Retrospective analysis of partial cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma: A German single-center experience.

Objectives: Partial cystectomy (PC) has been proposed as a less invasive alternative to radical cystectomy (RC) for the treatment of localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of PC in a contemporary patient cohort to identify potential risk factors for this procedure.

Methods: Data from 58 MIBC patients who underwent PC were retrospectively analyzed.

Early and repetitive novel-tracer PET-guided stereotactic body radiotherapy for nodal oligorecurrent prostate cancer after definitive first-line therapy.

Background: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging can detect prostate cancer (PCa) nodal oligorecurrences (NOR) at very low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Prospective studies on oligorecurrent (OR) PCa have been hampered by either dated diagnostics or inhomogeneous cohorts and/or treatment approaches. We hypothesized that early and-if necessary and feasible-repetitive PSMA-PET-based metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) would improve freedom from palliative (systemic) therapy at low toxicity.

[Digital health applications in urology].

Background: Digital health applications (DiGA) were included in the German healthcare system in 2020. They are available for prescription and reimbursed by public and private insurance companies. For the specialty of urology, there are currently two DiGA available: for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia/overactive bladder (BPH/OAB).

Selective Antineoplastic Potential of Fractionated Caribbean Native Species Extracts on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 expression. It is known for its high malignancy, invasiveness, and propensity for metastasis, resulting in a poor prognosis due to the absence of beneficial therapeutic targets. Natural products derived from mushrooms have gained significant attention in neoplastic therapy due to their potential medicinal properties.

App-based Therapy of Erectile Dysfunction Using a Digital Health Application (EDDIG Study): A Randomized, Single-blind, Controlled Trial.

Background And Objective: While international guidelines advocate for a multifaceted approach to treating erectile dysfunction (ED) involving physical activities, psychological support, and education, structured programs are infrequent. To address this gap, an app-based therapy was developed, offering a systematic approach. This randomized, single-blind controlled trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of an app-based therapeutic in improving ED.

Safety and effectiveness of the radium-223-taxane treatment sequence in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in a global observational study (REASSURE).

Background: Radium-223 and taxane chemotherapy each improve survival of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Whether the radium-223-taxane sequence could extend survival without cumulative toxicity was explored.

Methods: The global, prospective, observational REASSURE study (NCT02141438) assessed real-world safety and effectiveness of radium-223 in patients with mCRPC.

Contextual Variation of Clinical Notes induced by EHR Migration.

The structure and semantics of clinical notes vary considerably across different Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, sites, and institutions. Such heterogeneity hampers the portability of natural language processing (NLP) models in extracting information from the text for clinical research or practice. In this study, we evaluate the contextual variation of clinical notes by measuring the semantic and syntactic similarity of the notes of two sets of physicians comprising four medical specialties across EHR migrations at two Mayo Clinic sites.

Follow-Up of Men Who Have Undergone Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer with HIFU-A Real-World Experience.

Purpose: To determine oncological and functional outcomes and side effects after focal therapy of prostate cancer (PCa) with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

Methods: This retrospective single-center study included 57 consecutive patients with localised PCa. Aged 18-80 with ≤2 suspicious lesions on mpMRI (PIRADS ≥ 3), PSA of ≤15 ng/mL, and an ISUP GG of ≤2.

Evidence for benefits and risks of tadalafil as a non-prescription medicine: review and evaluation using the Group Delphi technique to achieve consensus amongst clinical experts.

An evidence-based consensus meeting was held with urologists, a pharmacist and a cardiologist to perform a structured benefit-risk analysis of reclassifying tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor for treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), to be available without prescription in Germany. As per the Brass process endorsed by regulatory authorities, an evidence-based Brass value tree was developed, which identified the incremental benefits and risks that should be considered above the safety and efficacy evidence required for prescription medicines. During the Group Delphi consensus meeting, the expert panel rated the likelihood and clinical impact of each benefit and risk on a scale of 0 (none) to 3 (high).

The IMPACT framework and implementation for accessible in silico clinical phenotyping in the digital era.

Clinical phenotyping is often a foundational requirement for obtaining datasets necessary for the development of digital health applications. Traditionally done via manual abstraction, this task is often a bottleneck in development due to time and cost requirements, therefore raising significant interest in accomplishing this task via in-silico means. Nevertheless, current in-silico phenotyping development tends to be focused on a single phenotyping task resulting in a dearth of reusable tools supporting cross-task generalizable in-silico phenotyping.

Clinical outcomes and treatment patterns in REASSURE: planned interim analysis of a real-world observational study of radium-223 in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Radium-223, a targeted alpha therapy, is approved to treat bone-dominant metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), based on significantly prolonged overall survival versus placebo and a favourable safety profile in the phase 3 ALSYMPCA study. ALSYMPCA was conducted when few other treatment options were available, and prospectively collected data are limited on the use of radium-223 in the current mCRPC treatment landscape. We sought to understand long-term safety and treatment patterns in men who received radium-223 in real-world clinical practice.

[Management of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer - Current treatment options, criteria for progression and switch of therapy].

