Bozidar Kovacevic

Tissue and urinary KIM-1 relate to tumor characteristics in patients with clear renal cell carcinoma

AbstractThe objective of this prospective follow-up trial was to ascertain whether the urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (uKIM-1) associates with tumor tissue (tKIM-1) expression and with the pathological characteristics of clear renal cell carcinoma (cRCC) in radically nephrectomized (RN) and/or in partially nephrectomized (PN) patients with cRCC, pre- and postoperatively. This clinical study included 40 patients subjected to RN/PN (cRCC group) and 30 healthy volunteers (control group). Urinary KIM-1 was determined by ELISA TIM-1/KIM-1 kit and normalized by urinary creatinine. Immunohistochemical staining (monoclonal anti-human anti-TIM-1/KIM-1/HAVCR antibody) was used for semiquantitative analysis of the tKIM-1 expression and expressed as a score (% KIM-1 positively stained tubules). Both markers were interpreted in terms of the tumor characteristics comprising tumor size, Fuhrman grade, pathological (pT) stage, tumor/nodes/metastasis (TNM) stage, lymphovascular invasion and type of surgery RN/PN. Preoperative uKIM-1 was significantly higher in the cRCC group compared to controls, such as uKIM-1 was statistically higher in RN than in PN patients. Postoperatively, uKIM-1 decreased to control values. Expression of tKIM-1 was documented in all nephrectomized patients. Significant associations were achieved between uKIM-1 and tKIM-1 and with considered tumor characteristics, especially with tumor size and grade. Based on the accomplished associations, we found uKIM-1 as a highly sensitive marker for cRCC diagnosis. The clinical trial registration number: 1110-2012.

The clinical course of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer after transurethral resection of the tumor with or without subsequent intravesical application of bacillus Calmette-Guérin: The influence of patients gender and age.

UNLABELLED BACGROUND/AIM: The therapy with intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) after transurethral resection (TUR) of tumor is the gold standard of treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The role and importance of BCG intravesical therapy in various shape of tumors, were confirmed by our previous investigation. The aim of this study was to examine whether incidence of recurrence and tumor regression differs depending on sex and age of patients. METHODS This study included a total of 899 patients suffering from NIMBC, treated at our institution from January 1, 2007 to March 1, 2013. Two groups of patients were formed: patients underwent TUR + BCG therapy (the group I) and the group II with patients in whom TUR was performed as only therapy. These two groups of patients were divided into subgroups of respondents male and female, age 60 years or younger and older than 60 years. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2 test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. RESULTS This research suggests that if the frequency of recurrence is seen as the only parameter, considering all the subjects, the lowest recurrence rate was determined in the male subjects, aged 60 years and younger who had received BCG after TUR. A high statistical significance was found in the incidence of recurrence in patients younger than 60 years, depending on the response to the therapy, while in those older than 60 years, the difference was at the level of statistical significance. This can be attributed to a certain degree of infravesical obstruction in older men. CONCLUSIONS Sex and age of patients may have a significant influence on the course and outcome of NMIBC. The disease has the most malignant and most aggressive behavior when present in males older than 60 years.