Genitourinary Cancers

Two recently published Mayo Clinic studies provide genetic clues to clear cell renal cell carcinoma that may have important therapeutic implications, researchers say.

The use of robot-assisted radical nephrectomy increased by 6% over a recent 3-year period, and high-volume robotic centers for partial nephrectomy were found more likely to perform robotic radical nephrectomy despite its increased cost and similar complications to laparoscopic radical nephrectomy, according to a recent study.

None of the comparative studies of robotic radical nephrectomies (RRN) and laparoscopic radical nephrectomies (LRN) has shown benefit of RRN over LRN. Why then are so many minimally invasive RNs performed this way?

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Continent urinary diversion and postoperative complications were found to be independent predictors of hospital readmission following radical cystectomy in an analysis from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Lumenis Ltd. has announced the U.S. launch of the Lumenis Pulse 120H Holmium laser platform for a range of urologic applications.

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Drugs and devices in the pipeline from MEI Pharma, Bayer HealthCare, Merck, Pfizer, and Minomic International.

Preliminary studies suggest that inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1, 2, 3, and 4 may be a promising approach for the treatment of bladder cancers and other cancers that harbor FGFR alterations.

Urologists continue to push the limits of minimally invasive surgery, and key papers presented at the AUA meeting will explore the functional and cancer control outcomes associated with minimally invasive and robotic procedures in prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma. When to use such approaches remains a source of controversy.

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A study from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York sheds light on the “obesity paradox” seen with renal cell carcinoma while at the same time demonstrating the emerging value of genomics in understanding cancer and other diseases.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, have identified a discrete set of genes that segregate high-grade bladder cancer into two distinct subtypes-basal-like and luminal-each of which appears to have its own molecular characteristics and outcome. The authors also found that the two subtypes share many of the characteristics seen in basal and luminal breast cancer subtypes, a discovery with clinical implications.

This guide features products and services from manufacturers that are exhibiting at the AUA annual meeting in Orlando. Exhibit hall booth numbers have been included so that you can search for product demonstrations and exhibits that are of particular interest to you.

The take-home message is that for sorafenib and sunitinib, sequencing does not appear to be drug dependent and either can be used as first- or second-line therapy.

A comprehensive molecular characterization of muscle-invasive urothelial bladder carcinoma suggests multiple opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

The sequential use of two targeted treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma appears to yield similar total progression-free survival regardless of the order in which they are given, phase III study results indicate.

In the lawsuit, the urologist contended the circumcision was properly performed and the patient’s curvature was due to a previously asymptomatic Peyronie’s condition, which was exacerbated after the circumcision procedure.

The advantages that robotic technologies bring to prostate procedures, partial nephrectomies, and other surgeries that can involve complex reconstruction are not readily apparent in simple extirpative surgeries such as radical nephrectomy. This raises two questions: Are robots being used in radical nephrectomies and if so, why?

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have identified new potential therapeutic targets for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, including important genes and pathways that are disrupted in the disease.

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Mayo Clinic researchers have found amplification of HER2, a known driver of some breast cancers, in micropapillary urothelial carcinoma and have shown that the presence of HER2 amplification is associated with particularly aggressive tumors.

Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is a risk factor for complications following radical cystectomy, say researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Patients with chronic kidney disease who undergo robot-assisted partial nephrectomy for kidney cancer have minimal loss of renal function-a smaller amount even than patients with normal kidney function, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, who say their study is the largest of its kind.