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Brachytherapy-based radiotherapy has been applied for decades in the curative treatment for solitary, ≤ 5 cm bladder tumors. This review provides a historical perspective of this organ sparing approach. A systematic search of the published literature between 1900 and 2019 was performed on the subject of bladder brachytherapy using PubMed, with digitally retrievable articles being supplemented with articles from the personal collection of the authors. The articles were divided into consecutive time periods, each reflecting the impact of authors on the development of brachytherapy treatment: the time of pioneers, early innovators, modifiers, and recent innovators. Three case-controlled studies comparing brachytherapy-based organ-sparing treatment with cystectomy, demonstrated similarity between the two approaches in terms of disease-free and overall survival, whereas brachytherapy-based approach offered the advantage of at least 80% chance of bladder preservation. The overview was organized in a chronological order, starting from the evolution of brachytherapy from radium, followed by remote afterloading and dose-rate adjustments, and closing with modern era of high-dose-rate and image-guided brachytherapy. Importantly, we demonstrated how essential and beneficial for the patients is a close collaboration between radiation oncologists and urologists, and how adopting a modern surgical development, i.e. the laparoscopic implantation technique, which later became robot-assisted, contributed to the success of this multidisciplinary brachytherapy treatment. We concluded that this highly effective brachytherapy method with very limited toxicity deserves more worldwide popularity.

Purpose To report experience and early results of laparoscopic implantation for interstitial brachytherapy (BT) of solitary bladder tumors and the feasibility of a high-dose-rate (HDR) schedule. Methods and Materials From December 2009 to April 2015, 57 patients with a T2 solitary bladder tumor were treated in Arnhem with transurethral bladder resection followed by external beam irradiation, applied to the bladder and regional iliac lymph nodes, 40 Gy in 20 fractions, 5 fractions per week, and within 1 week interstitial HDR BT, in selected cases combined with partial cystectomy and lymph node dissection. The BT catheters were placed via a transabdominal approach with robotic assistance from a Da Vinci robot after a successful initial experience with a nonrobotic laparoscopic approach. The fraction schedule for HDR was 10 fractions of 2.5 Gy, 3 fractions per day. This was calculated to be equivalent to a reference low-dose-rate schedule of 30 Gy in 60 hours. Data for oncologic outcomes and toxicity (Common Toxicity Criteria version 4) were prospectively collected. Results These modifications resulted in an average postoperative hospitalization of 6 days, minimal blood loss, and no wound healing problems. Two patients had severe acute toxicity: 1 pulmonary embolism grade 4 and 1 cardiac death. Late toxicity was mild (n=2 urogenital grade 3 toxicity). The median follow-up was 2 years. Using cumulative incidence competing risk analysis, the 2-year overall, disease-free, and disease-specific survival and local control rates were 59%, 71%, 87%, and 82%, respectively. Conclusions The benefits of minimally invasive surgery for implantation of BT catheters and the feasibility of HDR BT in bladder cancer are documented. The patient outcome and adverse events are comparable to the best results published for a bladder-sparing approach.

The standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a radical cystectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In selected cases a bladder sparing approach is possible, for example a limited surgical excision combined with external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy. To perform brachytherapy flexible catheters have to be implanted in the bladder wall. The implantation is done either by the open retropubic approach or the endoscopic surgical approach. The largest experience for brachytherapy is with low-dose rate and pulsed-dose rate, although some short-term experience with high-dose rate is also reported. The main advantage for this technique is the conservation of bladder function, with comparable local control rates as for cystectomy series in selected cases. The GEC-ESTRO/ACROP (Groupe Europeen de Curietherapie-European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology / Advisory Committee on Radiation Oncology Practice) recommendations to perform bladder implantations and brachytherapy as a treatment option for MIBC are described.

Item does not contain fulltext OBJECTIVES: In muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), careful clinical staging is essential for patient counseling and decision-making. Bimanual palpation (BP) is an integral part and guideline advice of clinical staging. Until now, however, the value of BP has never been studied. With this study, we aim to determine the accuracy of clinical staging through BP. METHODS: Detailed clinical data were collected from a population-based series of 1,409 patients with MIBC, diagnosed between 1989 and 2005, in the region of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre East in The Netherlands. Selected were all patients who underwent BP (n = 738). Preoperative tumor-stage (cT-stage) determined through BP was compared with post-cystectomy pT-stage. Contingency tables were made to determine the correlation between cT-stage and pT-stage. RESULTS: In 18 of 142 patients in whom BP showed an organ-confined tumor, the tumor was unresectable (pT4) at the time of surgery. Four out of 9 patients who had a suspected T4 tumor on BP but who underwent cystectomy anyway appeared to have operable tumors at cystectomy. In 87 patients (57.6%), accurate staging through BP was observed. In 17 patients (11.3%), clinical overstaging was found, and in 47 patients, (31.1%) clinical understaging. CONCLUSIONS: Frequently, pT-stage after cystectomy does not correlate with preoperative cT-stage based on BP. Discrepancy was observed in 42% of the patients: in 11%, clinical overstaging and in 31%, clinical understaging. Based on these data, some caution is suggested when interpreting the outcome of BP. Prospective data is needed for a more formal evaluation of the staging accuracy of BP.

There is accumulating evidence that some biochemical pathways observable by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, e.g., citrate acid and phospholipid metabolism, are altered in human prostate cancer. Four well-established human prostate cancer cell lines were therefore studied with magnetic resonance spectroscopy to compare differences in metabolic content with tumor biological behavior. Herein we demonstrate that, although each cell line has its own metabolic profile, relative creatine and citrate levels can be used to discriminate the androgen-dependent LNCaP cell line from the androgen-independent DU-145, TSU, and PC-3 cell lines.

