Faculty Bibliography

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:We aimed to report on multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) characteristics of post-primary focal cryosurgery (PFC) patients suspected of biochemical recurrence (BCR) by the Phoenix criteria. METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed all patients at our institution who had undergone PFC. Prostate-specific antigen nadir was determined using 2 or more post-PFC values. Suspicion of BCR was determined using the Phoenix criteria (nadir + 2 ng/ml). At the discretion of the physician, pre-and post-PFC 3-T mpMRIs were obtained and in a few cases biopsies were performed. RESULTS:Ninety (58.4%) of 154 consecutive patients who underwent PFC were included in our analysis and had a median (range) age and prostate volume of 66.5 (48-82) years and 40.5 (16-175) ml, respectively. Of those suspected of BCR (37/90, 41.1%), with a median time to BCR of 19.9 (7.0-38.5) months, 27 patients (73.0%) underwent a post-PFC mpMRI. Twenty-two (81.5%) of these mpMRIs were found with 24 suspicious lesions. A considerable number (9/24, 37.5%) of these lesions were located in the central gland of the prostate. Seven of 24 lesions exhibited adverse mpMRI characteristic; 4 (16.7%) had capsular contact, 2 (8.2%) showed frank extracapsular extension, and 1 (4.2%) showed seminal vesicle invasion. Five (45.5%) of 11 patients with positive post-PFC mpMRIs were positive on biopsy (4/5, 80% were clinically significant prostate cancer). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Post-PFC mpMRI, at Phoenix suspicion of BCR, may help identify a significant number of patients failing post-PFC.

Solitary fibrous tumors are well described in the pleura, but rare extra-pleural neoplasms have been reported. We describe a patient with a solitary left renal fibrous tumor who after undergoing a nephrectomy, presented 8 years later with a contralateral metachronous solitary fibrous tumor. Malignant metastatic extra-pleural solitary fibrous tumors are extremely rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first case of contralateral recurrence of solitary renal fibrous tumor. The patient underwent a robotic assisted partial nephrectomy of the right renal mass. Both tumors showed overlapping histopathology.

Purpose. Active surveillance is an emergent strategy for management of indolent prostate cancer. Our institution's watchful waiting protocol, Active Holistic Surveillance (AHS), implements close monitoring for disease progression along with various chemopreventive agents and attempts to reduce unnecessary biopsies. Our objective is to report on the treatment rates of men on our AHS protocol as well as determine reasons for progression. Materials/Methods. Low risk and low-intermediate risk patients were enrolled in AHS at Winthrop University Hospital between February 2002 and August 2015. Our IRB-approved study analyzed survival rate, discontinuation rates, and definitive treatments for patients in our AHS cohort. Results. 235 patients met inclusion criteria. Median age and follow-up for the cohort were 66 (44-88) years and 42 (3-166) months, respectively. The overall survival for the cohort was 99.6% and the disease specific survival was 100%. A total of 27 (11.5%) patients discontinued AHS. Conclusion. The incorporation of chemopreventive agents in our AHS protocol has allowed patients to prolong definitive treatment for many years. Longer follow-up and additional studies are necessary to further validate the effectiveness of AHS.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate whether poor nutrition is associated with mortality in patients undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS/METHODS:A multi-institutional review of prospective databases identified 246 patients meeting inclusion criteria who underwent CN for mRCC from 1993 to 2012. Nutritional markers evaluated were: body mass index <18.5 kg/m(2) , serum albumin <3.5 g/dL, or preoperative weight loss of ≥5% of body weight. Primary outcomes were overall (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Secondary outcome was 'early mortality' defined as death at ≤6 months of surgery. Survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method and multivariate analysis using logistic regression was used to test associations between nutritional markers and survival outcomes. RESULTS:In all, 119 patients (median follow-up 17 months) were categorised as having any abnormal nutrition parameter (48%). Hypoalbuminaemia was the only independent predictor of OS and DSS (OS: median 8 vs 23 months, P < 0.001; DSS: 11 vs 33 months, P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, hypoalbuminaemia remained a significant predictor of death for both overall [hazard ratio (HR) 2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-2.8; P < 0.001) and disease-specific mortality (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4-3.3; P < 0.001). Hypoalbuminaemia was also associated with early mortality (overall: P < 0.001 and disease specific: P = 0.002). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Patients with mRCC and hypoalbuminaemia undergoing CN have decreased OS and CSS, and increased risk of all-cause and disease-specific early mortality. As such, serum albumin may help risk stratify patients selected as candidates for CN. Furthermore, future work should evaluate whether nutritional depletion is a modifiable risk factor.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:We evaluated temporal trends in systemic therapy use in patients undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. We used data from a large national cancer registry and assessed characteristics associated with the receipt of systemic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS/METHODS:We reviewed the NCDB to identify patients with stage IV renal cell carcinoma who underwent cytoreductive nephrectomy between 1998 and 2010. Systemic therapy was defined as immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy, including targeted agents. We evaluated associations between clinicopathological features and receipt of systemic therapy using multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations. RESULTS:Of 22,409 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy 8,830 (39%) received systemic therapy. Use of systemic therapy increased from 32% of cases in 1998 to 49% in 2010 (p < 0.001). After adjustment older patient age (71 years or greater OR 0.36, CI 0.31-0.43), increasing comorbidity count (Charlson comorbidity index 2 or greater OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68-0.92), papillary histology (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.71-0.93), sarcomatoid histology (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.98), Medicaid (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.5-0.74), Medicare (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.62-0.79) and no insurance (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.63-0.91) were associated with significantly decreased systemic therapy use. Male gender (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08) predicted an increased likelihood of systemic therapy. CONCLUSIONS:Systemic therapy in patients undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy has increased with time, coinciding with the introduction of targeted therapies. Nevertheless, still less than half of such patients receive systemic treatment. While the etiology of the lack of treatment is likely multifactorial, the potential health policy implications of disparities in care warrant further investigation.

