Diagnostic Performance of Prostate-specific Antigen Density for Detecting Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer in the Era of Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: There has been a dramatic increase in the use of prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnostic workup. With prostate volume calculated from MRI, prostate-specific antigen density (PSAD) now is a ready-to-use parameter for prostate cancer (PCa) risk stratification before prostate biopsy, especially among patients with negative MRI or equivocal lesions. OBJECTIVE: In this review, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of PSAD for clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPCa) among patients who received MRI before prostate biopsy. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Two investigators performed a systematic review according of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) criteria. Studies (published between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2021) reporting the diagnostic performance (outcomes) of PSAD (intervention) for CSPCa among men who received prebiopsy prostate MRI and subsequent prostate biopsy (patients), using biopsy pathology as the gold standard (comparison), were eligible for inclusion. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of 1536 papers were identified in PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. Of these, 248 studies were reviewed in detail and 39 were qualified. The pooled sensitivity (SENS) and specificity (SPEC) for diagnosing CSPCa among patients with positive MRI were, respectively, 0.87 and 0.35 for PSAD of 0.1 ng/ml/ml, 0.74 and 0.61 for PSAD of 0.15 ng/ml/ml, and 0.51 and 0.81 for PSAD of 0.2 ng/ml/ml. The pooled SENS and SPEC for diagnosing CSPCa among patients with negative MRI were, respectively, 0.85 and 0.36 for PSAD of 0.1 ng/ml/ml, 0.60 and 0.66 for PSAD of 0.15 ng/ml/ml, and 0.33 and 0.84 for PSAD of 0.2 ng/ml/ml. The pooled SENS and SPEC among patients with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) 3 or Likert 3 lesions were, respectively, 0.87 and 0.39 for PSAD of 0.1 ng/ml/ml, 0.61 and 0.69 for PSAD of 0.15 ng/ml/ml, and 0.42 and 0.82 for PSAD of 0.2 ng/ml/ml. The post-test probability for CSPCa among patients with negative MRI was 6% if PSAD was <0.15 ng/ml/ml and dropped to 4% if PSAD was <0.10 ng/ml/ml. CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic review, we quantitatively evaluated the diagnosis performance of PSAD for CSPCa in combination with prostate MRI. It demonstrated a complementary performance and predictive value, especially among patients with negative MRI and PI-RADS 3 or Likert 3 lesions. Integration of PSAD into decision-making for prostate biopsy may facilitate improved risk-adjusted care. PATIENT SUMMARY: Prostate-specific antigen density is a ready-to-use parameter in the era of increased magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) use in clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPCa) diagnosis. Findings suggest that the chance of having CSPCa was very low (4% or 6% for those with negative prebiopsy MRI or Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (Likert) score 3 lesion, respectively, if the PSAD was <0.10 ng/ml/ml), which may lower the need for biopsy in these patients.

Learning curve for magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion prostate biopsy in detecting prostate cancer using cumulative sum analysis.

Background: Targeted magnetic resonance (MR) with ultrasound (US) fusion-guided biopsy has been shown to improve detection of prostate cancer. The implementation of this approach requires integration of skills from radiologists and urologists. Objective methods for assessment of learning curves, such as cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis, may be helpful in identifying the presence and duration of a learning curve. The aim of this study is to determine the learning curve for MR/US fusion-guided biopsy in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer using CUSUM analysis. Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis was performed in this institutional review board-approved study. Two urologists implemented an MR/US fusion-guided prostate biopsy program between March 2015 and September 2017. The primary outcome measure was cancer detection rate (CDR) stratified by Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) scores assigned on the MR imaging. Cumulative sum analysis quantified actual cancer detection versus a predetermined target satisfactory CDR of MR/US fusion biopsies in a sequential case-by-case basis. For this analysis, satisfactory performance was defined as >80% CDR in patients with PI-RADS 5, >50% in PI-RADS 4, and <20% in PI-RADS 1-3. Results: Complete data were available for MR/US fusion-guided biopsies performed on 107 patients. The CUSUM learning curve analysis demonstrated intermittent underperformance until approximately 50 cases. After this inflection point, there was consistently good performance, evidence that no further learning curve was being encountered. Conclusions: At a new center implementing MR/US fusion-guided prostate biopsy, the learning curve was approximately 50 cases before a consistently high performance for prostate cancer detection.

