Explore every episode of the podcast GU Cast | Urology Podcast

Hot off the press in the Presidential Plenary at #ESMO25, we chat with Dr Scott Tagawa (Weill-Cornell, USA) about the positive data he just presented from the PSMAddition trial. This is an eagerly awaited phase III randmosied trial of patients with mHSPC, to see if the addition of six cycles of Lu-PSMA-617 to a control arm of ADT and an ARPI, could improve rPFS and other endpoints. We are also joined in the studio by Prof Michael Hofman (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, AUS), co-PI of the UpFront PSMA trial which also explored a similar concept, plus some comments from our other colleague, prof Arun Azad, who was the Discussant in the Presidential at ESMO25. 
Declan Murphy hosting GU Cast solo today while Renu Eapen was in the OR doing surgery. 

Even better on our YouTube channel

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Novartis.

Never heard of Common Sense Oncology?? Well if you enjoy this podcast then we think you will might find the Common Sense Oncology (CSO) movement to be very interesting indeed!

Declan Murphy caught up recently with Dr Bishal Gyawali, Medical Oncologist at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, to talk about CSO which he co-founded in 2023. They are on a mission to ensure that cancer care and innovation, should focus on results that are meaningful to patients (eg survival, quality of life, equity), rather than just regulatory approval, commercial success, or statistical endpoints. "Outcomes that matter", is their battle cry.

They are also very focussed on communication, and are quick to call out when stakeholders make ridiculous claims for their product or innovation. And Bishal happens to be one of the very best communicators out there. Great to have him on GU Cast and we at GU Cast are 100% supportive of their mission.

You can visit their website and join the movement for all the latest updates

The Urological Association of Asia (UAA) Annual Meeting is always a great cultural event with a focus on the local community. And Taipei certainly put on a great show! Lots of fantastic entertainment and great local cuisine, plus of course a great scientific program, with a focus on AI, single port robotic surgery, novel robot systems, and lots more across the breadth of Urology.

Join hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy, who bring you a great flavour of UAA in Taipei, speaking to many local and international guests. 

Even better on our YouTube channel

GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China. 

They started off by introducing themselves as The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse - what could possibly go wrong!! Declan couldn't resist the opportunity to invite three very eminent radiation oncologists into the studio when they all happened to be in Melbourne, even if he was particularly outnumbered while Renu was away! Vedang Murthy (Tata Memorial, India), Andrew Loblaw (Sunnybrook Hospital, Canada), and Sarat Chander (Peter Mac, Melbourne) are all highly specialised in prostate radiation, so Declan invited them into the GU Cast studio to pick their brains on three big areas in prostate radiation:
1. Hypofractionation in 2025 - Who and How?
2. Who needs ADT and for how long when having prostate radiation?
3. Metastasis-directed therapy for oligometastatic disease - is there any point??

Tune in to find out how Urologist Declan Murphy fared up against these three Radiation Oncologists!!! Even better on our YouTube channel

This podcast is supported by our Bronze Partner, Icon Cancer Centre.

We never need an excuse to visit Sydney, and for sure when one of our favourite meetings of the year is in the Harbourside City then count us in! The Annual Meeting of ANZUP is something we try and get to every year and have really enjoyed bringing you highlights. This year we catch up with some international faculty including Roger Li (Moffitt Cancer Centre, USA), ANZUP Prostate Cancer Committee bosses Lisa Horvath (Chris O'Brien Lifehouse) and Jarad Martin (Genesis Care), Dickon Hayne (Fiona Stanley Hospital) regarding his NMICB RCT, and Bernie Reilly (Prostate CAncer Foundation of Australia) about some fantastic resources for prostate cancer patients. 

Big congrats to all at ANZUP for another excellent meeting and for all they do for GU oncology in Australia and New Zealand. 

PS - apologies for some sub-standard audio on this one. 

GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer.

