Bone densitometric assessment and management of fracture risk in Indian men of prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy: Does practice pattern match the guidelines?

OBJECTIVE: Estimation of baseline bone mineral density (BMD) at the time of instituting androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for metastatic prostate cancer is recommended by several specialty groups and expert panels. The present study was carried out to analyze the practice pattern of Indian urologists with regard to bone densitometric assessment and management of fracture risk in men of prostate cancer on ADT, and their degree of adherence to currently available guidelines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Telephonic interviews of 108 qualified urologists, randomly selected from the member database of Urological Society of India was carried out with a predefined questionnaire. The responses were analyzed and compared with the available evidences and recommendations. RESULTS: Only 19.4% urologists routinely perform a baseline BMD before starting ADT. Although majority of them prescribe calcium and vitamin D supplementation, only few tell regarding fracture risk and life-style modification to their patients. While 59.6% of the respondents use Zoledronic acid (ZA) in their patients on ADT, half of them prescribe it without knowing the BMD status, which may lead to overuse of ZA. CONCLUSION: Majority of the urologists in India do not follow the guidelines for BMD measurement in prostate cancer. A baseline BMD may help in reducing the unnecessary use of ZA.

Urethral stricture assessment: a prospective study evaluating urethral ultrasonography and conventional radiological studies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of urethral ultrasonography (sono-urethrography, SUG) in determining the length of anterior urethral strictures, and for predicting the degree of spongiofibrosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 52 patients with anterior urethral strictures detected on retrograde urethrography (RUG) were also examined using SUG, to assess the stricture location, length and degree of spongiofibrosis. The findings of both procedures were then compared with the operative findings. RESULTS: The mean (sd) stricture length on RUG, SUG and at surgery was 2 (0.8), 3.8 (1.4) and 3.5 (1.6) cm, respectively. The mean length on SUG was closer to that at surgery. Spongiofibrosis was detected by SUG with an overall accuracy of 42%, 56% and 83% for mild, moderate and severe degrees of fibrosis, respectively. There were no significant complications during the procedure. CONCLUSION: SUG is more accurate for evaluating the length of anterior urethral strictures than RUG, and gives additional information about spongiofibrosis.

Assessment of microsatellite instability in bladder and thyroid malignancies.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is an indicator of a defective DNA mismatch repair system (MMR) that results from somatic mutations. The present work has been planned to investigate MSI and its clinical significance in human urinary bladder and thyroid cancers in Indian patients. Tumor tissues of histologically confirmed cases of urinary bladder and thyroid cancers, respectively, were obtained. Clinical data on tumor stage and histopathological grades were recorded. Corresponding matched peripheral blood was taken as a control. Genomic DNA was isolated from the tumor tissues and blood using a standard phenol-chloroform extraction method. Polymerase chain reaction was done to amplify mononucleotide microsatellite markers, BAT-26, BAT-40, TGFbetaRII, IGFIIR, hMSH3, and Bax by using specific primer sequences. For analysis of allelic patterns, the PCR products were run on 8% denaturing Polyacrylamide gel and sizing was done using a pUC18 sequencing ladder. The instability with BAT-26 and BAT-40 was found to be 20% and 45% in urinary bladder and 33% and 19% in thyroid cancers, respectively. However, no instability was observed with the other four-mononucleotide markers in either of the cancers studied. Eighty-three percent of the unstable urinary bladder cancers were found to have a high grade in a superficial group, whereas only 27% MSI+ve were muscle invasive cancers. Forty percent of unstable thyroid lesions were found to be at high risk of developing metastasis. Association of BAT-26 and BAT-40 instabilities with high grade tumors as well as risk tumors may help in choosing a more definite therapy at the outset.