0000000000613535
AUTHOR
Ulrich Wetterauer
Laparoscopic adrenalectomy in urological centres - the experience of the German Laparoscopic Working Group
Study Type – Practice patterns (retrospective cohort) Level of Evidence 2b OBJECTIVE • To evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) performed in several German centres with different laparoscopic experience, as LA has become the gold-standard approach for benign surgical adrenal disorders; however, for solitary metastasis or primary adrenal cancer its precise role is uncertain. PATIENTS AND METHODS • The data of 363 patients who underwent a LA were prospectively collected in 23 centres. • All centres were stratified into three groups according to their experience: group A ( 20 LAs/year). • In all, 15 centres used a transperitoneal approach, four a retroperitonea…
An Anti-Ubiquitin Antibody Response in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder
BackgroundTo use combinatorial epitope mapping ("fingerprinting") of the antibody response to identify targets of the humoral immune response in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder.MethodsA combinatorial random peptide library was screened on the circulating pool of immunoglobulins purified from an index patient with a high risk TCC (pTa high grade plus carcinoma in situ) to identify corresponding target antigens. A patient cohort was investigated for antibody titers against ubiquitin.ResultsWe selected, isolated, and validated an immunogenic peptide motif from ubiquitin as a dominant epitope of the humoral response. Patients with TCC had significantly higher anti…