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Item does not contain fulltext, BACKGROUND: Adverse events induced by intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to treat high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) often lead to treatment discontinuation. The EAU-RF NIMBUS trial found a reduced number of standard-dose BCG instillations to be inferior with the standard regimen. Nonetheless, it remains important to evaluate whether patients in the reduced BCG treatment arm had better quality of life (QoL) due to a possible reduction in toxicity or burden. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether patients in the EAU-RF NIMBUS trial experienced better QoL after a reduced BCG instillation frequency. DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 359 patients from 51 European sites were randomized to one of two treatment arms between December 2013 and July 2019. The standard frequency arm (n = 182) was 6 weeks of BCG induction followed by 3 weeks of maintenance at months 3, 6, and 12. The reduced frequency arm (n = 177) was BCG induction at weeks 1, 2, and 6, followed by maintenance instillations at weeks 1 and 3 of months 3, 6, and 12. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Analyses were performed using an intention-to-treat analysis and a per-protocol analysis. QoL was measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 version 3.0 (QLQ-C30 v.03) prior to the first and last instillations of each BCG cycle. Group differences were determined using linear regression corrected for QoL at baseline. Differences in QoL over time were tested for significance using a linear mixed model. Side effects were recorded by the treating physician using a standardized form. Chi-square tests were used to compare the side-effect frequency between the arms. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: There were no significant differences in the means of each QoL scale between the two arms. There were also no significant changes over time in all QoL domains for both arms. However, differences in the incidence of

Item does not contain fulltext, Background Lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostate enlargement (LUTS/BPE) can lead to significant disturbances to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological well-being. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pharmacological treatment of LUTS/BPE on disease specific and generic QOL measures. Methods Evolution was a European prospective, multicenter multi-national, observational registry collecting real-life clinical data over 2 years on the management of LUTS/BPE in primary and secondary care. This study investigated disease-specific QOL using questionnaires such as IPSS Q8, BPH Impact Index (BII) and generic QOL using questionnaires like EuroQOL Five Dimension (EQ5D) which encompassed EQ5D VAS and EQ5D health index. Results The registry enrolled 1838 BPE patients and 1246 patients were evaluable at the end of 24 months. Nearly 70% of patients in the study were previously treated with medical therapy and 17% of these had already discontinued medical treatment previously for various reasons with lack of efficacy being the most common. The mean time since diagnosis of LUTS in the previously treated group was 4.7 years (0-26 years). Medical management produced statistically significant improvement in QOL (disease specific and generic) in previously untreated patients and an insignificant change in generic QOL in previously treated patients. Conclusions After 5-years from the onset of symptoms, LUTS/BPE patients previously treated with medication had significantly impaired QOL in patients in a manner comparable to other chronic diseases. Earlier intervention with minimally invasive surgical techniques (MIT) should be considered in LUTS/BPE patients that do not show a significant improvement in QOL with medical therapy.

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Item does not contain fulltext, Purpose: We evaluated unmet needs of lower urinary tract symptoms-benign prostatic enlargement pharmacological treatment by measuring symptom improvement, persistence and deterioration in real life. A prospective registry was conducted for 24 months in 5 European countries and analyzed by the European Association of Urology Research Foundation. Materials and Methods: Previously untreated and treated patients were enrolled to the registry in both primary care and urology referral centers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Results: Overall, 2,175 patients were enrolled with 1,838 analyzed, consisting of 575 previously untreated lower urinary tract symptoms-benign prostatic enlargement patients (no alpha blockers for at least 1 month or no 5-alpha reductase inhibitors for at least 6 months) and 1,263 previously treated patients. During the registry 90% of patients adhered to the prescribed regimen. After 24 months, 70% of previously untreated and 42% of previously treated patients experienced symptom improvement (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS] reduction of >= 3 points). Symptomatic patients (IPSS >= 8) remained in both groups (59% in previously untreated and 61% in previously treated), with greater symptom deterioration (IPSS increase >= 3 points) in 18.9% in previously treated vs 7.8% in previously untreated patients. Both clinical lower urinary tract symptoms-benign prostatic enlargement progression and surgery rates were similar in untreated vs treated groups at 16% vs 17% and 5% vs 7%, respectively, at 24 months. Conclusions: This prospective registry confirmed lower urinary tract symptoms-benign prostatic enlargement pharmacological treatment effectiveness in a realworld setting, with low clinical progression observed in about 1 in 6 patients and lower surgery rates below 1 in 20, by 24 months.

