Technologies for localization and diagnosis of prostate cancer

The gold standard for detecting prostate cancer (PCa), systematic biopsy, lacks sensitivity as well as grading accuracy. PSA screening leads to over-treatment of many men, and it is unclear whether screening reduces PCa mortality. This review provides an understanding of the difficulties of localizing and diagnosing PCa. It summarizes recent developments of ultrasound (including elastography) and MRI, and discusses some alternative experimental techniques, such as resonance sensor technology and vibrational spectroscopy. A comparison between the different methods is presented. It is concluded that new ultrasound techniques are promising for targeted biopsy procedures, in order to detect more clinically significant cancers while reducing the number of cores. MRI advances are very promising, but MRI remains expensive and MR-guided biopsy is complex. Resonance sensor technology and vibrational spectroscopy have shown promising results in?vitro. There is a need for large prospective multicentre trials that unambiguously prove the clinical benefits of these new techniques.     

针对性护理模式对冠心病心绞痛患者心率血压及心理状态的影响分析

目的 探讨针对性护理模式在冠心病心绞痛患者临床治疗中的应用效果,结合患者的心率血压及心理状态变化情况进行评价。方法 选取解放军东部战区总医院心血管内科2019年2月至2020年2月期间收治的74例冠心病心绞痛患者作为研究对象,应用随机数字表法,分为观察组37例,进行针对性护理模式,对照组37例,进行常规护理,对比两组患者的护理效果。结果 与对照组相比,观察组患者在护理后的心率(HR)水平[(76.17±4.82)次/min vs.(80.62±3.94)次/min]、收缩压(SBP)水平[(134.42±10.25)mmHg vs.(143.57±11.94)mmHg]、舒张压(DBP)水平[(88.92±7.63)mmHg vs.(44.73±5.05)mmHg]、心绞痛发作频次[(0.52±0.13)次/周vs.(1.47±0.31)次/周]以及焦虑自评量表(SAS)评分[(38.14±4.37)分vs.(93.71±5.09)分]相对更低(P0.05),与对照比,观察组患者的护理满意度相对更高(P0.05)。结论 冠心病心绞痛患者的治疗恢复期间,针对性护理模式的应用,可以有效纠正患者的心率、血压异常,同时改善其心理状态,减少症状的发作,改善患者的预后。     

The Emerging Molecular Landscape of Urothelial Carcinoma

Although there have been many recent discoveries in the molecular alterations associated with urothelial carcinoma, current understanding of this disease lags behind many other malignancies. Historically, a two-pathway model had been applied to distinguish low- and high-grade urothelial carcinoma, although significant overlap and increasing complexity of molecular alterations has been recently described. In many cases, mutations in HRAS and FGFR3 that affect the MAPK and PI3K pathways seem to be associated with noninvasive low-grade papillary tumors, whereas mutations in TP53 and RB that affect the G1-S transition of the cell cycle are associated with high-grade in situ and invasive carcinoma. However, recent large-scale analyses have identified overlap in these pathways relative to morphology, and in addition, many other variants in a wide variety of oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes have been identified. New technologies including next-generation sequencing have enabled more detailed analysis of urothelial carcinoma, and several groups have proposed molecular classification systems based on these data, although consensus is elusive. This article reviews the current understanding of alterations affecting oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes associated with urothelial carcinoma, and their application in the context of morphology and classification schema.     

Improving outcomes in primary CNS lymphoma

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is an aggressive disease with previously poor prognosis. The advent of high-dose methotrexate-based induction regimens as well as use of consolidation therapy has greatly improved this prognosis in recent decades, but durable remission still eludes half of patients. In this review, we summarize the progress made in the treatment of PCNSL as well as the challenges that remain, with a focus on defining optimal induction and consolidation regimens, including the promise of developing biotherapies. Future studies will help delineate the best combination of existing and novel treatment strategies, with the goal of expanding the cohort of patients achieving a cure.     

Considerations for the Design of Future Clinical Trials in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) remains incurable in most cases, and there is a need to improve outcomes through clinical research, which will include development of novel molecularly targeted or immunotherapeutic agents. There are also many remaining questions regarding the optimization of currently available regimens, including the utility of dose escalation, the benefit of combination therapy, and the optimal sequences of therapies. Addressing these clinical questions will require careful planning and the inclusion of novel elements in trial designs. Future trials should include molecular phenotyping and selection of patients most likely to benefit from targeted therapies. In this article, we consider lessons learned from previous trials in mRCC and discuss how these lessons might be implemented in the design of future trials that focus on clinically useful questions and provide results that can be readily interpreted. The ultimate aim of the next generation of mRCC trials will be rapid cost-effective identification, testing, and approval of agents that can improve prognosis in this challenging disease.