Publications by authors named "Alexandre Zlotta"

Background: Historically, Asia had a lower prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and mortality compared with Western countries, but the gap is narrowing. Paradoxically, Asians have been reported to present with more advanced disease though more favorable outcomes. Despite PCa becoming an emerging health priority in East Asia, our knowledge remains limited.

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Purpose: Patients with Ta low-grade (LG) NMIBC rarely develop metastases or die of it. Long-term data are scant and length of follow-up poorly defined.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 521 patients diagnosed with primary TaLG NMIBC (n = 491) or papillary urothelial neoplasm of low malignant potential (n = 30) from 1989 to 2019 at an academic center.

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Article Synopsis
  • Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is a common treatment for advanced prostate cancer but can lead to significant side effects, prompting guidelines for routine testing to monitor these effects.
  • A study analyzed data from older men in Ontario, Canada, revealing that adherence to testing guidelines was notably low, with only 11.9% of patients receiving all recommended tests within the first year of ADT.
  • The research highlights a need for further investigation into the factors preventing adherence to these recommendations, as most patients are not adequately monitored for potential treatment-related health issues.
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Background: Prognostic tools in pathological-node (pN) patients after radical cystectomy (RC) are needed.

Objectives: To evaluate the prognostic impact of lymph node (LN)-density on disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with bladder cancer (BC) undergoing RC with pelvic lymph node dissection.

Methods: We analyzed a multi-institutional cohort of 1169 patients treated with upfront RC for cT1-4aN0M0 urothelial BCat nine centers.

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Accurate prediction of recurrence and progression in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is essential to inform management and eligibility for clinical trials. Despite substantial interest in developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications in NMIBC, their clinical readiness remains unclear. This systematic review aimed to critically appraise AI studies predicting NMIBC outcomes, and to identify common methodological and reporting pitfalls.

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Background MRI-guided focal therapy (FT) allows for accurate targeting of localized clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) while preserving healthy prostate tissue, but the long-term outcomes of this approach require more study. Purpose To assess the 2-year oncological and functional outcomes of men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PCa) treated with targeted FT. Materials and Methods In this single-center prospective phase II trial, men with localized unifocal intermediate-risk PCa underwent transrectal MRI-guided focused ultrasound between July 2016 and July 2019.

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The interest in broadening the application of active surveillance (AS) has been increasing, encompassing patients who may not strictly adhere to the conventional criteria for low-risk prostate cancer (PCa), particularly those diagnosed with small-volume Gleason grade group 2 disease. Nonetheless, accurately identifying individuals with low intermediate-risk PCa who can safely undergo AS without facing disease progression remains a challenge.This review aims to delve into the progression of this evolving trend specifically within this cohort of men, while also examining strategies aimed at minimizing irreversible disease advancement.

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Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy is the standard of care for high-risk and intermediate-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) as well as for Carcinoma in situ (CIS). Evidence supports that the different BCG strains, despite genetic variability, are equally effective clinically for preventing the recurrence and progression of papillary NMIBC. The available evidence regarding possible differences in clinical efficacy between various BCG strains in CIS is lacking.

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Objectives: To assess whether office-based fulguration (OF) under local anaesthesia for small, recurrent, pathological Ta low-grade (LG) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is an effective alternative to transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT), avoiding the costs and risks of procedure, and anesthesia.

Patients And Methods: Of 521 patients with primary TaLG NMIBC, this retrospective study included 270 patients who underwent OF during follow-up for recurrent, small, papillary LG-appearing tumours at a university centre (University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada). We assessed the cumulative incidence of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and disease progression (to MIBC or metastases), as well as possible direct cost savings.

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Purpose: A re-transurethral resection of the bladder (re-TURB) is a well-established approach in managing non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) for various reasons: repeat-TURB is recommended for a macroscopically incomplete initial resection, restaging-TURB is required if the first resection was macroscopically complete but contained no detrusor muscle (DM) and second-TURB is advised for all completely resected T1-tumors with DM in the resection specimen. This study assessed the long-term outcomes after repeat-, second-, and restaging-TURB in T1-NMIBC patients.

