Effect of extending the period from oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride to photodynamic diagnosis during transurethral resection for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer on diagnostic accuracy and safety: a single-arm multicenter phase III trial.

Background: In Japan, the authorized period (2-4 h) between oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (5-ALA) and transurethral resection for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) may restrict photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) usage. Therefore, this prospective, single-arm, phase III study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and safety of PDD at an extended administration period (4-8 h).

Methods: From January 2022 to May 2023, 161 patients with NMIBC were enrolled from eight hospitals.

Predictors of Progression to Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer After Radical Prostatectomy in High-risk Prostate Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: To examine the specific time frame and identify associated risk factors from commencement of hormonal therapy to the onset of castration-resistant prostate cancer among patients who have developed biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 92 patients who developed biochemical recurrence and received hormonal therapy as initial salvage treatment after radical prostatectomy for high-risk localized prostate cancer from 2005 to 2021. The castration-resistant prostate cancer-free survival rates from the commencement of salvage hormonal therapy were analyzed using log-rank methods.

Prognostic Significance of Immune-related Adverse Events in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated With Immune-checkpoint-inhibitors.

Background/aim: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) develop in a subset of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with immune-checkpoint-inhibitors (ICIs). Evidence regarding the prognostic impact of irAEs remains limited in these patients.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-one consecutive patients with mRCC treated with ICIs were retrospectively analyzed.

A phase II randomized trial of metastasis-directed therapy with alpha emitter radium-223 in men with oligometastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (MEDAL).

Background: The significance of metastasis-directed therapy for oligometastatic prostate cancer has been widely discussed, and targeted therapy for progressive sites is a feasible option as a multidisciplinary treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). When oligometastatic CRPC with only bone metastases progresses after targeted therapy, it tends to progress as multiple bone metastases. The progression of oligometastatic CRPC after targeted therapy may be due in part to the presence of micrometastatic lesions that, though undetected on imaging, were present prior to targeted therapy.

A radiological complete response to pembrolizumab in a patient with metastatic upper urinary tract urothelial cancer and Lynch syndrome.

Introduction: In Lynch syndrome, urothelial cancer is the third most common cancer, following colorectal and endometrial cancers. Little is known, however, about the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer in Lynch syndrome.

Case Presentation: A 49-year-old patient with metastatic urothelial cancer underwent pembrolizumab therapy after platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a Predictor of Prognosis in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Nivolumab.

Background: The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) has been reported as a screening tool to assess the nutrition-related risk with mortality in older patients and those with the various diseases. However, the prognostic value of GNRI in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients receiving nivolumab therapy remains unclear.

Methods: Fifty-six consecutive patients with mRCC receiving nivolumab between September 2013 and August 2020 at our institution were retrospectively analyzed.

large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the prostate: A case report and literature review.

Introduction: Prostatic large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is poorly studied. Although several case reports are available, information on the clinicopathological characteristics of this disease is limited, particularly for the (hormone-naive) type. Herein, we report an extremely rare case of this disease with a good prognosis despite a multi-metastatic status.

Development of a New Two-Arm Transurethral Surgical System for En Bloc Resection of Bladder Tumor: A Preclinical Study.

To overcome the piecemeal nature of bladder tumor resection, en bloc resection of bladder tumor (ERBT) has been introduced. ERBT is difficult for surgeons to perform using the currently available system because it has only one arm. Herein, we aimed to develop a new transurethral surgical system to facilitate two-arm ERBT and to report the results of preclinical experiments using tumor phantoms.

Tumor shrinkage patterns of nivolumab monotherapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Objectives: To investigate the tumor shrinkage patterns of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab monotherapy.

Methods: Forty-four consecutive patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab monotherapy (81 metastatic and four primary lesions) between September 2013 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The tumor shrinkage rate of individual visceral and lymph node metastatic lesions and the primary site lesions treated with nivolumab monotherapy, as well as the association between overall survival and pretreatment tumor size, were statistically assessed.

Improvement of Medical Treatment in Japanese Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background/aim: To evaluate the relationship between treatment period and overall survival (OS) and to identify clinical factors associated with OS in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Patients And Methods: Two hundred thirteen consecutive patients with mRCC receiving systemic therapy between 2008 and 2020 were divided into two groups: those starting first-line therapy in 2008-2015 (n=133) and those in 2016-2020 (n=80). Clinical factors associated with OS were retrospectively and statistically analyzed.

