Objective: The incidence of solid renal masses has increased sharply in recent years due to widespread use of abdominal imaging studies. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence of benign lesions in solid renal masses according to tumor size. Materials and Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 305 patients with 328 renal solid masses treated by surgery. Based on a report by one pathologist, the specimen tumor size and the histology of each lesion were tabulated. The frequency of renal cell carcinoma and benign renal lesions was evaluated and a correlation between tumor size and pathological features of the masses was observed. Results: The frequency of malignant lesions in the 328 renal masses was 83.2%. When lesions were stratified into groups with diameters ≤ 3 cm or > 3 cm, the incidence of benign histology was 22.9% and 13.3%, respectively (p = 0.026). The odds ratios for finding a benign lesion in masses ≤ 3 cm was 1.93 (IC 95%, 1.07 - 3.46) compared to masses > 3 cm. Conclusion: The incidence of benign lesions is significantly higher in renal masses smaller than 3 cm in diameter, which should be taken in account when the treatment of renal solid masses is planned.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to investigate the anti-neoplastic effect of curcumin in prostate cancer cell lines. Specifically, we are using the LNCaP cell line and another prostate cell line developed in our laboratory, PcBra1. The PcBra1 cells were derived from a localized, obstructive prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 (4+5). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prostate cancer cell line was isolated from a localized, obstructive prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 (4+5), and it was characterized using immunohistochemistry. After six passages, the new cell line was treated with varying doses of curcumin: 10 µM, 25 µM or 50 µM. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V FITC. For comparison, the same experiment was performed using the well-established metastatic prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP. RESULTS: Increasing concentrations of curcumin promoted more apoptosis in the PcBra1 cells. Exposure to 10 and 25 µM curcumin induced apoptosis in 31.9% and 52.2% of cells, respectively. Late apoptosis was induced in 37% of cells after treatment with 10 µM curcumin and 35% of cells with a 25 µM treatment. Necrosis accounted for less than 10% of the death in these cells at those two concentrations. When curcumin was used at 50 µM, apoptosis was observed in 64.3% of the cells. Including late apoptosis and necrosis, 98.6% of the cells died in response to 50 µM curcumin. Results with the LNCaP cells were similar although late apoptosis was the main phenomenon at 25 µM. CONCLUSION: We have shown that curcumin acts on localized prostate cancer to induce apoptosis and may therefore be an option as a future therapeutic agent.