Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Nephrology & Urology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 8400

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The world of urologic oncology is rapidly evolving. Within the realm of bladder, prostate, kidney, testis and penile cancers, new treatment paradigms, medications and surgical modifications are evolving in parallel with progressive research on these topics. For example, in bladder cancer, novel intravesical and targeted therapies are gaining traction. For prostate cancer, advanced imaging and less invasive focal therapy has been increasingly utilized. These examples just begin to scratch the surface of the recent developments in our field. For this Special Issue, we encourage authors to submit papers on the recent clinical updates on urologic cancer of their interest.

Dr. Saum Ghodoussipour
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bladder cancer
  • kidney cancer
  • prostate cancer
  • testis cancer
  • penile cancer
  • minimally invasive
  • cancer treatment

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 255 KiB  
Article
Predictive Factors for Major Complications and Urological Cancer Diagnosis in Older Adults (≥80 Years) Admitted to the Emergency Department for Hematuria
by Mauro Ragonese, Daniele Fettucciari, Luigi Carbone, Filippo Gavi, Marco Montesi, Eros Scarciglia, Pierluigi Russo, Domenico Maria Sanesi, Filippo Marino, Nazario Foschi, Francesco Pinto, Francesco Franceschi, Marco Racioppi, Emilio Sacco and Marcello Covino
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(10), 2874; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13102874 - 13 May 2024
Viewed by 1591
Abstract
Background: Gross Hematuria is a relevant cause of admission to the emergency department in the general population and particularly in older adults (≥80 years). This specific urological symptom is often underestimated and usually associated with benign conditions such as urinary infections or [...] Read more.
Background: Gross Hematuria is a relevant cause of admission to the emergency department in the general population and particularly in older adults (≥80 years). This specific urological symptom is often underestimated and usually associated with benign conditions such as urinary infections or poor hydration. Nevertheless, hematuria could lead to severe acute complications or be the first symptom of urological cancers. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 1169 patients aged ≥80 years consecutively admitted to the emergency department for hematuria. The primary endpoint of the study was to identify risk factors for major complications, and the secondary endpoint was to analyze risk factors for urological cancer diagnosis. The median age was 85 years (IQR 82–88 years), and 908 (77%) were males. Among them, 449 (38.4%) had a past medical history of urological neoplasm (kidney, ureter, bladder, prostate, or urethral cancer). Results: Overall, 87 patients (7.4%) had major complications (patient death, septic shock, and admission to the intensive care unit). Worse vital signs at admission, fever, and confusion (p < 0.001, OR 18.0 IC 95% [5.5–58.7]; p = 0.015, OR 2.0 IC 95% [1.1–3.5]; p = <0.001, OR 4.2 IC 95% [1.9–3.5], respectively), as well as lower hemoglobin values and higher Charlson comorbidity index (p < 0.001, OR 0.8 IC 95% [0.7–0.9]), p = 0.002, OR = 1.2 [1.1–1.3]) were independent predictive factors for major complications. The multivariate analysis identified as risk factors for diagnosis of urological cancer older age, male sex and higher comorbidity (OR 1.05 IC95% [1–1.09]; OR 2.19 IC95% [1.42–3.39] and OR 1.11 IC95% [1.2–1.2], respectively); interestingly the presence of indwelling vesical catheter (IVC) (OR 0.44 IC95% [0.24–0.82]) resulted as an independent factor for absence of urological cancers. Conclusions: Hematuria is a frequent symptom in older adults admitted to the emergency department. While this is often associated with benign conditions, there are some risk factors for major complications and for urological cancer that must be taken into account to identify the patients who need further evaluation or prompt hospital admission. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology)

Review

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13 pages, 401 KiB  
Review
Is There a Role for Surgery in the Treatment of Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma?
by Sophia Bhalla, John Pfail and Saum Ghodoussipour
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(24), 7498; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13247498 - 10 Dec 2024
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Abstract
Purpose: Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with over 614,000 new cases and 220,000 deaths annually. Five percent of newly diagnosed patients have metastatic disease. Metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) is primarily treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, [...] Read more.
Purpose: Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with over 614,000 new cases and 220,000 deaths annually. Five percent of newly diagnosed patients have metastatic disease. Metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) is primarily treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or combinations. Cure from disease is rarely achieved, with the overall survival being between 12 and 15 months, and the 5-year survival in the range of 5–15%. Historically, mUC has been deemed surgically incurable. There are limited data available to assess survival benefit with surgical extirpation of the primary site or metastases. In this review, we summarize findings from previous studies regarding the role of surgery in patients with clinically node-positive bladder cancer or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, focusing on cytoreductive radical cystectomy (RC) and distant metastasectomy. Materials and Methods: A literature search was conducted on The Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline), Excerpta Medica dataBASE (Embase), preprints, and ClinicalTrials.gov for studies that discussed the role of surgery in patients with clinically node-positive bladder cancer or mUC, focusing on cytoreductive radical cystectomy (RC) and distant metastasectomy. The keywords used included transitional cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, bladder cancer, bladder carcinoma, bladder metastasis, bladder tumor, lymph node metastasis, metastasis, and muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Results: The final analysis included 21 studies, including 17 retrospective reviews, 2 prospective phase II trials, and 2 meta-analyses. Of the studies that assessed patients with urothelial carcinoma (UC) with nodal involvement, 15 of 17 showed improved survival with chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy (RC). To our knowledge, few studies have solely assessed surgery in patients with distant metastases. Most studies include patients with both UC with local LN involvement and patients with distant sites of metastasis. Of these studies, 12 of 13 indicated improved survival with metastasectomy. Conclusions: While it remains to be seen whether metastasectomy will have a role in patients with mUC, patient selection is an important factor when assessing the survival benefits. Patient characteristics correlated with improved survival include good performance status, good response to chemotherapy, and single site of metastasis. Further studies of mUC patients are required to clearly assess the survival impact of cytoreductive surgery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology)
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11 pages, 253 KiB  
Review
Current and Evolving Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors
by Jennifer Sykes, Alain Kaldany and Thomas L. Jang
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(23), 7448; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13237448 - 6 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1037
Abstract
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young adult men and has favorable outcomes, with survival rates approaching 99% and over 80% for those with early and advanced stage disease, respectively. Biomarkers play a critical role in the diagnosis, pre-treatment risk stratification, [...] Read more.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young adult men and has favorable outcomes, with survival rates approaching 99% and over 80% for those with early and advanced stage disease, respectively. Biomarkers play a critical role in the diagnosis, pre-treatment risk stratification, surveillance, and assessment of post-treatment disease response in these men. Traditional serum tumor markers (STMs), which include alpha fetoprotein (AFP), beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), are limited by low sensitivity (approximately 50%) during initial diagnosis; false-positive elevations as a result of other benign and malignant conditions; and negative levels in low-stage disease and in certain histologies such as teratoma and seminoma. As a result, novel biomarkers with potentially better performance characteristics, including microRNA (miRNA), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), are being investigated. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNA involved in transcription and translation and regulate the expression of almost one-third of human genes that regulate the cell cycle, differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. In germ cell tumor (GCT) patients, miR371a-3p has been identified as a promising biomarker with sensitivity and specificity of approximately 90–92% and 84–86%, respectively. The use of this new biomarker could aid in several clinical scenarios, such as predicting the presence of micrometastases in chemotherapy-naïve patients with clinical stage I–II disease, thereby guiding decisions on treatment versus surveillance and predicting the presence of viable GCT in patients with residual disease post chemotherapy. Clinical trials are ongoing to validate the use of miRNA 371 as a biomarker and to define its performance characteristics. Though promising, miRNAs are limited by their inability to detect teratoma. ctDNA and CTCs are two other emerging biomarkers, though further studies are needed to clarify their role in managing patients with GCT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology)
9 pages, 231 KiB  
Review
Contemporary Treatment of NMIBC—Is It Time to Move on from BCG?
by Rachel Passarelli and Vignesh T. Packiam
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(14), 4112; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13144112 - 14 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2128
Abstract
Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) encompasses approximately three-quarters of all bladder cancer (BC) diagnoses. Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been the long-standing gold standard treatment for patients following endoscopic resection. However, despite reasonable efficacy, recurrence rates are still suboptimal, and this, combined with treatment [...] Read more.
Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) encompasses approximately three-quarters of all bladder cancer (BC) diagnoses. Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been the long-standing gold standard treatment for patients following endoscopic resection. However, despite reasonable efficacy, recurrence rates are still suboptimal, and this, combined with treatment tolerability and BCG shortages, has prompted an investigation into alternative treatment modalities. Advances in this landscape have been predominantly for patients with BCG-unresponsive disease, and there are currently four FDA-approved treatments for these patients. More recently, trials have emerged looking for alternatives to BCG for patients who are treatment-naïve. We performed a literature search via PubMed to find recent publications on alternatives to BCG, as well as a search on clinicaltrials.gov and recent conference presentations for ongoing clinical trials. Studies have shown that combination intravesical chemotherapy, combination intravesical therapy with BCG, and combination intravenous therapy with BCG preliminarily have good efficacy and safety profiles in this disease space. Ongoing trials are underway, and we anticipate as these studies mature, there will be a shift in NMIBC treatment regimens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology)
18 pages, 1017 KiB  
Review
The Cellular Stress and Cutaneous Manifestations in Renal Cell Carcinomas—A Narrative Review
by Corina Daniela Ene, Ilinca Nicolae, Mircea Tampa, Simona Roxana Georgescu, Cosmin Ene, Clara Matei, Iulia Maria Teodora Leulescu, Cristina Iulia Mitran, Madalina Irina Mitran and Cristina Capusa
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(13), 3640; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133640 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1979
Abstract
The carcinomas originating from the renal cortex are the most aggressive renal malignancies, with a high tendency for metastasis. Understanding the incidence of cutaneous manifestations caused by renal carcinomas is a challenge. In the first part, this article summarizes a series of factors [...] Read more.
The carcinomas originating from the renal cortex are the most aggressive renal malignancies, with a high tendency for metastasis. Understanding the incidence of cutaneous manifestations caused by renal carcinomas is a challenge. In the first part, this article summarizes a series of factors that promote oncogenesis, invasiveness, and the ability of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) to develop secondary cutaneous manifestations. It is postulated that the cellular stress response is one of the leading causes of developing dermatological events induced by cancers located at distant sites. Furthermore, the paper provides an overview of cutaneous complications associated with renal cancer, categorized as malignant manifestations (metastases, synchronous or metachronous cutaneous malignancies associated with renal cancer), non-malignant indirect cutaneous manifestations associated with renal cancer, and treatment consequences. The data presented in this article suggest that recognizing certain cutaneous disorders could assist the physician in the early identification of renal neoplasms and could lead to a better prognosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Advances in Urologic Oncology)
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