Effect of triptorelin on lower urinary tract symptoms in Australian prostate cancer patients

PURPOSE: Prostate cancer is often comorbidly associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), but few studies have assessed the effects of androgen deprivation therapy on LUTS in this patient group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective, noninterventional, multicenter, observational study to assess the effectiveness of triptorelin (11.25 mg every 12 weeks) over 48 weeks in men presenting with local stage T3/4 prostate cancer and moderate to severe LUTS (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS] >7) in a routine practice setting in Australia. RESULTS: Of the 44 men who enrolled, effectiveness data were available for 39 men. By the end of the study, 30% of men no longer met the IPSS criteria for moderate to severe LUTS. The proportion of patients with moderate to severe LUTS was 69.6% (16/23) at week 48 and 76.9% (30/39) at the last available visit (coprimary outcomes). An IPSS reduction of ≥3 from week 0 was observed in 47% of men at week 4, 56% at week 24, 61% (14/23) at week 48, and 61.5% (24/39) at the last available visit. Quality of life was rated as mostly satisfied-to-delighted by 39.5% of patients at week 0, 53.9% at week 24, and 77.3% at week 48. Triptorelin was well tolerated with 8 treatment-related adverse events reported, half of which were hot flushes; 5 patients discontinued due to the reported treatment-related adverse events. CONCLUSION: This observational study suggests that triptorelin improves moderate to severe LUTS in prostate cancer patients in a routine clinical practice setting

Effect of triptorelin on lower urinary tract symptoms in Australian prostate cancer patients

Henry H Woo,1 Declan G Murphy,2,3 Gerard M Testa,4 Jeremy P Grummet,5 Michael Chong,6 Andrew P Stork7 1Sydney Adventist Hospital Clinical School, University of Sydney, Wahroonga, NSW, 2Division of Cancer Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre, Epworth Healthcare, Richmond, VIC, 4Shire Urology, Miranda, NSW, 5Australian Urology Associates, Malvern, VIC, 6Department of Urology, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, SA, 7Ipsen Pty Ltd, Glen Waverley, VIC, Australia Purpose: Prostate cancer is often comorbidly associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), but few studies have assessed the effects of androgen deprivation therapy on LUTS in this patient group.Patients and methods: We conducted a prospective, noninterventional, multicenter, observational study to assess the effectiveness of triptorelin (11.25 mg every 12 weeks) over 48 weeks in men presenting with local stage T3/4 prostate cancer and moderate to severe LUTS (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS] >7) in a routine practice setting in Australia.Results: Of the 44 men who enrolled, effectiveness data were available for 39 men. By the end of the study, 30% of men no longer met the IPSS criteria for moderate to severe LUTS. The proportion of patients with moderate to severe LUTS was 69.6% (16/23) at week 48 and 76.9% (30/39) at the last available visit (coprimary outcomes). An IPSS reduction of ≥3 from week 0 was observed in 47% of men at week 4, 56% at week 24, 61% (14/23) at week 48, and 61.5% (24/39) at the last available visit. Quality of life was rated as mostly satisfied-to-delighted by 39.5% of patients at week 0, 53.9% at week 24, and 77.3% at week 48. Triptorelin was well tolerated with 8 treatment-related adverse events reported, half of which were hot flushes; 5 patients discontinued due to the reported treatment-related adverse events.Conclusion: This observational study suggests that triptorelin improves moderate to severe LUTS in prostate cancer patients in a routine clinical practice setting. Keywords: GnRH agonist, IPS

Methods for laparoscopic training using animal models.

To reduce the learning curves in humans, several training models have been developed for teaching laparoscopic surgery. The aim of various in vitro or in vivo training models is to help surgeons acquire basic laparoscopic skills such as hand-eye coordination, depth perception, and knot-tying, which should always be acquired prior to organ- or procedure-specific skills. Inexpensive video box trainers are best suited for this purpose. However, advanced laparoscopic skills, such as dissection, cutting, coagulation, and stitching, require more sophisticated animal or human cadaver models. The perfect training model should teach the skills required and should be inexpensive, universally available, and anatomically and physiologically identical to an anesthetized patient. In this paper, we review the different animal models for acquiring advanced laparoscopic skills and try to define their advantages and disadvantages.Journal ArticleReviewSCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Biochemical Recurrence in Prostate Cancer: The European Association of Urology Prostate Cancer Guidelines Panel Recommendations

Biochemical recurrence (BCR) after primary treatment of localized prostate cancer does not necessarily lead to clinically apparent progressive disease. To aid in prognostication, the European Association of Urology prostate cancer guidelines panel undertook a systematic review and successfully developed a novel BCR risk stratification system (groups with a low risk or high risk of BCR) based on disease and prostate-specific antigen characteristics. Patient summary Following treatment to cure prostate cancer, some patients can develop recurrence of disease identified via a prostate-specific antigen blood test (ie, biochemical recurrence, or BCR). However, not every man who experiences BCR develops progressive disease (symptoms or evidence of disease progression on imaging). We conducted a review of the literature and developed a classification system for predicting which patients might progress to optimize treatment decisions

Prognostic Value of Biochemical Recurrence Following Treatment with Curative Intent for Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review

Context In men with prostate cancer (PCa) treated with curative intent, controversy exists regarding the impact of biochemical recurrence (BCR) on oncological outcomes. Objective To perform a systematic review of the existing literature on BCR after treatment with curative intent for nonmetastatic PCa. Objective 1 is to investigate whether oncological outcomes differ between patients with or without BCR. Objective 2 is to study which clinical factors and tumor features in patients with BCR have an independent prognostic impact on oncological outcomes. Evidence acquisition Medline, Medline In-Process, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. For objective 1, prospective and retrospective studies comparing survival outcomes of patients with or without BCR following radical prostatectomy (RP) or radical radiotherapy (RT) were included. For objective 2, all studies with at least 100 participants and reporting on prognostic patient and tumor characteristics in patients with BCR were included. Risk-of-bias and confounding assessments were performed according to the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool. Both a narrative synthesis and a meta-analysis were undertaken. Evidence synthesis Overall, 77 studies were included for analysis, of which 14 addressed objective 1, recruiting 20 406 patients. Objective 2 was addressed by 71 studies with 29 057, 11 301, and 4272 patients undergoing RP, RT, and a mixed population (mix of patients undergoing RP or RT as primary treatment), respectively. There was a low risk of bias for study participation, confounders, and statistical analysis. For most studies, attrition bias, and prognostic and outcome measurements were not clearly reported. BCR was associated with worse survival rates, mainly in patients with short prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSA-DT) and a high final Gleason score after RP, or a short interval to biochemical failure (IBF) after RT and a high biopsy Gleason score. Conclusions BCR has an impact on survival, but this effect appears to be limited to a subgroup of patients with specific clinical risk factors. Short PSA-DT and a high final Gleason score after RP, and a short IBF after RT and a high biopsy Gleason score are the main factors that have a negative impact on survival. These factors may form the basis of new BCR risk stratification (European Association of Urology BCR Risk Groups), which needs to be validated formally. Patient summary This review looks at the risk of death in men who shows rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood test performed after curative surgery or radiotherapy. For many men, rising PSA does not mean that they are at a high risk of death from prostate cancer in the longer term. Men with PSA that rises shortly after they were treated with radiotherapy or rapidly rising PSA after surgery and a high tumor grade for both treatment modalities are at the highest risk of death. These factors may form the basis of new risk stratification (European Association of Urology biochemical recurrence Risk Groups), which needs to be validated formally