GU Cast: Recent Episodes
Professor Declan Murphy & Dr Renu Eapen
All things prostate, kidney, bladder, testis and penile cancer. Join Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne for this regular dive into the world of genitourinary (GU) Oncology and Urology. Regular guests from all over the world, from every walk of life. Drop us a note if you have any suggestions or feedback declan.murphy@petermac.org
Urologist Ben Lowentritt (Chesapeake Urology, Baltimore), pops into the studio today while passing through Melbourne. We chat about life in a large urology group practice (a huge part of urology service delivery in the USA), why there appears to be a drop in interest in Fellowship training, and his experience of managing advanced prostate cancer in a large urology group practice. Ben, who is also Secretary of the Large Urology Group Practice Association in the USA, has a lot of interest in gathering real world data from large urology group practices, and shares with us some data on the use of ARPIs in mHSPC which has recently been accepted for publication.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson.
Open vs partial nephrectomy, and open vs robotic prostatectomy - two large randomised trials that did not change surgical practice! Just as important to examine these in GU Cast Journal Club as to examine pivotal trials that did change practice. Today we discuss the EORTC Today we discuss the EORTC 30904 RCT looking at kidney cancer surgery (Eur Urol 2011), and the Brisbane randomised trial of open vs robotic prostatectomy conducted (Lancet 2016).
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Mexico City, MEX), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. AN emotional one as Carlos is heading home to Mexico soon!
Links to papers below:
1. A prospective, randomised EORTC intergroup phase 3 study comparing the oncologic outcome of elective nephron-sparing surgery and radical nephrectomy for low-stage renal cell carcinoma Eur Urol 2011
- Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy versus open radical retropubic prostatectomy: early outcomes from a randomised controlled phase 3 study Lancet 2016
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
Welcome back Rana McKay! Renu was on a flight to Europe this week so Rana jumped into her seat in the GU Cast studio this week to have a chat about the intriguing ARASEC trial which she presented at the AUA Annual Meeting recently. Plus her thoughts on the ARACOG data presented at ASCO last month. And then a great chat with our other studio guest, Professor Renea Taylor, translational scientist at Peter Mac and Monash University, about the very interesting Early Onset Prostate Cancer project, an international collaboration which herself and Rana are both very involved with, looking at the reasons behind why younger men are turning up with aggressive prostate cancer.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
ARASEC trial at AUA 2026
ARACOG trial at ASCO 2026
Tips and tricks for nerve-sparing surgery, learned over 25 years of performing robotic radical prostatectomy. Today we are joined by Dr Ash Tewari, Chief of Urology at Mt Sinai (New York), to talk about his favourite topic - nerve-sparing surgery - and a little about his second favourite topic - cricket! Ash has been one of the world's foremost experts in robotic prostatectomy having been there at the very start when Mani Menon was developing the technique, and has studied the anatomy of nerve-sparing prostatectomy in fine detail.
Today we chat through his thoughts on the optimal approach to nerve-sparing prostatectomy to deliver the best outcomes for our patients. Some surgical footage included on the YouTube version.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partner, Device Technologies.
Links:
7th International Prostate Cancer Symposium December 2025 - Lecture on nerve-sparing surgery
Mt Sinai Symposium at AUA, May 2026 - Lecture on nerve-sparing surgery
Hot topics in a hot city!! Declan and Renu escaped from deep Winter in Melbourne and landed into the hottest day on record in Berlin!! We are here to help with the Astellas Global Prostate Cancer Masterclass, a wonderful two day meeting focussing on advanced prostate cancer. Delegates from all over the world and a top class local and International faculty. We catch up with great friends of GU Cast Stephen Freedland (Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles) and Bertrand Tombal (UC Louvain, Brussels), to pick their brains on hot topics in this hot city.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Platinum Partner, Astellas.
Even better on our YouTube channel
All you need to know about enfortumab vedotin (EV) & pembro in bladder cancer in 25 minutes! We are joined in studio by bladder cancer gurus Shilpa Gupta (Cleveland Clinic, USA) and Andrew Weickhardt (Austin Health, AUS) to get an update on the role of EV-pembro in both muscle-invasive localised bladder cancer, and metastatic bladder cancer. Shilpa led a very nice paper in this month's European Urology titled optimal management of muscle, invasive bladder, cancer, so we were very keen to pick her brains on this, especially the emerging role of peri-operative EV-pembro. We also picked herself and Andrew‘s brains for the optimal management of metastatic bladder cancer, as they were both involved in the historic EV 302 trial which has transformed the management of metastatic bladder cancer. Must know stuff! A great overview of where we stand today. Thanks so much to Shilpa for dropping into Gu Cast while on holidays in Australia!
With your usual hosts are Declan Murphy and Reno Eapn
This is a Themed Podcast, supported by our Platinum Partners, Astellas
Disclaimer:
Enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab is not registered for MIBC in Australia and a number of other countries. Please refer to the registration status in your country before prescribing
Links:
Eur Urol paper on optimal management of MIBC
Yep it's been a buzz word in testis cancer for a while now, but with the read-out of the CLIMATE and SWOG 1823 trials in the past six months, we thought we better get ourselves updated on this exciting biomarker.
We are joined in studio by testis cancer gurus Ben Tran (Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne), and online by Aditya Bagrodia (Urologist, UCSD, San Diego), to give us a bluffers guide to miR-371.
Plus we hear about the fantastic MaGIC Consortium global testis cancer meeting which takes place in Melbourne 8-11 January 2027. See links below. A great excuse to come to Melbourne, especially to escape the Northern Hemisphere winter!
Links:
MaGIC Consortium Conference, January 2027
Some coverage of the ANZUP CLIMATE trial from ASCO GU 2026
Some coverage of the SWOG 1823 trial from ASCO 2026
Welcome to Episode 8 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club! Today we focus on two very important papers in localised prostate cancer and metastatic bladder cancer. The landmark 15 year update of the PROTECT trial, published in NEJM in 2023, and the breakthrough EV-301 trial which heralded enfortumab vedotin in progressive metastatic bladder cancer, published in NEJM in 2021.
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Mexico City, MEX), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.
Links to papers below:
1. Fifteen-Year Outcomes after Monitoring, Surgery, or Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer NEJM 2023
- Enfortumab Vedotin in Previously Treated Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma
NEJM 2021
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
Renu had been to an excellent Bayer Apex meeting in Europe in the past, so was very happy to hear Apex was coming to us for its first Asia-Pacific outing! A wonderful prostate cancer Faculty headlined by Neal Shore, Dan George, Derya Tilki, Fred Saad, Amit Bahl, Tamim Niazi to name but a few, plus almost 200 delegates from across the APAC region.
Your usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy catch up with some of the speakers and bring you conference highlights.
This is a Themed Podcast, supported by our Gold Partner, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Breaking News podcast just after the long-awaited PROTEUS trial reads out at the ASCO Plenary in Chicago! Plus a simultaneous NEJM paper! Huge day for prostate cancer surgery.
Declan and Renu are joined by lead author Dr Mary-Ellen Taplin (Dana Farber Cancer Institute & Harvard University), to tell us about her decades long journey to this huge moment today. PROTEUS is a huge (2,100 men) phase III RCT of men undergoing radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer, randomised to receive peri-operative ADT + placebo, or ADT plus apalutamide. Mary-Ellen talks to us about the top-line results, and we consider whether this is truly a practice-changing study. Declan also had the honour of being the Discussant at teh ASCO Plenary so he is well placed to give his opinion.
Your usual hosts are Declan Murphy & Renu Eapen.
Even better on our YouTube channel
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partner, Johnson & Johnson.
Links:
PROTEUS NEJM paper
Two interesting papers caught the eye of our GU Cast China team this week; the first is the ARASEC trial which Dr Rana McKay read out in the Practice-Changing Plenary at the AUA Annual Meeting in Washington. This is an interesting comparison of ADT + darolutamide for mHSPC in a prospective US cohort, compared with an historical ADT-only control arm from CHAARTED. Interesting study design and interesting results.
The second is the ADT Lead-In study led bu GU Cast China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu, which demonstrates how the timing of docetaxel chemotherapy in mHSPC can significnatly affect the likelihood of severe neutropenia.
Your usual hosts, Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen, anre joined by Dr Yao Zhu (Fudan University, Shanghai), Dr Yige Bau (SCU Xiamen), and Dr Chuguan Yang (Tonji Hospital, Wuhan). Yige now also part of our GU Cast China team, looking after our We Chat content with Yao Zhu.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our GU Cast China Partner, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Now this is an interesting one, a new PSMA tracer which appears to greatly outperform 68Ga-PSMA-11 for biochemical recurrence. We discuss 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA with Professor Louise Emmett (Nuclear Medicine Physician, Sydney), and Dr Matt Roberts (Urologist, Brisbane), which they compared head to head with trusty old 68Ga-PSMA-11 in the Co-PSMA trial, just published in European Urology.
With usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
This Themed Podcast is supported by our new Bronze Partners, Clarity Pharmaceuticals
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Co-PSMA trial in European Urology
Clarity Pharmaceuticals website
One of our most popular podcasts every year is when we chat with EAU Guideline gurus Derya Tilki and Gianluca Giannarini about the latest updates to the EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline. It is a 250 word document which is updated in March every year and changes are eagerly awaited around the world.
We catch up with Derya (Vice Chair of the Prostate Cancer Guidleine Committee) in person in Melbourne, and with Gianluca (Vice-Chair of the EAU Guideline Office) online, about the latest updates. We also chat with Gianluca about the work of the Guideline Dissemination Committee which he has Chaired for a number of years.
With usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.
Supported by our Gold Partners, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Democracy in action! This month's GU Cast Journal Club papers were chosen by an audience vote at our GU Cast Live Event at EAU in London.
Therefore today we focus on first, the landmark proPSMA paper which established the superior accuracy of PSMA PET/CT for staging unfavourable intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer (Lancet 2020). Then for something completely different, we dig out a paper called "Penile fractures - the merry price of Christmas", published in BJUI 2020. Thanks very much to our live audience for this one!
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado and Dr Elena Berg who joins us in studio for the first time. Elena has just moved to Melbourne to join Carlos doing a Fellowship with GU Cast hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.
Links to papers below:
1. Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET-CT in patients with high-risk prostate cancer before curative-intent surgery or radiotherapy (proPSMA): a prospective, randomised, multicentre study. Lancet 2020
- Penile fractures: the price of a Merry Christmas BJUI 2023
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
The trial they said would never be done! Huge congrats to the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology who have recently opened the ASPIRE trial, a phase III randomised trial of ADT + apalutamide (doublet), vs ADT + apalutamide + docetaxel chemotherapy (triplet) for men with mHSPC. 1200 men will be recruited from more than 300 sites across the US with many sites already open and recruiting. This is the key trial which will answer the question of whether there is an overall survival benefit of adding chemo to the ADT/ARPI doublet which we all agree is standard of care.
We chat with study chair Dr Deepak Kilari (Medical College of Wisconsin) and Dr Rana McKay (University of California San Diego), and learn all about the rationale for ASPIRE, the study design, and the novel genomic stratification factors.
Your usual hosts are Renu Eapen and (chemo-sceptic) Declan Murphy!
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals.
Links:
Alliance website with study details
Urology Times coverage
Clinical Trials registration
Our biggest live show to date! Taking to the huge eUro 2 auditorium at this month's EAU Annual Meeting in London, Declan and Renu bring you a fast-paced, high-energy session packed with favourite guests, controversial topics, behind-the-scenes stories, and lots of great giveaways, all boosted by having hundreds of our loyal supporters there in the audience with us.
Huge thanks to Maarten Albersen and all at the EAU Scientific Office for this invitation, and to everyone at MediAVentures, M-Events, Congress Consultants, Soma Studios and CMDM Media for helping us put it together. And to our own team including David Chen, Carlos Delgado, and Elena Berg for their help and for being with us in London.
This one for sure best enjoyed on our YouTube channel
Big day at the EAU Annual Meeting n London today, as our colleague Dr James Buteau (Nuclear Medicine Physician, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne), reads out the PRIMARY 2 RCT at the Practice-Changing Plenary in London. Plus a simultaneous publication in Lancet Oncology. Big news for the early detection of prostate cancer, especially for patients with normal or equivocal MRI scans.
Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by James and senior author, Prof Louise Emmett (St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney), to discuss the journey from our first PSMA PET/CT scans in 2014, to the proPSMA trial, the PRIMARY trial, and now the PRIMARY 2 RCT. We discuss why this should now mean that patients with a PIRADS 2 or 3 prostate MRI, and a persisting suspicion such as high PSA density, should be considered for a PSMA PET/CT, rather than a systematic biopsy.
Huge congratulations to all the investigators across Australia for seeing this trial through to successful completion, and to all the patients who participated.
Acknowledgements:
Sponsored by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, with financial support from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), St Vincent’s Curran Foundation, ProsTIC, Peter Mac Foundation, NHMRC and ANZUP
Links:
PRIMARY 2 trial in Lancet Oncology
We bring you highlights from a fantastic two day meeting at the ORSI Academy in Belgium, focussing on the hot topic of intra-operative margin assessment (IOMA), especially during prostate cancer surgery. Following on from the publication of the Neurosafe Proof RCT last year, there has been a surge in interest in new technologies to facilitate IOMA, in particular the Histolog confocal laser microscope (Samantree Medical).
Day one consisted of a Delphi consensus meeting with a gathering of world-leading experts in IOMA, discussing how novel technologies like Histolog can be used to assess surgical margins in real time, and thereby improve nerve-sparing surgery. Day 2 consisted of a 12 hour World Robotic Surgery Event (WRSE) run by Surgquest, the digital arm of ORSI Academy, during which very many surgeries used Histolog to assess surgical margins. Just outstanding!
Your usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen participated in the Delphi and caught up with many experts to discuss IOMA. A wonderful overview of this hot topic - enjoy!
This one definitely best appreciated on our YouTube channel.
Links:
ORSI Academy
Surgquest
Histolog website
Yes that's right, our great APCCC giveaway is back! We are sending three lucky winners to Lugano to attend the world's best prostate cancer meeting - the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference. Just send us a 60 second video to enter.
Closing date Fri 13th June 9pm GMT. Winners will be announced at the GU Cast Live Event at the EAU in London on Sun 15th March 2026.
Full details at gucast.org
Check out APCCC at apccc.org
Welcome to Episode 6 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club! Two important papers in upper tract urothelial cancer (the POUT trial of adjuvant chemo post nephro-ureterectomy), and metastatic testicular cancer (the SEMS trial of surgery for early metastatic seminoma).
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. No prostate cancer today, and go easy on Declan he is struggling with man flu!
Links to papers below:
1. Adjuvant chemotherapy in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (the POUT trial): a phase 3, open-label, randomised controlled trial Lancet 2020
- Surgery in Early Metastatic Seminoma: A Phase II Trial of Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection for Testicular Seminoma With Limited Retroperitoneal Lymphadenopathy J Clin Oncol 2023
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
It is the eve of the USANZ ASM here in Melbourne (which Renu is Convening!), and some of the 27 International guests are already into town. So we grabbed Anders Bjartell (Lund University/University Hospital Malmo, SWE), for a sit down chat in studio. Anders has been a huge name in prostate cancer research in Europe for the past couple of decades, including as a senior investigator on TITAN. so we decided to pick his brain on three topical areas in prostate cancer:
1. ADT/ARPI doublets in mHSPC - can we adopt an intermittent approach before the trials read out? What about docetaxel triplet therapy?
2. The SPARC consensus on PSMA PET/CT reporting - Anders led this initiative which recently publihsed in Eur Urol. What is this and why does it matter?
3. Organised Prostate Testing - what is the difference between screening and organised prostate testing?
With usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson.
Links:
SPARC consensus paper in European Urology
Giant bladder cancer paper in NEJM this week with the highly anticipated results of the perioperative EV-Pembro trial (EV-303 / KN-905). Already we can say this is a landmark publicaion in bladder cancer that will change practice and even challenge the role of cystectomy (maybe)!
Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen caught up with first author Christof Vulsteke (Integrated Cancer Centre, Ghent, BEL) when we were at ESMO Asia recently and had a chat about this work and how it will change practice.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Platinum Partner, Astellas.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
EV-303 in NEJM
Following on from last week's episode on "toxicity", we are delighted today to welcome back two great friends of GU Cast from the world of radiation oncology - ASTRO President Dr Neha Vapiwala (University of Pennsylvania), and European Urology Associate Editor, Dr Amar Kishan (University of California, Los Angeles). We go through Amar and Neha's letter to the editor following the recent paper in Eur Urol Oncol from the IRRADIATE registry, and dive into the opportunities we have working in multidisciplinary teams to look after our prostate cancer patients. Most enjoyable!
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
Letter to the editor (needs login)
In case you missed it, or you've already abandoned Twitter (memo to self - must do that ourselves!), we witnessed some pretty toxic stuff over there in the past couple of weeks. Vile personal attacks, calls for resignations, accusations of nefarious behaviour etc etc, mostly triggered by an AI-generated infographic attempting to illustarte a recent paper in European Urology Oncology.
We chat with first author Dr Riccardo Bertolo (University of Verona, ITA), about his first-hand experience of twitter toxicity, his take on that terrible infographic, and ,most importantly, we discuss the paper which he and his colleagues published on late GU toxicity following prostate cancer radiation.
Your usual hosts are Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy, back with a bang after their summer break.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Bertolo et al paper in European Urology Oncology 2026
Letter from the European Urology Editors
Previous GU Cast on Radiation Cystitis
Happy New Year and welcome to Episode 5 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club! Today we focus on two classic papers in non-invasive bladder cancer and metastatic prostate cancer. The Lamm RCT of maintenance BCG is a landmark trial for all sorts of reasons, published in J Urol in 2000. And the CHAARTED paper of chemohormonal therapy is the landmark trial of combination therapy in mHSPC, published in NEJM in 2015.
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. A very lively discussion!!
Links to papers below:
1. Maintenance bacillus Calmette-Guerin immunotherapy for recurrent TA, T1 and carcinoma in situ transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder: a randomized Southwest Oncology Group Study J Urol 2000
- Chemohormonal Therapy in Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
NEJM 2015
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
Another of our special Themed Podcasts focussed on prostate cancer in China, supported by our Gold Partner, Bayer. We are joined as ever by our China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu (Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre), and also special guest Dr Yige Bao (SCU Xiamen Hospital). Not only do we learn about pandas in West China, but also some great highlights from the recent ESMO Annual Meeting in Berlin! Hosted as ever by Dr Renu Eapen and Prof Declan Murphy
Even better on our YouTube channel
Episode 4 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club and today we focus on two important papers in prostate cancer diagnostics and bladder cancer surgery. The PRECISION NEJM paper 2018 is a landmark publication which defined the role of mpMRI in early detection, and changed practice in many countries. The EB-StaR trial should also change practice after its European Urology 2024 publication, but has it??!
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. A very lively discussion!!
Links to papers below:
1. MRI-Targeted or Standard Biopsy for Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis NEJM 2018
- Transurethral En Bloc Resection Versus Standard Resection of Bladder Tumour: A Randomised, Multicentre, Phase 3 Trial Eur Urol 2024
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the world-famous ORSI Academy in Belgium! Declan and Renu travelled to this remarkable facility just outside Ghent in Belgium, jammed full of tens of millions of dollars worth of robotic surgery technology from the world's top providers - Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, Microport and more. Every day, surgeons from all around the world are getting hands-on experience using the latest robotic surgery technology in an array of training environments. Plus ORSI Academy hosts many academic programs, live surgery events, telesurgery demonstrations, and is actually expanding to do even more!
We get a superb tour of the building hosted by Urologist, Dr Ruben de Groote, who also tells us about Surgquest, the digital arm of ORSI Academy, which hosts an incredible library of surgical education videos, and we also chat with ORSI Academy founder and CEO, Dr Alex Mottrie, world-renowned urologist and pioneer of robotic surgery. Plus we hear first hand from senior Urology Fellows, Dr Edoardo Beatrici, and Dr Mario de Angelis, about how the ORSI Academy proficiency-based progression training works in practice.
This one much better enjoyed on our YouTube channel!
Links:
ORSI Academy
Surgquest
World-renowned sexual health expert, Dr Chris Nelson, Chief of Psychology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, joins us in studio to run through the new Movember-supported "Guidelines for Sexual Health Care for Prostate Cancer Patients". A really helpful overview and structure for anyone working in this field, and for patients and their loved ones. Chris shares his 20-plus years of experience working in this field at one of the world's premier prostate cancer centres.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Movember Sexual Health Guidelines
We recently hosted another live webinar for our Gold Partners, Mundipharma, this time asking the question, "Is high-risk BCR actually metastatic prostate cancer??". It's a reasonable question! This podcast was anchored from the GU Cast studio in Melbourne by usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy, joined in person by Andrew Loblaw, radiation oncologist from Toronto, and online by medical oncologist Jeff Goh in Brisbane.
