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• Controversy remains regarding adjuvant therapy (AT) in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and radical cystectomy (RC) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. • Determining variables that may affect cancer-specific survival (CSS) for nonresponsiveness to NAC may aid in identifying patients who may require AT after RC. • In this multicentric retrospective study, only ypN status was shown to be an independent prognostic indicator of CSS in patients who did not respond to NAC. • ypN+ may be an important prognostic indicator that should be evaluated and may favor AT when considering AT or observation options for locally advanced disease in NAC-non-responsive patients. To investigate the risk factors affecting cancer-specific survival (CSS) in nonresponsive disease to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) among patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who were treated with NAC and radical cystectomy (RC). Patients with MIBC who underwent NAC and RC were retrospectively examined. By comparing clinical and pathological stages, patients whose pathological stage was lower than clinical stage were categorized as "NAC-responsive" and the remainder as "NAC-non-responsive." Apart from pathologic staging, variables compared between groups included age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, clinical stages, NAC type and cycle number, durations between MIBC diagnosis and NAC initiation and RC, presence of hydronephrosis, number of lymph nodes removed, and variant histology of urothelial bladder cancer. CSS analysis was performed by construction of Kaplan–Meier survival curves and multivariable Cox regression was performed to identify the prognosticators in the NAC-non-responsive-group. Ninety-two patients were included with a mean age was 61.5 ± 8.5 years, of whom 84.8% were men. The NAC regimen used was predominantly gemcitabine-cisplatin (88%) and the median cycle number was 4. Fifty-six (60.9%) patients were NAC-non-responsive. There was a significantly lower proportion of patients receiving ≥4 cycles (46.4% vs. 66.7%) and a higher rate of patients with ECOG score ˃1 (33.9% vs. 11.1%) in the NAC-non-responsive-group compared to the NAC-responsive-group (both P < 0.05). Other variables were similar between groups. In multivariable analysis, only ypN+ was found to be an independent prognosticator for CSS in NAC-non-responsive-group (HR: 2.725, CI95%:1.017–7.303). Although higher ECOG scores and lower cycle numbers appears to be associated factors in NAC-non-responsive disease, only ypN(+) status was a prognosticator for CSS in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the correlation between the visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and uroflowmetry parameters in Turkish men with lower urinary tract symptoms. Material Between September 2013 and March 2014, a total of 191 patients who were admitted to the hospital with lower urinary tract symptoms were enrolled in the study. After the routine tests were performed, the patients were requested to fill the IPSS questionnaire consisting of 8 questions and the VPSS questionnaire consisting of 4 questions. Peak (Qmax) and average (Qave) urinary flow rates were measured. Results Mean age value was 62.8 years (range, 43-84 years). The education level was divided into 3 groups as follows: groups 1, 2, and 3 consisting of 98 patients (51.3%) with formal schooling (1-8 years education), 61 patients (31.9%) with 9-12 years education, and 32 patients (16.8%) with college or university education, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the total IPSS and the total VPSS (r = 0.72; P <.001). There was a negative correlation between the Qmax values and both the total IPSS (r = −0.53; P <.001) and the total VPSS (r = −0.3; P <.01), separately. The questionnaire was completed without any assistance by 25 (25.5%), 33 (54.1%), and 27 (84.4%) men for the IPSS and by 76 (77.6%), 54 (88.5%), and 31 (96.9%) men for the VPSS in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Conclusion The VPSS correlates significantly with the IPSS and can be reliably used in the elderly and low-educated patients for the assessment of symptom severity in men with lower urinary tract symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]