MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cross sectional study looked at prostate cancer patients seen in the Urology Departments in 2 tertiary centres over the 11 year period starting from January 2000 to May 2011. Patient demographic data, levels of PSA at diagnosis, Gleason score for the biopsy core, T-staging as well as the lymph node status were recorded and analysed.
RESULTS: 258 men were included. The mean age of those 90 men (34.9%) with bone metastasis was 69.2 ± 7.3 years. Logistic regression found that PSA level (P=0.000) at diagnosis and patient's nodal-stage (P=0.02) were the only two independent variables able to predict the probability of bone metastasis among the newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. Among those with a low PSA level less than 20 ng/ml, and less than 10 ng/ml, bone metastasis were detected in 10.3% (12 out of 117) and 9.7% (7 out of 72), respectively. However, by combining PSA level of 10 ng/ml or lower, and nodal negative as the two criteria to predict negative bone scan, a relatively high negative predictive value of 93.8% was obtained. The probability of bone metastasis in prostate cancer can be calculated with this formula: -1.069+0.007(PSA value, ng/ml) +1.021(Nodal status, 0 or 1)=x Probability of bone metastasis=2.718 x/1+2.718 x.
CONCLUSION: Newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients with a PSA level of 10 ng/ml or lower and negative nodes have a very low risk of bone metastasis (negative predictive value 93.8%) and therefore bone scans may not be necessary.
METHODS: Patients confirmed by transrectal-ultrasonographic-guided-biopsy performed from 2002 to 2008 were enrolled and analysed according to ethnicity, age, PSA level, Gleason score, stage of disease and survival.
RESULTS: Among 83 patients, there were 38 Malay, 40 Chinese, 3 Indians and 2 others. Median age at diagnosis was 69.9 (range: 59-93), 43 patients (51.8%) being diagnosed before the age of 70. The median PSA level upon diagnosis was 574 ng/ml (range: 1-8632) and the median Gleason score was 7 (range: 2-10). Over half were already in Stage 4 when diagnosed. The most common site of metastasis was the bone. As a result the commonest prescribed treatment was hormonal manipulation. Five patients underwent radical prostatectomy and a further thirteen patients had radical radiotherapy (stage I: 1 patient, stage II: 7 patients and stage III: 5 patients). Ten patients defaulted follow-up. The median disease-specific survival was 21.9 months (range: 1-53).
CONCLUSIONS: Prostatic carcinoma is a disease of the elderly and it is frequently diagnosed late in Malaysia. Greater efforts should be made to educate Malaysians regarding prostate cancer.
METHODS: We performed a comparative prospective cross-sectional study assessing the impact of intravesical stent position on the quality of life in 46 patients with a ureteral stent. This is done using the Ureteral Stent Symptom Questionnaire (USSQ).
RESULTS: 52.5% of patients had an ipsilateral positioned intravesical stent, while the remaining had their stent positioned contralaterally. Intravesical stent position significantly influenced the quality of life. The USSQ score was worse for the contralateral group. Subscore analysis found that urinary symptoms and body pain index contribute significantly to the morbidity. Majority of patients in the ipsilateral group reported no discomfort as compared to the contralateral group.
CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing the impact of intravesical stent position on the quality of life in the Asian population. Intravesical stent position has a significant influence on patient's morbidity and quality of life in particular towards their urinary irritative symptoms and body pain. It is imperative to ensure correct distal placement of ureteric stent that does not cross the midline to the contralateral site. We believe that the USSQ should be used in daily clinical practice in assessing the symptoms related to indwelling ureteric stents.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) over six months. Prostate cancer patients from UMMC received the intervention and patients from UKMMC were taken as controls. The level of depression, anxiety and stress were measured using Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales - 21 (DASS-21).
RESULTS: A total of 77 patients from the UMMC and 78 patients from the UKMMC participated. At the end of the study, 90.9% and 87.2% of patients from the UMMC and UKMMC groups completed the study respectively. There were significant improvements in anxiety (p<0.001, partial ?2=0.198) and stress (p<0.001, partial ?2=0.103) at the end of the study in those receiving muscle training. However, there was no improvement in depression (p=0.956).
CONCLUSIONS: The improvement in anxiety and stress showed the potential of APMRT in the management of prostate cancer patients. Future studies should be carried out over a longer duration to provide stronger evidence for the introduction of relaxation therapy among prostate cancer patients as a coping strategy to improve their anxiety and stress.
METHODS: Medical records of bladder tumour cases from 2005 till 2009 were retrospectively reviewed and tabulated.