Best enjoyed on our YouTube channel if you want to check out the slides.
Runsheet:
- Is high-risk biochemical recurrence already metastatic prostate cancer?Declan Murphy
- Is the management of high-risk BCR and mHSPC now the same? Jeffrey Goh
- Prostate radiotherapy is the real triplet therapy; plus when should we use SBRT? Andrew Loblaw
Q&A and case discussions
This webinar was organised by our Gold Partners, Mundipharma, who also support GU Cast as Gold Partners through an unrestricted educational grant.
Dr Amar Kishan (Radiation Oncologist, UCLA, USA), made lots of headlines recently when he presented data from the phase II randomised LUNAR trial of SABR +/- LuPSMA in patients with oligometastatic prostate cancer. So we were very happy when he turned up in Melbourne recently and popped into the GU Cast studio for a chat. We discuss metastasis-directed therapy and bring up our favourite Pokemet analogies, and ask should we not just be offering these patients and ADT/ARPI doublet?!
Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen, also joined by Prof Wee Ong, Radiation Oncologist at Alfred Health in Melbourne.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Fun today as we go to the OR to test drive some high-fidelity radical prostatectomy models and chat with the team behind UroTrainer - world leaders in urologic simulation. Urologists Gonzalo Vitagliano and Maxi Ringa join us from Buenos Aries to tell us all about UroTrainer and why they have worked hard to create these beautiful models for trainees to improve their skills in minimally-invasive prostate and kidney surgery.
They also tell us about their range of hands-on courses around the world and their innovative remote laparoscopic training courses so trainees can do training from home while being proctored remotely.
Declan Murphy also joins senior trainees Christa Babst and Eoin Dinneen in the OR as they test the construct validity of three prostatectomy models using a da Vinci surgical robot. These are beautiful simulation models, best in the business in our view! Well done to the UroTrainer team and keep up the good work.
Thsi one best appreciated on our YouTube channel
Links:
Urotrainer website
One of our favourite meetings of the year! The EAU Robotic Urology Section (ERUS) Annual Meeting took place in London recently and was an unashamed exposition of robotic surgery in urology. More than 30 amazing live surgeries, and some fantastic plenary sessions focussing on technical aspects. Multiple different robots, and spectacular telesurgery with surgeons sitting in London, performing robotic surgery up to 8000km away!
Join Host Declan Murphy to get a flavour of this year's meeting, and to hear from many of the surgeons involved.
With thanks to our Silver Partners, Device Technologies.
This one best appreciated on our YouTube channel.
Episode 3 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club and today we focus on one classic paper in Urology, and one from recent times - the ERSPC randomised trial of screening in prostate cancer, and the NIAGARA trial evaluating peri-operative immunotherapy in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
We are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. Watch out for Declan getting all misty-eyed recalling when the ERSPC was published back in 2009 (the rest of the team are too young to remember this)!
Links to papers below:
1. Screening and Prostate-Cancer Mortality in a Randomized European Study NEJM 2009
- Perioperative Durvalumab with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Operable Bladder Cancer NEJM 2024
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
Another of our deep-in-the-weeds theranostic webinars in conjunction with our friends at ProsTiC, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. This one focussed on Terbium-161, a very exciting new option in metastatic prostate cancer.
Your hosts are Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Michael Hofman, with Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrea Miyahira from the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Special guests include Dr James Buteau (Peter Mac, Melbourne, Australia), Dr Alin Chirindel (Universitätsspital Basel), Prof Dr Samer Ezziddin (Saarland University Hospital, Germany) and Prof. Cristina Müller (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland)
Is Terbium-161 superior to Lutetium-177? You'll hear about the latest clinical trials, experience and translational research from world leaders using Terbium-161.
Enjoy multi-disciplinary discussion covering nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceutical sciences, medical oncology, urology, radiation oncology, medical physics, translational sciences & industry.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Hot off the press in the Presidential Plenary at #ESMO25, we chat with Dr Scott Tagawa (Weill-Cornell, USA) about the positive data he just presented from the PSMAddition trial. This is an eagerly awaited phase III randmosied trial of patients with mHSPC, to see if the addition of six cycles of Lu-PSMA-617 to a control arm of ADT and an ARPI, could improve rPFS and other endpoints. We are also joined in the studio by Prof Michael Hofman (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, AUS), co-PI of the UpFront PSMA trial which also explored a similar concept, plus some comments from our other colleague, prof Arun Azad, who was the Discussant in the Presidential at ESMO25.
Declan Murphy hosting GU Cast solo today while Renu Eapen was in the OR doing surgery.
Even better on our YouTube channel
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Novartis.
Never heard of Common Sense Oncology?? Well if you enjoy this podcast then we think you will might find the Common Sense Oncology (CSO) movement to be very interesting indeed!
Declan Murphy caught up recently with Dr Bishal Gyawali, Medical Oncologist at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, to talk about CSO which he co-founded in 2023. They are on a mission to ensure that cancer care and innovation, should focus on results that are meaningful to patients (eg survival, quality of life, equity), rather than just regulatory approval, commercial success, or statistical endpoints. "Outcomes that matter", is their battle cry.
They are also very focussed on communication, and are quick to call out when stakeholders make ridiculous claims for their product or innovation. And Bishal happens to be one of the very best communicators out there. Great to have him on GU Cast and we at GU Cast are 100% supportive of their mission.
You can visit their website and join the movement for all the latest updates
The Urological Association of Asia (UAA) Annual Meeting is always a great cultural event with a focus on the local community. And Taipei certainly put on a great show! Lots of fantastic entertainment and great local cuisine, plus of course a great scientific program, with a focus on AI, single port robotic surgery, novel robot systems, and lots more across the breadth of Urology.
Join hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy, who bring you a great flavour of UAA in Taipei, speaking to many local and international guests.
Even better on our YouTube channel
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.
They started off by introducing themselves as The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse - what could possibly go wrong!! Declan couldn't resist the opportunity to invite three very eminent radiation oncologists into the studio when they all happened to be in Melbourne, even if he was particularly outnumbered while Renu was away! Vedang Murthy (Tata Memorial, India), Andrew Loblaw (Sunnybrook Hospital, Canada), and Sarat Chander (Peter Mac, Melbourne) are all highly specialised in prostate radiation, so Declan invited them into the GU Cast studio to pick their brains on three big areas in prostate radiation:
1. Hypofractionation in 2025 - Who and How?
2. Who needs ADT and for how long when having prostate radiation?
3. Metastasis-directed therapy for oligometastatic disease - is there any point??
Tune in to find out how Urologist Declan Murphy fared up against these three Radiation Oncologists!!! Even better on our YouTube channel
This podcast is supported by our Bronze Partner, Icon Cancer Centre.
We never need an excuse to visit Sydney, and for sure when one of our favourite meetings of the year is in the Harbourside City then count us in! The Annual Meeting of ANZUP is something we try and get to every year and have really enjoyed bringing you highlights. This year we catch up with some international faculty including Roger Li (Moffitt Cancer Centre, USA), ANZUP Prostate Cancer Committee bosses Lisa Horvath (Chris O'Brien Lifehouse) and Jarad Martin (Genesis Care), Dickon Hayne (Fiona Stanley Hospital) regarding his NMICB RCT, and Bernie Reilly (Prostate CAncer Foundation of Australia) about some fantastic resources for prostate cancer patients.
Big congrats to all at ANZUP for another excellent meeting and for all they do for GU oncology in Australia and New Zealand.
PS - apologies for some sub-standard audio on this one.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer.
Episode 2 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club and today we focus on two key papers from recent times - the TRANSLATE trial of transperineal vs transrectal biopsy, and Keynote-564 on the role of adjuvant pembrolizomab following nephrectomy.
After great feedback from last month's launch episode, we are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
Links to papers and previous podcasts below:
1. Local anaesthetic transperineal biopsy versus transrectal prostate biopsy in prostate cancer detection (TRANSLATE): a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial Lancet Oncology 2025
GU Cast on TRANSLATE
- Overall Survival with Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Renal-Cell Carcinoma NEJM 2024
GU Cast on K-564 OS paper
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Even better on our YouTube channel
About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
We poke around under the hood of a brand new Cyberknife facility here in Melbourne, the first on the East coast of Australia, and find out what it's all about. What is it for, who might benefit, and being surgeons we have to ask, why do they call it a "knife"?! Is it just to make it sound a bit like surgery - stay tuned to find out!
We chat with our good mate Shankar Siva, stereotactic radiation guru, Nigel Middlebrook, Physicist, shows us the back end, Gemma Waters, Radiation Therapist talks us through planning, and Icon Cancer Group Chief Executive Mark Middleton tells us how he decides which expensive projects his team invests in, and how they partnered with Cyberknife experts 5D Clinics for this project.
Even better on our YouTube channel.
This Themed Episode is supported by our Bronze Partner, Icon Cancer Group.
Links:
5D Clinics Melbourne
Icon Cancer Group
Big news today with the publication in JAMA of the eagerly anticipated PRIME study, a prospective multicentre trial comparing biparametric (bp) with multiparametric (mp) MRI in men suspected of having prostate cancer. Of course, mpMRI includes contrast enhanced sequences following injection of gadolinium, adding time, cost, plus the burden of gadolinium to bpMRI, and there have been suggestions that bpMRI may be just as effective as mpMRI for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer.
We are joined today by trial PI Veeru Kasivisvanathan (Urologist, UCL, London), and Francesco Giganti (Radiologist, UCL, London), to discuss the findings and what this means going forward. And it is all good news!
Your host Declan Murphy is on his own today while Renu Eapen on the road in Singapore.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links below:
JAMA paper published today
Twitter: @compassurology @veerukasi @giga_fra
Website: compassurology.org
Funders:
John Black Charitable Foundation, Prostate Cancer UK, European Association of Urology Research Foundation, Wolfgang.Dieckmann Foundation.
A quick pod to promote the totally free WRSE12 Live Robotic Surgery Event coming up later this month! A 12 hour festival of incredible robotic surgery performed by top surgeons from around the world, with a special focus on real time digital pathology using the very promising Histolog technology that we recently featured on GU Cast. Live surgeries include upper and lower tract, with an array of robotic technology including the da Vinci Single Port robot.
We chat with Urologist Ruben de Groote about this excellent educational initiative from Surgquest, the digital extension of the ORSI Academy in Belgium, and discuss some of the highlights.
See links below for full details and free registration. Plus watch out for a couple of episodes of GU Cast coming up in October/November to bring you highlights and behind the scenes action.
Links:
WRSE12 event free registration
GU Cast on Histology intraoperative margin assessment
One of our most popular podcasts ever was the one called "Gleason 6 prostate cancer | Why we should rename it (and why we can't)!", posted in December 2022, and featuring Urologists Scott Eggener (Chicago) and Matt Cooperberg), plus Pathologist Eva Comperat (Paris/Vienna). In fact, we still get so many hits on this and active comments on our YouTube site that we thought we better re-visit it!!! Is Gleason 6/Grade Group 1 really cancer at all?? Can't we just re-name it and declare it not-a-cancer??!
Scott and Matt re-join GU Cast today to update us on the campaign!
With usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
JNCI paper October 2024
Our Dec 2022 podcast on renaming Gleason 6
Here it is, the first of our new series called GU Cast Journal Club! A dedicated GU Cast Journal Club has been suggested by many of our listeners and viewers over the years, and we are really pleased to kick off today with the first monthly episode. And we are particularly pleased to introduce our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER). Declan Murphy is anchoring today's episode while Renu is busy elsewhere.
Each month, two papers will be discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.
For this inaugural epsiode, we have selected two very important recent papers:
1. Active Surveillance for Screen-detected Low- and Intermediate-risk Prostate Cancer: Extended Follow-up up to 25 Years in the GÖTEBORG-1 Trial
- Standard or Extended Lymphadenectomy for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.
Now this a topic we are ashamed to say we have barely covered in five plus years of GU Cast! A well overdue deep dive into the management of penile cancer, the rarest of all GU cancers, and fair to say the one that gets the least attention, not just from us, but from those who found research/education/novel therapies etc.
We are joined in studio by two world-leading experts in penile cancer, Professors Asif Muneer (University College London), and Nathan Lawrentschuk (Royal Melbourne Hospital & Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), to cover all the key topics in penile cancer. Everything from peculiarities in incidence, gender-neutral HPV vaccination, right up to organ-preserving surgery and optimal lymph node dissection techniques. Plus a fascinating peak into an AI project of Nathan's focussing on penile cancer diagnosis.
With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Refresh your knowledge of testis cancer with this punchy pod with testis cancer gurus, Prof Christian Kollmannsberger (Vancouver Cancer Centre, Vancouver), and Prof Ben Tran (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne). We pick their brains on three topical areas in testis cancer;
1. Adjuvant chemo - balancing early gains vs late effects. How can we figure out who benefits?
2. Primary RPLND - does robotic surgery change the value proposition of surgery vs chemotherapy?
3. The outstanding mi371 tumour marker - a bluffer's guide
With your usual hosts. Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Renu was in Taipei recently and caught up with Prof Jacob Pang, Urologist and President of the Urological Association of Asia Annual meeting which takes place in Taipei from 14-17 August 2025. Find out why you should attend in this quick pod!
UAA 2025 Congress website
What do Lions Rugby and Cardio-oncology have in common?? Well tune in to this episode of GU Cast to find out!
The incidence of cardiovascular disease is high in our patients with advanced prostate cancer (more than maybe we appreciate), plus fundamental treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) further increase the risk of cardiovascular events. And now there is a multidisciplinary field called cardio-oncology which is set to address all of this. How do we (simply) assess cardiovascular risk? Who needs to be optimised? What do we need to know about LHRH analogues vs anatagonists? What about ARPIs and drug-drug interactions with statins and blood thinners?
Superb studio guest today to discuss all of this, and our first ever Cardiologist! Dr Alex Lyon (Royal Brompton Hospital, London) is a world renowned expert in cardio-oncology and joined us to run through a bit of a dummy’s guide to prostate cardio-oncology. With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Bronze Partners, Cipla.
Even better on our YouTube channel.
Another in our series of Themed Podcasts focussing on GU Oncology in China. We are joined by our China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu (Fudan University, Shanghai), and Prof Xuedong Wei (Soochow University, Jiangsu). to find out what the current treatment landscape is for mHSPC in China. Is it ADT/ARPI doublets for all?? Anyone still give chemo? Who gets a PSMA PET/CT? And what is the current status and role for radioligand therapy at progression? Plus, when are we taking GU Cast to Chin again?! All this and more!
With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
Thanks to our Gold Partner, Bayer China, for supporting our China Themed Episode Series, and for supporting all our GU Cast Conference Highlights.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Those two gigantic PSMA review papers in European Urology - Perera et al 2016 and Perera et al 2020 - have been cited more than 2000 times and have been the definitive reference for anyone writing about PSMA PET/CT in the past ten years. And they have just been updated in two new papers just published in European Urology! Previous first author (Marlon) Perera, has moved to senior author, while Elio Mazzone has led both papers as first author, co-ordinating a massive effort between research teams in Melbourne and Milano. One paper is focused on diagnosis and staging, and the other on assessment of recurrence.
GU Cast co-Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined from Milano by Elio Mazzoni and Alberto Briganti, and in studio by Marlon Perera, to summarise some of the key findings, and describe the immense effort which went into these papers. Worthy successors to the Perera et al papers of the past!
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Paper 1: PSMA PET/CT for diagnosis and staging
Paper 2: PSMA PET/CT for recurrence
A beachside interview with Michael Hofman to hear all the PSMA theranostic highlights at ASCO this year! Yes we left our suburban studio in Melbourne and wandered down to St Kilda beach to track down Michael for a beer and a chat. Even in mid-Winter we enjoyed sitting out in a beachside shack at the Beachcomber Cafe and Beach Bar.
Michael shot some great interviews in Chicago with top clinicians in Nuclear Medicine including Bastiaan Privé, Louise Emmet, Jeremie Calais, Urologist Alberto Briganti, and Medical Oncologist Rana McKay. Great multidisciplinary perspectives on the Bullseye trial, Violet, Enza-P plus much more. Including a chat about the great promise of CAIX in renal cancer.
With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
Enjoy the beachside chat even more on our YouTube channel
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Gold Partners, Bayer China.
Links:
Beachside Bar, St Kilda
What is Histolog?? Well, now that intra operative margin assessment is a such a hot topic in prostate cancer surgery after the Neurosafe RCT read-out, we thought we would dive into one of the other new technologies for doing something similar, but without the pragmatic challenges of frozen section. The idea is to assess the surgical margin of the prostate at the time of surgery to improve nerve sparing and sexual function for patients.
We are joined by Professor Greg Shaw (University College London, UK), PI of the Neurosafe Proof trial, which we already featured following their Lancet Oncology paper in March 2025, and our colleague Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, AUS), who is leading a study of the Histolog device here in Melbourne. We chat first about Neurosafe and why intra-operative margin assessment is important, and then dive into Histolog which Greg has some experience with.
Histolog uses confocal laser microscopy to assess the prostate specimen at the time of surgery, with a similar principle to frozen section analysis as used in the Neurosafe technique. However Histolog offers a lot more convenience and removes some of the practical barriers we face with frozen section, which are barriers to implementation. But is it as good as frozen section? Join your usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen to find out more.
Many thanks to our Silver Partners, Device Technologies, who are distributing the Histolog technology here in Australia, and to Samantree who are the manufacturers of the Histolog device.
This episode better enjoyed on our YouTube channel (if you don't mind some surgical scenes)!
Links
Previous GU Cast on Neurosafe with Greg Shaw and colleagues
Histolog device manufacturer website
A wonderful meandering chat with Ketan Badani (Urologist, Mt Sinai, NYC)! We took him for a wine tour in the Yarra Valley, stopping for a pod chat at Rochford Winery about screening for prostate cancer in older men, plus a great tour around Healesviile Sanctuary to introduce Ketan to some Australian wildlife. Then back in Melbourne we had another chat, this time a bit of future-gazing about the future of surgery, and Declan and Ketan trade tales about EMR (that's Electronic Medical Record) delinquency.
Ketan was visiting Melbourne as a guest of Device Technologies to speak at the Epworth Healthcare Robotic Urology Masterclass. And what a great guest he was!
With your usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. Thanks to our fantastic guide Trish at Healesville Sanctuary, and Beatrice who looked after us at Rochford Winery.
This one much better enjoyed on our YouTube channel!
Links:
Rochford Winery
Healesville Sanctuary
A Masterclass in advanced kidney cancer today with the great Danny Heng (University of Calgary, Canada), and our own Lewis Au (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne). Both popped into the GU Cast studio while Danny was in Australia doing some lectures and visiitng us at Peter Mac.
We challenged Danny and Lewis to simplify three hot topics in kidney cancer, ideal if (like us) you find it difficult to keep up with this fast-moving area. The three areas are:
1. What sort of patient is this? Risk stratification made easy (by Danny, Master of the universe of Risk Stratification in kidney cancer)
2. Novel scans and biomarkers in kidney cancer - a bluffers guide
3. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in kidney cancer - what the urologist needs to know
Even better on our YouTube channel
Meet the young new faces of collaborative urological research!! GU Cast host Declan Murphy discusses the latest in international collaborative trials with A/Prof Veeru Kasivisvanathan, Dr Alexander Ng, and highly ambitious medical students, Miss Aishwarya Shah and Mr Alexander Dudko. They discuss their latest research from the COMPASS group including the PRIME trial (bpMRI vs mpMRI in detecting prostate cancer), and upcoming PARADIGM (AI vs Radiologists in detecting prostate cancer trials. And from BURST Urology we hear an update from the RESECT (can audit and feedback improve TURBT outcomes?) trial. The team discusses mentorship and bringing up the next generation of early career researchers, including medical students and early-stage trainees.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
· COMPASS
· PRIME DOI
· PARADIGM DOI
· BURST
· RESECT DOI
When Fred Saad (Urologist, University of Montreal, Montreal) and Andrew Weickhardt (Medical Oncologist, Austin Health, Melbourne) popped into our studio recently we decided to pick their brains on a few hot topics in mHSPC - we called it the ABC of mHSPC! Fred was in Melbourne to visit Peter Mac and do some educational talks and we loved welcoming him back on GU Cast.
A is for ARPIs - who/when/which?
B is for treatment Break - can we use an intermittent approach to ADT/ARPI doublets without yet having trials in the ARPI era to guide us?
C is for Chemo - surely there is almost no role for docetaxel chemo in the ARPI era?? Or so asks Declan, well known triplet therapy sceptic! Do Fred and Andrew agree??!