Episode 2 of our monthly GU Cast Journal Club and today we focus on two key papers from recent times - the TRANSLATE trial of transperineal vs transrectal biopsy, and Keynote-564 on the role of adjuvant pembrolizomab following nephrectomy.   
After great feedback from last month's launch episode, we are delighted to welcome back our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER), along with main GU Cast Hosts, Renu Eapen and  Declan Murphy

Links to papers and previous podcasts below:
1. Local anaesthetic transperineal biopsy versus transrectal prostate biopsy in prostate cancer detection (TRANSLATE): a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial Lancet Oncology 2025
GU Cast on TRANSLATE

2. Overall Survival with Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Renal-Cell Carcinoma NEJM 2024
GU Cast on K-564 OS paper

GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant.

Even better on our YouTube channel

About GU Cast Journal Club:
Each month, two papers are discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
. The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
. The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.

We poke around under the hood of a brand new Cyberknife facility here in Melbourne, the first on the East coast of Australia, and find out what it's all about. What is it for, who might benefit, and being surgeons we have to ask, why do they call it a "knife"?! Is it just to make it sound a bit like surgery - stay tuned to find out! 
We chat with our good mate Shankar Siva, stereotactic radiation guru, Nigel Middlebrook, Physicist, shows us the back end, Gemma Waters, Radiation Therapist talks us through planning, and Icon Cancer Group Chief Executive Mark Middleton tells us how he decides which expensive projects his team invests in, and how they partnered with Cyberknife experts 5D Clinics for this project.

Even better on our YouTube channel. 

 
This Themed Episode is supported by our Bronze Partner, Icon Cancer Group.

Links:
5D Clinics Melbourne
Icon Cancer Group 

Big news today with the publication in JAMA of the eagerly anticipated PRIME study, a prospective multicentre trial comparing biparametric (bp) with multiparametric (mp) MRI in men suspected of having prostate cancer. Of course, mpMRI includes contrast enhanced sequences following injection of gadolinium, adding time, cost, plus the burden of gadolinium to bpMRI, and there have been suggestions that bpMRI may be just as effective as mpMRI for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer.
We are joined today by trial PI Veeru Kasivisvanathan (Urologist, UCL, London), and Francesco Giganti (Radiologist, UCL, London), to discuss the findings and what this means going forward. And it is all good news!

Your host Declan Murphy is on his own today while Renu Eapen on the road in Singapore.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links below:
JAMA paper published today
Twitter:  @compassurology @veerukasi @giga_fra
Website: compassurology.org

Funders:
John Black Charitable Foundation, Prostate Cancer UK, European Association of Urology Research Foundation, Wolfgang.Dieckmann Foundation.

A quick pod to promote the totally free WRSE12 Live Robotic Surgery Event coming up later this month! A 12 hour festival of incredible robotic surgery performed by top surgeons from around the world, with a special focus on real time digital pathology using the very promising Histolog technology that we recently featured on GU Cast. Live surgeries include upper and lower tract, with an array of robotic technology including the da Vinci Single Port robot.
We chat with Urologist Ruben de Groote about this excellent educational initiative from Surgquest, the digital extension of the ORSI Academy in Belgium, and discuss some of the highlights.
See links below for full details and free registration. Plus watch out for a couple of episodes of GU Cast coming up in October/November to bring you highlights and behind the scenes action.

Links:
WRSE12 event free registration

GU Cast on Histology intraoperative margin assessment 

One of our most popular podcasts ever was the one called "Gleason 6 prostate cancer | Why we should rename it (and why we can't)!", posted in December 2022, and featuring Urologists Scott Eggener (Chicago) and Matt Cooperberg), plus Pathologist Eva Comperat (Paris/Vienna). In fact, we still get so many hits on this and active comments on our YouTube site that we thought we better re-visit it!!! Is Gleason 6/Grade Group 1 really cancer at all?? Can't we just re-name it and declare it not-a-cancer??!

Scott and Matt re-join GU Cast today to update us on the campaign!

With usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
JNCI paper October 2024

Our Dec 2022 podcast on renaming Gleason 6 

Here it is, the first of our new series called GU Cast Journal Club! A dedicated GU Cast Journal Club has been suggested by many of our listeners and viewers over the years, and we are really pleased to kick off today with the first monthly episode. And we are particularly pleased to introduce our GU Cast Journal Club Editors, Dr Carlos Delgado (Melbourne, AUS), and Dr Elena Berg (Munich, GER). Declan Murphy is anchoring today's episode while Renu is busy elsewhere. 
Each month, two papers will be discussed, each of which are of importance to the GU Oncology community. These may be recent papers, or occasionally we will chose a classic landmark paper in GU Oncology
The objective is to draw attention to important papers in GU Oncology, and critique these in a robust manner
The key target audience is trainees working in Urology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, and diagnostic specialties such as Radiology and Pathology. But any of our regular audience are likely to enjoy this Journal Club series.

 
For this inaugural epsiode, we have selected two very important recent papers:
1. Active Surveillance for Screen-detected Low- and Intermediate-risk Prostate Cancer: Extended Follow-up up to 25 Years in the GÖTEBORG-1 Trial

 
2. Standard or Extended Lymphadenectomy for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer


GU Cast Journal Club is supported by our Partner, MSD, through an unrestricted educational grant. 

Now this a topic we are ashamed to say we have barely covered in five plus years of GU Cast! A well overdue deep dive into the management of penile cancer, the rarest of all GU cancers, and fair to say the one that gets the least attention, not just from us, but from those who found research/education/novel therapies etc. 
We are joined in studio by two world-leading experts in penile cancer, Professors Asif Muneer (University College London), and Nathan Lawrentschuk (Royal Melbourne Hospital & Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), to cover all the key topics in penile cancer. Everything from peculiarities in incidence, gender-neutral HPV vaccination, right up to organ-preserving surgery and optimal lymph node dissection techniques. Plus a fascinating peak into an AI project of Nathan's focussing on penile cancer diagnosis. 
With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.

Even better on our YouTube channel 

Refresh your knowledge of testis cancer with this punchy pod with testis cancer gurus, Prof Christian Kollmannsberger (Vancouver Cancer Centre, Vancouver), and Prof Ben Tran (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne). We pick their brains on three topical areas in testis cancer;
1. Adjuvant chemo - balancing early gains vs late effects. How can we figure out who benefits?
2. Primary RPLND - does robotic surgery change the value proposition of surgery vs chemotherapy?
3. The outstanding mi371 tumour marker - a bluffer's guide

With your usual hosts. Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Renu was in Taipei recently and caught up with Prof Jacob Pang, Urologist and President of the Urological Association of Asia Annual meeting which takes place in Taipei from 14-17 August 2025. Find out why you should attend in this quick pod!

UAA 2025 Congress website 

What do Lions Rugby and Cardio-oncology have in common?? Well tune in to this episode of GU Cast to find out! 

The incidence of cardiovascular disease is high in our patients with advanced prostate cancer (more than maybe we appreciate), plus fundamental treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) further increase the risk of cardiovascular events. And now there is a multidisciplinary field called cardio-oncology which is set to address all of this. How do we (simply) assess cardiovascular risk? Who needs to be optimised? What do we need to know about LHRH analogues vs anatagonists? What about ARPIs and drug-drug interactions with statins and blood thinners? 

Superb studio guest today to discuss all of this, and our first ever Cardiologist! Dr Alex Lyon (Royal Brompton Hospital, London) is a world renowned expert in cardio-oncology and joined us to run through a bit of a dummy’s guide to prostate cardio-oncology. With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Bronze Partners, Cipla. 

Even better on our YouTube channel.

Another in our series of Themed Podcasts focussing on GU Oncology in China. We are joined by our China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu (Fudan University, Shanghai), and Prof Xuedong Wei (Soochow University, Jiangsu). to find out what the current treatment landscape is for mHSPC in China. Is it ADT/ARPI doublets for all?? Anyone still give chemo? Who gets a PSMA PET/CT? And what is the current status and role for radioligand therapy at progression? Plus, when are we taking GU Cast to Chin again?! All this and more! 

With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy

Thanks to our Gold Partner, Bayer China, for supporting our China Themed Episode Series, and for supporting all our GU Cast Conference Highlights. 

