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In this study, we investigated the association between the early response of serum and hematological variables and the outcome of cabazitaxel therapy. The medical records of 59 consecutive patients who had previously received docetaxel chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and who received cabazitaxel at our hospital between January 2011 and March 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and statistically analyzed. The median follow-up period after cabazitaxel initiation was 15.2 months. The 30% prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate, median PSA progression-free survival period, and overall survival (OS) period were 45.8%, 4.3 months, and 22.6 months, respectively. Within 1 to 2 cycles of cabazitaxel, we were unable to identify hematological or serum kinetics that had a relationship with OS. Analysis of the variables after 3 cycles of cabazitaxel, however, revealed two factors, PSA decline > 30% (p = 0.016) and neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) decline > 30% (p = 0.044), as the predictors of favorable outcome for OS. We established a prognostic model for predicting the OS period composed of these two factors, which exhibited distinctly separated OS curves (p = 0.004). The C-index of a model incorporating these two factors was 0.703. This is the first study to demonstrate that PSA and NLR decline 3 cycles after the initiation of cabazitaxel were associated with favorable outcome in patients with CRPC. Also, 3 cycles of cabazitaxel might be necessary to assess the efficacy of cabazitaxel therapy.

Introduction Although the utility of diffusion‐weighted whole‐body imaging with background body signal suppression for assessing lymph node involvement or distant metastasis is renowned in many cancers, only few studies have revealed its utility for germ cell carcinoma. Some metastatic lesions of germ cell carcinomas are difficult to detect by conventional imaging. Case presentation We report a case of a 70‐year‐old man with relapsed retroperitoneal germ cell tumor. Although his human chorionic gonadotropin levels increased, conventional imaging analysis showed no evidence of recurrence. Diffusion‐weighted whole‐body imaging with background body signal suppression was performed to search the metastatic lesion and detected metastatic sacral lesions. The patient responded well to local radiotherapy added to the steroid pulse and salvage chemotherapy and achieved long‐term recurrence‐free survival. Conclusion Diffusion‐weighted whole‐body imaging with background body signal suppression has the potential to detect metastatic lesions not usually detected by conventional imaging methods.

Enzalutamide is a novel, non-steroidal anti-androgen that has demonstrated excellent anti-tumor activity for both non-metastatic and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC and mCRPC) patients, and that is being rapidly introduced into clinical practice in Japan.We retrospectively investigated the treatment efficacy, safety profile, and prognostic factors of enzalutamide over a relatively long observation period in Japanese patients with nmCRPC and mCRPC.The medical records of 184 consecutive Japanese patients with nmCRPC and mCRPC who started enzalutamide treatment in our institution between January 2012 and April 2018 were reviewed. Efficacy and safety profiles were assessed and statistically analyzed.Among these 184 patients, 44 (23.9%) nmCRPC patients, 89 (48.4%) docetaxel-naïve mCRPC patients, and 51 docetaxel-pretreated (27.7%) mCRPC patients underwent enzalutamide therapy. The median prostate-specific antigen progression-free survival (PSA-PFS) and overall survival (OS) periods for nmCRPC patients were 39.2 months and not reached; those for docetaxel-naïve mCRPC patients were 16.5 months and 59.8 months; and those for docetaxel-pretreated mCRPC patients were 7.0 months and 30.4 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified performance status ≥ 2, PSA 8.89 ng/mL (median value), hemoglobin lower limit of normal range, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio 3.0, and 4-week PSA decline 50% as the predictive factors for shorter OS. Our respective prognostic models using these factors successfully demonstrated distinctly separated survival curves (p 0.001). In addition, among these patients, 30 (16.3%) experienced adverse events and 16 (8.7%) experienced adverse events resulting in the discontinuation of therapy. Fatigue (14%) and appetite loss (7%) were the most common such events.Both the survival period and risk factors were extracted from a relatively long-term observation period. Since enzalutamide was approved for administration to patients with castration-sensitive prostate cancer earlier this year (2020), we believe that the data presented here will be useful for both physicians and patients in clinical practice.

