Although accumulating preclinical evidence indicates the involvement of androgen receptor signals in bladder cancer (BC) development, its clinical relevance remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the predictive role of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in BC recurrence in prostate cancer (PC) patients.We retrospectively reviewed 20,328 patients with PC diagnosed during 1991–2013 and identified 239 (1.2%) men having primary BC. After excluding ineligible patients, 162 patients made up a final cohort.With a median follow-up of 62 months, 38 (50%) of 76 control patients without ADT experienced BC recurrence, while 19 (22%) of 86 did in ADT group. Thus, patients having received ADT for their PC showed a significantly lower risk of BC recurrence (5-year actuarial recurrence-free survival: 76% v 40%; P < 0.001) and also had a significantly smaller number of recurrence episodes (5-year cumulative recurrence: 0.44 v 1.54; P < 0.001), compared to the control patients. A multivariable analysis revealed ADT as an independent prognosticator (hazard ratio, 0.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.17–0.49) for BC recurrence.This is the first clinical study showing that ADT significantly reduces the risk of BC recurrence.

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Expression of intermediate filaments (IFs) has been suggested to be a reliable marker for differentiating epithelial and non‐epithelial tumors. Moreover, the c‐erbB‐2 and p53 genes are considered to be involved relatively early in the process of human carcinogenesis. In order to elucidate the origin of uterine carcinosarcomas, we analyzed IF, c‐erbB‐2 and p53 expression in and the ultrastructural characteristics of clones derived from a human uterine‐carcinosarcoma cell line, EMTOKA. The expression of IFs and other proteins in the EMTOKA clones was identical to that in the EMTOKA cell line. It and its 7 clones all expressed cytokeratins 8, 17, 18 and 19, vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen, S‐100, myoglobin, type‐II collagen, α‐smooth‐muscle actin, placental alkaline phosphatase and epidermal‐growth‐factor receptor. The c‐erbB‐2 and p53 expression levels of all the cell types of the EMTOKA cell line and its clones were the same. Interestingly, an ultrastructural study showed that the EMTOKA cell line and its clones at early and late passages possessed the characteristics of epithelial cell types without either transitional forms between the epithelial and stromal components or differentiation into sarcomatous components. The results of this study lend particular support to the combination tumor hypothesis that a precursor (stem) cell gives rise both to epithelial and to mesenchymal components during the histogenesis of uterine carcinosarcoma, the epithelial component of which appears to be dominant, suggesting that the established cell lines derived from a common stem cell. Int. J. Cancer 72:821–827, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Background: Future fertility is a major concern for cancer patients who undergo intensive chemotherapy. There has been controversy about whether hormonal treatments may have protective effects against the severe spermatogenic damage caused by chemotherapy or irradiation. Recently, it has been proposed that gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs administered after testicular damage stimulate the recovery of spermatogenesis. In this study, we have investigated the effects of GnRH agonist, leuprorelin, on the damage to spermatogenesis induced by busulfan. Methods: Fisher rats were treated with busulfan, 25 mg/kg, intraperitoneally. The effects of subcutaneous injections of leuprorelin before or after treatment were evaluated histologically 18 weeks later. Results:The percentage of 'recovered' seminiferous tubules was 27.7 ± 12.6% in control rats without leuprorelin and 26.9 ± 10.2% in rats with leuprorelin injected 4 weeks before busulfan. Rats in both groups showed poor recovery of spermatogenesis with an increase of intratesticular fluid. However, rats treated with leuprorelin three times (4 weeks apart) after busulfan showed an improvement of up to 56.5 ± 12.0% (P < 0.05). A focal but massive necrotic lesion in the testis was observed only in this group of rats. Conclusions:The results demonstrated that leuprorelin administered after chemical testicular damage enhanced the recovery of spermatogenesis. At the same time, a possible significant side-effect of leuprorelin was noted.