Based on convincing data with an increase in overall survival (OS), the current national and international European Guidelines (S3, ESMO, EAU) recommend a combination therapy with ADT plus Docetaxel or plus the next-generation antiandrogens abiraterone (plus prednisone/prednisolone), apalutamide or enzalutamide as standard treatment for mHSPC patients with a good performance status (ECOG 0-1). Abiraterone received approval only for use in patients with newly diagnosed (de novo) high-risk mHSPC. There is no restrictive approval status for docetaxel in mHSPC.

[Urology 2030: Why it is key to promote digitisation in urology today to maintain medical care in the future - an expert consensus].

Due to demographic change associated with an increase in patient numbers as well as the existing shortage of medical personnel, the German healthcare system will face a major challenge in patient care. In order to maintain high-quality patient care at a high level, the digitisation of urology should be driven forward promptly and forcefully as digital applications such as online appointment scheduling, video consultations, digital health applications (DiGAs) and others could significantly improve treatment efficiency. The long-planned introduction of the electronic patient record (ePA) will hopefully accelerate this process, and medical online platforms could also become a permanent part of new treatment methods, which could emerge from the urgently needed structural change towards more digital medicine, including questionnaire-based telemedicine.

Towards User-centered Corpus Development: Lessons Learnt from Designing and Developing MedTator.

A gold standard annotated corpus is usually indispensable when developing natural language processing (NLP) systems. Building a high-quality annotated corpus for clinical NLP requires considerable time and domain expertise during the annotation process. Existing annotation tools may provide powerful features to cover various needs of text annotation tasks, but the target end users tend to be trained annotators.

Two new species of Hymenochaetaceae from tropical Asia and America.

Two new species in Hymenochaetaceae, and , are illustrated and described from tropical Asia and America based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses. is characterized by perennial, pileate, and woody hard basidiomata when fresh; ash gray to dark gray, encrusted, concentrically sulcate, and irregularly cracked pileal surface; circular pores of 7-8 per mm with entire dissepiments; a dimitic hyphal system in trama and context; absence of setal element and presence of cystidioles; and broadly ellipsoid, yellowish brown, thick-walled, and smooth basidiospores measuring 5-6 μm × 4-5 μm. is characterized by perennial and resupinate basidiomata with dark gray to almost black pore surface when fresh; small and circular pores of 7-9 per mm, a monomitic hyphal system with generative hyphae simple septate, hyphoid setae dominant in subiculum but not in tube trama, and absence of cystidia; and ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled basidiospores measuring 4-5 μm × 3-3.

Comorbidity and healthcare utilization in patients with treatment resistant depression: A large-scale retrospective cohort analysis using electronic health records.

Background: Medical comorbidity and healthcare utilization in patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD) is usually reported in convenience samples, making estimates unreliable. There is only limited large-scale clinical research on comorbidities and healthcare utilization in TRD patients.

Methods: Electronic Health Record data from over 3.

Real-world patient characteristics associated with survival of 2 years or more after radium-223 treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (EPIX study).

Background: The real-world EPIX study was conducted to gather information about the characteristics of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who survived ≥2 years after treatment with the alpha-emitter radium-223.

Methods: This retrospective study of electronic health records in the US Flatiron database (NCT04516161) included patients with mCRPC treated with radium-223 between January 2013 and June 2019. Median overall survival (OS) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response (≥50% reduction) from start of radium-223 treatment were the primary and secondary endpoints, respectively.

Kidney Perfusion in Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) Correlates with Renal Function in Living Kidney Donors.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a widely used diagnostic tool for analyzing perfusion and characterizing lesions in several organs. However, to date, it has not been sufficiently investigated whether there is an association between CEUS findings and kidney function. This study aimed at identifying the potential relationship between kidney function and the renal perfusion status determined by CEUS in living kidney donors.

[Interdisciplinary recommendations for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma].

In the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, anti-VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have been replaced mostly by immunotherapy combinations with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI), especially in first line therapy. Due to these novel therapies, the prognosis of patients has been improved further. In pivotal studies a median overall survival of 3-4 years has been achieved.

Real-world outcomes of second novel hormonal therapy or radium-223 following first novel hormonal therapy for mCRPC.

To evaluate real-world clinical outcomes of radium-223 or alternative novel hormonal therapy (NHT) following first-line NHT for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Retrospective analysis of the US Flatiron database (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03896984).

Does the Side Matter? A Retrospective Cohort Study Comparing Left and Right Pure Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomies.

Objectives: Right laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (RLDN) is no longer regarded inferior to left LDN (LLDN). However, this knowledge is based on many studies suffering from inherent learning curves, center-specific imbalances, and different laparoscopic techniques.

Methods: Pure LDNs at a high-volume referral center from 2011 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.

[Interdisciplinary expert consensus on innovations in imaging diagnostics and radionuclide-based therapies for advanced prostate cancer].

Background: Numerous diagnostic and therapeutic innovations in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, both in the hormone-sensitive and in the castration-resistant situation, recently led to a new orientation in the management of this tumor. However, there are potential indications beyond the ones covered by the S3 guideline on early detection, diagnosis and therapy of prostate cancer in clinical care that might be helpful for patients.

Objectives: Since July 2018, an interdisciplinary group of experts from nuclear medicine, radiologists, radio-oncologists and urologists developed a consensus paper on state-of-the-art innovations in imaging diagnostics and radionuclide-based therapies for advanced prostate cancer.