Ariela Katz

In a presentation at the 33^rd Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cance, Dr. Galon discussed the definition of the immune contexture of Immunoscore, its international validation for the risk-classification of stage I-III colon cancer, and the potential value of Immunoscore in stage IV metastatic disease.

Rucaparib (Rubraca) has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA&nbsp;for single-agent use in adult patients with <em>BRCA1/2</em>-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer following at least 1 androgen receptor&ndash;directed therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy.

Findings from the CHAARTED, LATITUDE, and STAMPEDE trials&nbsp;showed various results for adding docetaxel or abiraterone acetate to androgen deprivation therapy in prostate cancer, and this kicked off a challenging issue for clinicians: Is it better to add docetaxel, abiraterone acetate, both, or neither to their patient&rsquo;s treatment plan?

Patients with prostate cancer and DNA damage repair defects could be candidates for therapy involving poly polymerase inhibitors, and there is strong justification for activating clinical trials&nbsp;in this space, according to Maha Hussain, MD, the Genevieve Teuton Professor of Medicine and deputy director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

According to results from the phase III POUT trial, adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy improved disease-free survival and metastasis-free survival in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma. These results indicated that&nbsp;adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy&nbsp;could be a new standard of care for UTUC, investigators said.

Studies have shown that older patients with either active, relapsed, or refractory acute myeloid leukemia have had lower survival rates, poor risk assessments, and limited therapeutic options. The standard care of these patients is salvage chemotherapy. Investigators are pretreating patients in this high-risk population with Iomab-B, a novel radiolabeled antibody&ndash;drug conjugate&nbsp;as part of a stem cell transplantation regimen in hopes of improving remission and survival outcomes.

A supplemental new drug application for Blue Light Cytoscopy with Cysview, a procedure for detecting bladder cancer, was recently approved by the FDA.

With genetic screening for mutations and biomarkers gaining more prevalence in diagnosing and treating cancer, genetic testing and counseling for patients with prostate cancer is becoming a pressing concept that urologists need to better understand. At the 2017 LUGPA Annual Meeting, Leonard Gomella, MD, gave a presentation stressing the importance of integrating genetic testing into clinical practice.

A multidisciplinary set of guidelines for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer has been created as a result of a new collaboration between the American Urological Association and several other prominent urological groups.&nbsp;The new guidelines provide a risk-stratified clinical framework to better diagnose, treat, and manage the disease.&nbsp;

An analysis of the genomic landscape of patients with prostate cancer shows that tumors separated into 3 clusters that aligned with the luminal A, luminal B, and basal subtypes found in breast cancer tumors, according to a presentation during the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting.

Based on results of a feasibility study, researchers in the United Kingdom have decided to move forward with a full randomized controlled trial comparing partial prostate ablation (PA) with radical prostatectomy (RP) in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to a presentation at the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting.

Results of an investigation presented at the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting indicate that resistance to docetaxel and cabazitaxel (Jevtana) in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is mediated by a common mechanism, overexpression of the ABCB1 gene.

The risk of disease progression was reduced by more than 40% and there was an average 6.5-month improvement in response duration with the second-generation EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib&nbsp;compared with gefitinib as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced, <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non&ndash;small cell lung cancer.

A study presented at the 2017 American Urological Association Annual Meeting demonstrated that a split-dose of gemcitabine and cisplatin as a neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen for treating muscle-invasive bladder cancer has a good pathologic response with a high safety profile.

Chronic health issues, including&nbsp;high blood pressure, diabetes, erectile dysfunction, anxiety, or depression were noted in nearly 40% of testicular cancer survivors with low testosterone levels compared with survivors who had normal levels of testosterone,&nbsp;according to findings from a study that were released at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Much research has been done to define the role of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients who have diseease recurrence after surgical resection, but the standard of care has not significantly changed.

Our understanding of the genomic landscape of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer has been rapidly progressing, with new clinical data emerging to clarify and, in many cases, support the use of PARP inhibitors in the treatment of these patients.

The genetic profile of treatment-resistant non-small cell lung cancer may be more complex than initially thought, according to a presentation by Zofia Piotrowska, MD.

Based on results from Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questions included as part of the 2016 American Urological Association (AUA) Census, burnout rates among urologists are lower than previously reported, but the issue still remains important.

John P. Leonard, MD, discusses&nbsp;advancements across hematologic malignancies and pivotal trial data he is anticipating at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.

A study presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium revealed a long-term cardiovascular risk associated with administration of levothyroxine.

Immunotherapy treatments for several tumor types has been developing steadily for years. However, the options for patients with bladder cancer have been limited until quite recently.