PSA density is complementary to prostate MP-MRI PI-RADS scoring system for risk stratification of clinically significant prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: While prostate multiparametric-magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI) has improved the diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPC), the complementary use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels to risk-stratify for CSPC requires further study. The objective of this project was to determine if prostate MP-MRI and PSA can provide complementary insights into CSPC risk stratification. METHODS: In an IRB-approved study, pathologic outcomes from patients who underwent MR/US fusion-targeted prostate biopsy were stratified by various parameters including PSA, PSA density (PSAD), age, race, and PI-RADS v2 score. CSPC was defined as a Gleason score ≥7. Logistic regression was used to determine odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). P values were reported as two-sided with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. ROC curves were generated for assessing the predictive value of tests and sensitivity + specificity optimization was performed to determine optimal testing cutoffs. RESULTS: A total of 327 patients with 709 lesions total were analyzed. PSAD and PI-RADS scores provided complementary predictive value for diagnosis of CSPC (AUC PSAD: 0.67, PI-RADS: 0.72, combined: 0.78, p < 0.001). When controlling for PI-RADS score, age, and race, multivariate analysis showed that PSAD was independently associated with CSPC (OR 1.03 per 0.01 PSAD increase, 95% CI 1.02-105, p < 0.001). The optimal cutoff of PSAD ≥ 0.1 ng/ml/cc shows that a high versus low PSAD was roughly equivalent to an increase in 1 in PI-RADS score for the presence of CSPC (4% of PI-RADS ≤3 PSAD low, 6% of PI-RADS 3 PSAD high vs. 5% of PI-RADS 4 PSAD low, 22% of PI-RADS 4 PSAD high vs. 29% of PI-RADS 5 PSAD low, 46% of PI-RADS 5 PSAD high were found to have CSPC). CONCLUSIONS: PSAD with a cutoff of 0.1 ng/ml/cc appears to be a useful marker that can stratify the risk of CSPC in a complementary manner to prostate MP-MRI.

Racial Analysis of Clinical and Biochemical Outcomes in Patients With Prostate Cancer Treated With Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy.

PURPOSE: Black men in the United States experience significantly higher incidence of and mortality from prostate cancer (PCa) than non-Black men. The cause of this disparity is multifactorial, though inequitable access to curative radiation modalities, including low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy, may contribute. Despite this, there are few analyses evaluating the potential of different radiation therapies to mitigate outcome disparities. Therefore, we examined the clinical outcomes of Black and non-Black patients treated with definitive LDR brachytherapy for PCa. METHODS: Data were collected for all patients treated with definitive LDR brachytherapy between 2005 and 2018 on a retrospective institutional review board approved protocol. Pearson χ2 analysis was used to assess demographic and cancer differences between Black and non-Black cohorts. Freedom from biochemical failure (FFBF) was calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors predictive of biochemical failure. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-seven patients were included in the analysis (Black: n = 81; 48.5%) with a median follow-up of 88.4 months. Black patients were from lower income communities (P < .01), had greater social vulnerability (P < .01), and had a longer interval between diagnosis and treatment (P = .011). Overall cumulative FFBF was 92.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 87.8%-96.8%) at 5 years and 87.7% (95% CI, 82.0%-93.4%) at 7 years. There was no significant difference in FFBF in Black and non-Black patients (P = .114) and Black race was not independently predictive of failure (hazard ratio, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.56-4.01; P = .42). Overall survival was comparable between racial groups (P = .972). Only nadir prostate-specific antigen was significantly associated with biochemical failure on multivariate (hazard ratio, 3.57; 95% CI, 02.44-5.22; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Black men treated with LDR brachytherapy achieved similar FFBF to their non-Black counterparts despite poorer socioeconomic status. This suggests that PCa treatment with brachytherapy may eliminate some disparities in clinical outcomes.

Prostate cancer grade downgrading at time of prostatectomy provides risk-stratification insight into future tumor behavior after prostatectomy.