A great overview of hot topics in mHSCP! Thanks to Fred and Andrew! With your usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Even better on our YouTube channel
A big welcome back to EAU Guideline gurus, Dr Derya Tilki (Martini-Klinik, Hamburg, Germany), and Dr Gianluca Giannarini (Santa Maria della Misericordia University Hospital, Udine, Italy), for an overview of the major headlines from this year's EAU Guideline update. Derya is Deputy Chair of the EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline Committee and has picked out four areas to discuss. These are:
1. New stratification for favourable and unfavourable prostate cancer
2. PSMA PET/CT now recommended for unfavourable intermediate-risk cancer
3. No change to PLND recommendations due to lack of benefit in MSKCC RCT update
4. Importance of multidisciplinary approach for mHSPC
So tune in so you can pretend you have read the full 250 page 2025 Guideline!!
Your usual co-hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
Updated 2025 EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline
For serious PSMA theranostics enthusiasts!!! We bring you the ninth of our collaborative PSMA webinars over the past five years, in collaboration with our team at ProsTIC and at the Prostate Cancer Foundation in the US. A truly outstanding faculty presenting today including Misha Beltran, Marty Pomper, Ed Kwan and Louise Emmett.
Co-hosted by Declan Murphy and Michael Hofman with a welcome from Howard Soule and Andrea Miyahira. Declan and Michael are joined in studio by Louise Kostos who helps field the many questions from the huge global audience who joined us live.
Much better appreciated on our YouTube channel where you can see all the presentations
What is the da Vinci Single Port (SP) robot and is it any good? Is it easy to transition from the multiport robot to a single port robot? What about Retzius-sparing prostatectomy using the SP robot? GU Cast hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen learn the answers to these questions and more when we visit top prostate cancer surgeons Dr Declan Cahill and Prof Chris Eden at London Bridge Hospital, to see the UK's only SP robot in action. The SP robot has been approved in the US for a few years, and now approved in Europe and Australia, so we hope to have it available for our patients very soon. Plus we see how they use the Neurosafe intra-operative margin assessment technique at London Bridge Hospital.
This one definitely best enjoyed on our YouTube channel
This is a Themed Episode supported by our Partners, Device Technologies.
Like very many countries around the world our friends in China are big fans of the EAU Guidelines, and are always tuned in when the updated Prostate Cancer Guidelines is released every year. So as part of our China Themed Episode Series, supported by our Gold Partners Bayer China, we are discussing some key updates to this year's Guideline with our China Editor Dr Yao Zhu (Shanghai) along with Dr Junlong Zhuang (Nanjing).
Even better on our Youtube channel
A bit of a break from the usual GU Oncology routine today folks! Declan was back at Guy's Hospital recently doing a talk and heard a remarkable story told by one of the Urology Fellows, Dr Joachim Jimie. A quite spectacular mid-air crisis, and some great life lessons in there also.
Declan could not resist the opportunity to grab Jimie and tell the tale again for GU Cast. Enjoy!!!
Even better on our YouTube channel
180 episodes later and Declan and Renu have cracked out the champagne in the GU Cast studio! Tune in for this quick pod with some reminiscing and some thank you's, especially to you our global audience!
Radiation cystitis! Now this can be a really challenging condition for urologists, and especially for patients, to manage and to live with. And we frequently struggle to get good results.
It is often years and years after radiation to the pelvis when patients return with problems like bleeding, pain, incontinence, fistula etc, which can have everything from minor, to ruinous effects on quality of life. And although these are radiation oncology patients, it is the urologist (and sometimes other surgeons) who have to manage these unfortunate side-effects of radiation.
Today we travel to London to chat with two Urologists at Guy’s Hospital who have set up a dedicated clinic to manage Radiation Cystitis patients from across the UK. Dr Ramesh Thurairaja and Dr Yasmin Abu Ghanem, explain why they set up this service, and share with us their strategy for assessing and managing radiation cystitis. This episode is full of useful advice for anyone out there managing radiation cystitis, and hopefully might inspire more people to set up similar clinics to look after these unfortunate patients.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
Guy's Hospital Radiation Cystitis Clinic
Pelvic Radiation Disease Best Practice Pathway
More great highlights from the recent EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Declan and Renu chat with Christian Gratzke, Sima Pore]ten, Yinjie Zhu, Rod Dunn, and have a most entertaining "pit lane walk" with Ben Challacombe around the various robots in the exhibition area.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Declan and Renu bring you some great highlights from the recent EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Hear from Laurie Klotz and Adam Kinnaird about the OPTIMUM RCT, Sarah Psutka and Laura Bukavina discuss their bladder cancer highlights, Riccardo Campi talks biomarkers, changes in practice and other highlights, and Rod van den Bergh and Eoin Dinneen debate the finer points of the NEUROSAFE Proof RCT.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
OPTIMUM paper in JAMA
Our Neurosafe podcast
Really big prostate cancer news today with the release of very interesting results from the Neurosafe Proof trial at the EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Also simultaneously published in Lancet Oncology so this is a big deal!! In summary, this multi centre randomised trial from the UK demonstrates that men undergoing the Neurosafe technique (intra-operative assessment of surgical margins), had higher rates of nerve sparing surgery and this in turn led to improvements of recover of sexual function.
We were delighted to have a detailed discussion on this with key members of the University College London team who led this trial - Prof Greg Shaw, Dr Eoin Dinneen, and Dr Ricardo Almeida-Magana.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partner, Mundipharma
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Full paper in Lancet Oncology
Funders:
National Institute for Health Research
JP Poulton Charitable Foundation
Rosetree Trust
Orchid
We are delighted to drop this pod just as the landmark TRANSLATE trial reads out at the EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid, with a simultaneous publication in Lancet Oncology. This is the world's largest trial of transrectal vs transperineal (TP) prostate biopsy, and reports that TP biopsy has superior cancer detection ability. Is this the end of the road for TRUS biopsy.
Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are delighted to welcome first and senior authors, Prof Richard Bryant and Dr Alastair Lamb of the University of Oxford to have a detailed discussion about TRANSLATE and what this means for prostate biopsy.
`Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Lancet Oncology paper
Funders:
Declan Murphy is in the GU Cast studio in Shanghai with GU Cast China Editor, Prof Yao Zhu. We sit down with Prof Hao Zeng (West China Hospital) and Dr Ye Yan to discuss their experiences and perspectives on advancements in diagnostics like MRI and PSMA PET, the increasing use of Chinese-developed robotic surgery platforms, and the ongoing debate surrounding pelvic lymph node dissection. They also address the application of systemic therapies for metastatic disease, considering the unique characteristics of the Chinese patient population and the potential for dose adjustments. Today's pod also highlights the growing importance of precision oncology, including genomic testing for mutations to guide treatment decisions, while acknowledging the challenges and future directions in this area.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partner, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/xlOuS4swcuc
This week we had the great pleasure of attending the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), which took place in the beautiful city of Perth, far out on the West Coast of Australia. Not just that, but we spent a wonderful afternoon on one of Australia’s top tourist attractions, Rottnest Island. Tune in for plenty of quokka action!
Plus, of course we bring you some great conference highlights, chatting with international guests, including Laura Bukavina, Alberto Breda, Samir Taneja, plus Australian guests, Nathan Lawrentschuk, Michael Chamberlain, and Scientific Convener Trenton Barrett.
GU Cast conference highlights are brought to you by our Conference Highlights partner, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel (check out Rottnest Island and the Quokkas)!!
A fantastic episode for urologists, radiation oncologists, and anyone interested in localised prostate cancer. Biochemical recurrence (BCR) is unfortunately all too common after surgery or radiation for prostate cancer, and today we talk with someone who has been working in BCR for more than 20 years. Dr Steve Freedland, Urologist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, popped into the GU Cast studio to talk about the landmark series from Johns-Hopkins Medical Institute (links below) which still today remains our best guide to the natural history of BCR after radical prostatectomy. And the key message that PSA doubling time is our most important tool to risk stratify patients reminds true today.
And Steve of course is the lead investigator of the EMBARK trial, published in NEJM in 2023, which has led to a new standard of care for men experiencing high-risk BCR after surgery or radiotherapy. EMBARK has clearly shown us that the use of enzaluamide, either on its own, or with androgen deprivation therapy, reduces the risk of metastases when compared with ADT alone. We dive deep into EMBARK with Steve.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Astellas. Astellas also supported Steve to be in Australia this week for the USANZ ASM in Perth, and visits to Melbourne and Sydney.
Your hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
Freedland et al JAMA 2005
EMBARK paper in NEJM
Two great international visitors recently led to two great sets of podcast chats!! Dr Kim Chi (Vancouver), and Dr Carmen Mir (Valencia) were in Melbourne to speak at the PROSPECT Meeting (see links below). We grabbed Kim along with Prof Arun Azad (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne), and Dr Louise Kostos (also Peter Mac), to overlook some hot topics in mHSPC. And then a cracking chat with Carmen along with two Europeans doing Urology Fellowship training in Melbourne - Dr Christa Babst (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/Switzerland), and Dr Marta Alves (Royal Melbourne Hospital/Barcelona). Carmen had also done a Fellowship in Melbourne at Austin Health so could give some great perspectives.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also supported the recent PROSPECT meeting.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
PROSPECT podcast Part 1
PROSPECT Podcast Part 2
A breaking news podcast from ASCO GU in San Francisco! Prof Louise Emmett (St Vincent's, Sydney), has just read out the latest update from the ENZA-P trial (and simultaneous publication in Lancet Oncology), reporting that the combination of LuPSMA and enzalutamide improves overall survival when compared with enzalutamide alone, in men with poor prognosis mCRPC. Big news!! A 45% reduction in the risk of death in favour of the combination. Plus excellent quality of life for those receiving the combo.
We are joined by Louise and co-author A/Prof Andrew Weickhardt (Austin Health, Melbourne), to discuss this exciting data from the ENZA-P trial, and what it means for the future of not just mCRPC, but also for similar combinations in mHSPC.
ENZA-P is an investigator-initiated Phase II trial led by ANZUP in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Research Alliance, a join initiative between the Australian Government and Movember.
Your co-hosts as ever are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.
This is a Themed podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Astellas, and our Silver Partners, Novartis.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Lancet Oncology paper
ANZUP
Look who popped into the GU Cast studio this week for a chat about where we are going next with radioligand therapy (RLT) for prostate cancer! Professors Oliver Sartor (Mayo Clinic, Rochester) and Michael Hofman (Peter Mac, Melbourne), are two of the world's most pre-eminent experts in the world of RLT for prostate cancer. They were each respectively PIs on the VISION and TheraP RCTs published in NEJM and Lancet in 2021, and both have many ongoing trials in RLT for prostate cancer.
We hear in which stages of prostate cancer LuPSMA is next likely to be approved, and some discussion about exciting trials soon to read out. We also discuss other RLTs including actinium and terbium, combinations, imaging technology for patient selection, AI, and the word "cure" even gets a mention. A very entertaining and exciting discussion with two of the best in the business.
Your regular hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen, Urologists at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Novartis.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Michael's paper in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine:"The Hierarchy of SUVs: From Diagnostics to Therapeutics and the Pathway to Effective Theranostics"
Dr Toni Choueiri, Chief of GU Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA) returns to GU Cast with members of his team at Dana Farber Cancer Institute to discuss our favourite lists of top GU Oncology papers for 2024. Toni has posted these now legendary lists at the end of each year on Twitter/X since the start of Covid, and they have become essential reading for anyone wanting a superb overview of top trials. Each tweet contains a top line summary of each trial and key images such as K-M curves, plus links to the original papers. A huge amount of work and a great resource.
Today we are joined by Toni along with Dr Marc Eid and Dr Emre Yekeduz who helped compile this year's lists. We hear about the process behind it all, and we run through their Top 10 Bladder and Renal Cancer papers, and their Top 5 Prostate Cancer papers. The team also post their Top 10 Translational papers and Their Top 10 non-GU Oncology papers.
Well done again to Toni, Marc, Emre and team! Links to the tweets below.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Top 10 Bladder and Renal Cancer Papers
Top 5 Prostate Cancer Papers
Part 2 of our GU Cast Conference Highlights from Shanghai including discussions with Dr Stephen Freedland (Los Angeles), Dr Liang Liang (Shaanxi), Dr Andrea Necchi (Milano), Dr Xiaojie Bian (Shanghai), and Dr Hongkai Wang (Shanghai). Declan Murphy travelled to Shanghai for the 14th GU Oncology Academic Meeting hosted by Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre, and to meet up with our GU Cast China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu. This is an excellent meeting in one of our very favourite cities. In Part 1 we spoke to Conference Chair, Dr Dingwei Ye, Dr Karim Fizazi, Dr Peng Wu, and Dr Axel Merseburger, to overview the latest stories in GU Oncology.
Special thanks to our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China, who set up an amazing GU Cast studio for us in Shanghai. Thanks to Hexun and all the local Bayer team in China.
Also available as an audio podcast - just search GU Cast wherever you get your podcasts
Declan Murphy travels to Shanghai for the 14th GU Oncology Academic Meeting hosted by Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre, and to meet up with our GU Cast China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu. This is an excellent meeting in one of our very favourite cities, and this year Declan joins International Faculty including Dr Stephen Freedland (Los Angeles), Dr Karim Fizazi (Paris), Dr Axel Merseburger (Lubeck). and Dr Andrea Necchi (Milano) to overview the latest stories in GU Oncology. Top Chinese experts from across the country also join and the meeting includes some landmark consensus statements from multidisciplinary panels.
Today we post Part 1 of our GU Cast Conference Highlights from Shanghai including discussions with Conference Chair, Dr Dingwei Ye, Dr Karim Fizazi, Dr Peng Wu, and Dr Axel Merseburger.
Special thanks to our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China, who set up an amazing GU Cast studio for us in Shanghai. Thanks to Hexun and all the local Bayer team in China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Our final episode of the year! And we end with a very seasonal celebration of single-port surgery and the Boxing Day Test with Australia playing India in one of the world's most famous cricket matches. We coaxed Dr Mihir Desai (University of Southern California, Los Angeles) and A/Prof Daniel Moon (Peter Mac, Melbourne) out of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and into our nearby studio at the close of play on Day 2 to talk all things single-port surgery (and cricket). Cricket-mad Mihir flew in from LA to tick off his bucket list ambition of attending a Boxing Day Test. We reminisce about the early days of single-port laparoscopy and talk about what robotic surgery does (and does not) bring to single-port surgery.
Plus we remember the day that Indy Gill met Shane Warne at the MCG ten years ago while attending a meeting here! Two legends of their games.
And to end season 5 of GU Cast, your hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen thank our amazing Partners for supporting our ever expanding pool of content from GU Cast.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
BJUi Blog about when Indy met Warnie
Have you ever found the choice of agents in metastatic kidney cancer just a bit perplexing??! Well then this is the podcast for you! To celebrate a fantastic review paper recently published in European Urology, we chat with first author Dr Regina Barragan-Carillo (City of Hope, California), and second senior author Dr Tian Zhang (UT South-Western, Texas). The title of the paper is "First and Second-line Treatments in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma", and it's about the best paper we have read on this topic, with a proper who's who in renal cancer contributing. Plus completely up to date with a literature review up to October 2024.
Co-hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen really enjoyed this one!
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Bronze Partner, Ipsen Pharmaceuticals.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
European Urology paper (paywall)
Legendary British cyclist Sir Chris Hoy (48) recently shocked the world by announcing that he has progressive metastatic prostate cancer. His specialists have given him a 2-4 year life expectancy. The dreadful news that no prostate cancer patient wants to hear.
Today, hosts Prof Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen welcome their good mates A/Prof Ben Challacombe (Guy's Hospital, London), and A/Prof Daniel Moon (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne) to the GU Cast studio, and patient advocate Andrei Norris who joins on Zoom to discuss the huge publicity this has generated, and the importance of family history in assessing men's risk of prostate cancer.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Part 2 Highlights from a GU Cast Live Event! Dr Kim Chi (Medical Oncologist, Vancouver) and Dr Carmen Mir (Urologist, Valencia) joined the PROSPECT meeting in Melbourne to discuss high-risk prostate cancer and mHSPC, along with many experts from around Australia. On the eve of the meeting over dinner, Declan Murphy led a GU Cast-themed panel discussion on five hot topics in prostate cancer, featuring snippets from GU Cast over the past few months.Part 2 today features controversies in PLND, the somewhat notorious ARPI switch control arm beloved of mCRPC trials, and teh importnt topic of de-escalation in advanced prostate cancer. Part 1 recently in your feeds included PSMA conundrums and triplet vs doublet therapy.
Even better on our YouTube channel
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also support the PROSPECT meeting.
Special thanks to David Chen for help with videography
What are we to make of this large RCT of extended vs standard pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) for prostate cancer?? Despite it not meeting its primary endpoint of improving biochemical recurrence, the authors now report in European Urology that it does reduce the incidence of distant metastases 10 years later! Go figure!
We chat with Dr Karim Touijer (MSKCC) and try to figure it out. We ask about data dredging, p-hacking and statistical shenanigans, and how adding two minutes and two extra lymph nodes to a PLND could possibly lead to reduced metastases.
Plus guest comments from Dr John Yaxley (Brisbane). What do you think??!! Will this change practice?? Will this change guidelines? Tune in and share your thoughts!
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Paper in European Urology
Previous GU Cast with Karim discussing earlier paper (Feb 2022)
Highlights from a GU Cast Live Event! Dr Kim Chi (Medical Oncologist, Vancouver) and Dr Carmen Mir (Urologist, Valencia) joined the PROSPECT meeting in Melbourne to discuss high-risk prostate cancer and mHSPC, along with many experts from around Australia. On the eve of the meeting over dinner, Declan Murphy led a GU Cast-themed panel discussion on five hot topics in prostate cancer, featuring snippets from GU Cast over the past few months. Part 1 today features PSMA conundrums and triplet vs doublet therapy.
Even better on our YouTube channel
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also support the PROSPECT meeting.
Special thanks to David Chen for help with videography
A GU Cast Live Event!! Everything you need to know about treatment intensification in mHSPC!! Doublet vs Triplet. Who should have radiotherapy? PSMA PET/CT conundrums, e-escalation, case discussions and more. Featuring GU Cast Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen, Medical Oncologist Ben Tran, Nuclear Medicine Physician Louise Emmett, and Radiation Oncologist Amy Hayden. Plus lots of interaction from our live audience around Australia.
Watch the full webinar including presentations on our YouTube channel
This GU Cast Live Event was an interactive educational webinar supported by our Gold Partners, Mundipharma.
Learning objectives:
1. Provide an overview of the landscape of mHSPC today, with a particular focus on intensification of therapy
2. Provide an overview of the role of novel and conventional imaging in diagnosis of mHSPC, both synchronous
and metachronous
3. To better understand options for intensification of systemic therapy in mHSPC
4. To better understand the role of radiotherapy in mHSPC
In the third of our special episodes focussing on GU Oncology in China, we are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast China Editor, Professor Yao Zhu, who has selected three huge prostate cancer highlights from the recent #ESMO24 meeting in Barcelona. We are joined by Professor Shouzhen Chen (Qilu Hospital, Shandong University), and Professor Zhenhua Liu (Sichuan University, West China Hospital) to discuss PEACE-3, ARANOTE, and UpFront PSMA, and in particular to consider what these data mean to health care professionals and patients in China.
This is a Themed Podcast as part of our Gold Partnership with Bayer Pharmaceuticals in China. We are very grateful to Bayer China for helping us promote GU Cast in China and supporting these Themed Episodes.
Even better on our YouTube channel
You can also catch our recent full GU Cast Conference Highlights from #ESMO24 here
Today we celebrate one of our favourite clinical trials - ENZAMET! It is 10 years since ENZAMET opened and beyond its pivotal data establishing that adding enzalutamide to ADT improves survival for mHSPC patients, it continues to produce a very strong stream of high-quality findings that affect our practice today. ENZAMET also straddled an epochal era which included the advent of doectaxel upfront in mHSPC, and the introduction of PSMA PET/CT.
Today we were very happy to speak to two of the principal architects of ENZAMET; Professor Ian Davis, Chair of the ANZUP co-operative trials group, and Professor Chris Sweeney. Director of the South Australian ImmunoGENomics Cancer Institute, who told us the extraordinary story of how this trial came about, the challenges and evolutions of its rollout, and the strong tail end of translational and other research which it continues to produce. It is a great example of how investigator initiated trials run by nimble and ambitious cooperative trial groups like ANZUP can do things a little differently.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Astellas.
Een better on our YouTube channel
Links:
ANZUP
Previous podcast from #ANZUP24 Annual Scientific Meeting
ENZAMET 2019 paper NEJM
ENZAMET 2023 paper Lancet Oncology
Ask anyone which big oncology meeting gave us the best GU oncology highlights this year and the answer is easy! ESMO24 in Barcelona! Jammed full of key papers and so many highlights, Declan and Renu bring you a great overview in this GU Cast Conference Highlights from ESMO24.