Item does not contain fulltext, Background To use the European Association of Urology Research Foundation (EAURF) registry data to determine the proportion of contemporary Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms associated with Benign Prostatic Enlargement (LUTS/BPE) patients prescribed phytotherapy, and to determine their subjective quality of life and clinical progression responses. Methods This was a prospective multicenter multinational observational registry study, conducted over 2 years. Men >= 50 years seeking LUTS/BPE were divided at baseline into two cohorts, presently/recently untreated patients (PUP) commencing pharmacotherapy at baseline and presently/recently treated patients (c-PTP) continuing previously received pharmacotherapy, with 24-month follow-up (FU). Results Overall, 2175 patients were enrolled with 1838 analyzed. Of the PUP cohort (n = 575), 92 (16%) received phytotherapy and 65 (71%,n = 65/92) completed 24-month FU, with France prescribing 34% (n = 30/89) the highest proportion of phytotherapy among all LUTS/BPE medications. In the c-PTP group (n = 1263), only 69 (5%) patients were using phytotherapy, falling ton = 35/69 (51%) at 24-month FU (highest in France 20% (n = 43/210)). Though defined disease progression occurred in <= 20%, with only 1% proceeding to surgical intervention, in both groups, clinically meaningful improvement was lower and symptom persistence was higher in PUP but similar in the treated (c-PTP) patients on phytotherapy compared to the other LUTS/BPE medication. Conclusion Low heterogeneous prescribing rates for phytotherapy were reported in both PUP and c-PTP cohorts over the 24-month FU. Although phytotherapy led to subjective improvements, healthcare practitioners should prescribe them with caution until higher quality evidence and guideline recommendations supporting its use are available.

Contains fulltext : 233937.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access), BACKGROUND: Owing to the large variation in treatment response among patients with high-risk prostate cancer, it would be of value to use objective tools to monitor the status of bone metastases during clinical trials. Automated Bone Scan Index (aBSI) based on artificial intelligence has been proposed as an imaging biomarker for the quantification of skeletal metastases from bone scintigraphy. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how an increase in aBSI during treatment may predict clinical outcome in a randomised controlled clinical trial including patients with high-risk prostate cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively selected all patients from the Zometa European Study (ZEUS)/SPCG11 study with image data of sufficient quality to allow for aBSI assessment at baseline and at 48-mo follow-up. Data on aBSI were obtained using EXINIbone(BSI) software, blinded for clinical data and randomisation of zoledronic acid treatment. Data on age, overall survival (OS), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) at baseline and upon follow-up were available from the study database. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Association between clinical parameters and aBSI increase during treatment was evaluated using Cox proportional-hazards regression models, Kaplan-Meier estimates, and log-rank test. Discrimination between prognostic variables was assessed using the concordance index (C-index). RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: In this cohort, 176 patients with bone metastases and a change in aBSI from baseline to follow-up of ≤0.3 had a significantly longer median survival time than patients with an aBSI change of >0.3 (p<0.0001). The increase in aBSI was significantly associated with OS (p<0.01 and C-index=0.65), while age and PSA change were not. CONCLUSIONS: The aBSI used as an objective imaging biomarker predicted outcome in prostate cancer patients in the ZEUS/SPCG11 study. An analysis of the change in aBSI from baseline to 48-mo follow-up represents a valuable tool for

Contains fulltext : 204666.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), PURPOSE: A cost minimisation analysis compares the costs of different interventions' to ascertain the least expensive over time. We compared different prostate targeted drug treatments with TURP to identify the optimal cost saving duration of a medical therapy for symptomatic benign prostatic enlargement (BPE). METHODS: The Evolution registry is a prospective, multicentre registry, conducted by the European Association of Urology Research Foundation (EAUrf) for 24 months in 5 European countries. Evolution was designed to register the management of symptomatic BPE in clinical practice settings in 5 European countries. Direct cost evaluation associated with prostate targeted medical therapies and TURP was also recorded and analysed. RESULTS: In total, 1838 men were enrolled with 1246 evaluable at 24 months. Medical therapies were more cost saving than TURP for treatment durations ranging from 2.9 to 70.4 years. Cost saving depended on both medication class and individual country assessed. Daily tamsulosin monotherapy was more cost saving than TURP for

The mining industry is interested in tele-operation systems to remove mining operators from hazardous or inconvenient environments without losing efficiency. Technologies to enhance the operator's experience are advancing but there is a lack of evidence supporting the extent to which these emerging technologies positively affect user experience. In this paper, we describe three applications that make use of networked virtual and mixed reality. These prototype systems each represent a step towards new VR based technologies that will increase the efficiency and safety of the mining industry.

The present work concerns immersive virtual reality experiments for the mining industry. The experiments demonstrate efficacy of devices used for teleoperation of mining equipment. The visualisation is carried out using Unity3D 2.5 multiplatform game development tool that communicates with a .Net socket server allowing continuous data feeding from: (a) 5DT Data Glove Ultra that measures finger flexures; (b) MicroStrain 3DM-GX2 high performance orientation sensor that provides information about acceleration and rotational attributes such as pitch, roll and yaw. The user is placed at the focal point of 4-m dome and experiences being part of mining environment. Users also have the ability to navigate and manipulate the fields of view using orientation data and behaviour of the underground mining equipment using six different distinctive hand gestures. In the future, the same techniques can be applied to monitor real mining environments, in which the mining equipment is geo-referenced using the same IMU devices and surrounded by other sensor networks.