Volume 15 Issue 5, May 2018

Different methods for detecting circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients with cancer yield distinct results with regard to cell counts and CTC subpopulations. This observation underlines the urgent need for comprehensive standardization and validation of novel CTC technologies in order to facilitate their introduction into clinical practice.

The past decade has witnessed an accelerated trend towards freeze-all or frozen embryo transfer cycles in reproductive medicine. However, the results of two recent randomized controlled trials seem to indicate that this deliberate shift in practice towards frozen embryo transfer cycles was premature and perhaps even misguided.

A recent study suggests modulation of luteinizing hormone signalling within the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis and downstream transcriptional effects caused by sustained ibuprofen use. However, this study cannot be used to draw any clinical conclusions regarding effects of ibuprofen on male androgenic or reproductive health. Thus, the andrological effects of its use remain unclear and would benefit from further investigation.

Neuroendocrine prostate cancers (NEPCs) are androgen independent and aggressive and have characteristics of epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity and stem-like cell properties. This Review describes the link between lineage plasticity and an emergent NEPC phenotype and how this knowledge can aid in the development of novel therapeutics.

In this Review, Lotti and Maggi discuss the correlations between sexual dysfunction and male infertility, focusing on the associations between reproductive, sexual, psychological, and general health.

The International Society of Paediatric Oncology–Renal Tumour Study Group (SIOP–RTSG) has developed a new protocol for the diagnosis and treatment of childhood renal tumours, the UMBRELLA SIOP–RTSG 2016 (the UMBRELLA protocol). In this Consensus Statement, members of the SIOP–RTSG outline the rationale for the recommendations for treatment of CCSK in the protocol.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased cancer risk and progression at almost all sites, including the prostate in high-stage prostate cancer, but several reports have described an inverse relationship between metabolic syndrome and its components and low-stage incident prostate cancer. Here, Hammarsten et al. hypothesize that the inverse link between metabolic syndrome and its components and low-stage incident prostate cancer might simply be the result of bias mechanisms.