The present study proposes a classification of renal cancer tumor blood vessels according to their morphology and maturation grade. We identified four vascular patterns: reticular, diffuse, fasciculated and trabecular. The reticular pattern was present in 63% of cases, being characterized by the predominance of mature CD34+/SMAct+ tumor vessels, highly interconnected. For this pattern, 74% of cases had vascular invasion, and a significant correlation was observed between tumor grade and immature state of tumor vessels (p = 0.022). The diffuse pattern was observed in 23% of cases and was characterized by non-interconnected vessels predominantly of mature CD34+/SMAct+ type and vascular invasion in 64% of cases. Only 8% of cases, had a fasciculate model of vessels distribution, all of them being of mature type, located in the connective axis of papillary renal tumors. For this pattern vascular invasion was found in 50% of cases. In 6% of cases a trabecular pattern was observed and the lowest rate of vascular invasion was registered. We defined here four distinct vascular patterns in renal cell carcinomas showing a strong impact on vascular invasion. A complete morphological and molecular characterization of tumor vessels would be beneficial in elucidating the mechanisms that underlie the ineffectiveness of antiangiogenic/antitumor therapies.

IntroductionWithin the last years, there has been a trend in many hospitals to switch their surgical activity from open/laparoscopic procedures to robotic surgery. Some open surgeons have been shifting their activity to robotic surgery. It is still unclear whether there is a transfer of open surgical skills to robotic ones.AimTo evaluate whether such transfer of skills occurs and to identify which specific skills are more significantly transferred from the operative table to the console.Material and methodsTwenty-five volunteers were included in the study, divided into 2 groups: group A (15 participants) – medical students (without any surgical experience in open, laparoscopic or robotic surgery); and group B (10 participants) – surgeons with exclusively open surgical experience, without any previous laparoscopic or robotic experience. Participants were asked to complete 3 robotic simulator console exercises structured from the easiest one (Peg Board) to the toughest one (Sponge Suture). Overall scores for each exercise as well as specific metrics were compared between the two groups.ResultsThere were no significant differences between overall scores of the two groups for the easiest task. Overall scores were better for group B as the exercises got more complex. For the intermediate and high-difficulty level exercises, most of the specific metrics were better for group B, with the exception of the working master space item.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the open surgical skills transfer to robotic skills, at least for the very beginning of the training process.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is arguably the deadliest form of genitourinary malignancy and is nowadays viewed as a heterogeneous series of cancers, with the same origin but fundamentally different metabolisms and clinical behaviors. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is increasingly necessary for RCC subtyping and definitive diagnosis. WT1 is a complex gene involved in carcinogenesis. To address reporting heterogeneity and WT1 IHC standardization, we used a recent N-terminus targeted monoclonal antibody (clone WT49) to evaluate WT1 protein expression in 56 adult RCC (aRCC) cases. This is the largest WT1 IHC investigation focusing exclusively on aRCCs and the first report on clone WT49 staining in aRCCs. We found seven (12.5%) positive cases, all clear cell RCCs, showing exclusively nuclear staining for WT1. We did not disregard cytoplasmic staining in any of the negative cases. Extratumoral fibroblasts, connecting tubules and intratumoral endothelial cells showed the same exclusively nuclear WT1 staining pattern. We reviewed WT1 expression patterns in aRCCs and the possible explanatory underlying metabolomics. For now, WT1 protein expression in aRCCs is insufficiently investigated, with significant discrepancies in the little data reported. Emerging WT1-targeted RCC immunotherapy will require adequate case selection and sustained efforts to standardize the quantification of tumor-associated antigens for aRCC and its many subtypes.

Within the last few years, there have been an increased number of clinical studies involving urinary microbiota. Low-biomass microbiome sequencing (e.g., urine, lung, placenta, blood) is easily biased by contamination or cross-contamination. So far, a few critical steps, from sampling urine to processing and analyzing, have been described (e.g., urine collection modality, sample volume size, snap freezing, negative controls usage, laboratory risks for contamination assessment, contamination of negative results reporting, exploration and discussion of the impact of contamination for the final results, etc.) We performed a literature search (Pubmed, Scopus and Embase) and reviewed the published articles related to urinary microbiome, evaluating how the aforementioned critical steps to obtain unbiased, reliable results have been taken or have been reported. We identified different urinary microbiome evaluation protocols, with non-homogenous reporting systems, which can make gathering results into consistent data for similar topics difficult and further burden the already so complex emerging field of urinary microbiome. We concluded that to ease the progress in this field, a joint approach from researchers, authors and publishers would be necessary in order to create mandatory reporting systems which would allow to recognize pitfalls and avoid compromising a promising field of research.

Background: Overexpression of chloride intracellular channel protein 1 (CLIC1) in tumor cells has been confirmed, but it has received less attention in the tumor blood vessel endothelium. Aim. The assessment of CLIC1 expression in ccRCC tumor blood vessels and its relationship with TNM parameters and tumor cell CLIC1 expression. Methods: CLIC1 immunostaining in ccRCC was evaluated in 50 cases in both malignant cells and tumor blood vessels (CLIC1 microvessel density-CLIC1-MVD) and was correlated with TNM staging parameters. Results: CLIC1-MVD was observed in approximately 65% of cases, and CLIC1 co-localization in both tumor and endothelial cells was observed in 59% of cases. ccRCC was classified into four groups (Classes 0–3) based on the percentage of positive tumor cells, with each group including sub-groups defined by CLIC1 expression in the endothelium. Class 3 (60–100% positive tumor cells) had the highest CLIC1-MVD, with an impact on T and M parameters (p value = 0.007 for T, and p value = 0.006 for M). For cases with CLIC1 intracellular translocation, there was a strong correlation between CLIC1-MVD and M (p value < 0.001). Conclusions. Co-expression of ccRCC tumor and endothelial cells promotes tumor progression and metastasis and should be investigated further as a potential therapeutic target for ccRCC and other human malignancies.