Contains fulltext : 97259.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Prognostic factors for survival after recurrent MIBC are unknown and were evaluated using a population-based series of 1409 MIBC patients. 330 Patients who underwent RC or RT with curative intent and who suffered from recurrence were selected. Multivariable survival analyses were performed. Clinicopathological factors that predict survival after recurrence are recurrence location, treatment for recurrence and age at recurrence diagnosis. PURPOSE: We conducted this study to evaluate the prognostic factors for survival among patients with recurrent muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) after initial treatment with curative intent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical data were collected from a population-based series of 1409 patients with MIBC. We selected 330 patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) or radiotherapy (RT) for urothelial carcinoma with curative intent and who experienced recurrence. Multivariate survival analyses were performed with death from MIBC as the endpoint. Covariates were gender, time to recurrence, age at diagnosis of recurrence, recurrence multiplicity, localization, and treatment for recurrence. Analyses were performed separately for patients initially treated with RC (i-RC) or external beam radiotherapy (i-EBRT). RESULTS: Patients with recurrence after i-RC showed a 1- and 3-year survival of 17% and 6%, respectively. Localization and treatment for recurrence were significantly associated with survival. Patients with recurrence after i-EBRT showed a 1- and 3-year survival of 31% and 12%, respectively. Age at diagnosis of recurrence, localization, and treatment for recurrence were significantly associated with survival. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the extremely poor prognosis after recurrence of MIBC in patients initially treated with surgery or RT. Clinicopathologic factors that predict survival after disease recurrence are location of recurrence, treatment for recurrence, and age at diagnosis of recurrence. Improved diagnosis of primary MIBC to detect extravesical disease and more effective therapeutic approaches to target recurrent MIBC are needed.

Contains fulltext : 170222.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) PURPOSE: Compare the efficacy and tolerability of dutasteride in combination with bicalutamide to bicalutamide monotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: One-hundred-fifty PCa patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg once daily (79 patients) or bicalutamide 150 mg plus dutasteride 0.5 mg once daily (71 patients). Treatment response was assessed by serum PSA level measurement, and standard procedures for diagnosis of clinical progression were used during follow-up. Patient-reported quality of life (QoL) was assessed using validated questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25). RESULTS: At 3 years follow-up, PSA progression was found in 52 patients [65.8 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 55.4-76.3] in the monotherapy group compared to 38 patients (53.5 %; 95 % CI 41.9-65.1) in the combined therapy group (p = 0.134). At the time of analysis 37 men (46.8 %; 95 % CI 35.8-57.8) in the monotherapy group had died versus 30 men (42.3 %; 95 % CI 30.8-53.7) in the combined therapy group. Median survival time was 5.4 and 5.8 years, respectively (p = 0.694). There was no statistically significant difference in the presentation frequency of adverse events between groups (p = 0.683). QoL was good and comparable between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both therapies were well tolerated with a good QoL. However, despite a trend toward higher efficacy of the combined therapy, progression-free survival and overall survival was not significantly different between the groups. Further research on this therapy should be performed.

105 Background: To prevent overtreatment of insignificant and/or low-risk prostate carcinoma in the PSA screening era, active surveillance is emerging as a treatment strategy for selected patients. In our series we aim to establish whether MRI could aid in correct risk assessment for these patients within the framework of the Prostate Cancer Research International Active Surveillance (PRIAS) study. Methods: We included patients in our protocol based on contemporary criteria for active surveillance: - Diagnosis of prostate cancer by TRUS-guided biopsy. - PSA ≤10 ng/mL, PSA density 3+3=6 upon MRGB or T3 stage at MRI. Results: In 48 of 49 included patients at least one TSR was identified, with a median of 2 TSRs (range1-4) per patient. MRGB was obtained from every TSR, with a median of 4 MRGBs taken per patient. Five patients had a GS >3+3=6 upon MRGB and were excluded. Three patients were excluded due to suspicion of T3 stage on MRI. Five patient were excluded upon physician’s discretion due to multifocal prostate cancer upon MRGB. Combined multimodality MRI/MRGB in our active surveillance cohort thus excluded 27% (13/49) of patients who were incorrectly stratified as low-risk prostate carcinoma by contemporary criteria. Conclusions: Application of multimodality MRI and MRGB in an active surveillance protocol improves risk stratification, adding onto contemporary PSA and TRUS-guided biopsy criteria for low-risk prostate cancer. This approach might increase safety and reliability of active surveillance for prostate cancer and deserves ongoing prospective evaluation.

In this study, it was investigated whether prostate tumor biological parameters correlate with metabolic profiles. 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectra were acquired from perchloric acid extracts of seven Dunning R-3327 prostate tumor sublines. Several metabolic ratios, for example, phosphocholine/total phosphate, choline/total creatine, and inositol/total creatine, did not correlate specifically with one biological characteristic but, based on each of these ratios, the well-differentiated, nonmetastatic, and hormone-dependent sublines could be discriminated from the poorly differentiated or anaplastic, metastatic, and hormone-independent sublines. The glycerophosphoethanolamine/total phosphate, glycerophosphocholine/total phosphate, and phosphocreatine/total phosphate ratios correlated with differentiation grade, and the differences in glycerophosphorylglycerol/total phosphate ratio between metastatic and nonmetastatic sublines was highly significant. No correlation for hormonal sensitivity with any of the metabolites measured could be found, neither by 31P nor by 1H MRS. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.