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Andrew J Stephenson

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew J Stephenson.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Guidelines for the surveillance of localized renal cell carcinoma based on the patterns of relapse after nephrectomy.

PURPOSE: We characterized relapse patterns in patients with sporadic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following radical and partial nephrectomy, and developed surveillance guidelines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1989 and 2000, 495 patients underwent nephrectomy for RCC at 1 of 5 Canadian referral centers. Median followup was 42 months. RESULTS: The rate of relapse, time to relapse and site of relapse were associated with pathological stage. Five-year progression-free probability was 93% for pT1, 81% for pT2, 67% for pT3A and 57% for pT3B (p <0.001). Compared to patients with pT1-2 those with pT3A-B lesions had earlier relapse after nephrectomy (median 12 vs 26 months, p = 0.001) and were at higher risk for relapse at abdominal sites (14% vs 1.8%, p < 0.001). Abdominal relapse was detected in the absence of symptoms, abnormal biochemical profile or thoracic metastases detectable by chest x-ray in 7 patients (1.4%) overall, including 3 (0.9%) with pT1, 3 (4%) with pT3A and 1 (3%) with pT3B. CONCLUSIONS: The risk and the pattern of relapse of RCC after nephrectomy are associated with pathological stage. For the surveillance of recurrent disease after nephrectomy we recommend annual clinical assessment and chest x-ray in pT1-2 cases. Patients with pT3A-B should be followed every 6 months for the first 3 years with clinical assessment and chest x-ray, and annual followup thereafter. The higher risk of abdominal relapse in patients with pT3A-B indicates that they should receive surveillance abdominal imaging. We recommend abdominal computerized tomography 6, 12, 24 and 36 months postoperatively.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Morbidity and functional outcomes of salvage radical prostatectomy for locally recurrent prostate cancer after radiation therapy.

PURPOSE: Few patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer after external beam (EB) or interstitial (I) radiotherapy (RT) are considered candidates for salvage radical prostatectomy (RP) due to high reported rates of major complications and urinary incontinence. We report the morbidity associated with salvage RP in 100 consecutive patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1984 to 2003 salvage RP was performed for recurrent prostate cancer following EBRT in 58 cases, and IRT in 42 (28 retropubic) and (14 transperineal). Clinical information was obtained from a prospective database. RESULTS: Since 1993, the major complication rate has decreased significantly (13% vs 33%, p = 0.02), including the rectal injury rate (2% vs 15%, p = 0.01). Compared with retropubic IRT and/or pre-radiotherapy pelvic lymph node dissection the risk of major complications following EBRT or transperineal IRT was significantly less (OR 0.2, p = 0.006). At 5 years an estimated 39% of patients were dry and 68% required 1 pad daily or less. A total of 23 patients with moderate-severe incontinence underwent artificial sphincter placement. The anastomotic stricture rate was 30%. The 5-year potency rate was 28% following unilateral or bilateral nerve sparing RP and 45% in previously potent patients. CONCLUSIONS: Due to patient selection the major complication rate after salvage RP has improved significantly with time and it is similar to that of standard RP. Rates of anastomotic stricture and moderate to severe incontinence are higher than those observed after standard RP. However, most patients recover reasonable urinary continence and a substantial number of select patients recover potency. The acceptable morbidity profile of salvage RP following EBRT and transperineal IRT should persuade more physicians to consider patients for this potentially curative procedure.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Gene expression profiling predicts clinical outcome of prostate cancer.

One of the major problems in management of prostate cancer is the lack of reliable genetic markers predicting the clinical course of the disease. We analyzed expression profiles of 12,625 transcripts in prostate tumors from patients with distinct clinical outcomes after therapy as well as metastatic human prostate cancer xenografts in nude mice. We identified small clusters of genes discriminating recurrent versus nonrecurrent disease with 90% and 75% accuracy in two independent cohorts of patients. We examined one group of samples (21 tumors) to discover the recurrence predictor genes and then validated the predictive power of these genes in a different set (79 tumors). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that recurrence predictor signatures are highly informative (P < 0.0001) in stratification of patients into subgroups with distinct relapse-free survival after therapy. A gene expression-based recurrence predictor algorithm was informative in predicting the outcome in patients with early-stage disease, with either high or low preoperative prostate-specific antigen levels and provided additional value to the outcome prediction based on Gleason sum or multiparameter nomogram. Overall, 88% of patients with recurrence of prostate cancer within 1 year after therapy were correctly classified into the poor-prognosis group. The identified algorithm provides additional predictive value over conventional markers of outcome and appears suitable for stratification of prostate cancer patients at the time of diagnosis into subgroups with distinct survival probability after therapy.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2002

Utility of PSA doubling time in follow-up of untreated patients with localized prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) changes and the ability of PSA doubling time (PSADT) to predict disease progression in untreated patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. METHODS: A total of 104 patients with localized prostate cancer were followed up expectantly with serial PSA measurements and digital rectal examination (DRE). PSADT was calculated by linear regression analysis for the 94 patients who had a minimum of three PSA measurements and 12 months of follow-up. The median follow-up was 33 months. Of the 94 patients, 45 underwent repeat prostate biopsy to evaluate whether tumor progression occurred during the observation period. RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of patients had rapid PSADTs (less than 48 months). Only the presence of palpable disease on DRE correlated with a PSADT of less than 48 months (P <0.05). However, a PSADT of less than 120 months consistently correlated with disease progression on DRE and on repeat biopsy, as well as with the presence of clinically significant cancer. PSADT did not correlate with the Gleason score. Furthermore, patients with a PSADT of less than 48 months did not differ significantly from those with a PSADT of 48 to 120 months with regard to Gleason score, disease progression on DRE or on repeat biopsy, and the presence of significant cancer. CONCLUSIONS: A PSADT of less than 120 months correlates with disease progression. However, its clinical utility remains limited to identify patients at risk of disease progression reliably.

Biopsy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in the management of testicular cancer.

Despite continued refinement in terms of technique and the integration of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) in the management of patients with testicular cancer, RPLND remains an essential component in the ultimate cure of these patients. The failure to eradicate all disease in the retroperitoneum exposes patients to the risk of late relapse events with potentially lethal consequences. For patients with low-stage nonseminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT), primary RPLND is an important staging tool to define subsequent treatment requirements, simplify the follow-up of patients by obviating the need for routine abdominal imaging, and limit the exposure of patients to the long-term toxicity of chemotherapy. RPLND alone is curative in up to 90% of patients with low-volume retroperitoneal disease. In the post-chemotherapy setting, the inability to reliably exclude the presence of teratoma or viable germ cell cancer in the retroperitoneum mandates that post-chemotherapy RPLND be performed for all NSGCT patients with residual masses. With improvements in surgical technique and perioperative care, RPLND is associated with minimal short- and long-term morbidity in the hands of experienced surgeons at dedicated centers. This article reviews the role of RPLND in the management of patients with NSGCT at all stages and its role in advanced seminoma.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