Listen to discussions with investigators and key opinion leaders, interviews with delegates, a fun speed-walk through the prostate cancer poster session, and a fun morning at the OncoAlert 5K.
GU Cast Conference Highlights ares supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Penis Project is one of our favourite podcasts (and certainly popular with our patients), so we were delighted to welcome Host and Sexologist, Melissa Hadley-Barrett to join us for a chat. What is the Penis Project? Who is it for? (anyone with a penis, anyone who knows someone with a penis, or anyone who would like to have a penis apparently)! A cracking chat and we highly recommend subscribing. Just search Penis Project or browse the links below
Even better on our YouTube channel
Websites:
https://melissahadleybarrett.com Men’s health only
https://rshealth.com.au/ All genders
SPECIAL OFFER - use the code MHB10 at the checkout on all the programs (penile rehab and erectile dysfunction and peyronies) or in the shop to get a 10% discount.
Facebook:
https://m.facebook.com/p/Melissa-Hadley-Barrett-100085237672685/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085146627814
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/melissahadleybarrett/
https://www.instagram.com/restorativehealth.clinic/
TikTok: @melissahadleybarrett
YouTube: Melissa Hadley Barrett
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-hadley-barrett/
TEDX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHj1YTmLoA
The world's longest running live robotic surgery meeting took place in Bordeaux last week and Declan and Renu were there to bring you all the highlights! The 21st Meeting of the EAU Robotic Urology Section (ERUS) was their biggest ever with more than 1000 delegates watching more than 40 live surgeries from the world's top robotic surgeons. And this year includes some quite spectacular telesurgery with surgeons in Bordeaux and patients 8000km away in Beijing!! Renu takes a few new robots for a test drive, and we catch up with some of the biggest names in the business.
This is a Themed Episode supported by our Silver Partners, Device Technologies Australia, distributors of the da Vinci Surgical System across Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia
Even better on our YouTube channel
A big day at ESMO in Barcelona today as our friend and colleague A/Professor Arun Azad presents the results of the UpFront PSMA trial for the first time. The data were revealed in the main prostate cancer session at ESMO and simultaneously published in Lancet Oncology. UpFront PSMA is a randomised controlled trial comparing ADT and docetaxel, with ADT + done + LuPSMA in men newly diagnosed high-volume mHSPC. This is a world-first readout of LuPSMA in a prospective randomised trial for mHSPC, and clearly shows a benefit. We dive into the details today with Arun, and another friend and colleague, Professor Michael Hofman, nuc med lead for UpFront PSMA.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Novartis.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Full paper in Lancet Oncology here
More than 500 salvage radical prostatectomies!!! Yep it would be fair enough to describe Dr Paul Cathcart as being "experienced" in the most challenging scenario we face as prostate cancer surgeons. Surgery for cancer recurrence in the prostate following radiotherapy or various forms of ablative therapy is never easy, and can all too often lead to issues with healing and quality of life recovery due to the impact of prior failed treatments, so we are always keen to see how we can improve outcomes.
Paul dropped into the GU Cast studio when back in Melbourne this week, a little over ten years on from his Fellowship training here. He is a Consultant Urologist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, where his main area of expertise is indeed salvage robotic radical prostatectomy. Paul shares his perspectives and tips and tricks for performing this procedure to try and give patients the best possible outcome, and also explains why he prefers the da Vinci Surgical System over the new robot kids on the block.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Device Technologies, distributors of the da Vinci Surgical System.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Testis cancer! We don't talk enough about this on GU Cast. But we are making up for it today with a cracking overview of three hot topics in testis cancer a couple of world-leading testis cancer experts. We are joined by Rob Hamilton (Urologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto), and Ben Tran (Medical Oncologist, Peter Mac, Melbourne) to discuss changes in surveillance for stage 1 seminoma, changes in the management of stage 2 seminoma (including robotic RPLND), and miRNA as a really useful biomarker. A really lively discussion on three really topical areas in testis cancers.
Even better on our YouTube channel
We recorded this one at the ANUP Annual Scientific Meeting in July 2024. You can find a full GU Cast covering the rest of the ANZUP24 highlights here
As if any of us need an excuse to go to beautiful Bali! Well the Urological Association of Asia (UAA) Annual Meeting takes place there from 5-8th September 2024. Renu caught up with Dr Agus Rizal Hamid recently to hear what the UAA have in store for us!
www.uaa2024.com
How often do you check PSA and testosterone in your patients on androgen deprivation therapy? Probably not often enough!! Declan caught up with friend of the podcast Professor Axel Merseburger at a conference recently to chat about this under-appreciated topic. Don't get too distracted by fancy scans and genomic testing; but do make sure you know a bit about why it matters to get testosterone (and PSA) as low as possible.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Mundipharma.
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Today we dedicate our podcast to the memory of our colleague, Dr Brian Kelly (40), who passed away unexpectedly this week. We are devastated to lose Brian, who was a Consultant Urologist at Peter Mac and Eastern Health here in Melbourne, and one of our closest friends in the world.
Here we replay the Memorial Session which we conducted at Peter Mac this week. It features some great memories of Brian from contributors across the world; all of us shocked to lose one of the most special people in our urological community.
Our heartfelt condolences to Brian's mother Margaret, siblings Finnian, Sean and Ruth, and his son Tadhg.
Vale Brian we will miss you always x
YouTube for full video
We were very happy to have world-famous kidney cancer guru Dr Rana McKay in Australia this week to do some educational events and to visit us at Peter Mac. So of course we also invited her to the GU Cast studio to pick her brains on all things kidney cancer, along with Dr Lewis Au, GU Medical Oncologist at Peter Mac. We asked them to cover three hot topics:
1. Adjuvant immunotherapy following surgery for kidney cancer
2. First line management of metastatic kidney cancer - how do we choose best options for individual patients?
3. Future-gazing in renal cancer, including a focus on belzutifan.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Rana's visit to Australia was supported by our friends at MSD, Silver Partners of GU Cast.
Links:
Previous GU Cast on Keynote-564
Renu's new paper in Nature Reviews Urology! (mentioned in the intro)
Renu and Declan escape winter in Melbourne to enjoy a few days of sunshine and science at the #ANZUP24 Annual Scientific Meeting on the Gold Coast. ANZUP is our fantastic GU Oncology co-operative trials group here in Australia and New Zealand and have an outstanding record in running clinical trials and supporting research and education in GU Oncology. Plus this is their 14th Annual Scientific Meeting with some outstanding National and International guests.
We catch up with Paul Nguyen, Elena Castro, Ravi Kanesvaran, Fiona McLean, Cristiane Bergerot and Co-Convenor Matt Roberts to bring you some great highlights of this year's meeting.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Gold Partners, Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
ANZUP
To celebrate the Paris 2024 Olympics, we bring you this special Olympics-themed episode of GU Cast - our very own Prostate Cancer Olympics! Yes we We are joined in the GU Cast studio by Dr Elena Castro, GU Medical Oncologist at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, who happened to be passing through Melbourne. And by our own A/Professor Arun Azad, GU Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and one of our GU Cast Clinical Advisors.
We have three events and some great medal contenders, but who will win Gold??!! Tune in for some great discussion and debate, and some surprises and controversies along the way.
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals.
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In the second of our special episodes focussing on GU Oncology in China, we are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast China Editor. Professor Yao Zhu, who has put together this cracking epsiode focussing on radical prostatectomy in China. We are joined by Professor Ming Liu (Beijing Hospital, Beijing) and Professor Jiahua Pan (Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai) to discuss everything from current practices of pelvic lymph node dissection up to tantalising details of the new surgical robots which are in clinical use in China.
This is a Themed Podcast as part of our Gold Partnership with Bayer Pharmaceuticals in China. We are very grateful to Bayer China for helping us promote GU Cast in China and supporting these Themed Episodes.
Even better on our YouTube channel
There are patient advocates and there are patient advocates, and then there is Howard Wolinksy! We chat with the inimitable Howard, medical journalist and very long-time active surveillance patient, about his varied interests in low-risk prostate cancer and prostate cancer diagnostics. He runs a great substack called The Active Surveillor with a regular newsletter which we devour every week! l His current interests are in the abolition of transrectal prostate biopsy and the campaign to re-name grade group 1/Gleason 6 cancer as a non-cancer. We chat about all this and more, including that unforgettable appearance he made at the ASCO GU Plenary session!
Also available on our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Active Surveillor here
Part 2 of our Conference Highlight specials from the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference, held in April 2024 in Lugano. This is our very favourite prostate cancer meeting and we are thrilled to bring you these highlight podcasts. In this episode we chat with Elena Castro, Nick James, Anthony Joshua, Bertrand Tombal, Silke Gillessen, Aurelius Tomlin, Yüksel Ürün, Gill Morgan, and a gang of nuclear medicine phyicians including Michael Hofman, Louise Emmett, Tom Hope, Stefano Fanti, and Ken Herrmann.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our friends at Bayer China, Gold Partners of GU Cast.
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Pelvic lymph node dissection down-graded. Systematic prostate biopsies no longer recommended. More clarity around PSMA PET/CT for staging. Surgery no longer recommended for cN1 prostate cancer. Yep the recent updates to the EAU Prostate Cancer Guidelines had a lot of important changes for the global urology community to digest. So we invited EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline Vice-Chair Derya Tilki, and Guideline Board Member Gianluca Giannarini, along with Elio Mazzone to join us for a deep dive into these major changes. All you need to know!
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The first of two Conference Highlight specials from the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference, held in April 2024 in Lugano. This is our very favourite prostate cancer meeting and we are thrilled to bring you these highlight podcasts. In this epsiode we chat with Silke Gillessen, Derya Tilki, Jochen Walz, Neha Vapiwala, Dingwei Ye, and the lucky trainees who won a GU Cast Travel Award to attend this year's APCCC.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our friends at Bayer China, Gold Partners of GU Cast.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Didn't get to ASCO this year?? Us neither!! But not to worry, we checked in with Dr Marty Schoen who did, and brings us all the key highlights! Marty is a GU Medical Oncologist at the St Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Centre and the University of St Louis, Missouri. He runs through a smattering of stuff that caught his eye at ASCO this year. Thanks Marty!
Also on our YouTube channel
For Urologists, there are not that many papers that come along where we can say - "this will almost immediately change my practice". But KEYNOTE-564 looks like one of those! A large phase III randomised trial of adjuvant pembro following nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma in patients deemed at higher risk for recurrence. Regular listeners/viewers might remember we discussed this on GU Cast back in August 2021 when the disease-free survival endpoint was published in NEJM, and it would be fair to say we were cautious and kept saying "we need to wait for the overall survival data". Well here we are! Patients who received pembro for one year had a 38% reduced risk of death. Big news!
We are joined again by Dr Alex Kutikov, Urologist at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, who joined us on the original podcast. We are also joined by his colleague GU Medical Oncologist, Dr Matt Zibelman, who has a lot of experience in this area having been an investigator on the IMmotion 010 study. Unfortunately lead author Dr Toni Choueiri could not join us this time but he gets plenty of mentions!
This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, MSD, manufacturers of pembrolizomab, through an educational grant. MSD had no input into the content of this podcast.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Full NEJM paper
Previous GU Cast on K-564
Should we remove bladder cancers piece-meal by chopping them into little pieces, or should we try and remove en bloc with a margin around the base?? This very nice randomised controlled trial from our friends in Hong Kong demonstrates that the recurrence rate is significantly lower if we use the all-too-rarely used en bloc technique. Dr Jeremy Teoh from the Chinese University Hong Kong joins us to discuss his paper just published in European Urology.
Check out the YouTube version for a video of the technique.
Also available as an audio only podcast wherever you get your podcasts
Full paper here
Today we have Dr Alicia Morgans, GU Medical Oncologist and Director of Survivorship at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, in the GU Cast studio for a chat. We wanted to ask Alicia to look forward and identify three big challenges we will face in metastatic prostate cancer over the next 5-10 years. What did we come up with??!! Tune in to find out!!
Even better on our YouTube channel
In the first of our special episodes focussing on GU Oncology in China, we are delighted to welcome our inaugural GU Cast China Editor. Professor Yao Zhu, to the GU Cast studio. Yao is a Urologist at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre, and is well known to all of us at GU Cast and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. As part of our Gold Partnership with Bayer Pharmaceuticals in China, Yao will help us put together some Themed Podcasts focussing on GU Oncology in China.
This first episode focuses on one of our favourite topics, metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). We chat with Yao and special guest, Professor Ning Zhang (Beijing Anzhen Hospital, affiliated to Capital Medical University), and learn a lot about prostate cancer in China!
Even better on our YouTube channel
Great fun on the shores of Lake Lugano where the hosts of three of the best
-known podcasts in GU Oncology get together for a chat! Declan and Renu from GU Cast, join with Brian and Tom from Uromigos, and Gill from Oncoalert. How did it all start? Why did it all start?! Best moments, worst moments etc.
Tune if for a chat, and do please subscribe/like/follow all of us! Just search GU Cast/Uromigos/Oncoalert wherever you get your podcasts
The 2nd ProsTIC Preceptorship is one of the most intense fora for the discussion of PSMA theranostics anywhere in the world! A biennial meeting in Melbourne with many of the world's leading experts in the field. Not just superb practical advice about how to get your prostate cancer theranostics program to the next level, but some amazing discussions on where to next for theranostics in prostate cancer. Plus, watch out for the shenanigans at the conference dinner!
Our Conference Highlights are supported by our friends at Bayer China.
Even better on our YouTube channel
A new paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is reporting that the bowel and urinary side-effects of proton therapy (a high tech and very expensive type of radiotherapy), are no better than side-effects after standard high-quality radiotherapy (called IMRT). Quite a fuss on twitter when this paper came on line last week including from a fair few urologists, one of whom described proton therapy for prostate cancer as "a black eye for American healthcare"! (Thanks Scott!).
We chat with lead author Dr James Yu (Hartford, USA), and favourite GU Cast radiation oncologist Prof Shankar Siva to make sense of it all. And what does this mean for proton therapy in places like Australia who currently have no proton therapy facility.
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Links:
JCO paper
Professor Neil Fleshner (University of Toronto) drops into the GU Cast studio in Melbourne for an intriguing discussion! First we cover off the underrated topic of cardiac risks in patients starting androgen deprivation therapy and how we can reduce these for the benefit of our patients. Then we talk to Neil about entrepreneurship and his journey into very successful business ventures in recent years. He has some inspiring stories and some great advice for frustrated clinicians out there!
This episode is a Themed Podcast supported by our Bronze Partners, Cipla Australia.
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A big medical oncology love-in in the GU Cast studio today!! Professor Enrique Grande was visiting from MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Madrid to chat all about some of the sensational advances we have seen in metastatic bladder cancer in recent times. And we were also joined by old friend Professor Andrew Weickhardt from Austin Health in Melbourne to educate ourselves on what is an antibody drug conjugate and how does EV work. Plus lots of laughter!!
Even better on our YouTube channel. , Please do subscribe, rate and review.
Axel Merseburger (Chief and Professor of Urology, Lubeck, Germany) was in Australia recently and popped into the GU Cast studio for a chat. Axel was at the USANZ ASM recently and also on a speaker tour supported by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, so we put together this Themed Podcast to pick his brains on high-risk prostate cancer and mHSPC in 2024.
This Themed Podcast is supported by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Gold Partners of GU Cast.
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Declan and Renu bring you lots of highlights and interviews from the Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand (USANZ) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) which took place last week in Adelaide. Almost 1000 delegates descended on this beautiful part of the world, famous for its beaches and wineries.
Hear from Robert Nam, Paul Anderson, Nathan Lawrentschuk, Alan McNeill, Axel Merseburger, Dixon Woon, Michael Choong, Jo Cresswell, Anthony Ta, and Shane La Bianca who is Convenor of #USANZ25.
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by Bayer Pharmaceuticals (China), GU Cast Conference Highlights Partner.
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Needle through the rectum or needle through the skin?? Transrectal vs transperienal prostate biopsy is certainly a hot topic in prostate cancer, with the vast majority of men having their biopsy through the rectum rather than through the skin. It is quick, cheap and easy (for the urologist and the health system), but leaves the patient at risk of serious harm from infectious complications, at least according to historic reports.
Today Declan and Renu chat with Dr Jim Hu, Urologist at Cornell University in New York, and leader of the PREVENT trial, a randomised study of transrectal vs transperineal biopsy which has just been published in European Urology. We are also joined by Associate Professor Jeremy Grummet, Urologist at Alfred Health in Melbourne, and long-time advocate of transperineal biopsy. Did this trial finally establish transperineal as the new standard of care for men undergoing prostate biopsy?? Tune in to find out!
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
PREVENT trial in European Urology
Two of the highest profile presentations at the recent ASCO GU Meeting were the plenary presentations of the CONTACT 02 trial, and the Keynote-564 trial. Generally speaking, these were well received; indeed quite enthusiastically received in some quarters! Not however in the quarter of prolific oncology commentator and Haematologist/Oncologist & Professor of Epidemiology, Dr Vinay Prasad! “Unethical” and “sh**ty” are just some of the terms he used to describe these in two episodes of his podcast, “Plenary Session”. Declan and Renu take Vinay to task for some of the somewhat personal attacks he makes on colleagues, but do enjoy listening to his critique, and indeed agree with many of his points!
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Plenary Session podcast on Contact 02
Plenary Session podcast on Keynote-564
Dr Vinay Prasad Twitter
Renu caught up with lots of experts and friends at ASCO GU in San Francisco recently and brings you all the highlights. Hear from Toni Choueiri, Matt Cooperberg (on that debate on renaming low-grade prostate cancer), Todd Morgan, Neha Vapiwala, Morgan Roupret, Sophia Kamran, Morgan Roupret, Sam Washington, plus a great chat with Tyler Seibert while they were out for an early morning run around beautiful San Francisco.
Even better on our YouTube channel
GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Gold Partner, Bayer China.
For all you enthusiasts of PSMA theranostics, we bring you another one of our fabulous ProsTIC/Prostate Cancer Foundation Global Webinars with some of the best minds in the business. This is the eighth of our collaborative webinars over the past four years and the focus today is bringing lutetium PSMA earlier in prostate cancer.
Two keynote lectures from Dr Oliver Sartor (Mayo Clinic) and Professor Louise Emmett (St Vincent's. Sydney)set the scene, focusing on brand-new data from the PSMAfore and Enza-P trials. We have an Asia-Pacific focus with a superb range of multidisciplinary panellists from across the region.
Co-Hosted by GU Cast’s own Dr Renu Eapen with Professor Michael Hofman from ProsTIC/Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. They are joined in studio by friends of the podcast Dr Louise Kostos and Dr James Buteau.
Even better on our YouTube channel where you can see the presentations
A must listen (actually a must WATCH!!) episode of GU Cast if you have any experience with the side-effects of treatment of prostate cancer. Whether you are a patient or loved one, or a surgeon/radiation oncologist/medical oncologist, or a nurse or allied health professional - then this is for you.
Declan and Renu chat about "A Touchy Subject" with the wonderful Victoria Cullen.
This one much better enjoyed on our YouTube channel!
Links:
A Touchy Subject
We reveal the three winners of our APCCC Travel Awards 2024! These three trainees will be heading off to Lugano for the world's best prostate cancer meeting which takes place from 25-27 April on the shores of Lake Lugano.
A perennial topic on GU Cast!! But today we welcome a couple of very useful papers in European Urology Oncology which help us understand how PSMA PET/CT can help patient selection for pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate cancer. We are joined by Dr Giorgio Gandaglia from San Raffaele Hospital in Milano to discuss these two papers (links below).
We also hear about Declan's recent trip to San Raffaele as Visiting Professor, and he sits down for a wide-ranging chat with professor Francesco Monitorsi, Director & Professor of Urology at San Raffaele.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Can PSMA reduce PLND? A systematic review
Optimal use of PSMA to select patients for PLND. Updated validation of the Briganti and MSKCC nomograms
A quick message from Renu and Declan about our huge travel award giveaway to start the new year! Closing date Monday 15th Jan 2024
Full details on https://www.gucast.org/
A truly great Christmas tradition is when Toni Choueiri and his merry band of GU Oncology Fellows at Dana Farber, drop their list of the Top 10 GU Oncology papers of the year. And true to form, Toni's tweet on Christmas Day contains an immaculate list of GU highlights of 2023. A great mixture of tumour types, some brave choices with a Phase 1 study and a negative trial in there. And all the details beautifully summarised in their twitter thread (link below). And as ever, Declan and Renu were delighted to welcome Toni back to GU Cast to further disseminate this great list and discuss highlights and controversies.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Toni's tweet with Top 10 GU Onc papers of 2023
Our final podcast of 2023 and it's a big one!! Huge festive giveaway with three fully funded GU Cast travel awards to attend the APCCC in Lugano (April 2024) up for grabs. Alastair Lamb zooms in from Oxford to discuss prostate cancer spatial transcriptomics. Kiaran O'Malley (Mater Hospital, Dublin) drops into studio for a festive drink, and GU Cast Partnership & Content Manager Katie Wendt also pops in to say hi.