BACKGROUND:Prostate and thyroid cancers represent two of the most overdiagnosed tumors in the US. Hypothesizing that patients diagnosed with one of these malignancies were more likely to be diagnosed with the other, we examined the coupling of diagnoses of prostate and thyroid cancer in a large US administrative dataset. METHODS:The surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database was used to identify men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer (CaP) or thyroid cancer between 1995 and 2010. SEER*stat software was used to estimate multivariable-adjusted standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and investigate the rates of subsequent malignancy diagnosis. Additional non-urologic cancer sites were added as control groups. RESULTS:Patients with thyroid cancer were much more likely to be diagnosed with CaP than patients in the SEER control group (SIR 1.28 [95% CI 1.1-1.5]; p < 0.05). Similarly, the observed incidence of thyroid cancer was significantly higher in patients with CaP when compared with SEER controls (SIR 1.30 [95% CI 1.2-1.4]; p < 0.05). When stratified by follow-up interval, the observed thyroid cancer diagnosis rate among men with CaP was significantly higher than expected at 2-11 (SIR 1.83 [95% CI 1.4-2.4]), 12-59 (SIR 1.24 [95% CI 1.0-1.5]), and 60-119 (SIR 1.25 [95% CI 1.0-1.5]) months of follow-up. There was no increased risk of CaP or thyroid cancer diagnosis among patients with non-urologic malignancies. CONCLUSIONS:There is a significant association of diagnoses with prostate and thyroid cancer in the US. In the absence of a known biological link between these tumors, these data suggest that diagnosis patterns for prostate and thyroid malignancies are linked.

OBJECTIVE:To examine relative contributions of functional parenchymal preservation and renal ischemia following nephron-sparing surgery (NSS). While residual functional parenchymal volume (FPV) is proposed as the key factor in predicting functional outcomes following NSS, efforts to curtail ischemia time continue to add technical complexity to partial nephrectomy. METHODS:Our kidney cancer database was queried for patients who underwent NSS with warm ischemia time (WIT). Patients with cross-sectional imaging for FPV calculation were included. Cylindrical volume approximation methodology was used to calculate FPV, accounting for the volume of tumor's endophytic component. Percent estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) preservation, perioperatively and at 6 months, was the outcome metric. Spearman correlation and linear regression analyses were used to evaluate associations of WIT and %FPV preservation with renal function preservation. RESULTS:Of the 179 patients included, median preoperative eGFR was 88.4 (9.5% chronic kidney disease III or IV), tumor size was 2.7 cm (interquartile range [IQR] 2.0-3.6 cm), and R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry was low in 34%, intermediate in 57%, and high in 9%. Median WIT was 30 minutes (IQR 24-36), resulting in 97.4% FPV preservation. Median postoperative eGFR at 6.4 months was 80.5 (19.1% chronic kidney disease III or IV), a median of 93.1% eGFR preservation (IQR 85.1-101.7). At discharge, WIT (P <.001), not %FPV (P = .112), was associated with %eGFR preservation. However, 6 months following surgery, on multivariable analysis, both preoperative eGFR (linear regression coefficient = -0.208, P = .006) and %FPV preservation (linear regression coefficient = 0.491, P = .001), but not WIT (P = .946), demonstrated statistically significant association with %eGFR preservation. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Residual FPV, and not WIT, appears to be the main predictor of ultimate renal function following NSS.

OBJECTIVE:To test the association between hospital type and performance of candidate quality measures for treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) using a large national tumour registry. Proposed quality measures include receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, timely treatment, adequate lymph node dissection, and continent urinary diversion. PATIENTS AND METHODS/METHODS:Using the National Cancer Database, patients with stage ≥II urothelial carcinoma treated with radical cystectomy (RC) from 2003 to 2010 were identified. Hospitals were grouped by type and annual RC volume: community, comprehensive low volume (CLV), comprehensive high volume (CHV), academic low volume (ALV), and academic high volume (AHV) groups. Logistic regression models were used to test the association between hospital group and performance of quality measures, adjusting for year, demographic, and clinical/pathological characteristics; generalised estimating equations were fitted to the models to adjust for clustering at the hospital level. RESULTS:In all, 23 279 patients underwent RC at community (12.4%), comprehensive (CLV 38%, CHV 5%), and academic (ALV 17%, AHV 28%) hospitals. While only 0.8% (175) of patients met all four quality criteria, 61% of patients treated at AHV hospitals met two or more quality metric indicators compared with ALV (45%), CHV (44%), CLV (38%), and community (37%) hospitals (P < 0.001). After adjustment, patients were more likely to receive two or more quality measures when treated at AHV (odds ratio [OR] 2.4, confidence interval [CI] 2.0-2.9), ALV (OR 1.3, CI 1.1-1.6), and CHV (OR 1.3, CI 1.03-1.7) hospitals compared with community hospitals. CONCLUSIONS:Patients undergoing RC at AHV hospitals were more likely to meet quality criteria. However, performance remains low across hospital types, highlighting the opportunity to improve quality of care for MIBC.