Introduction Testicular germ cell cancer has a relatively good prognosis even if visceral and/or lymph node metastases are present thanks to chemotherapy. Yet chemotherapy can lead to various adverse events. Therefore, it is crucial to distinguish whether a suspected metastatic disease is metastasis or not. Case presentation A 33-year-old male visited our hospital to receive subsequent therapy for suspected recurrent seminoma with a progressing pulmonary nodule and mediastinal lymphadenopathy after orchiectomy. The pathological diagnosis of needle aspiration and resected specimen of the several lesions was consistent with epithelioid cell granuloma without caseous necrosis. Based on these findings, the lung and mediastinal lymph node lesions were diagnosed as sarcoidosis. Conclusion In cases where the simultaneous occurrence of other benign or malignant diseases is suspected, pathological confirmation is necessary for appropriate decision-making.

Introduction Metastatic renal cell carcinoma is treated with various regimens. As their outcomes are improving and follow-up periods are growing longer, the rate of unusual visceral metastases may increase. Case presentation A 68-year-old man diagnosed with lung, pancreatic, and renal metastases 9 years after left partial nephrectomy and a diagnosis of pT1a clear cell renal cell carcinoma started molecular targeted therapy using sunitinib. Nine years after the initiation of targeted therapy, a mass lesion in the esophagus was revealed by follow-up computed tomography, and endoscopic mucosal resection of the esophageal metastatic lesion was performed. One year later, a bladder tumor was detected by follow-up computed tomography. The patient underwent transurethral resection of the bladder tumor. Histological evaluation of both resected specimens disclosed clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Conclusion We present a valuable case of metachronous esophagus and bladder metastases from renal cell carcinoma in a long-term follow-up.

Introduction: In spite of the high incidence of infectious complications (ICs), appropriate duration of antimicrobial prophylaxis (AMP) for radical cystectomy (RC) with intestinal urinary diversion (IUD) has not been established. We compared the incidence of ICs after RC with IUD in patients using only intraoperative AMP or extended duration AMP. Risk factors for ICs were also investigated. Patients and Methods: One hundred twenty-three consecutive patients who underwent RC with IUD were divided into 2 groups based on the AMP duration (intraoperative only vs. extended duration for a median of 3 days). Between the groups, the incidence of ICs was compared. Risk factors for ICs were investigated in multivariate analysis. Results: The IC rate was 44%. No significant difference was found in the rate of ICs between the groups. The IC rate was significantly higher in patients with lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Rates of ICs were 60 and 38% in patients with eGFR of less than 60 and equal or more than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively. Conclusions: Our result indicates that AMP that is administered more than intraoperatively may be excessive in RC with IUD. Patients with a lower eGFR should be particularly cared for postoperative ICs.

Introduction and Objectives: An ileal conduit (IC) is an established option for urinary diversion, despite the fact that early renal impairment (RI) sometimes occurs after surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors of early RI. Materials and Methods: Thirty-one patients diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who underwent RC with IC were analyzed in this study. Early RI was defined as a greater than 25% decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over the course of one year after surgery. The incidence and risk factors of early RI were evaluated. Results: The mean preoperative eGFR of the patients was 69.6 mL/min/1.73 m2. Early RI was observed in 7 (22.5%) patients. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that postoperative hydronephrosis was an independent risk factor for early RI (P=0.018). The mean intermediate-term eGFR change was −5.1 mL/min/1.73 m2 in patients with early RI and was greater than that (−2.9) in patients without early RI, although neither were statistically significantly different. Conclusion: Renal function after RC with IC decreased immediately over the course of one year, and postoperative hydronephrosis was an independent risk factor for early RI. Renal function had decreased slightly at intermediate-term follow-up with or without early RI.

Background The paradigm of medical treatment for metastatic urothelial carcinoma is dramatically changing through the introduction of pembrolizumab. Aim We investigated the treatment effectiveness, the safety profile, and the prognostic factors of pembrolizumab in Japanese real‐world clinical practice. Methods and results The medical records of 74 consecutive Japanese patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (UC), who started pembrolizumab as a second‐ or later‐line treatment at our institution between January 2018 and March 2020, were reviewed and statistically analyzed. The median follow‐up period after initiation of pembrolizumab was 8.5 (interquartile range: 3.5–15.7) months. The objective response rate was 30.2%, the median progression‐free survival period was 4.9 months, and the median overall survival (OS) period was 13.3 months. Evaluation revealed that 39 (52.9%) patients experienced adverse events (AEs), among whom eight patients (10.9%) had severe AEs (grade 3 or more), including grade 5 hemophagocytic syndrome. Multivariate analysis indicated that the presence of liver metastasis, worse performance status (≥2), elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase, and increased C‐reactive protein were predictive of shorter OS. Conclusion We studied the effectiveness and safety profile of pembrolizumab therapy in Japanese UC patients. We believe that the data presented here will be useful for clinical physicians.

