Rectal cancer is a common malignancy in the alimentary tract with an increasing incidence, the current treatments of which include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and integrated comprehensive options. Sexual dysfunction, especially erectile dysfunction (ED), is one of the commonest complications in men after rectal cancer treatment and is generally attributed to the damage to the pelvic autonomic nerves. However, recent studies show that ED after rectal cancer treatment is a complex pathophysiological process associated with neurogenic, vasculogenic, and psychological factors. This article reviews the pathogeneses of ED after rectal cancer treatment in order to provide some theoretical evidence for its prevention and treatment.
Erectile Dysfunction ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Rectal Neoplasms ; surgery

Objective To investigate the effect of L-arginine (L-arg) on cerebral oxygen metabolism and ultrastructure during deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) in experimental dogs. Methods Fifteen healthy adult mongrel dogs with both sexes, weighing (14.7±2.4)kg, were randomly divided into three groups (n=5): sham treated group, L-arg pretreated group (100mg/kg L-arg was given 60min before circulation arrest), L-arg and 7-Ni combined treated group (100mg/kg L-arg and 25mg/kg 7-Ni were given 60min before circulation arrest). Extracorporeal circulatory was established routinely, and DHCA commenced when the nasopharyngeal temperature was reduced to 18℃, then reperfusion began after 90min of DHCA. SjvO2, NO in plasma were measured 30min before DHCA and 0,45,90min after DHCA commencement and 60min after rewarming. The ultrastructural changes of cortex and hippocampal gyrus were also been observed with transmission electron microscope after the dogs were executed. Results Compared with sham-treated group, L-arg pretreatment combined with 7-Ni or not increased NO content in plasma, SjvO2 during DHCA, improved cerebral oxygen metabolism and reduced brain ultrastructural injury. There was a positive correlation between NO conten in plasma before arrest and SjvO2 after arrest (r=0.679,P=0.005). Conclusion L-arg pretreatment has cerebral protective effects and can improve cerebral oxygen metabolism during DHCA.

OBJECTIVETo investigate clinical outcome of surgical treatment for spinal metastatic tumors.

METHODSThirty-six patients with metastatic spine tumors treated surgically were retrospectivly reviewed from September 2005 to August 2010. There were 15 males and 21 females with an average age of 58 years old (ranged, 27 to 79 years). The site of origin of primary cancer included the breast, prostate, colon, lung, liver, esophagus, kidney, carcinoma, bladder, and 10 patients were with unidentified primary cancer. Five lesions were located in the cervical spine, 17 in the thoracic spine, 13 in the lumbar spine and 1 in the sacral vertebrae. Preoperative evaluation was conducted according to Tokuhashi system: total score 0 to 8 in 9 cases, 9 to 11 in 25 cases, 12 to 15 in 2 cases. The surgical procedures, including PVP, tumor resection and decompression, titanium nets implant, artificial vertebra replacement, bone cement stuffiness and inter fixation, were performed based on Tokuhashi score, location of lesions and neurological symptoms.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the during ranged from 2 months to 60 months with a mean time of 10.8 months. Pain relief was obtained in all patients after operation, and the VAS pain scores declined after operation. Among 14 patients suffering from spinal cord and nerve compromise, 12 patients improved 1 to 2 grades after surgery according to the Frankel grading system. According to the system of the ECOG performance status: 28 patients improved 1 to 2 grades in performance status after surgery. The postoperative survival rates at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years were 97.2%, 63.9%, 38.9% and 16.7% respectively. Six patines had bone cement leakage after PVP, and none resulted in severe complications.

CONCLUSIONAccording to single or multiple spinal metastases, neurological symptoms, spinal stability and patients' condition, the different surgical treatments can be selected for spinal metastatic patients, which can relieve pain, maintain or improve the neurological status, improve quality of life, improve survival rate of patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Survival Rate

Male infertility is a common and complex disease in urology and andrology, and for many years there has been no effective surgical treatment. With the emergence of microsurgery and assisted reproductive medicine (IVF/ICSI), rapid development has been achieved in the treatment of male infertility. The Center for Male Reproductive Medicine and Microsurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University has been playing an important leading role in developing microsurgical techniques for the management of male infertility. The development of microsurgical treatment of male infertility in China has experienced the 3 periods of emerging, making, and boosting ever since its systematic introduction from Weill Cornell Medical College 15 years ago. At present, many Chinese hospitals have adopted microsurgery in the management of male infertility, which has contributed to the initial establishment of a microsurgical treatment system for male infertility in China. However, some deficiencies do exist concerning microsurgical treatment of male infertility, as in normalized technical training programs for competent surgeons, unified criteria for evaluation of surgical outcomes, and detailed postoperative follow-up data. This article presents an overview on the 15-year development of microsurgical management of male infertility in China, points out the existing deficiencies, and offers some propositions for the promotion of its development.
China ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; surgery ; Male ; Microsurgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the composition, function, and regulatory mechanisms of the secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1) gene in metastatic prostate cancer.

METHODSWe obtained the data about the whole genomic expression profiles on prostate cancer metastasis from the GEO database, and performed data-mining and bioinformatic analysis using BRB-Array Tools and such softwares as Protparam, MotifScan, SignalP 4.0, TMHMM, NetPhos2.0, PredictProtein, GO, KEGG, and STRING.

RESULTSTotally, 73 co-expressed differential genes in prostate cancer metastasis were identified, 21 up-regulated and 52 down-regulated (P <0.01). Bioinformatic analysis indicated that the highly expressed SPP1 gene encoded 314 amino acids and contained 2 N-glycosylation sites, 8 casein kinase II phosphorylation sites and 3 protein kinase C phosphorylation sites, playing essential roles in extracellular matrix (ECM) binding, ossification, osteoblast differentiation, cell adhesion, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, focal adhesion, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and ECM-receptor interaction.

