Novel quantitative software for automatically excluding red bone marrow on whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in patients with metastatic prostate cancer: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To establish a novel quantitative method that automatically excludes the red bone marrow and accurately quantifies the tumor volume on whole-body magnetic resonance imaging using updated imaging software. To also evaluate the association between the quantified tumor volume and the prognosis of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. METHODS: This prospective analysis included patients diagnosed with metastatic hormone-sensitive or metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer between 2017 and 2022. We developed an imaging software (Attractive BD_Score) that analyzed whole-body diffusion-weighted and in-phase and opposed-phase T1-weighted images to automatically exclude the red bone marrow. The quantified tumor volume was compared with that quantified by traditional whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging without red bone marrow exclusion. Prostate-specific antigen progression-free survival, time-to-pain progression, and overall survival were evaluated to assess the prognostic value of the quantified tumor volume. RESULTS: The quantified tumor volume was significantly smaller than that quantified by the traditional method in metastatic hormone-sensitive (median: 81.0 ml vs. 149.4 ml) and metastatic castration-resistant (median: 29.4 ml vs. 63.5 ml) prostate cancer. A highly quantified tumor volume was associated with prostate-specific antigen progression-free survival (p = 0.030), time-to-pain progression (p = 0.003), and overall survival (p = 0.005) in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and with poor prostate-specific antigen progression-free survival (p = 0.001) and time-to-pain progression (p = 0.005) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our imaging method could accurately quantify the tumor volume in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The quantified tumor volume can be clinically applied as a new prognostic biomarker for metastatic prostate cancer.

Trends in the age of hospitalized patients with urological cancers: A 17-year experience.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of global aging on the trends in the age of hospitalized patients with a urological cancer diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated a cumulative total of 10 652 cases of referred patients (n = 6637) with a urological disease who were hospitalized in our institution between January 2005 and December 2021. We compared age and the proportion of patients aged ≥80 years among patients who were hospitalized in the urological ward between the period of 2005-2013 and that of 2014-2021. RESULTS: We identified 8168 hospitalized patients with urological cancer. The median age was significantly increased in patients with urological cancer between the periods of 2005-2013 and 2014-2021. The proportion of hospitalized patients with urological cancer aged ≥80 years was significantly increased between the periods of 2005-2013 (9.3%) and 2014-2021 (13.8%). The median ages of the patients with urothelial cancer (UC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but not the median age of those with prostate cancer (PC), were significantly increased between the study periods. The proportion of hospitalized patients with UC, but not the proportions of those with PC and RCC, aged ≥80 years was significantly increased between the study periods. CONCLUSIONS: The age of patients with urological cancer who were hospitalized in the urological ward and the proportion of patients with UC aged ≥80 years significantly increased over the entire study period.

Relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and frailty.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the relationship between frailty and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). METHODS: We longitudinally evaluated the temporal changes and the relationships between frailty and LUTS in 247 community-dwelling adults (45 years or older) at baseline and at a 5-year follow-up. We used the Fried phenotype (phenotype-based frailty), 5-item modified frailty index (5i-mFI; comorbidity-based frailty), and frailty discriminant score (comprehensive frailty assessment) to evaluate frailty. LUTS were evaluated using the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) and overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS). RESULTS: We analyzed 247 participants with a median age of 60 years. The median IPSS and OABSS were significantly increased over the 5 years. The proportion of frail individuals did not increase significantly over the 5 years. Of the three frailty assessment tools, the 5i-mFI score significantly increased between 2014 and 2019. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the 5i-mFI score was significantly associated with the severity of LUTS in 2014 to 5i-mFI in 2019 but not with 5i-mFI in 2014 to the severity of LUTS in 2019. CONCLUSION: The effect of LUTS on frailty might be greater than the effect of frailty on LUTS. Further large-scale studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between LUTS and frailty.

Machine learning diagnosis by immunoglobulin N-glycan signatures for precision diagnosis of urological diseases.

