Journal Reviews
Advanced prostate cancer and chemotherapy
The treatment pathway for advanced prostate cancer is both puzzling and complex and varies from centre to centre in the UK. The National Prostate Cancer Audit Report 2019 for England and Wales shows that only a quarter of men with...
Non-urothelial tumours of bladder – impact on oncological outcomes
Non-urothelial bladder tumours are not very common and they are generally considered to be high risk tumours when compared to standard urothelial tumours. In this study the researchers analysed the oncological outcomes of patients with such histology in comparison to...
Prostate cancer and an electronic nose
So far the transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) biopsy has been the ‘gold standard’ for diagnosing prostate cancer. However, it is invasive and can lead to complications, so there is a need for new non-invasive diagnostic tools to avoid unnecessary biopsy...
Evidence-based treatment of MCDK: a systematic review
The authors of this systematic review have not only aimed to establish the incidence of hypertension associated with a multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) but have also tried to determine the malignancy risk associated with an MCDK and assess the rate...
Beware of the ambiguous testicular lump
In busy day-to-day practice, we are often faced with puzzling situations. A useful mnemonic is 4-T: torsion, trauma, tumour and tuberculosis (infections). This case review in the BMJ is about a 34-year-old man presenting to A&E with left testicular pain...
Patterns of relapse and implications for post-nephrectomy surveillance in patients with high-risk NCC-RCC
The natural history of non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (NCC-RCC) post-nephrectomy with curative intent remains poorly defined. The surveillance protocols are largely dependent on guidelines followed for clear cell RCC (CC-RCC). In this study, the authors evaluated the relapse patterns...
Incidence and risk factors of suicide after a prostate cancer diagnosis
This is an observational study looking at 1,281,393 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 842,294 matched prostate cancer-free men. There was an overall increased relative risk of suicide of 2.01 in men diagnosed with prostate cancer compared to those without,...
Post prostatectomy outcomes of patients with high-risk prostate cancer treated with neoadjuvant androgen blockade
This is an interesting paper reporting on the use of neoadjuvant androgen blockage in patients with high-risk prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy. Previous work in the literature has shown an improvement in the rate of organ-confined disease and decreased positive...
The natural history of prostate cancer on MRI
Multiparametric MRI features heavily on a number of active surveillance protocols. This study looked at 86 men on active surveillance who had an mpMRI prior to 2013 to assess how lesions changed over time. Two blinded radiologists examined all the...
Is routine renal tumour biopsy associated with lower rates of benign histology following nephrectomy for small renal masses?
There has been a considerable increase in the detection of small renal masses (SRM). Approximately 20% of these turn out to be benign lesions on final histopathological analysis. Therefore upfront surgery can be overtreatment in such a group of patients....
Dilemma of second primary tumour
Long-term survival in localised prostate cancer (CaP) can be achieved with treatment by either radical prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). The development of second primary tumour is poorly understood in such cases. This retrospective study included 84,397 cases...
Serum cholesterol and risk of high-grade prostate cancer: results from the REDUCE study
This study examined a cohort of non-statin using patients who participated in the REDUCE study. The REDUCE study included men who had an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) and a negative baseline prostate biopsy who then underwent year two and...