CONCLUSIONThe bioinformatic method showed a high efficiency in analyzing microarray data and revealing internal biological information. SPP1 may play an important role in prostate cancer metastasis and become a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer metastasis and a new target for its treatment.

Computational Biology ; Data Mining ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Male ; Microarray Analysis ; Osteopontin ; chemistry ; genetics ; secretion ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Signal Transduction ; Toll-Like Receptors ; metabolism

Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus (SCCE) is a rare and aggressive malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. The optimal disease staging system and treatment approaches have not yet been defined. This study aimed to evaluate the prediction of different staging systems for prognosis and treatment options of SCCE. We retrospectively accessed the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment strategy, and prognosis of 76 patients diagnosed with primary SCCE between 2001 and 2011. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 58%, 31%, 19%, and 13%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification (P = 0.002), Veterans Administration Lung Study Group (VALSG) stage (P = 0.001), predisposing factors (P < 0.001), T category (P = 0.023), and M category (P < 0.001) were prognostic factors for overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed that the 2002 AJCC TNM stage (P < 0.001) was the only independent prognostic factor for survival. The value of the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of the 2002 AJCC TNM staging system was larger than that of VALSG staging system with regard to predicting overall survival (0.774 vs. 0.620). None of the single treatment regimens showed any benefit for survival by Cox regression analysis. Thus, the 2002 AJCC TMN staging system improved the prediction of SCCE prognosis; however, the optimal treatment regimen for SCCE remains unclear.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; classification ; pathology ; therapy ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; therapy ; Esophagectomy ; methods ; Etoposide ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; methods ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; Radiotherapy, High-Energy ; Retrospective Studies ; Societies, Medical ; Survival Rate ; United States

One of the most common causes of male infertility is asthenospermia, whose pathogenesis, however, is not yet clear. Recent researches have found that some genes (such as tektin-2, DNAI1, DNAH5, DNAH11, AKAP4, SEPT4 and Smcp) and proteins (such as sperm proteins ACTB, ANXA5, PRM1, PRM2 and SABP and seminal proteins Tf, PSA, PAP and Fractalkine) are associated with asthenospermia. The finding of these molecular markers has provided a base for the explanation of the molecular mechanism of asthenospermia, and these markers may become the diagnostic and therapeutic targets of the disease.
A Kinase Anchor Proteins ; genetics ; Animals ; Asthenozoospermia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; DNA Methylation ; genetics ; GTP Phosphohydrolases ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Septins

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of tadalafil on nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT).

METHODSThirty-four patients with organic erectile dysfunction (ED) were treated with oral tadalafil at the dose of 10 mg/3 d before bedtime. A month later, 14 of the patients were observed for NPT by nocturnal electrobioimpedance volumetric assessment (NEVA).

RESULTSThe parameters of erectile function significantly improved in the 14 patients (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONOral administration of minute dose of tadalafil can improve NPT in organic ED patients.

Adult ; Carbolines ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Penile Erection ; physiology ; Tadalafil

OBJECTIVETo appraise the effect of single- and two-layer Percoll density gradient centrifugation in sperm separation.

METHODSTwenty semen specimens underwent single-(50%) and two-layer (90% and 45%) density gradient centrifugation, respectively. The sperm class analyzer (SCA) was used to analyze sperm density, motility and dynamic parameters and round cell density before and after the treatment.

RESULTSAfter separation, the sperm recovery rate of the single-layer method was (65.5 +/- 12.8)%, significantly higher than that of the two-layer method (P < 0.01). The percentages of grade a sperm of the single- and two-layer method were significantly higher than pre-treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), that of the single-layer was significantly lower than that of the two-layer method (P < 0.05), but the percentage of grade c sperm of the former was significantly higher than that of the latter (P < 0.05). Compared with pre-treatment, the percentage of grade a + b sperm of the two-layer method was significantly higher (P < 0.05), while that of the single-layer method showed no significant difference (P > 0.05), and the round cell density of both the methods was significantly lower (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), with no significant differences between the two methods (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe single-layer method yields a higher rate of sperm recovery and causes little change in the sperm motility, while the two-layer method effects a lower rate and significantly improves sperm motility. Both the methods can efficiently separate sperm from round cells, and each has its own advantages and its application value in in vitro treatment of sperm.

Cell Separation ; methods ; Centrifugation, Density Gradient ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Povidone ; Silicon Dioxide ; Sperm Count ; methods ; Spermatozoa ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo compare the differences of the gene expressions in androgen-independent and androgen-dependent prostate cancer (ADPC), gain a deeper insight into the molecular mechanism of androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC), and find effective means for its clinical diagnosis and treatment.

METHODSEats of genes highly-associated with prostate cancer were obtained by mining PubMed with the FACTA tool, and the specifically expressed genes in AIPC were analyzed with a set of bioinformatic tools including GATHER, PANTHER, STRING and ToppGene.

RESULTSA total of 128 genes specifically expressed in AIPC were identified, as compared with 23 that were specific to ADPC. Bioinformatic analysis showed the essential roles of AIPC-specific genes in such important biological processes as cell signal transduction, cell adhesion, apoptosis, oncogenesis, cell proliferation and cell differentiation.

CONCLUSIONSuch genes as MMPJ, EGFR, MMP2, ADM, MIF, IGFBP3, 112, MET, BAD, RHOA, SPP1, EP300, SMAD3, RAE1, PTK2, and TGFB2 may play important roles in transforming ADPC into AIPC.

Androgen Antagonists ; Androgens ; metabolism ; Computational Biology ; Data Mining ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Genes, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism