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Objective:To investigate the current perceptions, treatment patterns and unmet needs of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on treating prostate cancer (PCa) by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) in Chinese urologists.Methods:The survey was conducted between July 2020 and August 2020. Questionnaires were designed to investigate the urologists employed by 163 grade A tertiary hospitals from 7 districts (North, Northeast, East, South, Central, Southwest, Northwest) across China. The inclusion criteria were urologists who had the title of attending physician or above, had experience of prescribing GnRH-a, and agreed to participate in the survey. An electronic self-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection, with a target sample size of 300, covering treatment patterns, experience of GnRH-a prescription, and unmet needs of GnRH-a.Results:There were 13 886 questionnaires had been distributed, among which 410 questionnaires had met the inclusion criteria. After excluding 110 incomplete questionnaires, 300 valid questionnaires were included in the analysis. The average number of PCa patients administered castration treatment per urologist per month was 12±8. Monthly GnRH-a injection was more often used than quarterly GnRH-a injection[(62.0±24.7)% vs. (38.0±24.7)%]. The main follow-up frequency for patients receiving GnRH-a was once a month as reported by 49.3% (148/300) of urologists. GnRH-a injection frequency (31.3%, 94/300), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing frequency (27.7%, 83/300) and clinical effectiveness (26.0%, 78/300) were reported as top factors determining the follow-up frequency. Only 46.0% (138/300) urologists believed that over 70.0% of the patients were completely adherent to the prescribed treatment. When deciding which GnRH-a product to be prescribed, the top 4 factors considered by urologists were effectiveness (92.0%, 276/300), adverse events (85.7%, 257/300), economic burden (76.7%, 230/300), and frequency of injection (61.3%, 184/300). The urgency of improvement for each aspect of GnRH-a therapy was evaluated with a 5-point Likert scale (from 1 (not urgent) to 5 (extremely urgent)). The top 4 aspects needing further improvement were effectiveness (4.04±0.93), economic burden (3.93±0.84), adverse events (3.90±0.90), and frequency of injection (3.60±0.93). A 5-point Likert scale (from 1 (not influential) to 5 (extremely influential)) was also applied to evaluate factors influencing patients’ quality of life and the top 4 factors were pain (4.09±0.94), psychological stress (3.61±0.90), adverse events (3.46±0.89), and discomfort caused by frequent GnRH-a injection (3.34±0.91).Conclusions:Most urologists in China hoped that GnRH-a therapy could have reduced injection frequency, improved effectiveness, reduced economic burden and decreased adverse events in order to increase patient’s adherence and to improve the effectiveness of PCa treatment as well.
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Background and purpose:The association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is still unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate how MS correlates with the prevalence and malignancy of RCC.Methods:This study enrolled 398 RCC patients (350 clear cell RCC patients, 5 XP11.2 transloca-tion RCC patients, 16 papillary RCC patients and 27 chromophobe RCC patients), 160 normal persons, and 32 benign renal tumor patients. The metabolic status of the patients was assessed, and the link between MS and the prevalence or malignancy of RCC was calculated.Results:Clear cell RCC patients had signiifcantly higher rates of hypertension, higher body mass index (BMI) and longer waist circumference. Forty-eight percent clear cell RCC patients had MS, while the number was 33% for papillary RCC, 26% for chromophobe RCC, 0% for XP11.2, 17% for AML, and 25%for normal people. MS patients had signiifcant higher rates of having clear cell RCC than no-MS patients, however this kind of difference was not seen in other types of RCC. Clear cell RCC patients with higher Furhman grade had lower rates of MS.Conclusion:Patients with MS are more likely to develop clear cell RCC. Patients with high Furhman grade tumors have low MS rates, indicating that high grade tumor may have other originating mechanisms other than metabolic disorders.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate clinical factors affecting Gleason score upgrade in patients receiving radical prostatectomy (RP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 322 patients with prostate cancer who received RP from January 2012 to December 2013 at Department of Urology at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were included, and their data of age, body mass index (BMI), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostate volume, percentage core, clinical staging, pathological characteristics, biopsy Gleason score and RP Gleason score were analyzed. Differences in categorical variables and continuous variables were compared using χ² tests and Student's t-test, respectively. Unconditional multiple logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95% CI of the association of Gleason score upgrade with clinical factors.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Gleason score upgrade occurred in 107 of 322 (33.3%) patients. There was no difference in age, BMI and clinical staging between the two groups. Compared with patients without Gleason score upgrade, higher levels of PSA (χ² =6.740, P=0.034), smaller prostate volume (t=3.481, P=0.002) and elevated percentage core (t=-2.097, P=0.037) were observed in patients with Gleason score upgrade. In addition, lymph node metastasis (χ² =4.193, P=0.041) and extracapsular extension (χ² =4.747, P=0.029) were more common in patients with Gleason score upgrade. After adjusting for potential confounders, PSA levels (OR=2.451, 95% CI: 1.290-4.660), prostate volume (OR=0.982, 95% CI: 0.969-0.995) and percentage core (OR=2.756, 95% CI: 1.033-7.357) were independent predictors for Gleason score upgrade.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Gleason score upgrade happens at a relatively high rate. PSA levels, prostate volume and percentage core are important factors affecting Gleason score upgrade.</p>