BACKGROUND: Prostate biopsy (Bx) sampling-based diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) has well-described inaccuracy when compared against whole gland analysis upon prostatectomy. Although upgrading of PCa Grade Group (GG) is often described, the occurrence and prognostic implications of downgrading PCa GG at the time of radical prostatectomy (RP) is less understood. Our objective was to evaluate whether downgrading PCa GG at the time of RP was associated with future tumor behavior. METHODS: The SEER database was searched from 2010 to 2017 and patients were included if they were assigned pathological grades on both Bx and RP specimen. Patients were stratified into Bx GG > RP GG and Bx GG ≤ RP GG groups, and tumor behavior after treatment was examined. Cox regression was used for the survival analysis. RESULTS: Here, 99,835 patients were included in this study. A total of 18,516 (18.5%) patients encountered downgrading from Bx GG to RP GG. A downgrading of 1 grade occurred in 13,969 (75.4%) of these patients and of 2 or more grades occurred in 4547 (24.6%) patients. A history of higher Bx GG compared with RP GG increased the risk of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) for each given RP GG controlling for age, race, preop prostate-specific antigen level, percentage of positive biopsy cores, and pathologic TNM stages. Specifically, a history of high Bx GG conferred a 45% increased risk of CSM for any given RP GG (hazard ratio = 1.45 95% confidence interval = 1.16-1.82, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A history of higher Bx GG, and hence downgrading at the time of RP, demonstrates some value as a risk-stratification tool for future cancer outcomes after prostatectomy.

Validation of an MRI-based prostate cancer prebiopsy Gleason score predictive nomogram.

Background: Gleason score grading is a cornerstone of risk stratification and management of patients with prostate cancer (PCa). In this work, we derive and validate a nomogram that uses prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI) and clinical patient characteristics to predict biopsy Gleason scores (bGS). Materials and methods: A predictive nomogram was derived from 143 men who underwent MP-MRI prior to any prostate biopsy and then validated on an independent cohort of 235 men from a different institution who underwent MP-MRI for PCa workup. Screen positive lesions were defined as lesions positive on T2W and DWI sequences on MP-MRI. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) density, number of screen positive lesions, and MRI suspicion were associated with PCa Gleason score on biopsy and were used to generate a predictive nomogram. The independent cohort was tested on the nomogram and the most likely bGS was noted. Results: The mean PSA in the validation cohort was 9.25ng/mL versus 6.8ng/mL in the original cohort (p = 0.001). The distribution of Gleason scores between the 2 cohorts were not significantly different (p = 0.7). In the original cohort of men, the most probable nomogram generated Gleason score agreed with actual pathologic bGS findings in 61% of the men. In the validation cohort, the most likely nomogram predicted bGS agreed with actual pathologic bGS 51% of the time. The nomogram correctly identified any PCa versus non-PCa 63% of the time and clinically significant (Gleason score ≥ 7) PCa 69% of the time. The negative predictive value for clinically significant PCa using this prebiopsy nomogram was 74% in the validation group. Conclusions: A preintervention nomogram based on PSA and MRI findings can help narrow down the likely pathologic finding on biopsy. Validation of the nomogram demonstrated a significant ability to correctly identify the most likely bGS. This feasibility study demonstrates the potential of a prebiopsy prediction of bGS and based on the high negative predictive value, identification of men who may not need biopsies, which could impact future risk stratification for PCa.

Race as a predictor of pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy at time of cystectomy for bladder cancer.

INTRODUCTION Complete pathologic response (pT0) at time of cystectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been associated with significantly improved clinical outcomes. The goal of this study is to examine whether race is a predictor of pT0 response to NAC at time of cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the records of patients diagnosed with a non-metastatic (M0) muscle-invasive (cT2+) urothelial cell bladder cancer in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) who underwent a cystectomy from 2006 to 2014. The cohort was stratified by whether the patient received NAC prior to cystectomy. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess for the effect of race on pathologic complete response after NAC. RESULTS: We identified 16,036 patients of which 3,195 patients (19.9 %) were treated with NAC prior to cystectomy. The total number of African American (AA) patients in this study was 848 (5.3 %). Compared to Caucasian patients receiving NAC, AA patients had a greater proportion of females and had lower income and education. The rate of pT0 in the surgery only group was 2.7% compared to 15.0% (p < 0.001) for patients treated with NAC. On multivariate analysis, patients of AA race that received NAC were less likely to achieve pT0 (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.98, p = 0.04) when controlling for age, sex, co-morbidities income, education and timing of cystectomy after starting NAC. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that African American patients are less likely to achieve pathologic complete response to NAC prior to cystectomy.