Currently, only a few reports exist on the cytokine release syndrome (CRS) as one of the severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs) induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Notably, it is very rare that grade 4 CRS related to ICI therapy overlaps with the drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DiHS). A 46-year old woman with metastatic kidney cancer had grade 3 interstitial pneumonitis induced by four cycles of combination therapy of anti-programmed death-1 and anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-4 antibodies after right cytoreductive nephrectomy. Prophylactic administration of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) was started concomitantly with prednisolone therapy to treat the interstitial pneumonitis. She developed hypotensive shock when reducing the dosage of prednisolone, and required intubation and ventilation using vasopressors at the intensive care unit. She subsequently exhibited prominent leukocytosis and an increased level of C-reactive protein, suggesting markedly increased cytokine levels. Interestingly, facial edema and erythema increased in association with pyrexia, leukocytosis, liver dysfunction, and renal failure, suggesting that she developed DiHS. She received hemodialysis three times, a plasma exchange, and anti-interleukin-6 therapy to treat severe renal dysfunction, a thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-suspected condition, and possible grade 4 CRS, respectively. Although these therapies did not elicit sufficient effects, high-dose administration of intravenous immunoglobulin was successful. With steroid mini-pulse therapy and the subsequent administration of prednisolone, she recovered successfully. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that ICIs and TMP/SMX can induce hypotensive shock accompanied with CRS and DiHS during immunosuppressive therapy for an irAE. Importantly, the prophylactic administration of TMP/SMX should be performed cautiously to avoid severe drug reactions such as CRS or DiHS.

Background We aimed to establish an external validation of the Briganti 2019 nomogram in a Japanese cohort to preoperatively evaluate the probability of lymph node invasion in patients with high-risk, clinically localized prostate cancer. Methods The cohort consisted of 278 patients with prostate cancer diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging-targeted biopsy who underwent radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection from 2012 to 2020. Patients were rated using the Briganti 2019 nomogram, which evaluates the probability of lymph node invasion. We used the area under curve of the receiver operating characteristic analysis to quantify the accuracy of the nomogram. Results Nineteen (6.8%) patients had lymph node invasion. The median number of lymph nodes removed was 18. The area under the curve for the Briganti 2019 was 0.71. When the cutoff was set at 7%, 84 (30.2%) patients with extended pelvic lymph node dissection could be omitted, and only 1 (1.2%) patient with lymph node invasion would be missed. Sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive values at the 7% cutoff were 94.7, 32.0, and 98.8%, respectively. Conclusion This external validation showed that the Briganti 2019 nomogram was accurate, although there may still be scope for individual adjustments.

Aim: To reduce the frequency of the need for hospital visits for patients with prostate cancer (PCa) taking androgen-deprivation therapy during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, we switched them from gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist to a long-acting luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonist. Here, we confirmed the efficacy and safety profile of this switching. Patients and Methods: We analyzed the medical records of 32 patients with PCa who received ADT and switched from GnRH antagonist to a long-acting LH-RH agonist during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating hematological and serological variables, including serum testosterone and prostate-specific antigen. Results: Before and after the switching from GnRH antagonist to LH-RH agonist, the median serum testosterone levels were 0.22 and 0.18 ng/ml, respectively, and the median serum prostatespecific antigen levels were 0.18 and 0.11 ng/ml, respectively. No changes in the rates of flare-ups of conditions or adverse events were observed. Conclusion: Switching from GnRH antagonist to a long-acting LH-RH agonist appears to be a reasonable option that does not diminish efficacy or exacerbate adverse events.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy and safety profiles of first-line etoposide, ifosfamide and cisplatin and primary prophylaxis with pegfilgrastim as first-line chemotherapy for disseminated germ cell cancer. METHODS This study reviewed 154 consecutive patients with previously untreated disseminated germ cell cancer who received first-line etoposide, ifosfamide and cisplatin between 1995 and 2020. Of these, 54 patients were managed with primary prophylaxis using pegfilgrastim (primary prophylaxis group), and 100 were managed with the therapeutic use of short-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (non-primary prophylaxis group). RESULTS The International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group classification identified 90 (58%)/40 (26%)/24 (16%) patients with good/intermediate/poor prognosis, respectively. Overall, 139 patients (90%) were disease free after etoposide, ifosfamide and cisplatin with/without post-chemotherapy surgery. The median relative dose intensity of etoposide, ifosfamide and cisplatin was 96%, and there was a significant difference between the primary prophylaxis and non-primary prophylaxis groups (100% vs 90%, P