That's it for 2023! Declan and Renu wish all our listeners and viewers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We'll be back early in 2024.
This episode very enjoyable on on our YouTube channel
Links:
More details on GU Cast APCCC Travel Awards
APCCC website
More from Alastair and colleagues on spatial transcriptomics in this nice explainer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdzF0-PFXhc
Dr Ashish Kamat (MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston), joins Declan and Renu to discuss a very nice paper recently published in European Urology Oncology overviewsing the role of lymph node dissection (LND) in GU oncology. Really nice piece of work led by Dr Amanda Myers along with a bunch of well known names in urologic oncology. A very succinct summary of LND in bladder, upper tract urothelial, renal, prostate, penile and testicular cancer. Check out the link below to find the full paper
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links
Myers et al paper
It has becoming a familiar refrain around the world , and is certainly good news for the prostate cancer community! This week, another androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) became reimbursed for men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer (mHSPC) in Australia. Darolutamide is already available for men with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and is now also available for men with mHSPC in combination with androgen deprivation therapy and chemotherapy. Therefore we continue on our mission at GU Cast to educate ourselves about the use of ARPIs in mHSPC. And yes, even simple urologists like us can get up to speed with these drugs!
Declan and Renu are joined by fellow Urologist Associate Professor Joseph Ischia, one of our favourite prostate cancer experts. And a great podcaster himself! Check out the back catalogue of "Talking Urology" using the links below.
Plus what is a "jiffy stent"??? \
This Themed Podcast is supported by Bayer, Silver Partners of GU Cast.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Link:
https://www.talkingurology.com.au/
SABR supremos Piet Ost and Shankar Siva join us to discuss the management of lymph node-only recurrence following primary treatment of prostate cancer. And of course our resident PSMA PET/CT guru Michael Hofman also turned up as himself and Piet love debating the merits of PSMA!
How and when shoudl we image for biochemical recurrence? What are the limits of SABR? WHat about systemic therapy? It's all in this episode with great leaders in the field.
Recorded on site at Peter Mac on the fringe of the 2023 SABR Symposium. With your usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy
Even better on our YouTube channel
Prof Fred Saad (University of Montreal) drops in to chat about the interesting condition that is non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC). Which men are at risk of developing metastases? When should we use an AR pathway inhibitor? Why PSMA PET/CT should NOT be used. And hear his thoughts on "dabbling" in prostate cancer!
Also joined by Professor Shankar Siva and Dr Louise Kostos from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Hosted as ever by Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Declan Murphy.
Fred was on a speaker tour in Australia supported by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and this Themed Podcast is supported by Bayer, Silver Partners of GU Cast.
Update - we mentioned that darolutamide was the only ARPI listed for reimbursement in Australia (true at time of recording). We can update that all TGA approved ARPIs for nmCRPC are now reimbursed in Australia.
Even better on our YouTube channel
What a great ESMO for GU Oncology!! Declan caught up with some plenary speakers in Madrid to discuss the biggest topics. PSMA theranostics with Louise Emmett (ENZA-P) and Oliver Sartor (PSMAfore); ARPIs in biochemical recurrence with Steve Freedland (EMBARK), Morgan Roupret and Boris Hadaschik. Plus the latest negative immunotherapy trials in prostate cancer with Christian Gratzke.
Even better on our YouTube channel
The LuTectomy trial has just been published in European Urology, and as the GU Cast team have been very much involved, we thought we should dive into the details on today's podcast. LuTectomy is a clinical trial to evaluate the role of 177-Lutetium-PSMA prior to radical prostatectomy. Declan is the study co-PI along with Professor Michael Hofman, and Renu is first author on the LuTectomy paper (and doing a PhD on it)! Plus, Professor Ken Herrmann from Essen has co-authored the accompanying Editorial in European urology and joins us for a discussion.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Thanks to all the LuTectomy team and to all of our fantastic patients. And huge thanks to our funders.
Funding/Support:
This investigator-initiated study was funded by the Movember Foundation, the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) with contribution from the EJ Whitten Foundation and Novartis.
Acknowledgements:
We thank the medical, surgical, nursing, nuclear medicine, and administrative staff of all the departments at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre who were involved in this trial. We thank the patients who agreed to participate in the study. PSMA-617 was supplied
by Novartis and no carrier added 177Lu by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
We remember and thank the late Dr John Violet for his involvement including study conception and design.
Links:
LuTectomy paper in European Urology
LuTectomy Editorial
One of our most popular episodes in 2022 was "Patting the Hormone Therapy Shark" with author, surfer and prostate cancer survivor, Tim Baker. And a lot has happened in the 12 months since so we invited Tim back for a follow-up chat in this Themed Podcast supported by our GU Cast Gold Partners, Mundipharma.
Tim's inspiring approach to managing the side-effects of androgen deprivation therapy are well worth knowing for anyone involved in advanced prostate cancer including clinicians (especially clinicians!), nurses and allied health care professionals, industry, and of course patients and their loved ones. Tim runs through his "MEDS" strategy in this podcast, and also chats about other options including creative writing, the topic of his ongoing PhD.
Thanks to our friends at Mundipharma for their ongoing support for GU Cast through their Gold Partnership.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
Tim's website
Previous GU Cast episode
We hijacked our good friends Professor Boris Hadaschik (Urologist, Essen, Germany), and Associate Professor Tyler Seibert (Radiation Oncologist, University of California, San Diego), who happened to be in Melbourne this week, and diverted them into the GU Cast studio for a chat about high-risk prostate cancer. Boris and Tyler were on a speaker tour supported Janssen Pharmaceuticals, so we put together this Themed Podcast supported by Janssen (Gold Partners of GU Cast), to probe three key questions in high-risk prostate cancer in 2023:
1. What is the role of PSMA PET/CT in initial staging?
2. If the PSMA PET/CT is N0, can we avoid pelvic lymph node dissection?
3. What is the optimal radiotherpay strategy for high-risk prostate cancer in 2023?
Superb multidisciplinary chat with two great experts. Thanks to Janssen for their support for this Themed Episode of GU Cast.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Twitter links:
Boris Hadaschik
Tyler Seibert
The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Annual Meeting is the World's leading nuclear medicine extravaganza! Today we cross live to Professor Michael Hofman and friends to hear some of the GU highlights at this year's annual meeting in Vienna. Michael is joined by Prof Ken Herrmann, Dr Kerry Jewell, Dr Francesco Ceci, Dr Phiilip Kuo, Dr Bastiaan Privé and Dr Wolfgang Fendler. A fantastic update from EANM in Vienna!
Even better on our YouTube channel
The mass media were quick to pick up on two papers in JAMA Surgery last week with headlines such as "Patients have better outcomes with female surgeons", and "Should you pick the sex of your surgeon?". So what's it all about??
We chat with lead author of one of these papers. Dr Chris Wallis, Urologist at the University of Toronto, whose looked at outcomes for more than 1.2 million (!!) patients undergoing a range of surgery types, and showed that patients operated on by female surgeons had less complications and better survival. Another study from Sweden showed similar benefits in patients undergoing gallbladder surgery.
Chris tells us more. Plus Aoife McVey brings us some great social media highlights this week.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Article Links:
Chris Wallis et al paper
Swedish study on gallbladder surgery
Guardian Newspaper article
Twitter Links:
Fun at the EUREP Meeting courtesy of Uros Milenkovoic
Kim Kardashian in an MRI scanner
Rhea Liang weighs in on ortho comments
David Canes explains bladder diverticulum 3
David Canes Youtube channel
Is this the solution to screening for prostate cancer?? Don't bother with a PSA test and instead screen using a 10 minute MRI scan??! Re-IMAGINE is a very interesting prospective study published in BMJ Oncology this week which did exactly that with some really interesting findings.
We are joined by study authors Professor Caroline Moore and Professor Shonit Punwani to discuss.
Even better on our YouTube channel
Links:
BMJ Oncology paper
Coverage in Urology Times
What is a rectal spacer and do they help reduce side-effects from prostate radiation??! That's today's topic on GU Cast. Renu caught up with rectal spacer enthusiasts Professor Peter Orio (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and Associate Professor Shankar Siva (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) in downtown Melbourne this week to learn all about this topic.
Thanks to our friends at Icon Cancer Centre who supported Peter's educational tour to Australia this week.
Also watch full video on YouTube
Links:
Randomised trial of Barrigel recatl spacer in JAMA Oncology 2023 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2801296
Here's a quick plug for another podcast that GU Cast is very happy to support!
Launching in September 2023, the European Urology Podcast is a new monthly podcast to accompany the world's highest ranked urology journal, European Urology. Co-hosted by Professor Declan Murphy in Melbourne and Dr Joyce Baard in Amsterdam, the European Urology Podcast will highlight key papers and feature interviews with authors, editors and special guests. It will be produced by the team behind GU Cast.
Learn more in this short trailer and subscribe on your favourite podcast platform to get the latest content. Just search European Urology Podcast.
Also available as a full video podcast on the European Urology YouTube channel
Major scientific journals only change their Editor-in-Chief every 8-10 years so it's quite a big deal when it happens! Today we chat with Professor Alberto Briganti, incoming Editor-in-Chief of European Urology, the world's highest ranked urology journal, and with Professor Morgan Roupret, incoming Editor-in-Chief of European Urology Oncology.
Why has everybody's impact factor dropped this year? What are their grand plans for their respective journals? How can we get our research noticed? Hear all the answers with Declan and Renu in this episode of GU Cast.
Plus Aoife McVey returns to tell us what caught her eye on social media this week.
Even better as a video podcast on our YouTube channel
Declan and Renu as you haven't seen them before! They leave their cosy podcast studio to do battle at the Australia & New Zealand Urogenital & Prostate Trials Group (ANZUP) Annual Scientific Meeting! The battleground is renal cancer, with Renu arguing in favour of adjuvant immunotherapy, and Declan arguing against. No holds barred. Who wins??! Tune in to find out.
Plus we chat with some of the ANZUP ASM international faculty including Alex Wyatt, Lauren Buffart, Ananya Choudhury, Andrea Apolo and Darren Feldman.
Congratulations to ASM Convenors Ben Tran and Renu Eapen, their Scientific Meeting and all at ANZUP for putting on a terrific meeting. Thanks to ANZUP for allowing us to use footage from the debate, and to debate sponsors MSD who are also GU Cast Silver Partners.
This episode best enjoyed on YouTube
A very special GU Cast, remembering the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake, which hit just as the Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand (USANZ) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) was kicking off in the city. 185 people lost their lives with many thousands injured, and with huge devastation across the region. Declan returned to Christchurch recently to put together this special episode, which includes some of his original footage from the time of the earthquake.
The highlight of this episode is a full replay of this year's Harry Harris Oration, delivered in February 2023 at the USANZ ASM in Melbourne. Dr Samuel "Harry" Harris, was one of the founding fathers of USANZ, and this annual oration in his name at the opening ceremony of our ASM is the most prestigious in the USANZ calendar. We invited the four inaugural recipients of the Christchurch Medal,
Urologists Dr Stephen Mark (Christchurch), Dr Lydia Johns-Putra (Ballarat), Dr Stuart Phillip (Brisbane), and Dr Julian Shah (London), to deliver the Harry Harris Oration by remembering Christchurch. These four individuals were recognised for acts of extraordinary bravery in the rubble of Christchurch, risking their own lives to help victims in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In this Harry Harris Oration, the Christchurch Medallists transport us back to the events of that fateful day, and reflect on what it means today. For those of us who were there, this was a very emotional and sombre occasion; for those who were not, this will be a chance to understand why the Christchurch Earthquake is such an important event in the history of our community.
We are very proud of this special GU Cast. We do hope that it means something to our audience around the world.
This episode best appreciated on YouTube
This is for hardcore PSMA aficionados!! This is the 7th of our ProsTIC/Prostate Cancer Foundation Global Webinars focussing on all things PSMA theranostics (you can find the rest in our back catalogue stretching back to April 2020). We peek into theranostics beyond what we currently have with beta-emitters like LuPSMA, into the tantalising world of alpha-PSMA theranostics.
Multidisciplinary researchers from the PCF-funded TACTICAL project give a sneak into current and future work. Hear from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center experts Prof Mike Morris, Dr Lisa Bodei and Dr Jason Lewis about very exciting developments in DLL3 imaging and theranostics in neuroendocrine prostate cancer; Dr Marwa Rahimi (Radiochemist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) and David Pattison (Nuclear Medicine Physician, Royal Brisbane Hospital), overview Lead-212 targeted alpha therapy; and Dr Megan Crumbaker (Medical Oncologist (St Vincent's Hoapital, Sydney) who discusses Actinium-225 clinical data. Plus Dr James Buteau (Nuclear Medicine Physician, Peter Mac) on the Q&A
Co-hosted by Declan Murphy and Michael Hofman from the GU Cast studio in Melbourne. along with Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrea Miyahira from the PCF in California. Even better as a video podcast
Dr Sima Porten from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), was in Melbourne this week for the ANZUP Annual Scientific Meeting (more from that in an upcoming episode), so she popped into the GU Cast studio to chat with Renu and Declan. Renu of course spent a year with Sima and colleagues doing Fellowship training in GU Oncology so she was very happy to have her good friend and mentor in town.
Sima is a very highly regarded expert in bladder cancer and delivered some great talks on this topic to the ANZUP ASM this week. We chat with her about strategies to help patients avoid cystectomy (bladder removal) despite refractory high-grade bladder cancer. We also chat about avoiding cystectomy in muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and her thoughts on open vs robotic surgery from her perspective as a very high-volume bladder cancer surgeon.
Even better when watched on YouTube
Two cracking bladder cancer studies to discuss on GU Cast today (in our brand new GU Cast studio)! We are joined by Dr Sia Daneshmand, Urologist and Director of Urologic Oncology at the University of Southern California, who presented the headline-making Tar-200/SunRIse-1 study at the recent Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association. Not sure what a urological pretzel is and how it can help patients with high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer? Sia explains all!
He was also an investigator on the SWOG 1011 trial presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting recently by Dr Seth Lerner. A practice-changing randomised trial of standard vs extended pelvic lymph node dissection for patents with invasive bladder cancer.
These are very significant papers and we really enjoyed having Sia on GU Cast to discuss.
Even better on YouTube when you can check out our new studio!
Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) has been a great tool for managing low volume metastatic prostate cancer for a few years now. One or two visits to the radiation centre, highly targeted, minimal side-effects. So could it be used to treat the primary prostate cancer itself with similar success?
Today we have top SABR experts Dr Alison Tree (Royal Marsden Hospital, London), and Associate Professor Shankar SIva (Peter Mac, Melbourne) in the GU Cast studio, and Dr Gerard Morton on Zoom from Sunnybrook Cancer Centre in Toronto. Alison talks through the most recent update from the PACE-B study and we ask which technology is best for prostate cancer.
Full video podcast available on our YouTube channel
With approvals and reimbursement increasing all the time for the use of AR pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), we chat today about how front-line clinicians need to make sure we are making the most of these opportunities for our patients. Urologists in particular are the clinicians who most frequently diagnose men with metastatic prostate cancer, and who therefore need to be aware of the changing opportunities to improve outcomes for our patients.
Today in this Themed Epsiode supported by our Gold Partner, Janssen, we chat with Professor Freed Saad, Chair and Professor of Urology at the University of Montreal, who says it is "unethical to treat newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer with ADT alone"! We are also joined by Dr Ciara Conduit, Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, who helps us understand management options for these patients.
Also available as a video podcast on our YouTube channel
So if you haven't seen all the fuss about ChatGPT on social media in the past two weeks, then imagine this. You have to write a 500 word introduction to an article on adjuvant therapy following renal cancer surgery, you are a week past deadline and you have writer's block. Or it's your thankless task to organise next year's on-call roster for your Department. Or your year 11 son has asked you to explain Max Planck’s Determination of the Avogadro Constant.
Well fear not, ChatGPT is here to save the day!! Just type in the request, and this quite remarkable AI tool will spew out the answer, with quite incredible literacy (including citations), and even empathy and humour. Just sensational. It will even write code to help you build that app you always wanted but had no idea how to program. Need a patient-friendly explanation of a new trial? Or maybe a big grant application. Just type in your request, and hey presto, ChatGPT does the rest. In seconds. For free!
Today we have invited some great guests to discuss this topic. Dr Anobel Odisho (UCSF) has been all over this for years, and has posted some fantastic tweets about this. Communications guru Todd Morgan (University of Michigan) and urology trainee Jonathan O'Brien (who is doing research on AI in penile cancer) pitch in with their thoughts. And we are also joined by Liam Mannix, National Science Reporter with leading Australian broadsheets The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
ChatGPT through Open AI
Liam Mannix's article in The Age
David Canes excellent sub-stack overview
Twitter links
Anobel Odisho
Todd Morgan
Liam Mannix
Jonathan O'Brien
David Canes
The annual Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Retreat is in its 29th year, and is the showpiece event of the PCF's incredible research program. Each year, PCF investigators from around the world gather in California to share their work and interact together. Fair to say it has developed a legendary status among the prostate cancer community across the globe.
GU Cast's Dr Renu Eapen has recently received a PCF Young Investigator Award to support her PhD into immunological aspects of prostate cancer in patients receiving Lu-PSMA on the LuTectomy trial, so she was excited to travel to Carlsbad (CA) to attend this year's PCF Retreat. She joined up with fellow Young Investigator Dr Edmond Kwan to bring us a few highlights from this year's meeting. Lots of familiar faces in there! Watch out for Felix Feng, Misha Beltran, Howard Soule, Andrea Miyahira, Todd Morgan, Chuck Ryan, Tyler Seibert, Alicia Morgans, Neeraj Agarwal, Gina Carithers and many more.
Even better on our Youtube channel
Links:
The PCF
Urotoday
Is grade group 1 (Gleason 6 in old money) really prostate cancer? Wouldn't life be a little easier for patients (and the rest of the world) if we could somehow remove the label "cancer" from this relatively indolent condition??
Well this decade-old discussion seems to have developed a lot of momentum in the past year, driven by urologists like Dr Scott Eggener (University of Chicago) and Dr Matt Cooperberg (University of California San Francisco), who with others have written some nice articles to argue the case for "re-branding" grade group 1 as a non-cancer. This would certainly deal with the lingering issue of over-treatment of low-risk prostate cancer which persists to a variable extent around the world.
Alas, it's not so simple. Expert GU pathologists like Dr Eva Comperat (University of Vienna) point out that this is cancer. Period. If the clinical community have an issue with over-treatment, then we should deal with this another ways, rather than ask for the impossible.
Today we thrash this out with Scott, Matt and Eva. A great listen/watch. And maybe a way forward...
Even better on our YouTube channel
A GU Cast Ireland Special! Declan recently travelled to the Annual Meeting of the Irish Society of Urology and posted this GU cast special from Killashee House in County Kildare. Apologies in advance for him wallowing in his Irishness!
Declan catches up with Urologists David Bouchier-Hayes, Eva Bolton, Catherine Dowling, and Richie Power, to chat about everything from Terence Millen and Peter Freyer to how the Irish are inspiring young women to do urology. Plus we hear about the late Dan Kelly, a legendary Irish urologist who passed away recently.
Our Youtube version features some great scenes from beautiful Killashee House
Congratulations to ISU President Kiaran O’Malley and his organising committee.
Enjoy!
Links:
Irish Society of Urology
OK this episode of GU Cast is essential listening for anyone who has anything to do with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), or "hormone therapy", for men with advanced prostate cancer. Whether you are a prescriber (especially if you are a prescriber), nurse or allied health professional, patient, loved one, industry representative, or researcher - this is one not to miss.
Tim Baker is an award-winning author, journalist and storyteller specialising in surfing history and culture. At the age of 50, he was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (PSA 120 and bone metastases), and has been on intermittent ADT for the past seven years. Thankfully his cancer is well controlled, but the story of his experience is a sobering insight into the devastating impact of ADT, especially in a younger man. But his self-directed strategy of MEDS (Meditation; Exercise; Diet; Sleep), is an inspiring insight into under-utilised mechanisms to make life on ADT more tolerable.
Although he is a believer in medical science and is grateful for the expertise of the specialists who have looked after him., Tim's description of his initial diagnosis and management is uncomfortable listening for those of us who prescribe a lot of ADT.
We all need to do more to support our patients in these situations, and Tim's story certainly gives plenty of food for thought. Meditation? Surf classes? Psychedelic-assisted therapy? It's all in here!
