Clinical Utility Articles

A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach has been developed and used to estimate the benefit-risk of solifenacin and mirabegron and their combination in the treatment of OAB. The objectives were (1) to develop an MCDA tool to compare drug effects in OAB quantitatively, (2) to establish transparency in the evaluation of the benefit-risk profile of various dose combinations, and (3) to quantify the added value of combination use compared to monotherapies.

Renal cell neoplasia are heterogeneous with diverse histology, genetic alterations, and clinical behavior that are diagnosed mostly on morphologic features. The Renal Cell Neoplasia Workgroup of the Cancer Genomics Consortium systematically evaluated peer-reviewed literature on genomic studies of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), including clear cell RCC, papillary RCC, chromophobe RCC, and the translocation RCC involving TFE3, TFEB and MITF rearrangements, as well as benign oncocytoma, which together comprise about 95% of all renal cell neoplasia.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare tumor cells and have been investigated as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers in many types of cancer. Although CTCs are not currently used in clinical practice, CTC studies have accumulated a high level of clinical validity, especially in breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers.

A new generation of prostate cancer (PCa) biomarkers has emerged, including diagnostic serum and urine markers aimed at refining the identification high-grade tumors and tissue-based gene expression assays offering prognostic and predictive clinical information.

Men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) frequently have circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that are detectable in their peripheral blood. The CellSearch® method of enumerating CTCs is presently the only FDA-cleared CTC test available clinically for men with mCRPC and has been shown to have prognostic significance in this setting, both before and during systemic therapy.

Transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy (TRUS-Bx) is recommended by the European Urology Association (EAU) as the first diagnostic modality for men at risk of prostate cancer (PCa). Current EAU guidelines reserve the use of multiparametric MRI to target or guide any repeat biopsy (mpMRI-Bx).

Prostate cancer (CaP) will be diagnosed in approximately 181,000 American men in 2016. Despite the high number of deaths from CaP in the United States, the disease has a protracted natural history and many men diagnosed with CaP will not die of the disease regardless of treatment.

The CCP test is a validated molecular assay that assesses prostate cancer-specific disease progression and mortality risk when combined with clinicopathologic parameters.