Predictors of operative blood loss in patients undergoing small incision radical prostatectomy

We performed 82 cases of small incision radical prostatectomy from July, 2003 to September, 2009. There were 38 cases of cT1c, 41 cases of cT2, and 3 cases of cT3. Mean operative time was 222 +/- 31.7 (min.). Mean operative blood loss was 1,232 +/- 583 (ml). We evaluated factors predicting operative blood loss, such as prostate volume, body mass index (BMI), age, and preoperative PSA level. Group with smaller prostate volume and group with lower BMI showed significantly less blood loss compared to that of a higher group (p = 0.0009, p = 0.0014, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that prostate volume and BMI were significant predictors for operative blood loss (p = 0.0005, p = 0.0122, respectively). Prostate volume and BMI may be a useful predictor for operative blood loss.     

Peripheral Blood Biomarkers Associated with Clinical Outcome in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Nivolumab

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify baseline peripheral blood biomarkers associated with clinical outcome in patients with NSCLC treated with nivolumab.

Durable complete response in HER2-positive breast cancer: a multicenter retrospective analysis

Purpose

Though advanced and metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive disease is not curable, a small proportion of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer remain in prolonged complete remission with anti-HER2 treatment. We hypothesized that some cases of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer may be curable. In this large, multicenter retrospective study, we aimed to assess the long-term outcomes for patients with a durable response to trastuzumab.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated the data of patients diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who received trastuzumab for more than 2 years as the first-line treatment. Patients diagnosed between April 1, 2001 and December 31, 2014 at 19 institutions in Japan were included in the analysis. From 124 potential subjects, 16 were excluded and 108 were evaluated.

Results

The median follow-up length was 7.7 years. Disease progression occurred in 44/108 (40.7%) patients and 13/108 (12%) patients died. The median progression-free survival was 11.2 years, and as more than 80% of patients were alive 10 years after metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. Of the 108 patients, 57 achieved a clinical complete response. Trastuzumab therapy was interrupted for 27 (47.4%) of these patients (based on the doctor’s recommendation for 19 patients, owing to adverse events for 4 patients, owing to unknown reasons for 3 patients, and at the request of 1 patient). Disease progression occurred in 4 of the 27 patients after the interruption of trastuzumab treatment. The median duration of trastuzumab therapy for all 27 patients was 5.1 years (0.9–9.3 years).

Conclusion

We found that some patients showed no evidence of disease after the interruption of trastuzumab therapy. Discontinuation of maintenance trastuzumab in this patient population after a limited time should be explored cautiously while awaiting a global collaborative effort for a randomized trial.

     

Immunohistochemical analysis on aquaporin-1 and aquaporin-3 in skin wounds from the aspects of wound age determination

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Immunohistochemical investigation of aquaporin (AQP)1 and AQP3 was performed in human skin wounds obtained from forensic autopsy cases. A total of 55 human...