Declan and Renu loved this book. It's a great gift for anyone involved in the hormone therapy arena - why don't you pick up a copy or give it as a present for Christmas?! Available in all the usual places.
GU Cast is even better on Youtube
Links:
Tim Baker's website
Tim Baker twitter
Meditation video
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
"Prostate Specific" Membrane Antigen PET/CT - now also available to stage kidney cancer! We seriously need a name change here. Already we know that PSMA PET/CT shows a lot more than the prostate/prostate cancer, but could it have utility in staging renal cancer?? We've certainly had a lot of off-trial experience of this at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre since 2014, and we know see data in Eur Urol Open Science to describe this experience.
We are joined by senior author Associate Professor Shankar Siva, radiation oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Dr Rana McKay, GU medical oncologist at the University of California, San Diego, who has an interest in FOLH1 expression in renal cancer, and Peter Mac nuclear medicine physician Professor Michael Hofman, to discuss PSMA and renal cancer.
Check out this episode on Youtube
Links:
Prof Siva's paper in Eur Urol Open Science
A great episode focussing on two aspects of bladder cancer. Bladder preservation for muscle-invasive cancer is in the limelight again following the recent update of the landmark BC2001 trial. We chat with bladder cancer gurus Dr Neha Vapiwala, Radiation Oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr Ashish Kamat, Urologist at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, and Dr Nathan Lawrentschuk, Urologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Everything you need to know!
Plus a chat about the fascinating Bladder Path study presented by Dr Nick James at ESMO22, challenging the role of TURBT in managing bladder cancer. Spicy!
And of course, Dr Aoife McVey pops up with her Twitti-Leaks section (yes she has given it a name)!
Even more enjoyable on YouTube
It's pretty shocking how many prostate cancers went missing during COVID, especially in Melbourne which experienced the most prolonged lockdown in the world. The data is still being cleane,d but it is estimated that up to 3000 men who would have been expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer over the past 2.5 years, have not yet been diagnosed.
It is prostate cancer awareness month in Australia, so a good time to chat with some experts to better understand the issue of the missing cancers. Plus we hear of some worrying examples.
Declan and Renu are joined by Alan White, well known patient advocate, Anne Savage, Chief Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, and Professor Grant McArthur, Chair of the Victorian COVID Cancer Network, whose group have been looking at thsi data in real-time since the start of COVID. Grant is also a prostate cancer survivor himself.
Also posted on Youtube
Links:
PCFA
The Prostate Zone
Peter Mac story on missing diagnoses
VCCC Alliance
It wasn't that long ago that we would have scoffed at the idea of using radiation therapy to treat primary kidney cancer. Not any more!! We are joined by two top experts in kidney cancer, and leaders of ongoing research in this field, to discuss the expanding role for radiation therapy in managing primary renal cancer.
Dr Rana McKay, GU Medical Oncologist at the University of California, San Diego, and Associate Professor Shankar Siva, Radiation Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, take us through the relatively recent history of radiation for renal cancer and highlight some ongoing trials in this area. A fantastic overview for anyone interested in renal cancer.
Plus our intrepid social media watcher, Dr Aoife McVey, pops in to tell us what has caught her eye on Twitter this week.
You can watch us broadcasting from our studio here on Youtube.
Links:
Twitter - Dr Rana McKay
Twitter - A/Prof Shankar Siva
Twitter - Dr Aoife McVey
Twitter - CheatUrology
Twitter - GoumasUrologia
https://urologycheatsheets.org/
International speaker tours are back! And this week we had two fantastic GU oncology experts visiting Australia to do a lecture tour on hot topics in metastatic prostate cancer. So of course we invited them to attend our multidisciplinary team meeting at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, then pop upstairs to teh Gu Cast studio.
Dr Tian Zhang from UT Southwestern in Dallas, and Dr Rahul Aggarwal from UCSF, are both prolific medical oncologists with a huge amount of expertise in prostate cancer. We asked them to highlight three key areas in each of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, to avoid us having to wade through teh endless stream of data in these fast-moving areas.
What areas did they chose to highlight?? Well have a listen!
Also posted on YouTube
GU Cast is pleased to cross-post another of these excellent ProsTIC PSMA theranostics webinars in collaboration with the Priotate Cancer Foundation's Global Knowledge Exchange programs. This webinar focuses on the new era of PSMA theranostics post-FDA approval.
This webinar is co-hosted by Professor Michael Hofman, Nuclear Medicine Physician and Director of ProsTIC at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, and GU Cast's own Professor Declan Murphy, with comments from the PCFs Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrea Miyahira. Special guest presenters include Professor Silke Gillessen, Professor Ken Herrmann, and Dr Louise Kostos and Dr James Buteau.
For all the slides and visual bits, enjoy on Youtube here
Part 2 of our #EAU22 highlights from Amsterdam features chats with EAU Guidelines Chair Professor Maria Ribal, the inimitable Associate Professor David Bouchier-Hayes, and a roving report from Dr Sophie Rintoul-Hoad as she sails around Amsterdam's canals. Plus some live reporting from the GU Cast reception at the Hoopman Pub in Amsterdam with Dr Alastair Lamb, Dr Marcus Cumberbatch, Dr Ben Challacombe, and a trio of colorectal surgeons who just love urology. Check out everyone wearing their GU Cast merch!
And we also cross-post Dr Matt Cooperberg's UroToday interview with Declan and Renu on the LuTectomy study. Jam packed.
Best appreciated on Youtube here
Declan and Renu bring you the first of their two part #EAU22 conference highlights from Amsterdam. How great to have the EAU back in person! We catch up with lots of old friends and bring you top scientific highlights. Guests on this episode include Jim Catto, Peter Black, Tim O'Brien, Eva Comperat, plus some fun on EAU TV with Chris Sweeney and Alberto Briganti.
Also on YouTube here
Our website GU Cast
USANZ ASM is back! Yey! The Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand ASM was one of the first victims of the pandemic in 2020, and has finally returned, albeit delayed from its usual Feb/March slot. We caught up with a bunch of local and international delegates on the Gold Coast to talk about their scientific and social highlights. Enjoy!
Also cross posted on Youtube, well worth a watch!
Our website
Wow did this paper cause a fuss this week!! The ENACT trial was published online in JAMA Oncology last weekend and provoked a huge outcry on social media. Many people were genuinely shocked at the study design, the conclusions, even the title of the study.
We've linked to the paper below, but in summary, this prospective multi centre study enrolled patients with with low-risk or favourable intermediate-risk prostate cancer, entirely suitable for active surveillance (ie no treatment/no side-effects), and randomised half of them to receive enzalutamide. Yes enzulautmide, a super powerful AR pathway inhibitor that works very well in men with advanced prostate cancer. But with plenty of side-effects.
So we decided to invite study co-author, active surveillance advocate and friend of teh podcast, Dr Matt Cooperberg, to come on and help us understand the rationale. We also welcomed Dr Keith Kowalczyk, Georgetown Medical Centre, Washington DC, to help us figure it out.
What do you think? Comments welcome on our Youtube channel
Links:
ENACT paper
GU Cast returns to one of our favourite topics - PSMA imaging and theranostics! We chat with Nuclear Medicine Physician Professor Michael Hofman, and GU Medical Oncologist, Associate Professor Arun Azad, about some PSMA highlights at the recent ASCO Annual Meeting. Michael presented the eagerly anticipated overall survival data from the TheraP trial in the oral abstract session, and discusses the findings with Arun, Renu and Declan.
They also discuss another important paper in the oral abstract session - an analysis of the quantitative parameters of PSMA PET/CT scans in the VISION study.
Also available of our Youtube channel here
Part 2 of Declan's visit to the Martini-Klinik in Hamburg. Today he chats with Professor Derya Tilki, Urologist and Clinician Researcher, about their ongoing research activities, including the huge database of radical prostatectomy outcomes which now includes a staggering 35,000 patients.
Plus a fantastic trip to the operating room with Professor Tobias Maurer to perform PSMA-guided salvage pelvic lymph node dissection. Declan gets to scrub in and learn from Tobias about his huge experience in this evolving area.
Also cross-posted to our YouTube channel, featuring Declan's up close experience assisting Tobias perform PSMA radio guided surgery
Declan Murphy continues his sabbatical adventures in Europe by spending a few days at the famous Martini-Klinik in Hamburg. The Martini-Klinik is the world's largest radical prostatectomy centre, and is preparing to move to a new building to increase their capacity even more.
In this first part of a two-part podcast/videocast, Declan chats with Chief of Urology Professor Markus Graefen, and spends some time in the operating rooms with Markus and Professor Alexander Haese, looking at the Neurosafe frozen section technique which was developed at the Martini Klinik. Plus we discuss a new randomised trial of pelvic lymph node dissection. Part 2 follows next week.
GU Cast also cross posts on YouTube. This is a great one to watch on YouTube due to our trips to the operating rooms at Martini-Klinik
Links:YouTube version of this episodeMartini-Klinik website
In his third and final podcast from Lugano, Declan chats with Dr Axel Merseberger (Lubeck), Dr Jochen Walk (Marseille), Ms Jane Fisher (Melbourne), and Dr Chris Sweeney (Boston/Adelaide). Plus listen out for fantastic father and son act, Professor Joe and Oisin O'Sullivan, who played for the crowds outside the Villa Cian.
Silke Gillessen and Aurelius Omlin were also pleased to announce the dates of the next APCCC which will take place from 25-27 April 2022 in spectacular Lugano.
GU Cast is our regular podcast brought to you by Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen, Urologists at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Available on all major podcasting platforms. Now also cross-posting on YouTube. https://gucast.buzzsprout.com/
Also cross-posted on Youtube
Links:APCCC Website
SAGENCI
Declan continues his three part podcast from the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) 2022. Imaging played a very dominant (and disruptive) role at APCCC 2022, especially PSMA PET/CT with lots of “train has left the station analogies” and a healthy amount of panellists wanting to stay on the platform!
Today Declan speaks with four imaging experts to hear their thoughts. Nuclear Medicine physicians Professor Michael Hofman (Melbourne), Professor Stefano Fanti (Bologna) and Dr Ken Herrmann (Essen), were joined by MRI guru Professor Anwar Padhani (London). Fair to say the prostate cancer world needs help figuring out what to do with PSMA PET/CT!!
Dr Marcus Cumberbatch, Consultant Urologist at the University of Sheffield Hospital (Sheffield), and Melbourne alumnus, gives a great perspective of his experience as a delegate at APCCC.
Finally (for this episode), Declan speaks with top prostate cancer specialists Dr Neha Vapiwala, Radiation Oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadephia), and Dr Elena Castro, Medical Oncologist at the Virgen de la Victoria University Hospital (Malaga).
Also cross-posted including some great video on our YouTube channel.
Links:
APCCC Website
Declan Murphy stops off at the world-famous Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam for a couple of days to visit his old friend, Professor Henk van der Poel. Henk is Consultant Urologist and Chief of Urology at the NKI, and leads a fantastic team with world-renowned expertise in GU oncology.
Declan spends a day in the operating room to watch Henk perform robotic radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection using a fluorescence-guided approach to detect sentinel lymph nodes, and hears the latest about Henk’s ongoing trials in this area.
He then spends a day engaging with some of Henk’s collaborators and PhD students, and has a sit-down chat with Henk and Dr Hilda de Barros who recently published a very nice manuscript in European Urology on PSMA radio-guided surgery.
GU Cast also cross-posts on Youtube - check out Declan's visit to NKI here.
Links:
Netherlands Cancer Institute
de Borras et al European Urology paper
Youtube version
To celebrate the return of the world’s premiere prostate cancer meeting, GU Cast is very pleased to bring you the first of three special editions from the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2022. GU Cast co-host Professor Declan Murphy joined other panellists and delegates in beautiful Lugano, and recorded interviews with many other speakers and attendees, and captured some fantastic footage by Lake Lugano (check out our YouTube version). In this episode, Declan chats with APCCC Convenors, Dr Silke Gillessen and Dr Aurelius Omlin, and panellists Dr Pierre Blanchard, Dr Jochen Walz, and Dr Bertrand Tombal, along with patient representative David Mathesen. Plus Dr Derya Tilki rather cheekily turns the microphone on Declan! Of course APCCC is now a hybrid meeting, so you can still register and enjoy the full presentations and discussion (link below).
You can also watch this podcast on YouTube and enjoy some great scenery in Lugano.
Links:APCCC Website
Another GU Cast special from the ProsTIC Preceptorship in Melbourne. Today Dr Renu Eapen welcomes back guest co-host Associate Professor Arun Azad, Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, to discuss some fantastic translational work going on in his Centre based on our Lutetium PSMA experience.
We welcome three great guests to talk about their work. Dr Luc Furic is Head of Translational Prostate Cancer Research at Mac; Dr Louise Kostos is a Medical Oncologist doing a PhD looking at mechanisms of resistance with LuPSMA, and Dr Heidi Fettke is a Post-Docotoral researcher focussing on circulating tumour cells in LuPSMA patients. Plus of course co-host Dr Eapen is also doing a PhD focussing on the immunology of patients receiving LuPSA on the LuTectomy trial.
Amazing discussion about the very exciting translational opportunities which LuPSMA presents.
Also posted on YouTube if you want to see us in studio
Links
ProsTIC Preceptorship
ProsTIC Twitter
Dr Louise Kostos Twitter
GU Cast moved on-site this week to the ProsTIC Preceptorship in Melbourne, a state-of-the-art meeting focusing on PSMA Theransotics, led by the PCF-funded ProsTIC Centre of Excellence at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. What a great meeting! In-person and virtual with on-demand available for two years (links below).
We invited international guest Dr Tom Hope, Nuclear Medicine Physician and Radiologist at the University of California San Francisco, to join us for a late-night drink in our GU Cast studio at the Sofitel in Melbourne, to have a chat about all things PSMA. Along with Australian PSMA pioneers Professor Michael Hofman (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) and Professor Louise Emmett (St Vincent's/Garvan in Sydney).
A truly relaxed chat about where it all began, where we are now, and where it is all going. No holds barred, very entertaining.
Hosted as ever by Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Declan Murphy.
You can also watch this podcast on YouTube and see our nice late-night set-up on Level 48 of the Sofitel in Melbourne.
Links:
ProsTIC Preceptorship
ProsTIC Twitter
Dr Tom Hope Twitter
Professor Michael Hofman Twitter
Professor Louise Emmett Twitter
Today Declan and Renu chat with two young doctors who have spent the past few weeks on the Poland-Ukraine border, helping with the refugee crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Just amazing stories of desperation and tragedy, with some inspiring tales of resilience and generosity.
Dr Laura Bukavina is a Urology Fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia, and Dr Alberto Castro is a research Fellow at Fox Chase, soon to start his urology residency. Laura is a Ukrainian and tells the story of why she got on a plane as soon as the invasion started, and headed for the Ukrainian border. Alberto joined her within a few days. Some amazing stories.
To do what you can to help, please visit Laura's gofundme page and make a donation.
GU Cast hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen
We also cross-posted this on YouTube including some amazing photos and videos from the border. Well worth a watch.
Links:
gofundme
Dr Laura Bukavina Twitter
Dr Alberto Castro Twitter
Well the data are clear, says eminent biostatistician and research methodologist, Dr Andrew Vickers of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. In some well constructed recent articles, Andrew has really made us think again about the impact of moving to MRI-directed triage and targeted biopsies, instead of "blind" systematic biopsies. Could it be that this strategy actually leads to harm, rather than the clear benefits which many assume that MRI has brought to prostate cancer diagnostics??
We are joined today by Andrew, and two household names in the world of MRI-targeted biopsies to defend the practice (which is now recommended by all major guidelines). Professor Caroline Moore, Urologist at University College London, and Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan, Urology Fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Veeru and Caroline were first and senior authors on the landmark PRECISION trial published in NEJM in 2018 which led to the adoption of MRI in early detection of prostate cancer.
And Dr Renu Eapen is back from her travels and in her usual co-hosting role, along with Professor Declan Murphy. Plus Dr Aoife McVey returns to tell us what caught her eye on twitter this week. A cracking episode!
Also posted on Youtube here
Links:
Dr Andrew Vickers Twitter
Professor Caroline Moore Twitter
Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan Twitter
Dr Aoife McVey Twitter
@Urology_tips Twitter
Dr Laura Bukavina Twitter
Andrew's recent European Urol article on the harms of MRI-targeted biopsies ($)
Renu's ASCO GU talk
2022 finally sees some return to normality in the world of GU conferences. Hooray!
Today we chat with the leaders of two of our absolute favourite meetings - the European Association of Urology (EAU) Annual Meeting, and the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC). We are joined from Germany by Chair of the EAU Scientific Committee Professor Peter Albers, and from Switzerland by President of the APCCC, Professor Silke Gillessen. And we were pleased to say there is a lot to look forward to!!! These meetings are back to their usual in-person format, but as you will hear, they have also embraced some lessons learned due to virtual meetings.
Usual co-host Dr Renu Eapen is still meandering back to Melbourne after ASCO GU, so Declan is joined by his new Fellow, Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan.
Also posted on Youtube
Links:
APCCC - Lugano, 28-30 April 2022
EAU Annual Meeting - Amsterdam, 1-4 July 2022
This week saw the opening of another multi-centre randomised trial of PSMA PET/CT in Australia. And it's a cracker! PRIMARY 2 follows on from the success of the PRIMARY trial published in European Urology recently (see links below). It is aimed at men with some clinical suspicion of prostate cancer, but no definite lesion on MRI (PIRADS 2/3). Is it ok to just to monitor these men (a la PRECISION)? Many will still undergo prostate biopsy if there is a high clinical suspicion (such as high PSA density, palpable lesion, strong family history), but could PSMA play a role in reducing the number of men undergoing biopsy, and provide a target in some cases?
We are joined by trial co-PIs Professor Louise Emmett and Professor Michael Hofman, Nuclear Medicine Fellow Dr James Buteau and Urology lead A/Professor Daniel Moon, to discuss the innovative trial design. It will recruit 600 men from multiple sites across Australia. We're excited about this one!
Plus a new segment! Urology Registrar Dr Aoife McVey is dropping in to tell us "what caught my eye on twitter" this week. Welcome Aoife!And PROStic nurse consultant Liz Medhurst gives a plug for the upcoming ProsTIC Preceptorship.
Regular co-host Dr Renu Eapen is at ASCO GU so Daniel Moon kindly stepped in to help Declan Murphy today
Also posted on YouTube
Links:PRIMARY trial European Urology 2021
PRIMARY 1 podcast
ProsTIC Preceptorship
Aoife's favourite tweet this week
GU Cast is back after our summer break in Melbourne, with a cracking episode focussing on pelvic lymph node dissection in prostate cancer. Pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is a perennially contentious topic in urology, and we were delighted today to welcome Dr Karim Touijer, Attending Surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, to discuss the randomised controlled trial which he and his colleagues published recently. This paper was highlighted as "Paper of the Year" by European Urology Oncology - congratulations to Dr Touijer and colleagues! A huge trial, with about 1500 men being randomised to undergo limited or extended PLND, to determine if a more extended dissection improved biochemical recurrence-free survival.
We were also delighted to welcome Dr Wouter "Wally" Everaerts to discuss this topic. Wally is Consultant Urologist and Program Director at KU Leuven, one of Europe's top prostate cancer centres, with huge expertise in PLND. Wally is a Melbourne alumnus and it was great have him on GU Cast.
We enjoyed talking surgery in depth today - more surgically oriented discussions coming this year!
Watch the Youtube version here
Links:
Eur Urol Oncol paper
Dr Karim Touijer Twitter
Dr Wouter Everaerts Twitter
Of all the public health messages out there about the merits of getting vaccinated against COVID, there is one that stands out from the crowd. It's the #SaveTheFutureBoners campaign, warning men that COVID may lead to a significant increased risk of erectile dysfunction! The campaign is led by a group of urologists in the US called Urologists United for Vaccination Education, and they have posted a fantastic video online to punch home this message. Must watch!
We are joined today by two leading urologists specialising in sexual health who are very involved in this campaign; Dr Amy Pearlman (Iowa City, Iowa) and Dr Ashley Winter (Portland, Oregan). What a fantastic chat! Enjoy, and men - get vaccinated and save your future boners!
You can also check out our studio and watch this episode of GU Cast on Youtube
Links:
UU4VE website
UU4VE Video
UU4VE Twitter
Dr Amy Pearlman Twitter
Dr Ashley Winter Twitter
In the past few weeks we noticed some strangeness appearing in the PSA reports from one of our major pathology providers here in Australia. Dorevitch Pathology had started reporting PSA levels using BOTH the Siemens Atellica assay, AND the Abbott Alinity assay on the same blood sample. So patients were turning up with two PSA results for the same sample - and were these the same?? Afraid not! Sometimes the differences were huge, leading to much "Patient Stress and Anxiety".