Methods: Individual patient data with tumor characteristics of 1660 primary T1-patients (muscle-invasion at re-TURB omitted) diagnosed from 1990 to 2018 in 17 hospitals were analyzed.

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Purpose/objective: Definitive radiotherapy (RT) is an alternative to radical cystectomy for select patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC); however, there is limited data on dose-painted RT approaches. We report the clinical and dosimetric outcomes of a cohort of MIBC patients treated with dose-painted RT.

Material/methods: This was a single institution retrospective study of cT2-4N0M0 MIBC patients treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to the bladder, and sequential or concomitant boost to the tumor bed.

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Background: While low-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (LR-NMIBC) has a low propensity to progress, the risk of recurrence remains high (50% within 4 yr). Guidelines recommend cystoscopic surveillance after resection, but the necessary duration of follow-up is debated.

Objective: To determine the risk of recurrence beyond 5 yr after diagnosis in patients with LR-NMIBC, and to identify risk factors of recurrence.

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Purpose: Early treatment intensification with neoadjuvant therapy may improve outcomes in patients with high-risk, localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. Our objective was to compare pathologic, oncologic, and safety outcomes of neoadjuvant abiraterone acetate plus leuprolide acetate with or without cabazitaxel prior to radical prostatectomy in patients with localized, high-risk prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: This open-label, multicenter, phase II trial randomized men with clinically localized, D'Amico high-risk prostate cancer to neoadjuvant abiraterone acetate (1,000 mg/day) and leuprolide acetate (22.

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Background: Accurate prediction of side-specific extraprostatic extension (ssEPE) is essential for performing nerve-sparing surgery to mitigate treatment-related side-effects such as impotence and incontinence in patients with localised prostate cancer. Artificial intelligence (AI) might provide robust and personalised ssEPE predictions to better inform nerve-sparing strategy during radical prostatectomy. We aimed to develop, externally validate, and perform an algorithmic audit of an AI-based Side-specific Extra-Prostatic Extension Risk Assessment tool (SEPERA).

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers wanted to compare two treatments for bladder cancer: one is surgery (radical cystectomy), and the other is a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation (trimodality therapy).
  • They studied 722 patients with similar cancer stages from different hospitals in the USA and Canada to see which treatment worked better.
  • The main goal was to see which treatment helped patients live longer without their cancer spreading, and they used complex methods (like matching patients) to ensure fair comparisons.
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Introduction: Radical cystectomy and trimodal therapy are both accepted options in the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. As such, we sought to evaluate the micro-level costs associated with both modalities.

Methods: All patients undergoing trimodal therapy or radical cystectomy for primary treatment of urothelial muscle-invasive bladder cancer at a single academic center between 2008 and 2012 were included.

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Objectives: To evaluate variant histologies (VHs) for disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with invasive urothelial bladder cancer (BCa) undergoing radical cystectomy (RC).

Materials And Methods: We analysed a multi-institutional cohort of 1082 patients treated with upfront RC for cT1-4aN0M0 urothelial BCa at eight centres. Univariable and multivariable Cox' regression analyses were used to assess the effect of different VHs on DSS in overall cohort and three stage-based analyses.

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Objective: Guidelines support considering selected men with ISUP grade group (GG) 2 prostate cancer for active surveillance (AS). We assessed the association of clinical variables with unfavorable pathology at radical prostatectomy in low-volume GG 2 prostate cancer on biopsy in a retrospective cohort.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 378 men with low-volume (≤ 2 cores) GG 2 localized prostate cancer who underwent prostatectomy at a single tertiary cancer center.

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Background: Ta grade 3 (G3) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is a relatively rare diagnosis with an ambiguous character owing to the presence of an aggressive G3 component together with the lower malignant potential of the Ta component. The European Association of Urology (EAU) NMIBC guidelines recently changed the risk stratification for Ta G3 from high risk to intermediate, high, or very high risk. However, prognostic studies on Ta G3 carcinomas are limited and inconclusive.

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