Emory Urology

Taylor Goodstein, MD, and Pretesh Patel, MD, explore how image guidance and adaptive radiation planning have revolutionized precision, even allowing real-time treatment plan adjustments.

Shreyas S. Joshi, MD, MPH, discusses some of the key considerations for new agents entering the treatment landscape for BCG-unresponsive NMIBC.

Among the topics covered are BCG dosing and maintenance regimens.

A first-of-its kind study led by Emory researchers uncovered how prostate cancer transforms into its most lethal form — and identified a promising new treatment strategy.

Vikram M. Narayan, MD, FACS, offers advice for institutions that are considering investments in technology to improve clinical workflows.

Vikram M. Narayan, MD, discusses Emory's recent shift to Apple products, aimed at reducing physician burnout and improving patient interactions.

"Overall, these findings add to the growing body of evidence that [shows that] apalutamide may offer a survival advantage in real-world setting in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer," says Mehmet A. Bilen, MD.

“It is likely that more and more, these newer agents are going to play earlier and more central roles in the early treatment of BCG-unresponsive disease," says Shreyas S. Joshi, MD, MPH.

"The combination demonstrated clinical activity and an acceptable safety profile in the perioperative setting for locally advanced, non-metastatic clear cell RCC," says Mehmet Asim Bilen, MD.

“Then recently, of course, with the single-port device, that has truly allowed us to be less invasive with our robotic approaches,” says Adam Lorentz, MD, FACS.

“They come out of the fellowship competent and competitive in the field to any urology position that they're interested in,” says Tania Solomon, PA-C, MSc.

According to Sanda, future advancements may involve gene and RNA sequencing, the use of AI in imaging, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

"We are trying to develop epigenetic biomarkers that can predict patients that are starting to progress to neuroendocrine prostate cancer," says Jindan Yu, MD, PhD.

“The patients I find that have the most pronounced benefit are the patients with the very large prostates, or the patients who are catheter dependent with concern for neurogenic or myogenic bladder failure,” says Brendan M. Browne, MD.

“One of the ways we make the most difference for our patients is we take care of the people who are taking care of them,” says Chad Ritenour, MD.

“The key take home message of that study was that having assumptions about basic medical terminology that we think are simple may actually leave patients confused,” says Vikram M. Narayan, MD.

“I think promoting women in leadership positions, promoting mentorship for women applicants and women already in this field, and working on policy changes are the top 3,” says Michelle S. Sheng, MD.

“It's a good problem to have, because we're thinking about a previous era in which we didn't have many options besides more BCG vs cystectomy,” says Vikram M. Narayan, MD.

"This idea that physicians and medical teams always feel that they need to be available at all hours of the day really starts to stress people." says Chad W. M. Ritenour, MD, FACS.

"We're very much looking forward to the new data that'll be presented, hopefully, within the next year, to see where this falls in the grand scheme of the all the new drugs coming into play here," says Shreyas S. Joshi, MD, MPH.

"We're excited about the science behind it, but we're also excited for our patients that if they can have access to this, maybe we can delay or completely avoid radical cystectomy or further aggressive treatments," says Shreyas S. Joshi, MD, MPH.

“What we've been working on is a giant 30,000 patient database study using the National Cancer Database to see exactly what the rates are of upstaging and downstaging for these larger kidney tumors,” says Taylor Goodstein, MD.

“Physicians are spending, depending on how much they utilize it, 20% to 30% less time on nights and weekends,” says Ernest A. Morton, MD, MBA, MS.

"Overall, the take-home message is that in patients with BCG-unresponsive non–muscle invasive bladder cancer, you can consider nadofaragene as an option among those that are available for treating these patients," said Vikram Narayan, MD.

“Overall, the take-home message is that in patients with BCG-unresponsive non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer, you can consider nadofaragene as an option among those that are available for treating these patients,” says Vikram M. Narayan, MD.

Ernest A. Morton, MD, MBA, MS, spotlights projects looking at the use of AI scribes to assist in notetaking and an AI algorithm to analyze prostate biopsies.

“Our study highlights the potential of epigenomic profiling from a simple blood draw to provide a real-time, non-invasive readout of PSMA expression that corresponds with treatment response," says Jacob E. Berchuck, MD.

"This year, we are starting an international rotation with a focus on global health and humanitarian work," says Akanksha Mehta, MD, MS.

“Put another way, with Apple Vision Pro, what we're hoping to do is have our residents be able to put on a headset and walk through a case before they actually walk into an operating room,” says Vikram M. Narayan, MD.