The Availability, Cost, Limitations, Learning Curve and Future of Robotic Systems in Urology and Prostate Cancer Surgery.

Robot-assisted surgical systems (RASS) have revolutionised the management of many urological conditions over the last two decades with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) now being considered by many to be the preferred surgical approach. Intuitive Surgical has dominated the market during this time period with successive iterations of the da Vinci model. The expiration of patents has opened the RASS market and several new contenders have become available or are currently in development.

Biallelic tumour suppressor loss and DNA repair defects in de novo small-cell prostate carcinoma.

Small-cell prostate carcinoma (SCPC) is an aggressive malignancy that is managed similarly to small-cell lung cancer. SCPC can evolve from prostate adenocarcinoma in response to androgen deprivation therapy, but, in rare cases, is present at initial cancer diagnosis. The molecular aetiology of de novo SCPC is incompletely understood, owing to the scarcity of tumour tissue and the short life-expectancy of patients.

Impact of Therapy on Genomics and Transcriptomics in High-Risk Prostate Cancer Treated with Neoadjuvant Docetaxel and Androgen Deprivation Therapy.

The combination of docetaxel chemotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has become a standard treatment for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The recently accrued phase III CALGB 90203 trial was designed to investigate the clinical effectiveness of this treatment approach earlier in the disease. Specimens from this trial offer a unique opportunity to interrogate the acute molecular response to docetaxel and ADT and identify potential biomarkers.

Trends in Upper Tract Stone Disease in England: Evidence from the Hospital Episodes Statistics Database.

Aims: The study aimed to determine the current trends in urolithiasis-related admissions and associated interventions in England between 2006/2007 and 2013/2014 utilizing Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) online data.

Material And Methods: Data was extracted from the online HES data set for each year from 2006/2007 to 2013/2014 inclusive. Admissions and procedural interventions were identified from their corresponding OPCS-4 and ICD-10 codes.

Using the neoadjuvant chemotherapy paradigm to develop precision therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Background: Bladder cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite recent advances in understanding its molecular biology, the 5-year survival for muscle-invasive disease (muscle-invasive bladder cancer [MIBC]) remains approximately 50%. Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) offers an established 5% absolute survival benefit at 5 years, only the 40% of patients with a major tumor response appear to benefit.

Ureteroscopy for Paediatric Renal Tract Stones - Outcomes from a Tertiary European Centre.

Aims: The use of ureteroscopy in treating paediatric stone disease has risen in recent years. We retrospectively reviewed the results of ureteroscopic stone management for our regional paediatric stone service.

Material And Methods: Between April 2010 and October 2013, consecutive patients undergoing ureteroscopy and stone fragmentation were identified.

Synchronous saccular and fusiform extracranial internal carotid artery aneurysms with ipsilateral cerebral embolism.

We report the case of a 77-year-old woman with synchronous fusiform and saccular extracranial atherosclerotic internal carotid artery aneurysm treated by excisional surgery and external to internal carotid artery transposition.