Surgery associated with increased survival compared to radiation in clinically localized Gleason 9-10 prostate cancer: a SEER analysis.

PURPOSE: Men with Gleason score 9-10 prostate cancer have worse outcomes compared to those with Gleason 8 disease. Upfront treatments remain controversial for these patients. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we evaluated the impact of initial treatment with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), external beam radiation therapy with brachytherapy (EBRT + BT), or surgery on prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) and overall mortality (OM) in Gleason 9-10 disease. METHODS: The SEER database was queried for men diagnosed with biopsy Gleason 9-10 prostate cancer from 2005 to 2014. Gathered data included demographic, pathologic, therapy received, and survival outcomes. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and crude and multivariate analyses were generated for initial therapy with EBRT, EBRT + BT, or surgery. RESULTS: A total of 7877 men were included, 4465 (56.7%) who underwent upfront treatment with EBRT alone, 623 (7.9%) with EBRT + BT, and 2789 (35.4%) with surgery. The 7 year PCSM rates were 29.2, 15.0, and 14.6% for EBRT, EBRT + BT, and surgery respectively (p < 0.001). The 7 year OM rates were 43.8, 27.2, and 20.0% for EBRT, EBRT + BT, and surgery, respectively (p < 0.001).When controlling for age, year of diagnosis, Gleason score, clinical T stage, and PSA level on multivariate analysis, EBRT had greater PCSM and OM than surgery (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.28-0.61, p < 0.001 and HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.34-0.57, p < 0.001 respectively), but the mortality differences was not statistically significant between EBRT and EBRT + BT. CONCLUSION: Among men with localized Gleason 9-10 disease, surgery was associated with statistically significant improved survival outcomes compared to EBRT alone.

Video-Based Coaching as an Educational Platform for Urological Residency Training: A Pilot Study.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical experience requires skills traditionally taught through real-time operating room education and a variety of supplemental educational strategies. Video-based coaching is a modality that may offer potential advantages of immediate, direct and targeted feedback. The objective of this study was to demonstrate and evaluate the utility and educational value of video-based coaching in urology by conducting a qualitative analysis with a coding schema. METHODS: Residents and attendings were recorded operating during randomly selected cases in the operating room. Video-based coaching sessions were held during urology grand rounds and required residents to describe a selected portion of the operating room video and attendings to provide teaching points. Audio recordings from the operating room and video-based coaching sessions were reviewed by 2 independent coders. A coding scale classifying surgical educational goals into 5 categories (information, operative technique, questioning, response to resident interaction and unrelated commenting) was used to identify the interactions and was adjusted for time. RESULTS: Four urological cases were selected for recording. In the video-based coaching sessions compared to the operating room, attendings made more teaching points per hour, provided more information to residents (mean teaching points 7.7 for video-based coaching vs 2.9 for operating room, p <0.005), emphasized operative skills and technique (mean teaching points 10.5 for video-based coaching vs 4.1 for operating room, p <0.005), and were more likely to ask open-ended discussion leading questions (mean teaching points 28.5 for video-based coaching vs 4.4 for operating room, p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Video-based coaching delivered in short time frames offers an easily implementable additional learning opportunity for resident education to further enhance skills learned in the urological operating room.