So we decided to get some expert help, and invited Dr Alan McNeil, Chemical Pathologist at Dorevitch, to join us in studio to discuss all things to do with PSA assays. It appears that the incentive to change to the Alinity assay is due to the Atellica assay being a little less reliable below PSA levels of 0.2 (ultrasensitive PSA).
But does anyone really care about ultrasensitive PSA anymore?? Isn't adjuvant radiotherapy all but dead post-RAVES/RADICALS/GETUG??
We discuss all this with Alan, regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen, and friend of the podcast Urologist Associate Professor Daniel Moon.
Also cross posted on YouTube here
So said UCSF Oncologist and major league podcaster Dr Vinay Prasad in his recent Plenary Session podcast, reviewing the VISION trial in NEJM. We have already covered VISION here at GU Cast, but we decided to invite Vinay on the podcast to de-visit VISION and other aspects of trial design. Vinay is a Haematologist Oncologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and researcher interested in health policy. He is author of "Malignant", and has huge listenership to his Plenary Session Podcast and YouTube channel. He is certainly not afraid to call out issues with trial design and health policy! We have often used clips of his on GU Cast to illustrate issues with GU trials.
Plus we welcome back Professor Michael Hofman, Nuclear Medicine Physician who leads all things PSMA at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Regular hosts Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Declan Murphy at the helm.
Streaming also on Declan's YouTube channel
Links:
Dr Vinay Prasad Twitter
Plenary Session podcast on VISION
Plenary Session Patreon
Vinay YouTube
GU Cast/PCF webinar on VISION
This one really slipped under the radar when the National Comprehensive Cancer Centre Network (NCCN) Prostate Cancer Guideline Panel released their updated guidelines a few weeks ago. That is until Dr Dan Lin mentioned it to Dr Matt Cooperberg, who promptly flagged it to his very large Twitter following.
And what a reaction! Almost universally panned by the urological community, especially advocates for active surveillance (AS), who have long despaired at the low rates of AS uptake in the US, and who worry that this change may lead to even lower rates of AS in the USA.
We are joined again today by Dr Matt Cooperberg (Urologist, UCSF), and Dr Ashley Ross (Urologist, Northwestern Medical Group, Chicago), to have an in-depth discussion on this. Usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen do their best to stay impartial! Our prediction is that NCCN will change this back at the next opportunity....
Also posted on YouTube for those who like to watch facial reactions!
Links:Matt Cooperberg's TweetNCCN Guideline on prostate cancer (login needed)
MedPage Today report
Some huge data coming out of #ESMO21 this week! And as ever, the amazing STAMPEDE trial delivers another practice-changing headline grabber. This time it's a focus on so-called "M0 high-risk" patients in STAMPEDE, with clear data showing that the addition of two years of abiratrone acetate to standard of care provides a massive benefit in metastasis-free survival and overall survival.
We are joined today by STAMPEDE co-PI Professor Noel Clarke, Urologist and Professor of Urological Oncology at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor Silke Gillessen, Medical Oncologist at the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, and also a STAMPEDE investigator. Silke is also the co-Chair of the fantastic Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) which we also discuss today (see link for upcoming virtual APCCC in October).
Regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen are also joined in studio by Associate Professor Arun Azad, Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Once again, we are cross-posting to YouTube so you can watch the team enjoy a lively discussion!
Links
GU Cast on YouTube
APCCC upcoming meeting
Silke Gillessen Twitter
APCCC Twitter
Are GU Cast overly interested in PSMA imaging and theranostics??! Yep, afraid so! So no surprise that we're featuring this very interesting prospective trial published in European Urology this week. The objective is to evaluate the role of PSMA PET/CT prior to prostate biopsy ie in the early detection space. Can this augment mpMRI? Or replace it? Or is it all just madness due to profligate access to PSMA in Australia??!
We are joined by PI Professor Louise Emmett, Nuclear Medicine Physician at St Vincent's in Sydney, to chat about the PRIMARY trial, and co-author Associate Professor Daniel Moon, Urologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre who recruited close to 100 men into the trial (well done Dan!).
And for a reality check to curb our enthusiasm, we are delighted to welcome back friend of the podcast, Professor Anwar Padhani, Oncologic Radiologist and MRI guru from Mt Vernon Cancer Centre and the Institute for Cancer Research in London.
Co-hosts as ever, Professor Declan Murphy (also a co-author) and Dr Renu Eapen
And yes we are cross-posting on YouTube so you can see how it all unfolds!
Links:
GU Cast on YouTube
PRIMARY study in European Urology (paywall)
Professor Emmet Twitter
Professor Padhani Twitter
Professor Padhani Youtube
Associate Professor Moon Twitter
So there we were, thinking we did a nice job highlighting the #Manels paper published in European Urology recently, and basking a little bit in the glow of positivity it brought to the topic of gender diversity in Urology. We were also really pleased to see the accompanying Editorial which outlined the European Urology position on gender diversity and equality, led by Associate Editor Professor Sarah Psutka and senior members of the Journal's Editorial Board.
Then, a Letter to the Editor appeared and provoked quite a response on social media. It described the results of the European Urology paper as "meaningless", and suggested that "women urologists may take longer to become academically productive owing to the responsibilities of child-rearing".
Many took issue with the content and sentiment of the letter, including the Chair of the Division of Urology at the University of Toronto, Professor Neil Fleshner, who issued a statement to clarify the position of his Division on gender diversity and equality.
So we were very happy to re-visit the issue on GU Cast today, and to welcome Dr Psutka and Dr Fleshner to talk about the issue, and to particularly focus on some excellent strategies now in place to address the issues of gender equity, and racial diversity. We also welcome back friend of the podcast, Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk, Urologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Director of Urology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
GU Cast hosts as usual are Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Declan Murphy.
Links:YouTube version of this podcast
Original Manels Systematic Review in European Urology
Letter to the Editor
Psutka et al Eur Urol Position on Equity and Diversity
University of Toronto response to Letter
Author's reply to the Letter
This headline may be true (check our YouTube version for proof!), but the bromance certainly hit a bumpy patch when it came to discussing Keynote 564 on GU Cast today!
We congratulate Dr Toni Chouieri (Medical Oncologist and Director of the Lank Center for GU Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute), and colleagues for the publication of Keynote 564 in NEJM recently, and to Toni for his plenary at ASCO this year. And we welcome Dr Alex Kutikov, Urologist and Chief of Urologic Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, and an old mate of Toni's, and studio guest Associate Professor Ben Tran, Medical Oncologist and GU Trials Director at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Keynote 364 is a randomised trial of adjuvant pembrolizamab in patients following surgery for kidney cancer, and made headlines when Dr Chouieri presented the findings in an ASCO Plenary, reporting a significant prolongation of disease-free survival for patients receiving pembro. The paper followed recently in NEJM.
So does this mean pembro for all? Do we need to wait for overall survival? What about over-treatment? Can't patients just have combination I/O instead on relapse? Etc etc!!!
Your hosts as ever, Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Links:GU Cast on YouTube
Keynote 564 NEJM paper
Dr Chouieri Twitter
Alex Kutikov Twitter
Ben Tran Twitter
These two old mates join us for a "robust discussion" on the role of prostate MRI in the early detection of prostate cancer!
Dr Ben Davies, Professor of Urology, University of Pittsburgh, and Dr Matt Cooperberg, Urologic Oncologist at the University of California, San Francisco, certainly have differing views on the value of MRI in the early detection of prostate cancer. This was most evident on twitter after Matt et al (Andrew Vickers and Sigrid Carlsson), penned a piece in European Urology recently which was pretty negative about MRI.
No holds barred here as Ben has a crack at Matt's enthusiasm for genomic testing, and his scepticism about MRI. Plus some observations about disclosures.... got to tune in!!! A classic.
Plus we're now posting some GU Cast episodes on Youtube. See links below. This was a particularly good one to watch!!!
Declan and Renu
Links:GU Cast on YouTube
Matt's Eur Urol paper (paywall sorry)
Ben Davies Twitter
Matt Cooperberg Twitter
In May 2018, Urologist Dr Daron Smith of University College Hospital, London, wrote an impassioned open letter to announce that he was stepping down as an educational supervisor in urology, due to his frustration with the burdensome administrative tools embedded in the UK surgical training system. His message resonated with many.
This month, a new curriculum and training system comes into effect, with significant changes to reduce this burden. But do they go far enough?
Declan and guest co-cost, Dr Sophie Riddel-Hoad, chat to Daron Smith, President of the BAUS Section of Trainees Dr Neil Harvey, and Past-President of the Association of Surgeons in Training, Dr Helen Mohan. We also hear from a selection of current trainees and trainers who voice their thoughts.
Links:
Daron Smith's BJUI blog 2018
Neil Harvey et al paper in J Clinical Urol (paywall) re new training assessments
Full Urology Curriculum on ISCP website (Aug 2021)
Follow our guests on Twitter
Daron Smith
Sophie Riddell-Hoad
Neil Harvey
Helen Mohan
Declan Murphy
BSoT
ASiT
Transperineal biopsy has gone from being a fringe pursuit for a bunch of enthusiasts, into primetime in countries like Australia and the UK where it accounts for more than 50% of prostate biopsies. We are joined today by Associate Professor Jeremy Grummet, Urologist at Alfred Health and Monash Medical School, who has been a long-standing proponent of transperineal prostate biopsy, and who contributed to a very nice pro/con debate in European Urology Open Science this month on teh topic of "TREXIT", ie an exit for transrectal prostate biopsy. We credit Dr Rick Popert at Guy's Hospital in London for coning the term. and Dr his colleague Tim O'Brien, President of BAUS, for pushing it onto the national agenda in the UK.
This year's EAU Prostate Guidelines changed significantly so that transperineal prostate biopsy is recommended ahead of transrectal biopsy, a huge change, taking transperineal biopsy out of the fringes. So does this signal the end of transrectal biopsy? Or maybe the beginning of the end?? Join Declan, Renu and Jeremy to find out!
Plus, Jeremy is also founder and Director of MRI-PRO, a fabulous online resource for those interested in MRI prostate. We hear the latest developments.
Links:
Eur Urol Open Science paper
MRI PRO
GU Cast with Jeremy Grummet and Lindsay Hampson
GU Cast once again joins up with our friends at the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), and the Prostate Cancer Imaging & Theranostics Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC) at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to bring you another Global Webinar focussing on PSMA theranostics.
Today's webinar features the VISION trial, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and includes the first and senior authors, Dr.s Oliver Sartor and Michael Morris. We also welcome panellists Dr Alicia Morgans, Associate Professor Sze-Ting Lee, Dr James Buteau, and our co-hosts from the PCF, Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrew Miyahira.
This webinar is co-hosted by Professor Michael Hofman and Professor Declan Murphy of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Links:
VISION paper in NEJM ($)
The PCF
ProsTIC
Tim O'Brien returns to GU Cast today, basking in the afterglow of a very successful British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) Annual Meeting, virtual of course. Tim last joined us in August 2020 when he had just taken up the reins as BAUS President, and was dealing with the challenge of running a virtual BAUS Annual Meeting.
One year on, and following a very well received virtual BAUS Annual Meeting last month, we consider the future of scientific meetings. Brilliant insights from Tim, including a memorable discussion about how we all need to acquire broadcast skills! Hear how BAUS Secretary Asif Muneer and the BAUS team went about designing a virtual meeting, rather than a physical meeting "which could also be hybrid".
Declan and Renu co-hosting as usual
Links:
Tim O'Brien twitter
BAUS twitter
Tim on GU Cast Aug 2020
BAUS21 website
Fascinating GU Cast today focussing on the role of MRI scanning for patients on active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer. We are joined by two of the world's leading experts on prostate MRI to discuss two recent systematic reviews on this topic. Professor Anwar Padhani, Radiologist at Mt Vernon Cancer Centre and the Institute of Cancer Research in London, and Professor Caroline Moore, Urologist at University College London, give some fascinating insights and tackle some controversial questions.
Patients and clinicians would love to avoid further biopsies as part of active surveillance monitoring. However, repeat biopsy remains a strong recommendation in all AS guidelines. Anwar reviews the two recent systematic reviews (links below), plus his recent European Urology editorial, and Caroline reveals what they currently offer patients at UCL (spoiler alert - they don't do routine biopsies on AS)!
Anwar also introduces the very valuable work of the International Cancer Imaging Society, and we talk about the fantastic collection of talks he posts on his very popular YouTube channel. Links all below.
Usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen. Enjoy!
Links:
Eur Urol systematic review
Eur Urol Oncol systematic review
Anwar's Editorial in Eur Urol
Anwar's YouTube channel
International Cancer Imaging Society
Anwar's twitter
Caroline's twitter
Cracking episode today, following hot on the heels of the systematic review recently published in European Urology focussing on #manels in urology. We cross the globe to hear from first author Dr Jeremy Teoh in Hong Kong, senior author Dr Maria Ribal in Barcelona, and co-authors Dr Stacy Loeb in New York, and our own Declan Murphy in Melbourne. This paper has got a big reaction on social media and we review some of the best and the worst of twitter in our chat today. Enjoy!
Links:
Eur Urol paper on #manels
Jeremy Teoh twitter
Big week for prostate cancer ( especially for PSMA enthusiasts like us!), with the phase III VISION trial heading the plenary session at the ASCO Annual Meeting. VISION is the long-awaited pivotal randomised trial of Lu-PSMA vs standard of care for men with progressive mCRPC following chemo +/- AR pathway inhibitors. Lots of stuff to dive into, even as we await the NEJM paper. We scrutinise the control arm and dive deep into teh issue of imaging and patient selection.
Regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen are joined by some of our experienced Lu-PSMA specialists at Peter Mac, Professor Michael Hofman and Associate Professor Arun Azad.
Links;
Dr Mike Morris Twitter
UroToday report from Dr Chris Wallis
Today Declan and Renu recall one of the highlights of ASCO GU 2020 (the last real physical meeting!!), when Dr David Penson delivered his keynote address on financial toxicity in GU Oncology. David's team also followed up with a fantastic systematic review on this completely under-discussed topic in European Urology Oncology recently (link below). David is Professor and Chair of Urology at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, and has had a distinguished career investigating quality of life in prostate cancer patients, particularly as PI of the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study. No holds barred today as we discuss everything from bankruptcy-free survival to the ludicrous lack of support for de-escalation studies in GU Oncology. Plus of course, we indulge his love of golf for just a bit.
Links:
David Penson Twitter (Urogeek) - highly recommended!
Recent systematic review on financial toxicity in Eur Urol Oncol
Urotoday coverage of David's ASCO GU 2020 talk
Stacey Dusetzina twitter
Royal Portrush GC (in memory of Jimmy Penson, a proper golfer!)
GU Cast is back! Declan and Renu took a break over the Melbourne Summer and are fully recharged with a great schedule of podcasts coming up for 2021.
We kick off today with the fourth in our series of webinar collaborations with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the ProsTIC team at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Today's webinar had 589 live attendees from more than 40 countries, tuning in to hear the latest in PSMA theranostics for advanced prostate cancer.
ON GU Cast today we cross-post the audio from today's webinar focussing on the TheraP trial, recently published in the Lancet. TheraP is the first randomised trial of 177Lutetium PSMA theranostics, and is one of the most exciting areas of research in prostate cancer today.
We are joined by both the first and senior authors, Professors Michael Hofman and Professor Ian Davis, as well as key members of the team who put this together, including funders, industry partners, and a panel of expert key opinion leaders including panellist Professor Louise Emmett.
Special thanks to Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrea Miyahira from the PCF, as well as Professor Michael Hofman and Annette Van Der Heyden from ProsTIC for putting this together.
Links:The PCF
ProsTIC
TheraP page at ANZUP
Full webinar on YouTube
Today we are getting together on New Year's Eve 2020 to look back on the year that was. Very forgettable for many reasons(!), but also some great moments on GU Cast that we want to share with you on our Year in Review podcast.
Since our launch episode in March 2020, we have posted 45 episodes and have had many thousands of downloads every month. Our audience is truly global with listeners from 75 countries in 2020, the majority of whom (59%) are from outside Australia.
We play back some very memorable moments from the past nine months, and chat about some of our personal highlights of GU Cast 2020. Plus we reveal our most listened to podcast this year.
We are very grateful to the very many (>60!) national and international guests who joined the podcast this year, and to our regular studio guests who really added value to GU Cast this year. We look forward to bringing you even more great content in 2021!
Wishing you all a Happy New Year!
Declan and Renu and all at GU Cast
We know that many of our listeners are in the depths of a tough COVID Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, so we thought we might bring you some summer cheer from Australia where the sun is shining and COVID is less of an issue!
We have joined with our friends at PROSPECT, a prostate cancer educational initiative which has been running in Australia for eight years. to bring you a 3-part podcast summer series focussing on our favourite hot topics in prostate cancer. Today we focus on two areas with a big crossover - so-called "non-metastatic (M0)" castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), and PSMA PET/CT. The past year has been a bog one for PSMA PET/CT and we are delighted to welcome two of the world's leading experts in PSMA PET/CT, Professor Michael Hofman from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, and Dr Jeremie Calais from the University of California, Los Angeles, to discuss the recent FDA approval and the data that has informed this. Plus we are joined by Associate Professor Arun Azad, Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Chair of the PROSPECT Steering Committee, to discuss the overall survival data for androgen receptor pathway inhibitors in M0 CRPC, and to consider what wider availability of PSMA PET/CT means for this disease area. Your usual hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen from Peter Mac.
PROSPECT and our GU Cast Summer Series are supported by an educational grant from Janssen Oncology in Australia.
Big day today with the approval of Ga68-PSMA PET/CT by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). The FDA have approved a combined academic application from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and means that those two centres now have FDA approval to use PSMA PET/CT for staging newly-diagnosed prostate cancer, as well as those with suspected recurrence following previous treatment.
Today we chat with the UCSF team behind the application, led by Dr Thomas Hope, Nuclear Medicine Physician and Radiologist, and his urology colleagues Dr Peter Carroll and Dr Matt Cooperberg. Fantastic discussion about what this means for access to PSMA PET/CT across the whole country; what it means for trial design; what other agents are on the horizon; and a steal peak from Dr Carroll about other research areas in PSMA he is exploring at UCSF.
Regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen are joined once again by Professor Michael Hofman, Nuclear Medicine Physician at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
LinksFDA news release on PSMA PET/CT
UCSF Urology
UCSF Nuclear Medicine
UCLA Urology
UCLA Nuclear Medicine
"Men urged to harden up on prostate health" - so goes the title of Libbi Gorr's interview with our own Declan Murphy when she chatted with him this week on her ABC Radio show, "This Weekend Life". A no-holds barred chat on all things prostate to coincide with Movember. Featuring calls from patients, and a discussion about how often men should ejaculate!
Links
Libbi's show on ABC Radio
The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Annual Meeting is the world's leading nuclear medicine congress, and took place (virtually) last week. From being a very minor part of nuclear medicine just a few years ago, GU Oncology is now one of the most exciting areas in nuclear medicine, and this year's EANM Meeting featured a huge amount of original research in prostate cancer and other GU malignancies.
Today we are joined by EANM Congress Chair, Dr Stefano Fanti from Bologna, Italy, and Dr Irene Burger, Head of Nuclear Medicine in Baden, to review the top papers from this year's meeting, and a peak into future directions for nuc med in GU oncology.
Regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen are joined once again by Professor Michael Hofman, Director of the Prostate Theranostics and Image Centre of Excellence at Peter Mac.
Useful links:
EANM
Michael Hofman plenary talk at #EANM20
Our "Going Nuclear" paper in BJUI 2019
Plus short accompany video
It's that time of year again, and we are celebrating all things Mo with Paul Villanti, Executive Director at Movember. From its humble origins here in Melbourne 13 years ago, the Movember campaign has raised more than AUD$1.1bn over the past 13 years, funding more than 1250 projects around the world aimed at improving men's health. Quiet amazing, and a lot of fun. Prostate and testicular cancer have been particularly high priority areas for support, and we were keen to hear more of this and also to hear about the usual fun initiatives which Movember build into their campaigns.
Paul popped in to our studio to tell us about some of the highlights of this year's Movember, and to talk of some of the key initiatives which Movember support.
And what is a ChocoMo??? You'll have to tune in to find out!
Links:
Movember
ChocMo (courtesy of Dr Christian Wagner, Gronau, Germany)
Today we focus on the NAVIGATE study, a randomised trial of an online decision aid for men and their partners recently diagnosed with localised prostate cancer. Active surveillance is the preferred option for many men with low-risk prostate cancer, and may also be recommended for some men with favourable intermediate-risk prostate cancer, but many patients find the idea of surveillance to be stressful, and find the choice of management options to be bewildering. So today we chat with some of the team behind the NAVIGATE study which is designed to address some of these issues. NAVIGATE is running in Australia, sponsored by Swinburne University with the trial team based at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Joining us in studio are Natalie Richards who is a research nurse and NAVIGATE Project Manager, Alan White, patient representative on the project, and via Zoom is Dr Matt Roberts, a urologist in Brisbane who is actively enrolling patients. We also hear from a patient who is actively participating in the study and provides a terrific perspective having been on surveillance initially, and then went on to have surgery when his cancer changed while on surveillance. Your co-hosts are Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen from Peter Mac.
