Purpose A novel platform was developed that fuses pre-biopsy magnetic resonance imaging with real-time transrectal ultrasound imaging to identify and biopsy lesions suspicious for prostate cancer. The cancer detection rates for the first 101 patients are reported. Materials and Methods This prospective, single institution study was approved by the institutional review board. Patients underwent 3.0 T multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging with endorectal coil, which included T2-weighted, spectroscopic, dynamic contrast enhanced and diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences. Lesions suspicious for cancer were graded according to the number of sequences suspicious for cancer as low (2 or less), moderate (3) and high (4) suspicion. Patients underwent standard 12-core transrectal ultrasound biopsy and magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion guided biopsy with electromagnetic tracking of magnetic resonance imaging lesions. Chi-square and within cluster resampling analyses were used to correlate suspicion on magnetic resonance imaging and the incidence of cancer detected on biopsy. Results Mean patient age was 63 years old. Median prostate specific antigen at biopsy was 5.8 ng/ml and 90.1% of patients had a negative digital rectal examination. Of patients with low, moderate and high suspicion on magnetic resonance imaging 27.9%, 66.7% and 89.5% were diagnosed with cancer, respectively (p <0.0001). Magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion guided biopsy detected more cancer per core than standard 12-core transrectal ultrasound biopsy for all levels of suspicion on magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusions Prostate cancer localized on magnetic resonance imaging may be targeted using this novel magnetic resonance imaging/ultrasound fusion guided biopsy platform. Further research is needed to determine the role of this platform in cancer detection, active surveillance and focal therapy, and to determine which patients may benefit.

Objectives Minimally invasive robotic assistance is being increasingly utilized to treat larger complex renal masses. We report on the technical feasibility and renal functional and oncological outcomes with minimum 1 year follow up of robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) for tumors greater than 4 cm. Methods and Materials The urologic oncology database was queried to identify patients treated with RALPN for tumors greater than 4 cm and a minimum follow up of 12 months. We identified 19 RALPN on 17 patients treated between June 2007 and July 2009. Two patients underwent staged bilateral RALPN. Demographic, operative, and pathologic data were collected. Renal function was assessed by serum creatinine levels, estimated glomerular filtration rate and nuclear renal scans assessed at baseline, 3 and 12 months post-operatively. All tumors were assigned R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry scores (www.nephrometry.com). Results The median nephrometry score for the largest tumor from each kidney was 9 (range 6–11) while the median size was 5 cm (range 4.1–15). Three of 19 cases (16%) required intraoperative conversion to open partial nephrectomy. No renal units were lost. There were no statistically significant differences between preoperative and postoperative creatinine and eGFR. A statistically significant decline of ipsilateral renal scan function (49% vs. 46.5%, p=0.006) was observed at three months and at twelve months postoperatively (49% vs. 45.5%, p=0.014). No patients had evidence of recurrence or metastatic disease at a median follow up of 22 months (range 12–36). Conclusions RALPN is feasible for renal tumors greater than 4 cm with moderate or high nephrometry scores. Although there was a modest decline in renal function of the operated unit, RALPN may afford the ability resect challenging tumors requiring complex renal reconstruction. The renal functional and oncological outcomes are promising at a median follow up of 22 months, but longer follow up is required.

Objective We sought to determine if there is a correlation between D'Amico risk stratification and degree of suspicion of prostate cancer on multi-parametric MRI, based on targeted biopsies obtained with our electromagnetically (EM) tracked MRI/ultrasound (US) fusion platform. Methods 101 patients underwent 3 Tesla multi-parametric MR imaging of the prostate which consisted of T2, DCE, DWI, and spectroscopy images in patients with a suspicion for, or diagnosis of prostate cancer. All prostate MRI lesions were then identified and graded by the number of modalities positive: low (≤2), moderate (3) and high (4) suspicion. Patients and lesions were stratified by D'Amico risk stratification. The biopsy protocol included a standard 12 core biopsy followed by real-time MRI/US fusion-targeted biopsies of the suspicious MR lesions. Results 90.1% of men were clinical T1c with a mean age of 62.7 ± 8.3 years and the median PSA was 5.8 ng/ml. 54.5% of the patients were positive for cancer on the protocol biopsy. A Chi-squared analysis resulted in a statistically significant correlation between the MR suspicion and D'Amico risk stratification for patients (p<0.0001). Within-cluster re-sampling technique determined that there was a statistically significant correlation between MR suspicion and D'Amico risk stratification for MR ‘targeted’ core biopsies and MR lesions (p<0.01) Conclusion Our data supports that with multi-parametric MR prostate imaging, one may be able to quantitatively assess the degree of risk associated with MR visible lesions within the prostate.