Performance of PI-RADS v2 assessment categories assigned prior to MR-US fusion biopsy in a new fusion biopsy program.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the performance of PI-RADS v2 for detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPca, Gleason ≥7) within the context of a new fusion biopsy program. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with a PI-RADS v2 assessment category assigned on pre-biopsy mpMRI between March 2015 and November 2017 were identified. Diagnostic performance of PI-RADS v2 was calculated using fusion biopsy results as reference standard using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Patient and lesion characteristics were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: Of 83 patients with 175 lesions, 115/175 (65.7%) were benign, 21/175 (12%) were Gleason 6, and 39/175 (22.3%) were Gleason ≥7. csPCa rates were 0% (0/5) for PI-RADS 1, 7.4% (2/27) for PI-RADS 2, 5.8% (3/52) for PI-RADS 3, 31.2% (24/77) for PI-RADS 4, and 71.4% (10/14) for PI-RADS 5 (p < 0.0001). For prediction of csPCa, patient-level AUC was 0.68 and lesion-level AUC was 0.77. Biopsy threshold of PI-RADS ≥3 was 92.6% sensitive and 22.1% specific. A threshold of PI-RADS ≥4 was 87.2% sensitive and 58.1% specific. Rate of csPca detection on concurrent standard 12 core biopsy only was 6.7%. CONCLUSION: PI-RADS v2 assessment categories assigned prior to biopsy predict pathologic outcome reasonably well in a new prostate fusion biopsy program. Biopsy threshold of PI-RADS ≥3 is highly sensitive. A threshold of ≥4 increases specificity but misses some csPCa.

Epidemiological Determinants of Advanced Prostate Cancer in Elderly Men in the United States.

In this study, we examined the effects of individual-level and area-level characteristics on advanced prostate cancer diagnosis among Medicare eligible older men (ages 70+ years). We analyzed patients from the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database (2000-2007) linked to US Census and County Business Patterns data. Cluster-adjusted logistic regression models were used to quantify the effects of individual preventive health behavior, clinical and demographic characteristics, area-level health services supply, and socioeconomic characteristics on stage at diagnosis. The fully adjusted model was used to estimate county-specific effects and predicted probabilities of advanced prostate cancer. In the adjusted analyses, low intensity of annual prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and other preventive health behavior, high comorbidity, African American race, and lower county socioeconomic and health services supply characteristics were statistically significantly associated with a higher likelihood of distant prostate cancer diagnosis. The fully adjusted predicted proportions of advanced prostate cancer diagnosis across 158 counties ranged from 3% to 15% (mean: 6%, SD: 7%). County-level socioeconomic and health services supply characteristics, individual-level preventive health behavior, demographic and clinical characteristics are determinants of advanced stage prostate cancer diagnosis among older Medicare beneficiaries; other health care-related factors such as family history, lifestyle choices, and health-seeking behavior should also be considered as explanatory factors.

An ecological approach to monitor geographic disparities in cancer outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Area-level indices are widely used to assess the impact of socio-environmental characteristics on cancer outcomes. While area-level measures of socioeconomic status (SES) have been previously used in cancer settings, fewer studies have focused on evaluating the impact of area-level health services supply (HSS) characteristics on cancer outcomes. Moreover, there is significant variation in the methods and constructs used to create area-level indices. METHODS: In this study, we introduced a psychometrically-induced, reproducible approach to develop area-level HSS and SES indices. We assessed the utility of these indices in detecting the effects of area-level characteristics on prostate, breast, and lung cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis in the US. The information on county-level SES and HSS characteristics were extracted from US Census, County Business Patterns data and Area Health Resource Files. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was used to identify individuals diagnosed with cancer from 2010 to 2012. SES and HSS indices were developed and linked to 3-year age-adjusted cancer incidence rates. SES and HSS indices empirically summarized the level of employment, education, poverty and income, and the availability of health care facilities and health professionals within counties. RESULTS: SES and HSS models demonstrated good fit (TLI = 0.98 and 0.96, respectively) and internal consistency (alpha = 0.85 and 0.95, respectively). Increasing SES and HSS were associated with increasing prostate and breast cancer and decreasing lung cancer incidence rates. The results varied by stage at diagnosis and race. CONCLUSION: Composite county-level measures of SES and HSS were effective in ranking counties and detecting gradients in cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis. Thus, these measures provide valuable tools for monitoring geographic disparities in cancer outcomes.