Early diagnosis of urological diseases is often difficult due to the lack of specific biomarkers. More powerful and less invasive biomarkers that can be used simultaneously to identify urological diseases could improve patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate a urological disease-specific scoring system established with a machine learning (ML) approach using Ig N-glycan signatures. Immunoglobulin N-glycan signatures were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis from 1312 serum subjects with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (n = 234), castration-resistant prostate cancer (n = 94), renal cell carcinoma (n = 100), upper urinary tract urothelial cancer (n = 105), bladder cancer (n = 176), germ cell tumors (n = 73), benign prostatic hyperplasia (n = 95), urosepsis (n = 145), and urinary tract infection (n = 21) as well as healthy volunteers (n = 269). Immunoglobulin N-glycan signature data were used in a supervised-ML model to establish a scoring system that gave the probability of the presence of a urological disease. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The supervised-ML urologic disease-specific scores clearly discriminated the urological diseases (AUC 0.78-1.00) and found a distinct N-glycan pattern that contributed to detect each disease. Limitations included the retrospective and limited pathological information regarding urological diseases. The supervised-ML urological disease-specific scoring system based on Ig N-glycan signatures showed excellent diagnostic ability for nine urological diseases using a one-time serum collection and could be a promising approach for the diagnosis of urological diseases.

Management of bladder cancer in older patients.

Evidence has shown that patients with bladder cancer are diagnosed at a much older age compared with those with other cancers. Given that co-morbidities and frailty are prevalent in older patients with advanced bladder cancer, they are easily excluded from randomized controlled trials. As little evidence has been available regarding assessment tools for frailty, the management of those patients remains challenging. This weakness is strongly manifested in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Despite radical cystectomy is the standard of care for bladder cancer, there is an extensive undertreatment of older adult patients with potentially curative muscle-invasive bladder cancer. However, it is also true that radical cystectomy is often unsuitable for vulnerable or frail patients. Bladder preservation using trimodality therapy has been utilized as an alternative option, but the appropriate selection criteria for trimodality therapy remain unclear. Cisplatin-based regimens have been the first choice for advanced disease among eligible patients. Moreover, immunotherapy appears to have similar benefits and tolerability in both older and younger patients. Furthermore, palliative or supportive interventions need to be initiated earlier in patients with metastatic disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that frailty may play a key role in the selection of treatment modalities. Older patients should be considered for standard treatment based on frailty and not chronological age. Moreover, older patients with bladder cancer need to undergo geriatric assessment for proper decision-making.

Effect of active anticancer therapy on serologic response to SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine in patients with urothelial and renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the serologic response to the BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine in patients with urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: Between June 2021 and November 2021, we retrospectively evaluated blood samples from 60 healthy controls (control group), 57 patients with urothelial carcinoma, and 28 patients with renal cell carcinoma who had received two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine at Hirosaki University Hospital. We determined the immunoglobulin G antibody titers against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike receptor-binding domain. Seropositivity was defined as ≥15 U/mL. We investigate factors associated with antibody titers and seropositivity in the patients with urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. RESULTS: Antibody titers in the control, urothelial carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma groups were 813, 431, and 500 U/mL, respectively. Seropositivity was 100%, 90%, and 96% in the control, urothelial carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma groups, respectively. Of the 85 patients, 37 of 57 (65%) and 21 of 28 (75%) were actively undergoing anticancer treatment for urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma, respectively. Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike immunoglobulin G antibody titers and seropositivity was not significantly different between the patients with urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike immunoglobulin G antibody titers were not significantly associated with active anticancer therapy or steroid treatment for immune-related adverse events. Univariable logistic regression analysis revealed that older age and metastatic disease were significantly and negatively associated with seropositivity. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with urothelial carcinoma or renal cell carcinoma exhibited an adequate antibody response to the BNT162b2 vaccine. Active anticancer therapy was not significantly associated with seropositivity following vaccination with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 BNT162b2 in patients with urothelial carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma.

Association between the baseline frailty and quality of life in patients with prostate cancer (FRAQ-PC study).

