Background: Hematuria is the most common presenting symptom in bladder cancer, but many patients are not adequately evaluated. Objectives: To evaluate the type and frequency of hematuria evaluation in a large public health care system. Patients and Methods: Electronic medical records of adult patients with urinalysis positive for hematuria (≥3 RBCs/HPF) from January 2015 to April 2018 in an outpatient setting were reviewed. Logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with urology referral and complete evaluation. Results: 11,422 patients met the inclusion criteria; the majority were females (72%) and white race (60%). There were an additional 3,221 patient's with initial diagnosis of UTI. Median age was 49.0 years. Testing included repeat urinalysis (50%), imaging (26%), urology referral (11.4%), cystoscopy (4.4%) and complete evaluation defined as cystoscopy and US/CT/MRI (4%). In the multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with higher referral to urology were age >35, male gender, hypertension, RBCs ≥20. African American race was associated with less referral to urology. Smoking was a significant variable on univariable analysis only. 37 patients (0.25%) were diagnosed with urological malignancies, with bladder cancer in 33, 12 of whom are missed by excluding UTI patients. Conclusions: In the outpatient setting of a public health care system, the vast majority of patients with hematuria are not referred and evaluated properly across all age categories and regardless of smoking status. This might result in missed cancer diagnoses and requires quality improvement measures.
Background Using a large, nationally representative, population‐based cancer registry, this study systematically evaluated the impact of the location and burden of extranodal testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) metastases on survival. Methods Men with stage III TGCTs captured by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry from 2010 to 2015 with distant extranodal metastases were identified. Clinicopathologic information was collected, and patients were subdivided according to the specific organ site or sites of metastatic involvement (lung, liver, bone, and/or brain). Kaplan‐Meier analysis and multivariable Cox regression were used to evaluate cancer‐specific survival (CSS), and model performance was assessed with Harrell's C statistic. Results Nine hundred sixty‐nine patients with stage III TGCTs were included with predominantly nonseminomatous histology (84%). Most patients (91%) had pulmonary metastases, whereas 20%, 10%, and 10% had liver, bone, and brain metastases, respectively. Over a median follow‐up of 21 months, 19% of these men died of TGCTs. When they were grouped by the primary site of metastasis, patients with more than 1 extrapulmonary metastasis exhibited the worst CSS (hazard ratio [HR] vs isolated pulmonary involvement, 4.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.60‐7.00; P < .01). Among patients with isolated extrapulmonary involvement, those with brain metastases had the poorest survival (HR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.98‐5.28; P < .01), and they were followed by patients with liver (HR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.56‐3.35; P < .01) and bone metastases (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.11‐3.50; P = .02). Harrell's C statistic (multivariable) was 0.71. Conclusions The site of metastatic involvement affects survival outcomes for patients with TGCTs, and this may reflect both the aggressive biology and the challenging treatment of these tumors. Further incorporation of organotropism into current prognostic models for metastatic TGCTs warrants attention.
Background The objective of this study was to determine whether standardized treatment of germ cell tumors (GCTs) could overcome sociodemographic factors limiting patient care. Methods The records of all patients undergoing primary treatment for GCTs at both a public safety net hospital and an academic tertiary care center in the same metropolitan area were analyzed. Both institutions were managed by the same group of physicians in the context of multidisciplinary cancer care. Patients were grouped by care center; clinicopathologic features and outcomes were analyzed. Results Between 2006 and 2018, 106 and 95 patients underwent initial treatment for GCTs at the safety net hospital and the tertiary care center, respectively. Safety net patients were younger (29 vs 33 years; P = .005) and were more likely to be Hispanic (79% vs 11%), to be uninsured (80% vs 12%; P < .001), to present via the emergency department (76% vs 8%; P < .001), and to have metastatic (stage II/III) disease (42% vs 26%; P = .025). In a multivariable analysis, an absence of lymphovascular invasion (odds ratio [OR], 0.30; P = .008) and an embryonal carcinoma component (OR, 0.36; P = .02) were associated with decreased use of adjuvant treatment for stage I patients; hospital setting was not (OR, 0.67; P = .55). For patients with stage II/III nonseminomatous GCTs, there was no difference in the performance of postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection between the safety net hospital and the tertiary care center (52% vs 64%; P = .53). No difference in recurrence rates was observed between the cohorts (5% vs 6%; P = .76). CONCLUSIONS Sociodemographic factors are often associated with adverse clinical outcomes in the treatment of GCTs; they may be overcome with integrated, standardized management of testicular cancer.
Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with inferior vena cava thrombus (IVC-TT) represents a relatively infrequent presentation. Curative treatment includes extirpative surgery; however, this is associated with high rates of recurrence and complications. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has been used to treat metastatic RCC with good results. SBRT may be used as part of multimodal therapy to provide local control of IVC-TT. Objective: We report our initial experience with SBRT to IVC-TT, including extended follow-up, and review the literature. Results: We report on two patients with level IV IVC-TT. Both had progressive disease while receiving systemic therapy and were eventually treated with SBRT to the IVC-TT, which showed good local control. Overall survival from the time of SBRT was 18 and 34 months, with no additional systemic therapy; one patient underwent additional SBRT and resection of metastatic sites. Conclusions: SBRT to RCC IVC-TT may be considered in selected patients for local tumor control.
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