A Phase II Study Evaluating Bone Marrow-Sparing, Image-guided Pelvic Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) With Cesium-131 Brachytherapy Boost, Adjuvant Chemotherapy, and Long-Term Hormonal Ablation in Patients With High Risk, Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): Management of localized high-risk prostate cancer remains challenging. At our institution we performed a prospective phase II study of 2 years of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), pelvic radiation, Cesium (Cs)-131 brachytherapy boost, and adjuvant docetaxel in high risk, localized prostate cancer with a primary endpoint of 3-year disease-free survival. MATERIALS/METHODS: Acute/chronic hematologic, gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicities were scored based on the CTCAE v3.0/RTOG-EORTC criteria, respectively. Actuarial biochemical recurrence free survival (bRFS), bRFSdisease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated. Patients had a median age of 62 years (range, 45 to 82), median Gleason score 8 (74% Gleason 8-10), median PSA of 11.2 (range, 2.8 to 96), and 47% cT2-T3a stage disease. Androgen deprivation was given for 2 years, 45 Gy whole-pelvis IMRT was followed by an 85 Gy Cs-131 boost to the prostate gland, and adjuvant docetaxel was given for 4 cycles. RESULTS: In total 38 patients enrolled from 2006 to 2014, with 82% completing protocol specified treatment, and 84.2% completing 4 cycles of docetaxel. Median follow-up for the entire and alive cohorts were 44 months and 58 months (range, 3.4 to 118), respectively. Acute grade ≥2 GI and GU toxicity rates were 18.4% and 23.7%, respectively. Chronic grade ≥2 GI and GU toxicity rates were 2.6% and 2.6%, respectively. Twelve patients (31.6%) developed grade 4 hematologic toxicity, with no grade 5 toxicity. The 5-year DFS, bRFS and OS rates were 74.1%, 86.0%, and 80.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This aggressive pilot multimodal approach appears to be safe and well-tolerated, providing disease control in a significant proportion of patients with particularly high-risk prostate cancer.

Twitter Mentions and Academic Citations in the Urologic Literature.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the relationship between the number of Twitter mentions and the number of academic citations a urologic publication receives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and thirteen papers from 7 prominent urologic journals were examined 37 months after publication. Articles were evaluated with 2 citation based "bibliometrics" (Scopus, Google Scholar) and Twitter mentions were tracked using the Altmetric Bookmarklet. The number of article citations and Twitter mentions were compared using one-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and bivariate fit analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-three percent of articles had at least 1 Twitter mention. Forty-two percent of Twitter mentions occurred within the first week of the online publication date. Articles mentioned on Twitter had 2.0-fold more Scopus citations (P <.01), and 2.3-fold more Google Scholar citations (P <. 01) compared to articles with no Twitter mentions. Female urologic articles had the greatest number of Twitter mentions (5.7 mentions/article) while pediatric urology had the fewest mean number of Twitter mentions (0.8 mentions/article). A total of 8.9% of papers were tweeted by their authors. Author tweeted articles were associated with a 12.3 (2.0-fold) and 15.5 (1.8-fold) mean citation increase for Scopus and Google Scholar (P <. 01 and P = . 01) compared to articles not shared by their authors on Twitter. CONCLUSION: The majority of urologic publications are being shared on Twitter. The number of citations a urologic publication receives up to 3 years after release is positively associated with the number of mentions it has on Twitter. Twitter activity may be an early indicator of ultimate academic impact of an academic urologic paper.

Evaluation of Cancer Specific Mortality with Surgery versus Radiation as Primary Therapy for Localized High Grade Prostate Cancer in Men Younger Than 60 Years.

PURPOSE: The optimal primary treatment of localized high grade prostate cancer in younger men remains controversial. The objective of this project was to compare the impact of initial radical prostatectomy vs radiation therapy on survival outcomes in young men less than 60 years old with high grade prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of men younger than 60 years in the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) database who underwent initial surgery or radiation therapy of high grade (Gleason score 8 or greater) localized (N0M0 TNM stage) prostate cancer from 2004 to 2012. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine prostate cancer specific and overall mortality. RESULTS: A total of 2,228 men were identified, of whom 1,459 (65.5%) underwent initial surgery and had a median followup of 43 months and 769 (34.5%) underwent initial external beam radiation therapy with or without brachytherapy and had a median followup of 44 months. On multivariate analysis initial treatment with surgery was associated with improved prostate cancer specific and overall mortality compared with initial radiation treatment (HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.74, p = 0.005 vs HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.24-0.70, p = 0.001) when controlling for age, biopsy Gleason score, T stage and prostate specific antigen. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed significant survival differences in young men treated initially with surgery vs external beam radiation therapy of high grade prostate cancer. Future prospective randomized trials are needed to confirm the long-term outcomes of these treatment approaches.