Background Recent increased use of medical images induces further burden of their interpretation for physicians. A plain X-ray is a low-cost examination that has low-dose radiation exposure and high availability, although diagnosing urolithiasis using this method is not always easy. Since the advent of a convolutional neural network via deep learning in the 2000s, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has had a great impact on automatic image analysis in the urological field. The objective of our study was to develop a CAD system with deep learning architecture to detect urinary tract stones on a plain X-ray and to evaluate the model’s accuracy. Methods We collected plain X-ray images of 1017 patients with a radio-opaque upper urinary tract stone. X-ray images (n = 827 and 190) were used as the training and test data, respectively. We used a 17-layer Residual Network as a convolutional neural network architecture for patch-wise training. The training data were repeatedly used until the best model accuracy was achieved within 300 runs. The F score, which is a harmonic mean of the sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) and represents the balance of the accuracy, was measured to evaluate the model’s accuracy. Results Using deep learning, we developed a CAD model that needed 110 ms to provide an answer for each X-ray image. The best F score was 0.752, and the sensitivity and PPV were 0.872 and 0.662, respectively. When limited to a proximal ureter stone, the sensitivity and PPV were 0.925 and 0.876, respectively, and they were the lowest at mid-ureter. Conclusion CAD of a plain X-ray may be a promising method to detect radio-opaque urinary tract stones with satisfactory sensitivity although the PPV could still be improved. The CAD model detects urinary tract stones quickly and automatically and has the potential to become a helpful screening modality especially for primary care physicians for diagnosing urolithiasis. Further study using a higher volume of data would improve the diagnostic performance of CAD models to detect urinary tract stones on a plain X-ray.

The modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), which incorporates serum albumin and C-reactive protein levels, reflects systemic inflammation and nutritional status. In this study, we evaluate the role of mGPS as a predictor of prognosis in metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab.Forty-five consecutive patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma receiving nivolumab therapy after tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy between September 2013 and August 2019 at our institution were retrospectively analyzed. The prognostic factors associated with overall survival were statistically analyzed.The median follow-up period was 26.4 months. The median progression-free survival and 1- and 3-year progression-free survival rates were 11.6 months, 48.9%, and 17.1%, respectively. The median overall survival and 1- and 3-year overall survival rates were not reached, 88.7%, and 62.3%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, mGPS at the time of nivolumab administration (P .0001; hazard ratio [HR], 95.7; P = .0004 [Score 1 vs. 0]; HR, 98.9; P = .0002 [Score 2 vs. 0]; and HR, 1.03; P = .971 [Score 2 vs. 1]) was extracted as the strongest predictor for overall survival followed by duration from diagnosis to treatment (P = .0001), lactate dehydrogenase (P = .0005), and lymphocyte count (P = .021). Overall survival curves were distinctly separated between mGPS Score 0 and mGPS Score 1 + 2, with median overall survival periods being not reached and 32.4 months, respectively (P = .0004).mGPS was the strongest significant prognostic biomarker in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab. This simple classification could be useful in clinical practice.

