Search

Clinicians and patients must weigh the risk of treatment of prostate cancer during a global pandemic with the risk of cancer treatment delays. With the possibility of another peak, public confidence in cancer treatments requiring general anaesthetic will be critical. We report on the safety of performing focal therapy in the UK during the initial Covid-19 peak. Patients and Methods: Consecutive patients treated in 8 centres (23/3/20-23/7/20) were contacted at least 2 weeks after receiving focal ablative therapy. Treatment modalities included high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, n=90), cryotherapy (n=32) or irreversible electroporation (IRE, n=6). Results: 128/129 patients treated during the study period were successfully contacted. 107/ 128 (83.5%) underwent primary focal treatment, all had D'Amico intermediate or high-risk disease. National guidelines varied throughout the period. Treating sites requested formal shielding from May 2020 and done in 48/128 (37.5%). 20/128 (15.6%) underwent pre-operative swab tests and 5/128 (3.9%) pre-operative chest imaging. Two (1.6%) had intra-operative complications secondary to catheterisation, but none required overnight admission. No COVID-19 related post-treatment admissions were reported;2 (1.6%) had Covid-19 related symptoms but were not tested as symptoms spontaneously resolved. 3 were admitted for non- COVID-19 issues and one was directly due to treatment related clot retention resulting in the only reported Clavien-Dindo score >2 complication [Table 1]. Conclusions: Focal therapy for non-metastatic prostate cancer was a safe treatment option during a COVID-19 pandemic when appropriate precautions are taken and should be discussed with eligible patients.

The added value of nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies when performed alongside magnetic resonance imaging targeted biopsies in men referred with a suspicion of prostate cancer is unclear. We aimed to determine the clinical utility of transperineal nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies, when performed alongside targeted systematic prostate biopsies, using pre-biopsy multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.Consecutive patients referred with a suspicion of prostate cancer (April 2017 to October 2019) underwent pre-biopsy multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging. A transperineal biopsy was advised if multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging PI-RADS® (v.2.0) score was 4 or 5, and score 3 required a prostate specific antigen density 0.12 ng/ml or greater. Primary threshold for clinically significant prostate cancer was defined as any Gleason 3+4 or greater. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified pre-biopsy predictors of clinically significant prostate cancer in nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies, regardless of targeted pathology (p0.05, R, version 3.5.1).A total of 1,719 men underwent a pre-biopsy multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, with 679 (39.5%) proceeding to combined targeted systematic prostate biopsies and nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies. In these men clinically significant prostate cancer was detected in 333 (49%) and 139 (20.5%) with targeted systematic prostate biopsies and nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies, respectively. In those men with clinically significant prostate cancer in targeted systematic prostate biopsies, clinically significant prostate cancer was also present in nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies in 117 (17.2%); Gleason 3+3 was present in 50 (7.4%). In 287 men without any cancer in the targeted systematic prostate biopsies, 13 (1.9%) had clinically significant prostate cancer in nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies. In addition 18/679 (2.7%) had Gleason 3+3 disease and no Gleason greater than 4+3 was detected. Predictors associated with clinically significant prostate cancer in nontargeted systematic prostate biopsies were prostate specific antigen 5 ng/ml or greater (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.13-3.73, p=0.02), PI-RADS score 5 (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.51-3.38, p0.001) and prostate volume less than 50 cc (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.57-3.87, p0.001).Detection of clinically significant prostate cancer in exclusively nontargeted transperineal systematic biopsies in a pre-biopsy multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging pathway was low (1.9%).

This is a cohort study including 283 patients who underwent breast and urological procedures in three UK centres during the peak of COVID-19. COVID-related 30-day mortality was zero, as well as COVID-related admissions. Only 12 patients developed COVID-19 symptoms, although none had a positive COVID swab. Non-emergency surgery for breast and urological conditions was safe during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided contemporaneous safety measures were followed.