From the Desk of the Editor: Issue 4
As busy, practicing clinicians in the 21st century, we’re deluged with written and web-based information, and thus, our aim has been to address and review meaningful and cutting edge topics which can contemporaneously optimize your patient care. In our first three issues, we’ve addressed important unmet diagnostic and therapeutic needs as well as ongoing clinical controversies, including: the data concerning survival benefits, progression, and side effect and toxicity profiles of current therapies for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); the changing role of radiologists in imaging and managing GU cancers;- and emerging GU biomarkers and their role for the changing landscape of bladder cancer treatment strategies.
Our cover story for this issue, authored by Diane Newman, DNP, discusses the development of the ground-breaking Core Curriculum for Urological Nursing, to be published by the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates in 2017. Dr. Newman details the vigorously researched content of this first-of-its-kind text—four years in the making—geared toward teaching best practices in urology nursing. Our Expert Perspective, written by Charles Ryan, MD, is the second in a two-part series on recent mCRPC therapies, discussing key treatment considerations for managing mCRPC patients. In the first article of this series published in issue 2, Dr. Ryan reflected on the research journey and published results of the COU-AA-302 clinical trial, which led to the approval of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone therapy, the first novel oral hormonal therapy approved by both FDA and EMA for CRPC patients.
Our Clinical Update, written by Alicia Morgans, MD, reviews the benefits and challenges of establishing a multidisciplinary advanced prostate cancer clinic—a clinical and administrative practice model that improves patient care and streamlines healthcare efficiencies. These clinics, which were unheard of five years ago, have revolutionized the clinical care paradigm within community practices, and thus will be further augmented by developing multidisciplinary clinics for advanced kidney and bladder cancer, as immuno-oncology options continue to burgeon.
The Spotlight section features proceedings from the 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for Urology, and focuses on presentations with subjects such as immunotherapy, targeted therapy and robotic surgeries for GU cancer. The abstracts are written by Andres Correa, MD, Benjamin Ristau, MD, and Shreyas Joshi, MD, of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Andrew Stephenson, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Stephen Williams, MD of the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Ashish Kamat, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
In 2017 Everyday Urology-Oncology Insights and, UroToday.com will be launching a new program with tools that will facilitate understanding and implementation of state-of-the-art treatments for our GU oncology patients. UroToday’s new up-to-date clinical trials portal will feature a unique and easily accessible registry—initially focused solely on GU malignancies and sites actively enrolling patients. We welcome your feedback about the clinical trials portal, as well as the upcoming issues of Everyday Urology-Oncology Insights. Thank you for your time, feedback, and for reading our journal during this inaugural year.
Thank you for your continued interest and for reading this issue of Everyday Urology- Oncology Insights.
Sincerely,
Neal Shore, MD, FACS