RESULTS: A total of 83 cases were recorded. The incidence was highest among the Chinese (56.6%), followed by Malays (34.9%), Indians (6%) and other races (2.4%). The male-to-female ratio was 9.4:1. The median age was 65 years (range 30-91 years) and median duration of follow up was 17.2 months (range 2-60 months). The main histopathology was transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) (90.4%), followed by adenocarcinoma (6%), squamous cell carcinoma (1.2%), leiomyoma (1.2%) and myeloid sarcoma (1.2%). For the TCCs, 58.6% were superficial while 41.4% were muscle invasive, and 13.3% had nodal metastasis with distant metastasis in 8%. Of the total, 5.3% were papillary urothelial tumours of low malignant potential, 33.3% pTa, 20% pT1, 10.7% pT2, 12.0% pT3 and 18.7% pT4. Of the superficial tumours, 32.5% were high grade tumours. There were ten radical cystectomies performed for transitional cell carcinomas; two had neobladder reconstruction whereas the other eight had ileal conduits. All the adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas were treated by radiotherapy due to the advanced stage of the disease while the myeloid sarcoma received chemotherapy. Mean survival of patients with muscle invasive cancer was 33+/-5 months. By the end of the study, 18.1% of patients had died of their cancer.
CONCLUSION: The incidence of bladder tumours is highest among the Chinese. When compared to other studies, the incidence of muscle invasive and high-grade superficial tumours was greater.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a one-year period, we randomly assigned patients with an indication for surgery for BPH and who met inclusion criteria to treatment with either PKRP or TURP. We measured prostate volume by transrectal ultrasound, relief of bladder outlet obstruction, operative time, decline in serum sodium and hemoglobin, weight of resected prostatic chips, duration of catheterization and hospital stay. Patients were evaluated one month after discharge for obstructive symptoms. Complications were also recorded.
RESULTS: Of 102 patients enrolled, 51 underwent PKRP and 51 underwent TURP. Relief of obstructive symptoms and mean operative time showed no statistically significant difference. The PKRP group had a smaller decline in hemoglobin than the TURP group (0.6 g/dL vs 1.8 g/dL, P=.01), a lower reduction in serum sodium levels (1.03 mmol/L vs 5.01 mmol/L, P=.01), a shorter catheterization time (37.2 hours versus 57.7 hours, P=.03) and a shorter hospital stay (1.5 days versus 2.6 days, P=.02). One patient in the bipolar PKRP group needed recatheterization versus four patients in the TURP group.
CONCLUSION: PKRP reduces morbidity with an outcome similar to conventional monopolar TURP in the treatment of BPH.
Materials and Methods: Sixty-nine men underwent mpMRI of the prostate followed by TRUS biopsy. In addition to 12-core biopsy, CFB was performed on abnormal lesions detected on MRI.
Results: Abnormal lesions were identified in 98.6% of the patients, and 59.4% had the highest PI-RADS score of 3 or more. With the use of PI-RADS 3 as cutoff, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of MRI for the detection of PCa were 91.7%, 57.8%, 53.7%, and 92.8%, respectively. With the use of PI-RADS 4 as cutoff, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of mpMRI were 66.7%, 91.1%, 80%, and 83.7%, respectively. Systematic biopsy detected more PCa compared to CFB (29% vs. 26.1%), but CFB detected more significant (Gleason grade ≥7) PCa (17.4% vs. 14.5%) (P < 0.01). CFB cores have a higher PCa detection rate as compared to systematic cores (P < 0.01).
Conclusions: mpMRI has a good predictive ability for PCa. CFB is superior to systematic biopsy in the detection of the significant PCa.
Case presentation: A 40-year-old man presented with progressive anogenital warts associated with foul-smelling discharge and fever. He has been diagnosed with HIV and was on HAART on presentation. A warty excrescence had infiltrated the entire external genitalia, gluteals and sacral region. Serial excision was performed along with a defunctioning colostomy. The patient recovered well, and the final histopathological showed features of GCA.
Discussion: With HIV, the HPV infection goes unchecked may develop into GCA. Malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma may occur in more than half of the cases. A complex interaction between HIV and HPV may lead to a higher risk of recurrence even after resection. The diagnosis is usually clinical. Imaging modalities may be used in identifying the extent and depth of invasion.
Conclusion: The optimal management of anogenital giant condyloma acuminata remains to be determined. Staged surgical excision should be conducted to achieve an optimum outcome. Radical reconstructive surgery should be reserved for patients with recurrence, malignant transformation or sphincter involvement.