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Passing kidney calculi can be excruciatingly painful for patients, likened to childbirth in intensity. The mechanism of the simple act of passing a stone, however, is not well understood. A recent research article examined a novel approach for optimizing kidney stone clearance—sleep position, a simple noninvasive concept that might improve urinary stone passage.
For decades, complete removal of the kidney with all the contents of the Gerota's fascia (including the adrenal gland) has been a standard procedure for treating renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Two recent articles argue against routine adrenalectomy, and encourage adrenal preservation for the vast majority of patients with RCC.
International prostate symptom score is widely used to evaluate lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, the questions can be difficult to understand for some patients, leading to inaccurate treatment decisions. A visual prostate symptom score could overcome this limitation, but should be further investigated.
Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) a common urological anomaly in children, and can result in reflux-associated nephropathy, which is a major cause of childhood hypertension and chronic renal failure. In this Review, the authors discuss the pathogenesis of VUR, and consider genetic syndromes and gene loci that have been associated with the disorder.
The prostate gland expresses several components of the endocannabinoid system. In this Review, Díaz-Laviada outlines the anti-proliferative effect of cannabinoids on prostate cancer cells and the signaling pathways underlying cannabinoid action, before discussing the molecular targets and signaling pathways modulated by cannabinoids in prostate cancer cells.
Recent evidence indicates an important role for the retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor in the development of castration resistance in prostate cancer. In this Review, the authors describe the current state of knowledge regarding the implications of RB loss for disease progression, and consider the potential opportunities for developing RB as a metric with which to predict therapeutic response.
Recent data indicate that sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1), a lipid enzyme with oncogenic properties, has a critical role in the progression of many cancers. In this Review, the authors describe the mechanisms of SK1 signaling and the molecular basis for targeting SK1 in cancer, with particular focus on prostate cancer.
Ho and colleagues outline the requirements of focal therapy for prostate cancer and discuss the limitations of current imaging modalities and prostate biopsy techniques to meet them. They go on to describe how a robotic system might overcome these deficiencies and review the types of robotic prostate biopsy that have been reported.
