Numerous microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts affect host health. We investigated stool and voided urine samples collected from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or prostate cancer (PC) and a control group to explore the potential relationship between human microbiota and prostatic disease, and aimed to identify correlations and pathogenic taxonomic units. We studied microbial composition using 16S rRNA sequencing to identify operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Extracted genome was amplified and filtered sequences were used to classify OTUs based on their specific taxonomy. No statistically significant differences were observed in stool samples among the groups. However, urine samples indicated different microbiota compositions in different patient populations. The top five microbial genera that showed significant differences between the BPH and control groups were Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, and Cetobacterium. Faecalibacterium, Staphylococcus, Ruminococcaceae_UCG_002, Neisseria, and Agathobacter were the genera with the largest proportion differences when comparing the PC and control groups. We discovered that the urine microbiota composition of the BPH and PC groups was distinct from that of the control group. Due to the impact of microbiota on prostatic disease, it is necessary to identify specific microbes for further research.

The importance of blood cell markers in patients with malignant tumors has been studied, but there are few studies on the prognostic value of hemoglobin-to-red cell distribution width ratio (HRR) in cancer. This is the first study to investigate the effect of preoperative HRR on patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Our retrospective cohort study included 730 UTUC patients who underwent nephroureterectomy from 2000 to 2019. Clinicopathological parameters were compared according to HRR levels, and the relationship between blood cell markers (HRR, white blood cell [WBC] count, platelet count) and prognosis was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression model. We found that patients with HRR ≤ 1.05 tended to have worse renal function, higher pathological stages, and more high-grade tumors. In univariate analysis, HRR ≤ 1.05, WBC > 8.65 × 10³ cells/μL and platelets >309 × 10³ cells/μL were associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that HRR ≤ 1.05 and WBC > 8.65 × 10³ cells/μL were independent prognostic factors for predicting deterioration of PFS, CSS, and OS. In conclusion, HRR and WBC are easy to obtain in clinical practice and are useful indicators to provide prognostic information before surgery for UTUC.

Background and objectives: Bladder urothelial carcinoma is the most common type of genitourinary cancer. Patients with bladder cancer may have limited treatment efficacy related to drug toxicity, resistance or adverse effects, and novel therapeutic strategies to enhance treatment efficacy or increase sensitivity to drugs are of high clinical importance. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic compound found in green tea leaves, and a potential anti-cancer agent in various cancer types through modulating and regulating multiple signaling pathways. The current study aimed to explore the role and novel therapeutic targets of EGCG on bladder urothelial carcinoma. Materials and Methods: The BFTC-905 cells, human urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) cell line, were treated with EGCG or water for 24 hours, and the expression profiles of mRNAs and microRNAs were analyzed using next generation sequencing (NGS). The enriched biological functions were determined using different bioinformatics databases. Results: A total of 108 differentially expressed genes in EGCG-treated bladder TCC cells were identified, which were mainly involved in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biogenesis, inflammatory response and oxidation-reduction metabolism. Moreover, several microRNA-mRNA interactions that potentially participated in the response of bladder TCC to EGCG treatment, including miR-185-3p- ARRB1 (arrestin beta 1), miR-3116- MGAT5B (alpha-1,6-mannosylglycoprotein 6-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase B), miR-31-5p-TNS1 (tensin 1), miR-642a-5p-TNS1, miR-1226-3p- DLG2 (discs large homolog 2), miR-484-DLG2, and miR-22-3p- PPM1K (protein phosphatase 1K). Conclusions: The current findings provide insights into novel therapeutic targets and underlying mechanisms of action of EGCG treatment in bladder cancer.

To clarify if diagnostic ureteroscopy (URS) before radical nephroureterectomy for patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) will increase the risk of intravesical recurrence. From retrospective review of cohort at our institution, 502 patients with UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision were enrolled from 1990 to 2013. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS), and intravesical recurrence-free survival (IVRFS). The log-rank test was used for comparing survival curves. All potential risk factors were included in the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model to recognize independent predictors. From NHI database, we included patients of UTUC without bladder cancer history using population-based database in Taiwan from 1996 to 2013. In total, 3079 URS and 2634 non-URS patients with UTUC were identified. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed to measure the risk of IVRFS and all-cause mortality. From our database, the comparison of clinicopathological characteristics in UTUC patients between with URS biopsy group (URS+) (n = 206, 41%) and without URS biopsy group (URS−) (n = 296, 59%) was insignificantly different excluding surgical method. URS biopsy is not associated with worse OS (p = 0.720), DFS (p = 0.294), MFS (p = 0.808), and IVRFS (p = 0.560) by multivariate analysis. Only bladder cancer history is an independent significant factor to predict IVR (p < 0.001). The same result from NHI database, URS before radical surgery will not increase the risk of IVRFS [adjusted HR 1.136, 95% CI 1.00–1.30; P = 0.059] and OS [adjusted HR 0.919, 95% CI 0.82–1.04; P = 0.164]. Preoperative URS manipulation is not associated with higher risk of IVRFS even in patients without bladder cancer history. Diagnostic URS is feasible to compensate the insufficient information of image in patients with UTUC.