BACKGROUND: The association between baseline frailty and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with prostate cancer (PC) remains unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the association of pretreatment frailty with HRQOL in 409 patients with PC from February 2017 to April 2020. Frailty and HRQOL were evaluated using the geriatric 8 (G8) screening tool and QLQ-C30 questionnaire, respectively. The primary objective was comparison of G8 and QOL scores between the localized diseases (M0 group) and metastatic castration-sensitive PC (mCSPC group). Secondary objectives were to study the association of G8 and QOL scores in each group and effect of frailty (G8 ≤ 14) on worse QOL. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 70 years. There were 369 (surgery: 196, radiotherapy: 156, androgen deprivation therapy alone: 17) patients in the M0 and 40 patients in the mCSPC groups. There was a significant difference between the M0 and mCSPC groups in the G8 score (14.5 vs. 12.5), functioning QOL (94 vs. 87), global QOL (75 vs. 58), and 100-symptom QOL (94 vs. 85) scores. G8 scores were significantly associated with functioning, global, and 100-symptom QOL scores in both M0 and mCSPC groups. The multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that frailty (G8 ≤ 14) was significantly associated with worse global QOL, functioning QOL, and 100-symptom QOL scores. CONCLUSION: The baseline frailty and HRQOL were significantly different between the localized and metastatic disease. The baseline frailty was significantly associated with worse HRQOL in patients with PC.

A Longitudinal Study of Bidirectional Relationships between Sleep Disorder and Frequency of Nocturia: Results from the Iwaki Health Promotion Project.

INTRODUCTION: The causal relationship between sleep disorder and frequency of nocturia remains unclear. METHODS: We longitudinally evaluated sleep disorder and frequency of nocturia in 547 community-dwelling adults between baseline and 5-year follow-up. We included participants ≥50 years old who have no sleep disorder (the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] ≥ 5) nor nocturia (≥1). For 5 years, we evaluated the temporal changes in sleep disorder and nocturia and the bidirectional relationships between sleep disorder and nocturia. RESULTS: Of the 547 participants, we included 268 adults with a median age of 61 years in this study. Median PSQI and nocturia were significantly increased for 5 years from 2 to 3 and from 1 to 2, respectively. New onset of sleep disorder (PSQI > 5) and nocturia >1 was observed in 42 (16%) and 137 (51%) participants, respectively. The cross-lagged panel analysis showed that the path coefficient from PSQI to nocturia (ß = 0.22, p = 0.031) was significantly higher than that from nocturia to PSQI (ß = 0.02, p = 0.941). CONCLUSIONS: Our longitudinal study showed the effect of sleep disorder on nocturia was significant, although nocturia may not significantly worsen sleep disorder in community-dwelling adults.

Preoperative pelvic floor muscle exercise for early continence after holmium laser enucleation of the prostate: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Transient postoperative urinary incontinence is a bothersome complication of holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). The effects of preoperative pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) for early recovery of continence after HoLEP have never been elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine the benefit of preoperatively started PFME for early recovery of continence after HoLEP. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients to start PFME preoperatively and continue postoperatively (group A) or start PFME no earlier than the postoperative period (group B). The primary outcome was time to complete urinary control, defined as no pad usage. The secondary outcome was measured using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) score. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify parameters associated with recovery of continence after HoLEP. RESULTS: Seventy patients were randomized across groups A (n = 35) and B (n = 35). Patients' characteristics were not different between groups A and B. The postoperative urinary incontinence rate significantly decreased in group A compared with that in group B at 3 months postoperatively [3% vs. 26% (P = 0.01)]. However, there were no significant differences between groups A and B at 3 days [40% vs. 54% (P = 0.34)], 1 month [37% vs. 51% (P = 0.34)], and 6 months [0% vs. 3% (P = 1.00)] postoperatively, respectively. The postoperative ICIQ-SF score was not significantly different between groups A and B at any time point postoperatively. In univariate analysis, patients who performed preoperative PFME had a 0.56-fold lower risk of urinary incontinence 1 month after HoLEP and a 0.08-fold lower risk of urinary incontinence 3 months after HoLEP. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperatively started PFME appears to facilitate improvement of early urinary continence after HoLEP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry in Japan (UMIN000034713); registration date: 31 October 2018. Retrospectively registered.

One-surgeon basketing technique for stone extraction during flexible ureteroscopy for urolithiasis: A comparison between novice and expert surgeons.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of the one-surgeon basketing technique for stone extraction during flexible ureteroscopy when carried out by novice surgeons under instructor guidance. METHODS: We retrospectively compared perioperative results, complications and the "stone-free" rate (defined as ≤2 mm fragments on kidney-ureter-bladder imaging 1 month after flexible ureteroscopy) between experienced (group A, n = 50) and novice (group B, n = 50) surgeons using the one-surgeon basketing technique. RESULTS: Baseline patients' characteristics were similar between the two groups. There were no significant differences between groups A and B in operative time (mean 76 min vs 85 min, P = 0.46), stone-free rate (98% vs 92%, P = 0.36), postoperative fever events (4% vs 4%, P = 1.00) and postoperative hospital stay (24 h vs 24 h, P = 1.00). Clavien-Dindo grade IIIa complications (ureter injury) were only observed in two cases (4%) in group B. CONCLUSIONS: The one-surgeon basketing technique for the extraction of stone fragments during flexible ureteroscopy might be safely and effectively carried out by surgeons with no prior experience under proper guidance.

Frailty is significantly associated with the type of urinary diversion in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of frailty on the type of urinary diversion after radical cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. METHODS: Between January 2014 and January 2020, we prospectively evaluated frailty in 88 patients with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer, who had received radical cystectomy and urinary diversion. The selection of the type of urinary diversion was determined by the operating surgeon based on performance status, comorbidities, tumor status and the patient's preference. The frailty evaluation included the Fried phenotype criteria, the modified frailty index and the frailty discriminant score. We investigated the association between frailty and type of urinary diversion, the effect of frailty on postoperative complications and the effect of frailty on overall survival. RESULTS: The median age of the selected participants was 68 years. The number of patients with an orthotopic neobladder and any postoperative complications was 54 (61%) and 46 (52%), respectively. Of the frailty assessment tools that were used, Fried phenotype criteria and frailty discriminant score were significantly associated with the selection of non-orthotopic neobladder urinary diversion. Occurrences of postoperative complications in participants were significantly associated with modified frailty index, but not with Fried phenotype criteria and frailty discriminant score. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that a higher frailty discriminant score was significantly associated with poor overall survival, whereas higher Fried phenotype criteria and modified frailty index were not. CONCLUSION: Frailty is significantly associated with the type of urinary diversion, and it should be considered for the selection of urinary diversion in muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients undergoing radical cystectomy.

The Impact of Glycosylation of Osteopontin on Urinary Stone Formation.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a matrix glycoprotein of urinary calculi. This study aims to identify the role of aberrant glycosylation of OPN in urolithiasis. We retrospectively measured urinary glycosylated OPN normalized by urinary full-length-OPN levels in 110 urolithiasis patients and 157 healthy volunteers and 21 patients were prospectively longitudinal follow-up during stone treatment. The urinary full-length-OPN levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and glycosylated OPN was measured using a lectin array and lectin blotting. The assays were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve to discriminate stone forming urolithiasis patients. In the retrospective cohort, urinary Gal3C-S lectin reactive- (Gal3C-S-) OPN/full-length-OPN, was significantly higher in the stone forming urolithiasis patients than in the healthy volunteers (p < 0.0001), with good discrimination (AUC, 0.953), 90% sensitivity, and 92% specificity. The Lycopersicon esculentum lectin analysis of urinary full-length-OPN showed that urinary full-length-OPN in stone forming urolithiasis patients had a polyLacNAc structure that was not observed in healthy volunteers. In the prospective longitudinal follow-up study, 92.8% of the stone-free urolithiasis group had Gal3C-S-OPN/full-length-OPN levels below the cutoff value after ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URS), whereas 71.4% of the residual-stone urolithiasis group did not show decreased levels after URS. Therefore, Gal3C-S-OPN/full-length-OPN levels could be used as a urolithiasis biomarker.

Eviprostat has an identical effect compared to pollen extract (Cernilton) in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a randomized, prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Previously reported results of a prospective, randomized placebo-controlled study showed that the pollen extract (Cernilton) significantly improved total symptoms, pain, and quality of life in patients with inflammatory prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) without severe side effects. A phytotherapeutic agent, Eviprostat, is reportedly effective in a rat model of nonbacterial prostatitis. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of Eviprostat to that of the pollen extract in the management of CP/CPPS. METHODS: The patients with category III CP/CPPS were randomized to receive either oral capsules of Eviprostat (two capsules, q 8 h) or the pollen extract (two capsules, q 8 h) for 8 weeks. The primary endpoint of the study was symptomatic improvement in the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). Participants were evaluated using the NIH-CPSI and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, 100 men were randomly allocated to Eviprostat (n = 50) or the pollen extract (n = 50). Response (defined as a decrease in the NIH-CPSI total score by at least 25 %) in the Eviprostat group and the pollen extract group was 88.2 and 78.1 %, respectively. There was no significant difference in the total, pain, urinary, and quality of life (QOL) scores of the NIH-CPSI between the two groups at 8 weeks. This was also the case with the total, voiding, and storage symptoms of the IPSS. There were no severe adverse events observed in any patients in this study. CONCLUSION: Both the pollen extract and Eviprostat significantly reduced the symptoms of category III CP/CPPS without any adverse events. Eviprostat may have an identical effect on category III CP/CPPS compared the pollen extract. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry in Japan (UMIN000019618); registration date: 3 November 2015.

Preoperative butyrylcholinesterase level as an independent predictor of overall survival in clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients treated with nephrectomy.

The prognostic factors for the overall survival (OS) of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients treated with nephrectomy are not well defined. In the present study, we investigated the prognostic significance of preoperative butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) levels in 400 ccRCC patients undergoing radical or partial nephrectomy from 1992 to 2013 at our institution. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the clinical factors associated with OS. Among the enrolled patients, 302 were diagnosed with organ-confined disease only (T1-2N0M0), 16 with lymph node metastases, and 56 with distant metastases. The median preoperative BChE level was 250 U/L (normal range, 168-470 U/L), and median follow-up period was 36 months. The 3-year OS rate in patients with preoperative BChE levels of ≥100 U/L was significantly higher than in those with levels of <100 U/L (89.3% versus 77.7%, P = 0.004). On univariate analysis, performance status; anemia; hypoalbuminemia; preoperative levels of BChE, corrected calcium, and C-reactive protein; and distant metastasis status were significantly associated with OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative BChE levels and distant metastasis status were significantly associated with OS. Our findings suggest a possible role of preoperative BChE levels as an independent predictor of OS after nephrectomy in ccRCC patients.

Switching hemodialysis patients from sevelamer hydrochloride to bixalomer: a single-center, non-randomized analysis of efficacy and effects on gastrointestinal symptoms and metabolic acidosis.

BACKGROUND: Bixalomer (BXL) was developed to improve gastrointestinal symptoms and reduce constipation, relative to sevelamer hydrochloride, in hemodialysis patients. We prospectively evaluated the safety and effectiveness of switching maintenance dialysis patients from sevelamer hydrochloride to BXL. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients were switched from sevelamer hydrochloride to BXL (1:1 dose) from July to October 2012, whereas 84 randomly selected patients not treated with sevelamer hydrochloride were enrolled as a control group. The primary endpoint was improvement of gastrointestinal symptoms; secondary endpoints included improvement in metabolic acidosis, changes in blood biochemistry, and safety 12 weeks after the switch. We also surveyed patient satisfaction with switching to BXL 12 weeks after the switch. RESULTS: Before switching, symptoms of epigastric fullness were significantly worse in the switch than in the control group. Twelve weeks after the switch, reflux, epigastric fullness, and constipation had improved significantly in the switch group. Other factors, including stomach ache, diarrhea, and form of stool, did not change significantly. Blood gas analysis showed that metabolic acidosis was significantly improved by switching. Four patients (14%) experienced grade 1 adverse events, all of which improved immediately after stopping BXL. Major adverse events were diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. Mean satisfaction score was 3.1 ± 0.7, with 64% of patients reporting they were "neither satisfied nor dissatisfied" after switching. CONCLUSIONS: A switch from sevelamer hydrochloride to BXL improved symptoms of reflux, epigastric fullness, constipation, and metabolic acidosis in hemodialysis patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered as Clinical trial: (UMIN000011150).

[Testicular tumor arising in intra-abdominal testis which was not detected at prior orchidopexy : a case report].

A 35-year-old man with an intra-abdominal testicular tumor arising from the right unresolved intraabdominal testis is reported. At 10 years old, left orchidopexy was successfully performed for bilateral undescended testes. However, the right testis was not detected during the operation, and it was diagnosed as vanishing testis. Twenty-five years later, he was referred to our hospital with the complaint of right lower abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed huge pelvic tumors and bulky para-aortic lymph node swellings. Histopathologic examination of the needle biopsy specimen obtained from the pelvic tumor revealed seminomatous germ cell tumor. Taking the results with a tumor marker study into consideration, the patient was tentatively diagnosed with non-seminomatous germ cell tumor NSGCT (stage IIB) arising from the unresolved intra-abdominal testis or extragonadal germ cell tumor. He received 3 courses of bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin (BEP), and 4 courses of VP-16, ifosfamide, cisplatin (VIP). After chemotherapy, we performed tumorectomy and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy because tumor markers were normalized and 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)-CT revealed normalization. We identified the pelvic tumor as an intra-abdominal testicular tumor arising from right unresolved intra-abdominal testis. Pathological examination revealed no residual tumor cells. There has been no recurrence 17 months after surgery.

Comparison of neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy vs. extended pelvic lymph-node dissection in high-risk prostate cancer treated with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

We compared the impact of treatment strategies on postoperative complications and prognosis between robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) plus extended pelvic lymph-node dissection (ePLND) and RARP plus neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy (NCHT) without ePLND. We retrospectively evaluated 452 patients with high-risk prostate cancer (defined as any one of prostate-specific antigen ≥ 20 ng/mL, Gleason score 8-10, or cT2c-3) who were treated with RARP between January 2012 and February 2021. The patients were divided into two groups: RARP with ePLND (ePLND group) and NCHT plus RARP without ePLND (NCHT group). We compared the complication rate (Clavien-Dindo classification), biochemical recurrence-free survival, and castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)-free survival between the groups. We performed multivariable Cox regression analysis using inverse probability weighting (IPTW) methods to assess the impact of the different treatments on prognosis. There were 150 and 302 patients in the ePLND and NCHT groups, respectively. The postoperative complication rate was significantly higher in the ePLND group than in the NCHT group (P < 0.001). IPTW-adjusted biochemical recurrence-free survival and CRPC-free survival were significantly higher in the NCHT group than in the ePLND group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.29, P < 0.001, and HR 0.29, P = 0.010, respectively). NCHT plus RARP without ePLND may reduce the risk of postoperative complications compared with ePLND during RARP. The impact of treatment strategies on oncological outcomes needs further studies.

Significance of pelvic lymph node dissection during radical prostatectomy in high-risk prostate cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy.

We aimed to determine the survival and staging benefit of limited pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) during radical prostatectomy (RP) in high-risk prostate cancer (PC) patients treated with neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy. We retrospectively analyzed 516 patients with high-risk localized PC (< cT4N0M0) who received neoadjuvant androgen-deprivation therapy plus estramustine phosphate followed by RP between January 2010 and March 2020. Since we stopped limited PLND for such patients in October 2015, we compared the surgical outcomes and biochemical recurrence-free survival (BCR-FS) between the limited-PLND group (before October 2015, n = 283) and the non-PLND group (after November 2015, n = 233). The rate of node metastases in the limited-PLND group were 0.8% (2/283). Operation time was significantly longer (176 vs. 162 min) and the rate of surgical complications were much higher (all grades; 19 vs. 6%, grade ≥ 3; 3 vs. 0%) in the limited-PLND group. The inverse probability of treatment weighting-Cox analysis revealed limited PLND had no significant impact on BCR-FS (hazard ratio, 1.44; P = 0.469). Limited PLND during RP after neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy showed quite low rate of positive nodes, higher rate of complications, and no significant impact on BCR-FS.