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ROSTATE CANCER IS A COMMONand expensive disease in the United States. 1,2 In part because of the untoward morbidity of traditional radiation and surgical therapies, advances in the treatment of localized disease have evolved over the last decade. Chief among these are the development of intensitymodulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and robotic prostatectomy. Although the evidence underlying these technologies is mixed, 3,4 both are generally perceived as being more targeted and less toxic than prior therapies. During a period of increasing population-based rates of prostate cancer treatment, 5,6

IMPORTANCE While computed tomography (CT) represents a tremendous advance in diagnostic imaging, it also creates the problem of incidental detection-the identification of tumors unrelated to the clinical symptoms that initiate the test.OBJECTIVE To determine the geographic variation in the United States in CT imaging and the corresponding association with one of the most consequential sequelae of incidental detection: nephrectomy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis study is a cross-sectional analysis of age-, sex-, and race-adjusted Medicare data (January 2010-December 2014) from 306 hospital referral regions (HRRs) in the United States and includes information from 15 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries age 65 to 85 years.EXPOSURES Regional CT risk (ie, the proportion of the population receiving either a chest or abdominal CT over 5 years). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Five-year risk of nephrectomy (partial or total).RESULTS Data from 15 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries age 65 to 85 years were gathered and illustrate that 43% of Medicare beneficiaries age 65 to 85 years received either a chest or abdominal CT from January 2010 to December 2014. This risk varied across the HRRs, ranging from 31% in Santa Cruz, California, to 52% in Sun City, Arizona. Increased regional CT risk was associated with a higher nephrectomy risk (r = 0.38; 95% CI, 0.28-0.47), particularly among HRRs with more than 50 000 beneficiaries (r = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.61). After controlling for HRR adult smoking rates, imaging an additional 1000 beneficiaries was associated with 4 additional nephrectomies (95% CI, 3-5). Case-fatality rates for those who underwent nephrectomy were 2.1% at 30 days and 4.3% at 90 days.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries are commonly exposed to CT imaging. Those residing in high-scanning regions face a higher risk of nephrectomy, presumably reflecting the incidental detection of renal masses. Additional surgery should be considered one of the risks of excessive CT imaging.

We assessed treatment for prostate cancer among urologists with varying levels of financial incentives favoring intervention. Those with stronger incentives, as determined by ownership interest in a radiation facility, were more likely to treat prostate cancer, even when treatment was unlikely to provide a survival benefit to the patient.

Context Some of the high costs of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and proton beam therapy may be offset by better outcomes or less resource use during the treatment episode. Objective To systematically review the literature to identify the key economic trade-offs implicit in a particular treatment choice for prostate cancer. Evidence acquisition We systematically reviewed the literature according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement and protocol. We searched Medline, Embase, and Web of Science for articles published between January 2001 and July 2016, which compared the treatment costs of RARP, IMRT, or proton beam therapy to the standard treatment. We identified 37, nine, and three studies, respectively. Evidence synthesis RARP is costlier than radical retropubic prostatectomy for hospitals and payers. However, RARP has the potential for a moderate cost advantage for payers and society over a longer time horizon when optimal cancer and quality-of-life outcomes are achieved. IMRT is more expensive from a payer’s perspective compared with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, but also more cost effective when defined by an incremental cost effectiveness ratio <$50 000 per quality-adjusted life year. Proton beam therapy is costlier than IMRT and its cost effectiveness remains unclear given the limited comparative data on outcomes. Using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach, the quality of evidence was low for RARP and IMRT, and very low for proton beam therapy. Conclusions Treatment with new versus traditional technologies is costlier. However, given the low quality of evidence and the inconsistencies across studies, the precise difference in costs remains unclear. Attempts to estimate whether this increased cost is worth the expense are hampered by the uncertainty surrounding improvements in outcomes, such as cancer control and side effects of treatment. If the new technologies can consistently achieve better outcomes, then they may be cost effective.

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A structured teaching program for RALP is effective and trainees are able to adopt the increased efficiency and skills of their mentor. Lower BMI, EBL, and prostate weight were associated with shorter operative times. Trainees performing the procedure did not negatively affect EBL and positive surgical margin rate.

We hypothesized that factors beyond pathological stage, grade, PSA and margin status would be important predictors of biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP). A cohort of 3194 patients who underwent RP between 1988 and 2007 and who had neither neoadjuvant therapy nor postoperative adjuvant hormonal therapy was retrieved from the Duke Prostate Center database. Age, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), pathological Gleason score (pG), lymph node status, seminal vesicle invasion (SVI), extracapsular extension (ECE), positive surgical margin (PSM) status, year of surgery, race, adjuvant radiation therapy (XRT), percent tumor involvement in the RP specimen and prostate weight were evaluated as possible predictors of BCR in multivariate Cox regression analysis. BCR was defined as a PSA of 0.2 ng ml À1 or higher at least 30 days after surgery. A nomogram was developed from the Cox model. Predictive accuracy was obtained by calculating bias-corrected Harrell's c and by bootstrap calibration. In multivariate analysis, PSA (hazard ratio 1.39 (95% confidence interval 1.29-1.51)), ECE (1.22 (1.04-1.44)), pG score (1.38 (1.14-1.68), 2.23 (1.76-2.84), 2.69 (2.12-3.40) for pG 3 þ 4, 4 þ 3, 47, respectively), SVI (1.72 (1.40-2.12)), PSM (2.05 (1.73-2.42)), year of surgery (0.65 (0.54-0.77)), African-American race (1.37 (1.13-1.66)), adjuvant ) and prostate weight (0.83 (0.76-0.92)) were identified as independent predictors of BCR (Pp0.018 for all factors). Predictive accuracy of the nomogram was 0.75. Race and prostate weight were independent predictors for BCR after RP. By incorporating these variables, we developed a nomogram, which provides a highly accurate means for estimating risk of BCR after RP.