Active clinical trials for "Carcinoma, Transitional Cell"

Background: Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a rare tumor associated with bladder cancer in up to 50% of cases. Its incidence is rising due to improved detection and bladder cancer survival. The diagnosis of UTUC is challenging because more than 35% of the standard biopsies can result inconclusive. The grading of UTUC cells, which delivers the most important data for the choice between a kidney-sparing surgery (KSS) and a radical treatment, is upgraded in 30% of radical nephroureterectomies. The follow-up of UTUC after KSS requires an invasive procedure as a diagnostic ureteroscopy for a minimum of 5 years, and urinary cytology has low diagnostic power. Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate the accuracy (overall and stratified for grade) of a DNA methylation urine biomarker test (Bladder EpiCheckTM) in UTUC, and to compare it with current standard (urinary cytology). The secondary objective is to show its applicability in the specific clinical scenario of UTUC surveillance after kidney-sparing surgery and related cost-effectiveness. Design, Setting, and Participants: From February 2019 to February 2021, 80 consecutive patients candidates to ureteroscopy for suspicion of primary, recurrent or metachronous UTUC in one tertiary Referral Centers (Fundaciò Puigvert) giving written informed consent will be included in the study. Intervention: Bladder urine samples (> 10 ml) will be collected for cytology and for the methylation test before cystoscopy. Prior to semirigid and flexible ureteroscopy, urine specimens from the upper urinary tract will be obtained via a ureteral catheter.

Cysteine-rich 61 (Cyr61), a member of "CCN" family, regulates cell migration, proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis, cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, survival, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix production. Evidences show strong correlations of aberrant Cyr61 expression in cancers of numerous organs and tissues. However, the expression and effect of Cyr61 in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), the most common urinary tract cancer in Taiwan, remains undiscovered. Based on previous studies of Cyr61 in other cancer, the investigators hypothesize that Cyr61 may mediate TCC cell proliferation and migration; and associated with disease progression and recurrent. Thus the investigators conduct this project to study the role of Cyr61 in the pathogenesis of TCC. The investigators will retrospectively review medical history of patients with TCC treated at our institutes. Cyr61 immunohistochemical stain of their surgical samples will be performed. The correlation of Cyr61 expression of TCC and patients' clinical courses will be investigated.

Single-bolus computed tomography urography (CTU)is a recently developed one-stop imaging examination for diagnosis of urinary tract diseases, including urinary malignancies. However, single-bolus CTU uses two post- contrast phases (i.e.: nephrographic and excretory phases) for diagnosis of urinary tract diseases. A further-developed split-bolus CTU uses solitary post-contrast phase containing mixed information of nephrographic and excretory phases for diagnosis of urinary tract disease; however, whether split-bolus CTU has similar high diagnostic values for urinary malignancies remains unaddressed. Thus, the aim of this study is to compare the diagnostic performance between single-bolus and split-bolus CTU for diagnosing urinary malignancies. This study will enroll 352 patients from two hospitals if they fit the including criteria including aged > 40 years old, presenting with gross hematuria or having urinary malignancies histories, normal renal function (i.e.: estimated glomerular filtration rate > 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, no allergic history to iodinated contrast medium and no pregnancy). All enrolled patients will be randomized to undergo split-bolus and single-bolus CTU in 1: 1 manner. Two radiologists will read CTU images independently using a standardized recording sheet with Likert scales 1-5 representing higher probabilities of presence of urinary malignancies for larger number). The diagnostic values of split-bolus and single-bolus CTU will analyzed using reference standards by final diagnoses of urinary malignancies (i.e.: presence of urinary malignancies based on histological examinations of cytology examinations, biopsies or surgical specimens). The diagnostic performance of split-bolus CTU and single- bolus CTU for urinary malignancies will be compared using areas under receiver operating curve (ROC) to determine whether there is presence of significant difference .

Bladder urothelial carcinoma (UC) is a common malignancy and the incidence is increasing by years in Taiwan. Chemoresistance was inevitable in treatment of metastatic disease and lead to the ominous outcomes. To develop novel therapeutic strategies to overcome chemoresistance is imperative. Cancer cells uptake glucose at higher rates than normal tissue but use most of glucose for glycolysis even under normoxia condition, which is known as the Warburg effect. Pyruvate kinase (PK) catalyzes the last step in the process of glycolysis, and one of it isoform--PKM2 has been reported to be associated with tumor progression and some specific tissues and promotes the Warburg effect in cancer cells.

