inflammation and minor detachment of the urothelium from the lamina propria. CONCLUSIONS AT1 receptor blockade ameliorated the inflammatory infiltration, submucosal oedema, and urothelial detachment associated with EAC in mice. This was achieved to a lesser extent by AT2 receptor blockade. If some patients with IC have a pathophysiology similar to that of EAC mice, there might be potential benefit from AII receptor blockade.