Purpose:En bloc resection for bladder tumors has been developed to overcome shortcomings of conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumors with regards to safety, pathologic evaluation and ...

Repeat transurethral resection (reTUR) is a guideline-recommended treatment strategy in high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients treated with transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT); however, the impact of recent procedural/technological developments on reTUR outcomes has not been assessed yet. To assess the outcomes of reTUR for NMIBC in the contemporary era, focusing on whether temporal differences and technical advancement, specifically, photodynamic diagnosis and en bloc resection of bladder tumor (ERBT), affect the outcomes. Multiple databases were queried in February 2023 for studies investigating reTUR outcomes, such as residual tumor and/or upstaging rates, its predictive factors, and oncologic outcomes, including recurrence-free (RFS), progression-free (PFS), cancer-specific (CSS), and overall (OS) survival. We synthesized comparative outcomes adjusting for the effect of possible confounders. Overall, 81 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. In T1 patients initially treated with conventional TURBT (cTURBT) in the 2010s, the pooled rates of any residual tumors and upstaging on reTUR were 31.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26.0-37.2%) and 2.8% (95% CI: 2.0-3.8%), respectively. Despite a potential publication bias, these rates were significantly lower than those in patients treated in the 1990-2000s (both p < 0.001). ERBT and visual enhancement-guided cTURBT significantly improved any residual tumor rates on reTUR compared with cTURBT based on both matched-cohort and multivariable analyses. Among studies adjusting for the effect of possible confounders, patients who underwent reTUR had better RFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.62-0.97) and OS (HR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.81-0.93) than those who did not, while it did not lead to superior PFS (HR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.47-1.15) and CSS (HR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.86-1.03). reTUR is currently recommended for high-risk NMIBC based on the persistent high rates of residual tumors after primary resection. Improvement of resection quality based on checklist applications and recent technical/procedural advancements hold the promise to omit reTUR. Recent endoscopic/procedural developments improve the outcomes of repeat resection for high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Further investigations are urgently needed to clarify the potential impact of the use of these techniques on the need for repeat transurethral resection in the contemporary era.

To assess the differential clinical outcomes of patients treated with partial nephrectomy (PN) vs. those treated with ablation therapy (AT) such as radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation and microwave ablation for cT1b compared to cT1a renal tumors. Multiple databases were searched for articles published before August 2021. Studies were deemed eligible if they compared clinical outcomes in patients who underwent PN with those who underwent AT for cT1a and/or cT1b renal tumors. Overall, 27 studies comprising 13,996 patients were eligible for this meta-analysis. In both cT1a and cT1b renal tumors, there was no significant difference in the percent decline of estimated glomerular filtration rates or in the overall/severe complication rates between PN and AT. Compared to AT, PN was associated with a lower risk of local recurrence in both patients with cT1a and cT1b tumors (cT1a: pooled risk ratio [RR]; 0.43, 95% confidence intervals [CI]; 0.28-0.66, cT1b: pooled RR; 0.41, 95%CI; 0.23-0.75). Subgroup analyses regarding the technical approach revealed no statistical difference in local recurrence rates between percutaneous AT and PN in patients with cT1a tumors (pooled RR; 0.61, 95%CI; 0.32-1.15). In cT1b, however, PN was associated with a lower risk of local recurrence (pooled RR; 0.45, 95%CI; 0.23-0.88). There was no difference in distant metastasis or cancer mortality rates between PN and AT in patients with cT1a, or cT1b tumors. AT has a substantially relevant disadvantage with regards to local recurrence compared to PN, particularly in cT1b renal tumors. Despite the limitations inherent to the nature of retrospective and unmatched primary cohorts, percutaneous AT could be used as a reasonable alternative treatment for well-selected patients with cT1a renal tumors.

Pembrolizumab is the standard for the first and second lines in treating metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the value of pretreatment clinical characteristics and hematologic biomarkers for prognosticating response to pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic UC. PUBMED^®, Web of Science™, and Scopus^® databases were searched for articles published before May 2021 according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses) statement. Studies were deemed eligible if they evaluated overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma treated with pembrolizumab and pretreatment clinical characteristics or laboratory examination. Overall, 13 studies comprising 1311 patients were eligible for the meta-analysis. Several pretreatment patients’ demographics and hematologic biomarkers were significantly associated with worse OS as follows: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) ≥ 2 (Pooled hazard ratio [HR]: 3.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.57–4.09), presence of visceral metastasis (Pooled HR: 1.84, 95% CI 1.42–2.38), presence of liver metastasis (Pooled HR: 4.23, 95% CI 2.18–8.20), higher neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (Pooled HR: 1.29, 95% CI 1.07–1.55) and, higher c-reactive protein (CRP) (Pooled HR: 2.49, 95% CI 1.52–4.07). Metastatic UC patients with poor PS, liver metastasis, higher pretreatment NLR and/or CRP have a worse survival despite pembrolizumab treatment. These findings might help to guide the prognostic tools for clinical decision-making; however, they should be interpreted carefully, owing to limitations regarding the retrospective nature of primary data.