GENITOURINARY CANCERS

The role of androgen receptor variant-7 in patients with early stage prostate cancer is not well characterized but data presented at the 2015 American Urological Association Meeting by Tyler M. Bauman, BS, is bringing the discussion into focus.

Leonard Gomella, MD, professor, Jefferson University, physician, chair, Department of Urology, director, Kimmel Cancer Center Network, discusses results from a study that assessed the corticosteroid-associated adverse events with long-term exposure to low-dose prednisone given with abiraterone acetate to patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

PSA testing utilization decreased by 50% among primary care physicians at Oregon Health & Science University, following a recommendation against screening from the USPSTF.

An exosomal messenger RNA-based urine diagnostic demonstrated high negative predictive value for high-grade prostate cancer.

Ryan Werntz, MD, urologist, Oregon Health and Science University, discusses a study which examined trends in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) utilization in primary care physicians.

Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, MBBCh, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the potential of AR-V7 as a biomarker in early stage castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Enzalutamide significantly improved progression-free survival and PSA progression compared with bicalutamide in men with metastatic and non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Oncologists, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of patients with lung cancer will gather July 2015, at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California, for the 16th Annual International Lung Cancer (ILC) Conference.

Two presentations at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting linked a specific microRNA (miRNA), miR-34a, to an active area in immunotherapy, programed cell death-1 (PD-1) protein and its ligand, PD-L1.

Adding docetaxel to standard androgen deprivation therapy significantly improved overall survival in men with newly diagnosed, hormone-naïve advanced prostate cancer.

E. David Crawford, MD, professor, urology, radiation oncology, University of Colorado, discusses genomic markers in prostate cancer.

Despite their promise, checkpoint inhibitors are not effective in every patient, and research suggests the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway may hold important clues as to why some tumors fail to respond.

Treatment with the PARP inhibitor olaparib demonstrated a durable ORR of 87.5% in a biomarker-defined subgroup of men with pretreated sporadic mCRPC in a phase II multi-step adaptive trial.

The continuing contentious debate about screening for prostate cancer remains top of mind among the public and lay press, but, Leonard G. Gomella, MD, says the decision to screen or not to screen boils down to “using common sense.”

A biomarker panel containing circulating tumor cell (CTC) number and LDH level was shown to be a surrogate for overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Treatment with enzalutamide reduced the risk of progression by 76% compared with bicalutamide in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to results from the STRIVE study.

Shabbir M.H. Alibhai, MD, et al from the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, found that impact from ADT on physical function persisted over 36 months, indicating ADT has lasting effects, which need to be addressed.

The FDA has updated the label for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone to include data from the final analysis of the phase III COU-AA-302 study.

Mark A. Rubin, MD, director, Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses immunotherapy in the field of genitourinary cancers.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with or without chemotherapy led to similar survival in men with advanced, metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, according to an updated analysis of a randomized trial.

Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, associate professor, Clinical Medicine and Urology, Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses PSMA-targeting agents for the treatment of prostate cancer.

An immune checkpoint inhibitor combined with active immunotherapy has a potential positive effect on overall survival (OS) in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Growth in healthcare spending in the United States continues to outpace growth in European countries that enjoy a similar standard of living.

A recent study showed that the androgen receptor (AR) splice variant AR-V7 activated full-length AR through an alternative biosynthesis pathway and increased citrate utilization through altered metabolic activities, which may partially explain its resistance to conventional androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

The risk of dying from prostate cancer increased fourfold when active surveillance was used to monitor men with intermediate-risk disease compared with low-risk prostate cancer patients, according to results of a new study, the first to examine long-term outcomes of patients with low- versus intermediate-risk prostate cancer who have been managed with this conservative approach to care.