Background Second-line salvage therapy for patients with metastatic germ-cell cancer (GCC) after the first-line combination of VIP (etoposide, ifosfamide, cisplatin) therapy has not been established. This study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the TGP (paclitaxel, gemcitabine, cisplatin) combination chemotherapy as a second-line salvage therapy. Patients and Methods The medical records of 16 consecutive patients with metastatic GCC who had been treated with first-line VIP therapy followed by second-line TGP therapy between 2005 and 2019 were reviewed and statistically analyzed. Ten patients, excluding the 6 patients treated with TGP without unequivocal progression, were included in the efficacy analysis. All 16 patients were included in the safety analysis. Results The median follow-up period from initial TGP administration was 78 months (interquartile range, 46-120 months). The estimated 5-year progression-free and overall survival rates for the 10 patients in the efficacy analysis were 70% and 100%, respectively. Grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity occurred in all 16 patients, but none developed uncontrollable infections or life-threatening bleeding. One patient died of treatment-related secondary leukemia, however. Conclusion The present study is to our knowledge the first to examine the therapeutic outcomes and safety profile of second-line TGP chemotherapy. VIP followed by TGP might be an alternative first- and second-line conventional regimen for patients with metastatic GCC in this granulocyte colony-stimulating factor era, especially for patients at a high risk of bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity.

Renal angiomyolipoma without local invasion is usually considered benign entity, however, it may extend into the renal vein or the inferior vena cava. Renal angiomyolipoma with venous extension should be treated; however, surgical complications such as iatrogenic pulmonary fat embolism remain a serious concern. We present a case of a 66-year-old Japanese woman without tuberous sclerosis in whom a right-sided renal tumor was incidentally detected on ultrasonography during a health check-up. Further evaluation showed that the tumor extended into the renal vein, and she was successfully treated using preoperative inferior vena cava filter placement and radical nephrectomy. An inferior vena cava filter can prevent catastrophic pulmonary fat embolism during nephrectomy.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted prostate biopsy (MRBX) is an effective biopsy procedure for with suspicion of prostate cancer on MRI. However, some significant cancer (SC) is missed using MRBX. Use of systematic prostate biopsy (SBX) for negative areas on MRI to detect SC missed by MRBX is not established for this indication. In this study, we aimed to explore the optimal combination of SBX and MRBX in these patients. METHODS: Between 2014 and 2015 at our institution, 271 men underwent MRBX with or without SBX based on prebiopsy multiparametric 1.5T MRI. Of these, 52 were excluded from the analysis because of PSA levels>40 ng/ml, obvious clinical T3-4 disease or biopsy with an insufficient number of cores for severe comorbidity. The remaining 219 men who underwentMRBXandSBXinonesessionaccording toourbiopsyprotocolwere enrolled in this study. MRBX was performed under cognitive or MRI/transrectal ultrasound fusion. Using MRBX, four-core samples for one suspicious lesiononMRIwereperformed.TheSBXprotocolwasa transperineal18-core biopsy.SCwasdefinedasclinical stageT2borgreater,biopsyGleasonscore of 4+3orgreater, ormaximumcancer lengthof 5mmorgreater.Cancerother thanSCwasdefinedas indolent cancer (IC). SC thatwasnot detected or that wasdetectedas ICusingMRBX,but thatwasdetectedasSCusingSBXwas defined as MRBX-missed SC. The frequency of MRBX-missed SC was investigated. A SBX protocol that could sufficiently detect MRBX-missed SC with a minimum number of sampling cores was determined. RESULTS: The median PSA was 7.5 ng/ml, and one/two suspicious lesions were observed in 204/15 patients, respectively, using MRI. The detection rate of any cancer or SC using both MRBX and SBX was 76%or 61%, respectively. Frequency ofMRBX-missed SC to overall SC was 13% (21/135). MRBX results in MRBX-missed SC patients was no cancer in 8 and IC in 13. Of 21 MRBX-missed cancer, a maximum of 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20 and 21MRBX-missed SCwere detected using 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12and14SBXsamplingcores, respectively.Whenweset theSC detection rate using both MRBX and the transperineal 18-core SBX at 100%, aminimum of 6 sampling cores in SBX (in addition to MRBX) were required to detect 95% of overall SC as SC. The six SBX sampling locationswere bilateral transperineal anterior, posterior and far lateral sites. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of transperineal 6-core SBX and MRBX could be an optimal biopsy strategy that strikes a balance between SC detectability and sampling number for men with suspicion of prostate cancer on MRI.