A Supervised Learning Tool for Prostate Cancer Foci Detection and Aggressiveness Identification using Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging.

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men in the United States. The current main methods for diagnosing prostate cancer include prostate-specific antigen test and transrectal biopsy. Prostate-specific antigen screening has been criticized for overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment, and transrectal biopsy is an invasive procedure with low sensitivity for diagnosis. We provided a quantitative tool using supervised learning with multiparametric imaging to be able to accurately detect cancer foci and its aggressiveness. A total of 223 specimens from patients who received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging prior to the surgery were studied. Multiparametric imaging included extracting T2-map, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) using diffusion-weighted MRI, Ktrans using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, and 3-dimensional-MR spectroscopy. A pathologist reviewed all 223 specimens and marked cancerous regions on each and graded them with Gleason scores, which served as the ground truth to validate our prediction model. In cancer aggressiveness prediction, the average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value was 0.73 with 95% confidence interval (0.72-0.74) and the average sensitivity and specificity were 0.72 (0.71-0.73) and 0.73 (0.71-0.75), respectively. For the cancer detection model, the average AUC value was 0.68 (0.66-0.70) and the average sensitivity and specificity were 0.73 (0.70-0.77) and 0.62 (0.60-0.68), respectively. Our method included capability to handle class imbalance using adaptive boosting with random undersampling. In addition, our method was noninvasive and allowed for nonsubjective disease characterization, which provided physician information to make personalized treatment decision.

Can Women Facilitate Men's Prostate Cancer Screening Informed Decision-Making? The M-PACT Trial.

The M-PACT study compared an all-male with a mixed-sex intervention to increase informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African-American men in church settings. We recruited 262 men in 18 churches randomized to the two intervention approaches. Trained and certified lay peer community health advisors in each church led a series of four men's health workshops on informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening. African-American male workshop participants completed baseline, post-workshop, and 12-month follow-up surveys. Contrary to our expectations, including women in the workshops did not result in increased intervention efficacy for the informed decision-making outcomes as both groups showed significant improvement over time in several study outcomes including stage of decision-making for prostate cancer screening, preference for role in decision-making, prostate cancer knowledge, and self-reports of prostate specific antigen testing. Finally, men who attended multiple workshops had better informed decision-making outcomes on several indicators. The current findings suggest mixed results from including women in this men's health educational intervention. Future work should consider optimal ways of providing family support for African-American men's health promotion.

Specialist visits and initiation of cancer-directed treatment among a large cohort of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: The urologist generally manages the treatment of men immediately following the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). The role of other physician specialists in this setting is less clear. We investigated whether involvement of other physician specialty types immediately following diagnosis affects initiation of cancer-directed treatment. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using linked cancer registry and claims data from 1999 to 2009, excluding stage I/II PCa. A physician visit index (PVI) served as the exposure variable and captured the "dispersion of care" across specialties, that is, the extent to which patient care involved different types of physician specialties such as the primary care physician, urologist, or oncologist. The PVI score was calculated using visits occurring within 30 days postdiagnosis. This score was dichotomized to measure "low PVI" (reflects seeing multiple specialist types). Competing risk Cox proportional hazard regression models provided adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for treatment receipt associated with a low PVI. RESULTS: The sample included 33,380 patients: 4,910 metastatic and 28,470 nonmetastatic groups. The top 3 visit categories within 30 days postdiagnosis were "urologist only" (59%) and "urologist plus primary care physician" (21%) and no visit (6%). The median time to receipt of cancer-directed treatment was 51 days. Overall, 29% of individuals in the metastatic group and 38% in the nonmetastatic group were categorized as low PVI. A low PVI was associated with a shorter time to treatment receipt in the nonmetastatic (HR = 1.12 [95% CI: 1.09-1.15]) and metastatic (HR = 1.21 [95% CI: 1.14-1.29]) groups. CONCLUSIONS: Multispecialist involvement in the weeks following diagnosis is associated with a shorter time to treatment initiation, highlighting a role for exposure to different specialty types in the weeks following an initial diagnosis of PCa. This study provides important baseline data for future studies examining coordination of care across cancer and noncancer specialists.