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ContextDisease-specific registries that enroll a considerable number of patients play a major role in prostate cancer (PCa) research.ObjectiveTo evaluate available registries, describe their strengths and limitations, and discuss the potential future role of PCa registries in outcomes research.Evidence acquisitionWe performed a literature review of the Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. The search strategy included the terms prostate cancer, outcomes, statistical approaches, population-based cohorts, registries of outcomes, and epidemiological studies, alone or in combination. We limited our search to studies published between January 2005 and January 2015.Evidence synthesisSeveral population-based and prospective disease-specific registries are currently available for prostate cancer. Studies performed using these data sources provide important information on incidence and mortality, disease characteristics at presentation, risk factors, trends in utilization of health care services, disparities in access to treatment, quality of care, long-term oncologic and health-related quality of life outcomes, and costs associated with management of the disease. Although data from these registries have some limitations, statistical methods are available that can address certain biases and increase the internal and external validity of such analyses. In the future, improvements in data quality, collection of tissue samples, and the availability of data feedback to health care providers will increase the relevance of studies built on population-based and disease-specific registries.ConclusionsThe strengths and limitations of PCa registries should be carefully considered when planning studies using these databases. Although randomized controlled trials still provide the highest level of evidence, large registries play an important and growing role in advancing PCa research and care.Patient summarySeveral population-based and prospective disease-specific registries for prostate cancer are currently available. Analyses of data from these registries yield information that is clinically relevant for the management of patients with prostate cancer.

Social media have become so integrated into modern communications as to be universal in our personal and, increasingly, professional lives. Recent examples of social media uptake in urology, and the emergence of data to quantify it, reveal the expansion of conventional communication routes beyond the in-person forum. In every domain of urologic practice, from patient interaction through research to continuing professional development, the move online has unlocked another layer of conversation, dissemination, and, indeed, caveats. Social media have a democratizing effect, placing patients, trainees, practitioners, and thought leaders in the same arena and on equal footing. If uptake of social media in medicine even remotely parallels its rise to ubiquity in other areas, it will only expand and evolve in the coming years. For these reasons, this article presents an overview of the most recent data on the impact and potential complications of social media usage in the urologic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses a study conducted by the Canadian Upper Tract Collaboration (CUTC) on the surgical treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). He critisizes the lack of categorization of patients according to the exposure to disease, socioeconomic status and ethnicity. He highlights the reports regarding the outcomes of nephroureterectomy. He talks about the practices for management of distal ureter and lymphadenectomy which is linked to survival.

Introduction: Many factors impact the performance of graduating residents on certification exams. It is thought that most factors are related to the individual candidate's ability, motivation, and work ethic. Less understood, however, is whether a training program has any impact on the preparation and performance of its graduates on certification exams. We present 20 years of results of a national preparatory exam that all graduating residents complete about three months before the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) qualifying urology exam. This exam, known colloquially as QUEST, aims to simulate the RCPSC exam with written and oral components. We aimed to analyze the impact of a training program on the performance of its residents. Methods: A retrospective review of exam results from 1997-2016 was conducted. During that time, 495 candidates from all 12 Canadian urology training programs undertook the exam. The performance of graduating residents from each individual program was grouped together for any given year. The different programs were anonymized, as the aim of this study is to assess the impact of a training program and not to rate the different programs. Statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA was conducted. Results: All training programs fall within one standard deviation of the mean for the written component, the oral component, and the overall score. The residents of four training programs had statistically better scores than the overall mean of the written component. The residents of three out of these four training programs also had statistically better scores than the overall mean of the oral component and the overall results of the exam. Conclusions: Most Canadian training programs prepare their residents adequately for this simulated certification exam in urology. However, there are some training programs that consistently prepare graduating residents to outperform their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]