Switching Patients With Prostate Cancer from GnRH Antagonist to Long-acting LHRH Agonist for Androgen Deprivation: Reducing Hospital Visits During the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Aim: To reduce the frequency of the need for hospital visits for patients with prostate cancer (PCa) taking androgen-deprivation therapy during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, we switched them from gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist to a long-acting luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonist. Here, we confirmed the efficacy and safety profile of this switching.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed the medical records of 32 patients with PCa who received ADT and switched from GnRH antagonist to a long-acting LH-RH agonist during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating hematological and serological variables, including serum testosterone and prostate-specific antigen.

Clinical Outcome and Prognostic Variables of Second-line Therapy for Patients With Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer After Failure of First-line Androgen Receptor Axis-targeted Therapy.

Background: Despite the rapid introduction of androgen receptor-targeted agents (ARTA) into clinical practice for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), the optimal treatment strategy after first-line ARTA remains unclear. The object of this study was to clarify clinical outcomes of second-line therapy for CRPC after first-line ARTA.

Patients And Methods: The medical records of 130 consecutive patients with CRPC with disease progression during first-line ARTA and who started second-line therapy at our Institution between 2014 and 2020 were analyzed.

Early Serum and Hematological Responses to Pembrolizumab Therapy as Predictors of Survival in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer.

Background: In order to search for predictive biomarkers of efficacy of pembrolizumab therapy for metastatic urothelial cancer (UC), we investigated the relationship between treatment outcomes and early neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and C-reactive protein (CRP) responses.

Patients And Methods: Medical records of 101 patients with metastatic UC who started pembrolizumab as a second-line or later treatment were reviewed. NLR, LDH, and CRP were recorded after 3 weeks of therapy.

Predictive ability of prebiopsy magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy for side-specific negative lymph node metastasis at radical prostatectomy.

Background: Prostate cancer localization is reportedly associated with the laterality of lymph node metastasis. Thus, it may be feasible to predict side-specific lymph node metastasis (LNM) at radical prostatectomy (RP). To investigate whether multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy findings can predict side-specific negative LNM and to explore the feasibility of unilateral lymph node dissection (LND) at RP.

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery for synchronous primary rectal and prostate cancer: Initial case series.

Few studies have reported the simultaneous resection of synchronous rectal and prostate cancers. Here, we report five patients undergoing simultaneous robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) for synchronous rectal and prostate cancer. Rectal cancer operative procedures were high anterior (n =1), intersphincteric (n =2), or abdominoperineal (n =2) resection, followed by radical prostatectomy with vesico-urethral anastomosis.

Improving Accuracy, Reliability, and Efficiency of the RENAL Nephrometry Score With 3D Reconstructed Virtual Imaging.

Objective: To clarify the diagnostic performance of the three-dimensional reconstructed virtual image (3D-RVI) in evaluating RENAL nephrometry score (RENAL-NS).

Methods: This study included 130 patients who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography followed by partial nephrectomy for renal tumors suggestive of renal cell carcinoma. RENAL-NS was calculated prior to the surgery, and tumor resection was performed referring to the score.

The utility of diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body signal suppression in detecting metastatic lesion of germ cell carcinoma.

Introduction: Although the utility of diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body signal suppression for assessing lymph node involvement or distant metastasis is renowned in many cancers, only few studies have revealed its utility for germ cell carcinoma. Some metastatic lesions of germ cell carcinomas are difficult to detect by conventional imaging.

Case Presentation: We report a case of a 70-year-old man with relapsed retroperitoneal germ cell tumor.

External validation of the Briganti 2019 nomogram to identify candidates for extended pelvic lymph node dissection among patients with high-risk clinically localized prostate cancer.

Background: We aimed to establish an external validation of the Briganti 2019 nomogram in a Japanese cohort to preoperatively evaluate the probability of lymph node invasion in patients with high-risk, clinically localized prostate cancer.

Methods: The cohort consisted of 278 patients with prostate cancer diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging-targeted biopsy who underwent radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection from 2012 to 2020. Patients were rated using the Briganti 2019 nomogram, which evaluates the probability of lymph node invasion.