NAVIGATE is 80% recruited and is expected to finish recruitment in 2021. See below for details of how to find out more. Patients may be referred by their clinician or may self-refer directly to the NAVIGATE team if their cancer is suitable for surveillance. The Principal Investigator is Professor Penelope Schofield and the trial is funded by an NHMRC grant.
More info
NAVIGATE trial website
NAVIGATE info on Peter Mac website
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
Regular GU Cast guest, Dr Ben Tran, joins us today to review some highlights from the recent virtual #ESMO20 Annual Meeting. Ben made headlines himself at this year's meeting as he presented his phase 1 study of AMG160 was selected for the prostate cancer plenary session (you got to tune in to hear him explain what a half-life extended bi-specific T cell engager is! Peter Mac Phase I and GU Fellow, Dr Ciara Conduit, also joins us to discuss this and other highlights including IPAT, PROfound, and the Checkmate 9ER study for mRCC. Usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Exciting day today with the publication of the first edition of a brand new urology journal! And not one of those horrible predatory journals that we all get harassed by.
The Societe Internationale d'Urologie (SIU) is one of the leading organisations in urology and has a long history of partnering with other major journals to output their scientific content. It has now decided to publish its own journal, the SIU Journal, and today we were delighted to speak with their Editor-in-Chief, Professor Peter Black, from Vancouver and the University of British Columbia. Peter is very well known in the world of urology as a huge leader in GU Oncology, so it is very exciting to see him turn his talents to leading this journal. We are very confident himself and his very global editorial team will produce a fantastic journal.
Links:
SIU Journal
Twitter
SIU Journal
SIU
Professor Peter Black
Today we join forces again with our good friends at the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) to bring you the podcast version of the PCF Global Knowledge Exchange, this time focussing on Next Generation PSMA. Today's event is brought to you by PCF in conjunction with the Prostate Imaging and Theranostics Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC) at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Your hosts are Dr Howard Soule and Dr Andrea Miyahira from the PCF, and Professor Michael Hofman and Professor Declan Murphy from ProsTIC.
PSMA imaging and theranostics are among the most exciting areas of research in prostate cancer, and today's event involves top leaders in the field who are tasked with looking beyond what we are using today. This PCF Global Knowledge Exchange is a full webinar which included more than 500 delegates from around the world, and we have posted the link to the YouTube version below. In the meantime, we hope that you might enjoy this podcast.
Speakers and topics include:
- Prof. Klaus Kopka: PSMA evolution
- Prof. Neil Bander: combination alpha-Ab / small molecule
- Dr Cristina Müller: Terbium PSMA
- Prof. Mike Sathekge: theranostics in low-mid income countries
- A/Prof Ana Kiess: auger-emitters to target micro-metastases
- Prof. John Babich: albumin-binding to increase uptake
Full webinar on Youtube
Click here
Links:
PCF
ProsTIC
Twitter:
PCF Science
ProsTIC
Peter Mac GU Onc
A big week for prostate cancer in the Lancet! No less than three much-anticipated randomised trials to investigate the role of adjuvant vs salvage radiotherapy in prostate cancer, were published in the Lancet and Lancet Oncology this week, plus a pre-planned meta-analysis of all three. RAVES, RADICALS-RT, and GETUG-AFU 17, each examined the issue of post-operative radiotherapy in men at risk of biochemical recurrence, and randomised those men to receive radiotherapy prior to PSA recurrence (adjuvant), or at the first sign of PSA recurrence (early salvage). There were some differences in patient population and trial design, but the overall message is that early salvage radiotherapy offers the same oncological benefit as adjuvant radiotherapy, with significantly less toxicity. An accompanying pre-planned meta-analayis (ARTISTIC), and Editorial reinforce the message.
GU Cast hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen were delighted to speak today with RAVES lead author Professor Andrew Kneebone of Royal North Shore Hospital/University of Sydney, and co-author Professor Mark Frydenberg of Monash University, about the results of this trial and what it means for patients at risk of biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy. Truly practice-defining studies!
Links:
RAVES paper
RADICALS
GETUG-17
ARTISTIC meta-analysis
Lancet Editorial
TROG
ANZUP
Today we focus on trainee-led collaborative research, focussing on three of the best examples out there. We chat with the leaders of the British Urology Researchers in Surgical Training (BURST), the European Society of Residents in Urology (ESRU), and the Australian Young Urology Researchers Organisation (YURO). These groups have a number of missions, including networking and mentorship for trainees, but they also have a particular interest in collaborative research. We chat with Veeru Kasi and Meg Kulkarni from BURST, Diego Carrion Monsalve from ESRU, and Ellen O'Connor from YURO, about the beginnings of their respective organisations, how they function, their successes to date, and some of the challenges they face. We hear of some amazing examples of trainee-led research involving many thousands of patients, 50+ centres in multiple countries, with impressive publications to date. We also hear how organisations such as BAUS, EAU, and USANZ, and journals including BJUI, European Urology Today, and Minerva Urologica e Nefrologica have supported trainee-led research, but how more can be done to foster these initiatives.
Hosted by Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Website Links:
BURST
ESRU
YURO
Twitter
BURST
ESRU
YURO
Veeru Kasi
Meg Kulkarni
Diego Carrion Monsalve
Ellen O'Connor
Others:
Join the BURST RESECT Study
BURST paper on communication in COVID era
Legends of Urology podcast
Continuing our season of chats with newly-minted Editors-in-Chief of top urology journals, today we chat with Dr Mike Leveridge of the Department of Urology, Queen's University, Ontario. Mike has just taken the reins as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Association of Urology (CUA) Journal, one of our favourite national journals, and has just published his opening editorial. CUA J is open access with no article processing fees - the rest of teh world should follow this example!!
One of our all time favourite friends in North America, and a great choice to lead this really useful journal. Usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by colleague Nathan Lawrentschuk, who did Fellowship training with Mike in Toronto.
CUA Journal
Mike's fantastic Twitter feed
Mike's debut editorial
Uro-Twitterati legend Dr Ben Davies joins us today to trawl through his Twitter feed and share his wisdom on everything from tomatoes to leadership positions in Urology. Ben is Professor of Urology at the University of Pittsburgh, Chief of Urology at Shadyside/Hillman Cancer Centre and Director of the Uro-Oncology Fellowship Program. No holds barred chat with one of our favourite friends in Urology! With your usual hosts, Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Ben's Twitter feed https://twitter.com/daviesbj
Professor Freddie Hamdy, Professor of Urology at the University of Oxford, has recently taken up the reigns as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI) and has just published the first edition with his new editorial team. The BJUI has been around for more than 90 years and is one of the top journals in the world of urology. Its impact factor rose to an all-time high under the leadership of Prof Hamdy's predecessor. Professor Prokar Dasgupta, who also led a huge change to embrace digital and social media, and therefore Prof Hamdy takes over at an exciting time.
Usual hosts Professor Declan Murphy (a past Associate Editor of BJUI) and Dr Renu Eapen (who recently joined the Editorial Board), are joined by Associate Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk who continues as Associate Editor in charge of the BJUI supplement.
Tim O'Brien, Consultant Urologist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, joins GU Cast to chat about his recent appointment as President of The British Association of Urological Surgeons. Tim has taken the reigns of BAUS during these most extraordinary of times, and is determined to make the most of the opportunities! Nothing like a pandemic to help make some changes. Tim joins usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen for a most entertaining and insightful chat.
Today we are joined by USANZ President, Dr Stephen Mark, to discuss the big challenges faced by trainees during COVID. We include soundbites from many trainees and aspiring trainees who sent in voice memos to highlight the stresses and concerns they have - some amazing comments! Stephen responds to these concerns and gives us a glimpse into USANZ plans for the future.
Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by Associate Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk.
Today GU Cast again joins up with our good friends at Urotoday.com to cross post this episode. Our own Dr Renu Eapen is interviewed by Dr Ashish Kamat (an old friend of GU Cast), as part of the Urotoday Bladder Cancer Centre of Excellence, to discuss urinary diversion in female patients following radical cystectomy.
You can find the original Urotoday post, including some supporting slides, on the following link https://www.urotoday.com/video-lectures/bladder-cancer/video/mediaitem/1844-urinary-diversion-in-women-following-radical-cystectomy-renu-eapen.html
With the COVID pandemic situation continuing to worsen in Melbourne, further restrictions have been put in place for elective surgery. Pre-op COVID swabs are already mandatory, and now only the most urgent surgeries can go ahead. We are joined by the Directors of three of Melbourne's busiest urology cancer centres to see what this means for patients. Professor Damien Bolton from the Austin, Associate Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk from the Royal Melbourne Hospital (and Peter Mac), and co-host Professor Declan Murphy from Peter Mac. Dr Renu Eapen is co-host as ever.
Today we chat with Dr Paul Cathcart, Urologist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, who has a specialist interest in salvage radical prostatectomy. Paul is one of the world's most experienced salvage prostatectomists and joins us to chat about patient selection and surgical technique to optimise outcomes, especially for patients who have undergone focal therapy. Post-HIFU/brachy/cryo/Nano knife - he does them all! And has published lots of data in this area.
Paul also chats about the UK National Prostate Cancer Audit as he leads the Quality group in this huge project. Co-hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.
Today Melbourne is back in lockdown (boo), so to cheer ourselves up, we bring you a fantastic GU Cast with two great guests! Dr Jim Porter from Seattle has hit the headlines twice recently; first with a superb randomised trial of a point of surgical technique during robotic prostatectomy recently published in the BJUI; and second, the global headlines that he made when he mentored Dr Archie Fernando perform a complex robotic surgery in London, while in his pyjamas in Seattle! We chat with the founder and CEO of Proximie, whose technology enabled this, Dr Nadine Haram, an extraordinary surgical entrepreneur. Regular hosts Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen are joined by Peter Mac colleague, Associate Professor Daniel Moon.
Today we look forward to #EAU20, the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Urology (EAU). Like all other scientific meetings at present, #EAU20 is not taking place in its usual format as a huge physical meeting (due to be in Amsterdam), but is instead a fully virtual meeting taking place from 17-19th July 2020.
Today we chat with the Chair of the EAU Scientific Congress Office, Professor Peter Albers, about the challenges in switching over to a virtual meeting, and about the fantastic format they have created so delegates can still enjoy the usual very high quality EAU meeting experience.
We also chat with Prof Joan Palou, Chair of the EAU European School of Urology about the UroWebinars which they are putting on in lieu of their usual program of educational courses. It all sounds fantastic!!!
Full details here https://eaucongress.uroweb.org
Dr Archie Fernando is a Consultant Urologist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, specialising in testicular cancer and retroperitoneal fibrosis. BAUS posted a terrific video which she did recently to share her perspectives on telehealth, based on an interesting case she had recently had, and she shares seven great tips on telehealth for clinicians. Join Declan and Renu for a terrific podcast with Archie.
Here is a link to her original video https://youtu.be/P3c3ZvVI-OY
GU Cast today features two excellent online initiatives to facilitate online education.
We are joined in studio by Associate Professor Jeremy Grummet, Urologist, to talk about https://www.mripro.io which provides an outstanding platform to learn how to interpret MRI prostate. A very well annotated set of 300 cases are presented in a very user-friendly platform with CME approval. Also a great set of multidisciplinary webinars.
And Dr Lindsay Hampson joins us from California to discuss the fantastic online urology education program, #UrologyCOViD, which she and her colleagues have developed during COVID times. Originally aimed at urology residents in the USA, but with many trainees from all over the world joining in.
We are joined today by the fantastic Dr Neeraj Agarwal of the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah to discuss some contentious areas in mCRPC, especially around DNA repair defects, immunotherapy and other targeted therapies. Also joined again in studio by our colleague Associate Professor Arun Azad, and regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
GU Cast chats to Dr Petros Grivas, GU Medical Oncologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, about the JAVELIN 100 trial which featured in the plenary session at ASCO20 recently. Petros is senior author on this practice-changing study of "switch maintenance" in metastatic bladder cancer, and he joins us today to explain some of the finer details of the study. With audio cameos from Tom Powles, Betsy Plimack, and Vinay Prasad (yikes!).
Declan and Renu were also delighted to have Associate Professor Andrew Weickhardt join them in studio today. Andrew is a GU Medical Oncologist at the Olivia-Newton John Cancer Centre and Austin Hospital in Melbourne, where he leads the GU Oncology trials team.
Another most enjoyable webinar from our friends at the Prostate Cancer Foundation, this time focussing on the TheraP trial recently presented at #ASCO20, a randomised trial of Lu-PSMA vs cabazitaxel in progressive mCRPC. Professor Michael Hofman presents the data and is joined by an esteemed global panel including Professor Ian Davis, Professor Cora Sternberg and Professor Wolfgang Weber. Co-hosted by Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Howard Soule. More than 500 registrants from over 40 countries joined in, many of whom contributed to a very lively discussion. Enjoy!
Dr Ashish Kamat, Professor of Urologic Onology at MD Anderson Cancer Centre joins us for a chat about the BADAS trial which he is leading. Fascinating trial to see if BCG vaccination might protect health care workers. And of course we talk bladder cancer as Ashish is a huge key opinion leader with many leadership roles in bladder cancer research and advocacy.
usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by Associate Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk from Peter Mac. Nathan is also Director of Urology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and leads Bladder Cancer Australia.
Dr Sumanta Pal from City of Hope, CA, joins us to discuss renal cancer highlights at virtual #ASCO20. Monty heads the renal cancer program at City of Hope and is a huge KOL in renal cancer. Also great fun on Twitter @montypal of course.
Enjoy this fireside chat with Monty, Dr Ben Tran, medical oncologist at Peter Mac, and regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
PS our podcast art today features Monty and Eric Jonasch when they popped in to see us at Peter Mac in February 2018. Nice pose gents!
Dr Elizabeth Plimack, Chief of GU Medical Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, joins us to discuss bladder cancer highlights at ASCO 20. For the first time, urothelial cancer featured in an ASCO Plenary with Dr Tom Powles presenting the primary endpoint of JAVELIN100, a practice-changing study of switch-maintenance in metastatic urothelial cancer. Betsy did a fantastic discussion in the plenary and joins us today to discuss this and others. Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by Dr Ben Tran, GU Trials Lead at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The first in our series of post-#ASCO20 podcasts. Today we chat with Dr Oliver Sartor of Tulane Cancer Centre about his favourite prostate cancer moments from virtual #ASCO20. PSMA imaging and therapy, neo-adjuvant intensive ADT, M0 CRPC etc etc - all get a mention in a whirlwind run through the main prostate cancer sessions.
Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by Peter Mac colleagues, Associate Professor Arun Azad and Professor Michael Hofman.
We are joined today by Alan and Fiona White to discuss their perspectives as a couple who have been on this journey, and who spend a lot of time supporting other couples. Alan had an open radical prostatectomy in 2011, and himself and Fiona have developed https://www.theprostatezone.com to help others on the journey.
Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are also joined by prostate cancer Nurse Consultant, Emma Birch.
We are re-posting this podcast which ABC Radio National posted in Feb 2020, featuring our own Declan Murphy and Peter Mac colleague, Professor Rob Ramsay, top scientist and prostate cancer patient. Some wonderful perspectives and very nicely put together by Natasha Mitchell from the Science Friction podcast at the ABC. Here is their blurb -
You're a top cancer scientist. You think you know a lot about the disease. And then you get it. Suddenly you're "A Cancer Patient", and one of your colleagues is wielding the (robotic) scalpel in your surgery.
Tables are turned, but once a scientist always a scientist, even on the operating table.
A story about science, knowledge, and vulnerability. Don't miss this frank and fearless conversation about an experience many men don’t talk openly about.
Guests:
Professor Robert Ramsay
Cancer scientist
Co-Head Gastrointestinal Cancer Program
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria, Australia
Professor Declan Murphy
Urologist and Director of Genitourinary Oncology
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne
Declan on Twitter @declangmurphy
Presenter/producer: Natasha Mitchell
Sound engineer: Krissy Miltiadou
Duration: 28min 49secBroadcast: Sun 2 Feb 2020, 5:05pm
Today we are joined by Professor Nick James, Principal Investigator of the STAMPEDE study; an amazing ongoing series of practice-changing randomised trials for men with advanced prostate cancer. Nick discusses recent highlights of STAMPEDE, imminent developments in STAMPEDE, the impact of PSMA PET/CT, as well as some challenges in the COVID era. He also discusses his recent move from Birmingham to the Institute of Cancer Research/Royal Marsden, and his son's recent Zoom wedding in South America! Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined in studio by Associate Professor Arun Azad, medical oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Today we are joined by Nurse Consultants, Emma Birch and Marc Diocera, and also by patient advocate Alan White, to discuss how they work together to prepare patients and their loved ones who are coming up to robotic prostatectomy. They describe the evolution of their "Robocare" program over teh past ten years, and look ahead to how COVID19 is creating opportunities to make it even more accessible. Hosted by Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
Today we hook up with our good friends at Urotoday.com. Dr Alicia Morgans interviews Professor Declan Murphy for the Urotoday.com website, and we are cross-posting as a GU Cast podcast, introduced by Dr Renu Eapen. Alicia interviews Declan about the COVID situation in Australia as part of the Urotoday.com global overview.
Dr Matt Cooperberg from UCSF joins us on GU Cast to give us his Top 5 "Good Things to Come Out of COVID". The usual mixture of banter and bonhomie with Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Enjoy!!
Today we are joined by three giants in the world of stereotactic-assisted body radiotherapy (SBRT), to discuss the use of SBRT in various stages of prostate cancer. Associate Professor Shankar Siva from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre joins us in the studio, along with Dr Alison Tree from the Royal Marsden in London, and Dr Piet Ost from Ghent. Your usual hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.
Nurses are stepping up to support cancer patients during the COVID pandemic. Today we hear from Liz Medhurst, Urology Nurse Consultant at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, in discussion with Louisa Fleure, Lead GU Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. Louisa and Liz discuss some of teh innovative ways we can support cancer patients during these strange times. Hosted as ever by Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.
A hope-filled podcast to bring some sunshine to your day. GU Cast chats to Dr Maria Ribal in Barcelona, and Dr Stacy Loeb in New York. Lots of cheery chat to brighten up your day!
Today we are joined by Dr Rob Hamilton, Urologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, and world-leading testis cancer specialist. Rob has been running a randomised trial of telehealth surveillance for testis cancer patients so has some great insights and advice for the rest of us. We also discuss his interest in testis cancer biomarkers and robotic surgery for retroperitoneal testicular cancer. Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined again by Dr Ben Tran, Medical Oncologist at Peter Mac who knows Rob from his time doing a Fellowship at Princess Margaret.
Thanks to Dr Howard Soule and our friends at the Prostate Cancer Foundation in the USA, we are delighted to post this GU Cast special episode on PSMA PET/CT. PCF today hosted their first PCF Global Journal Club Webinar, focussing on PSMA PET/CT. Professor Michael Hofman presented an overview of the proPSMA trial recently published in the Lancet, with a lively panel discussion and questions from the global audience of almost 300 active participants. Join Howard, Michael, and special guests Prof Caroline Moore, Prof Jeremie Calais, Prof Scott Williams, Dr Kirsten Greene, and GU Cast host, Prof Declan Murphy, in this podcast of today's PCF Global Journal Club Webinar.
Dr SIma Porten, Urologist at the University of California San Francisco, joins GU Cast to discuss the management of bladder cancer during the COVID pandemic. Huge challenges balancing risks of treatment vs risks of disease progression.
Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined by Dr Ben Tran, medical oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne
Dr Ben Challacombe, Urologist at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, & Chair of BAUS Oncology, joins us on GU Cast to discuss life in London as COVID nears its peak. Ben and the BAUS Oncology Committee released guidelines on the management of renal cancer a few days ago and he joins Declan Murphy, Renu Eapen, and Daniel Moon to discuss these.
Professor Alberto Briganti from San Raffaele University in Milan joins us for this episode of GU Chat. Today we focus on the challenges of managing localised prostate cancer during the COVID crisis. Amazing perspectives from the North of Italy. Regular hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are also joined this week by Dr Daniel Moon, Urologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen host the launch episode of GU Cast, a podcast focussing on GU cancers, from the team at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Today our guest is Professor Michael Hofman, who discusses the proPSMA trial, published in The Lancet the week. Professor Caroline Moore from University College London joins us to comment.