Bladder cancer – the neglected tumor: a descriptive analysis of publications referenced in MEDLINE and data from the register clinicaltrials.gov

Frank Kunath,Dirk G Engehausen,Bernd Wullich,Steffen F Krause,Peter J Goebell,Bastian Keck,Joerg J Meerpohl,Maximilian Burger

doi:10.1186/1471-2490-13-56

Frank Kunath, Dirk G Engehausen + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2490-13-56

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Abstract

BackgroundUro-oncological neoplasms have both a high incidence and mortality rate and are therefore a major public health problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate research activity in uro-oncology over the last decade.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov systematically for studies on prostatic, urinary bladder, kidney, and testicular neoplasms. The increase in newly published reports per year was analyzed using linear regression. The results are presented with 95% confidence intervals, and a p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe number of new publications per year increased significantly for prostatic, kidney and urinary bladder neoplasms (all <0.0001). We identified 1,885 randomized controlled trials (RCTs); also for RCTs, the number of newly published reports increased significantly for prostatic (p = 0.001) and kidney cancer (p = 0.005), but not for bladder (p = 0.09) or testicular (p = 0.44) neoplasms. We identified 3,114 registered uro-oncological studies in ClinicalTrials.gov. However, 85% of these studies are focusing on prostatic (45%) and kidney neoplasms (40%), whereas only 11% were registered for bladder cancers.ConclusionsWhile the number of publications on uro-oncologic research rises yearly for prostatic and kidney neoplasms, urothelial carcinomas of the bladder seem to be neglected despite their important clinical role. Clinical research on neoplasms of the urothelial bladder must be explicitly addressed and supported.

Highlights

Uro-oncological neoplasms have both a high incidence and mortality rate and are a major public health problem
Citations on prostatic neoplasms increased the most, with a median increase of 250.7 more publications than the year before
New reports on kidney cancer increased with a median increase of 106 more new publications per year far more than the increase in reports on urinary bladder cancer (40.8 more new publications/year, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 33.5-48.1)

Summary

Introduction

Uro-oncological neoplasms have both a high incidence and mortality rate and are a major public health problem. Uro-oncological neoplasms have both a high incidence and mortality rate [1,2]. Urological neoplasms are a major public health problem [3]. In 2010, the treatment cost for urinary bladder and renal cancers in the United States was 3.98 billion and 3.80 billion uro-oncological research should pursue two major goals. Generating high quality studies is indispensable to provide treatments based on the best clinical evidence available. It is not clear whether current scientific research output adequately addresses clinical requirements of this population. The aim of this study was to investigate current research activity in the field of uro-oncology

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