This issue of International Journal of Urology contains one Review Article, 10 Original Articles, and eight editorial comments. Yuan et al. (Jiangsu, China) updated a meta-analysis for the diagnostic performance of the Vesical Imaging–Reporting And Data System (VI-RADS) for predicting muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) with 20 studies published between September 2018 and July 2021. VI-RADS was introduced in 2018 to define a standardized approach to imaging and reporting multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging for patients with bladder cancer. The diagnostic performance of the VI-RADS for predicting MIBC was excellent in both cutoff points of the VI-RADS 3 and 4. Multiple image acquisition planes of diffusion-weighted imaging should be given more attention in the VI-RADS. We hope that VI-RADS will become more mature and prevalent, which should lead to better management of bladder cancer via further studies. In the original articles, Nishimura et al. (Nara, Japan) evaluated the clinical outcomes and prognostic factors in Japanese patients with bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-unresponsive nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who underwent early radical cystectomy (RC) using a large-scale multicenter retrospective study and concluded the highest-risk status among the pre-BCG factors was associated with upstaging to extravesical tumors and poor prognosis, despite early RC procedures. The Japanese Urological Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for Bladder Cancer 2019 recommended that patients with BCG-unresponsive disease are considered unlikely to benefit from further BCG therapy and early RC. This study seems to be one of those with the evidence based on a pathological evaluation. Although some new strategies such as intravesical nadofargene firadenovec gene therapy (Lancet Oncol. 2021; 22: 107–17), pembrolizumab monotherapy (Lancet Oncol. 2021; 22: 919–30) have been reported, there is no doubt that BCG-unresponsive disease is a risk factor and RC will continue to be required in a certain proportion of patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC. Kato et al. (Osaka, Japan) evaluated the long-term incidence and clinical features of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) in kidney transplant recipients from two major transplantation centers in Japan. Graft survival has improved due to a reduction in the acute rejection rate by advances in immunosuppressive agents; however long-term survival after kidney transplantation remains unchanged. Therefore, it is extremely important to focus on malignancy, especially PTLD after kidney transplantation. They emphasized the strategies to identify PTLD and suggested the benefits of positron emission tomography-computed tomography for ascertaining PTLD. They also revealed that mycophenolate mofetil contributed the onset of PTLD, and rituximab was not significantly associated with the incidence of PTLD. We have to be careful for each immunosuppressive agent. Yamashita et al. (Shizuoka, Japan) examined the incidence and location of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients undergoing RC. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) including DVT and pulmonary embolism is a serious perioperative complication in urological surgery. RC, whether open or robot-assisted surgery, is the procedure with the highest risk of perioperative VTE in urological surgery according to the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on thromboprophylaxis in urological surgery. They also identified that preoperative D-dimer level was a significant risk factor for preoperative DVT, and preoperative D-dimer level, type of urinary diversion (ileal neobladder), and preoperative DVT were significant risk factors for postoperative DVT. EAU guidelines strongly recommended the use of pharmacological prophylaxis in all patients undergoing open and robot-assisted RC. These results might suggest appropriate patients for pharmacological prophylaxis in RC. Unfortunately, the limited space does not allow me to introduce all the articles. However, all the papers are very interesting and informative. Please enjoy this issue of the International Journal of Urology. None declared.
Read full abstract