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common cancer of urinary tract. Patients with metastatic UC are usually treated with systemic chemotherapy. There still existed 30% to 50% of advanced UC not responsive to cisplatin-based chemotherapy; the prognosis for patients with metastatic UC remains poor.

To investigate the relationship between arsenic methylation enzymes (AS3MT, PNP,GSTO1, and GSTO2) genetic polymorphism and UC risk. To explore the relationship between cigarettes metabolites (NNK, NNAL, HBA, NNAL-Gluc, O6-Methylguanine, and N7-Methylguanine) and UC risk. To examine the relationship between cigarette metabolic enzymes (CYP2A6, CYP2A13, and UGT2B7) genetic polymorphism and UC risk. To elucidate the relationship between DNA repair enzymes (MGMT, XPD, XRCC1, and XRCC3) gene polymorphism and 8-OHdG or between DNA repair enzymes and UC risk. To examine relationship between COX-2 (-1195G/A、-765G/C 和8473C/T), IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α gene polymorphism and 8-OHdG or between COX-2, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α gene polymorphism and UC risk. To examine the risk factors of the environment-environment, gene-environment, and gene-gene interaction on the risk of UC.

Immunotherapy has become an essential therapeutic weapon against many cancers. Control point inhibitors (CPI, PD-1/PD-L1) have shown efficacy in the therapeutic management of tumors in the bladder in progression after administering platinum derivatives. But only 20% of patients get any clinical benefit from these heavy treatments in the long term. Treating metastatic patients without distinction means taking a considerable risk of toxicity and generates major costs. It is therefore urgent and important to exceed the current criteria for using immunotherapy. Recent studies have shown the interest of studying intestinal microbiota as a marker of the efficacy of immunotherapy. The investigators hypothesized that the proteomic signature of the intestinal microbiota in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinomas who responded to immunotherapies was special, and has very different characteristics from that of patients with the same pathology who do not respond to immunotherapy.

In this study, the investigators aim at: Evaluate the presence of vasculogenic mimicry in urothelial carcinomas by CD31-PAS double staining. Correlate the presence of vasculogenic mimicry with the clinicopathologic features as age, sex, TNM stage, pathological grade, recurrence, carcinoma in situ, lymphovascular emboli, lymph node metastasis, necrosis, surgical margin, multifocality and tumor size in urothelial carcinoma.

The investigators previously pointed out the significant association between urinary arsenic profiles and urothelial carcinoma (UC) risk through a 12-year follow-up study. Further, the investigators observed the increased UC risk in people with lower plasma folate and higher homocysteine than those with higher plasma folate and lower homocysteine in 2010. S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is one factor included in one-carbon metabolism pathway and is the main donor of methyl group in cells. The ratio of SAM and its metabolite S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) not only reflected the intake level of dietary folate but also demonstrated the extent of global DNA methylation. These factors might play important roles in UC carcinogenesis. The investigators would expect to take three years to explore the interactions among global DNA methylation, one-carbon metabolic pathway factors, urinary arsenic profiles, the polymorphisms and haplotype of Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) and UC. In the first year, the investigators would measure the levels of plasma folate, homocysteine, SAM and SAH and evaluate the associations between these factors and UC risk. In the second year, the investigators would set up the method of immunohistochemistry stain and compare the differences between the global DNA methylation from bladder tissues and blood. In the last year, this investigators would analyze the GNMT gene polymorphism and haplotype variation. At the same time, the investigators would explore the impact of GNMT genetic variation and global DNA methylation on UC risk. Based on the results from our research, the investigators might propose that the decreased ratio of SAM/SAH resulted in UC risk increased. This mechanism might be through the changed levels of urinary arsenic profiles and global DNA methylation.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This study is looking at genetic susceptibility to cancer and interactions between genes and the environment in patients with cancer in East Anglia, Trent, or West Midlands of the United Kingdom.