Even better on our YouTube channel 

Those two gigantic PSMA review papers in European Urology - Perera et al 2016 and Perera et al 2020 - have been cited more than 2000 times and have been the definitive reference for anyone writing about PSMA PET/CT in the past ten years. And they have just been updated in two new papers just published in European Urology! Previous first author (Marlon) Perera, has moved to senior author, while Elio Mazzone has led both papers as first author, co-ordinating a massive effort between research teams in Melbourne and Milano. One paper is focused on diagnosis and staging, and the other on assessment of recurrence. 
GU Cast co-Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are joined from Milano by Elio Mazzoni and Alberto Briganti, and in studio by Marlon Perera, to summarise some of the key findings, and describe the immense effort which went into these papers. Worthy successors to the Perera et al papers of the past! 

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
Paper 1: PSMA PET/CT for diagnosis and staging

Paper 2: PSMA PET/CT for recurrence

A beachside interview with Michael Hofman to hear all the PSMA theranostic highlights at ASCO this year! Yes we left our suburban studio in Melbourne and wandered down to St Kilda beach to track down Michael for a beer and a chat. Even in mid-Winter we enjoyed sitting out in a beachside shack at the Beachcomber Cafe and Beach Bar. 
Michael shot some great interviews in Chicago with top clinicians in Nuclear Medicine including Bastiaan Privé, Louise Emmet, Jeremie Calais, Urologist Alberto Briganti, and Medical Oncologist Rana McKay. Great multidisciplinary perspectives on the Bullseye trial, Violet, Enza-P plus much more.  Including a chat about the great promise of CAIX in renal cancer. 



With your usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy

Enjoy the beachside chat even more on our YouTube channel

GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Gold Partners, Bayer China.

Links:
Beachside Bar, St Kilda 

What is Histolog?? Well, now that intra operative margin assessment is a such a hot topic in prostate cancer surgery after the Neurosafe RCT read-out, we thought we would dive into one of the other new technologies for doing something similar, but without the pragmatic challenges of frozen section.  The idea is to assess the surgical margin of the prostate at the time of surgery to improve nerve sparing and sexual function for patients.

We are joined by Professor Greg Shaw (University College London, UK), PI of the Neurosafe Proof trial, which we already featured following their Lancet Oncology paper in March 2025,  and our colleague Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, AUS), who is leading a study of the Histolog device here in Melbourne. We chat first about Neurosafe and why intra-operative margin assessment is important, and then dive into Histolog which Greg has some experience with. 

Histolog uses confocal laser microscopy to assess the prostate specimen at the time of surgery, with a similar principle to frozen section analysis as used in the Neurosafe technique. However Histolog offers a lot more convenience and removes some of the practical barriers we face with frozen section, which are barriers to implementation. But is it as good as frozen section? Join your usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen to find out more. 

Many thanks to our Silver Partners, Device Technologies, who are distributing the Histolog technology here in Australia, and to Samantree who are the manufacturers of the Histolog device. 

This episode better enjoyed on our YouTube channel (if you don't mind some surgical scenes)!

Links
Previous GU Cast on Neurosafe with Greg Shaw and colleagues
Histolog device manufacturer website 

A wonderful meandering chat with Ketan Badani (Urologist, Mt Sinai, NYC)! We took him for a wine tour in the Yarra Valley, stopping for a pod chat at Rochford Winery about screening for prostate cancer in older men, plus a great tour around Healesviile Sanctuary to introduce Ketan to some Australian wildlife. Then back in Melbourne we had another chat, this time a bit of future-gazing about the future of surgery, and Declan and Ketan trade tales about EMR (that's Electronic Medical Record) delinquency. 

Ketan was visiting Melbourne as a guest of Device Technologies to speak at the Epworth Healthcare Robotic Urology Masterclass. And what a great guest he was! 

With your usual hosts Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy. Thanks to our fantastic guide Trish at Healesville Sanctuary, and Beatrice who looked after us at Rochford Winery.

This one much better enjoyed on our YouTube channel!

Links:
Rochford Winery
Healesville Sanctuary 

A Masterclass in advanced kidney cancer today with the great Danny Heng (University of Calgary, Canada), and our own Lewis Au (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne). Both popped into the GU Cast studio while Danny was in Australia doing some lectures and visiitng us at Peter Mac.
We challenged Danny and Lewis to simplify three hot topics in kidney cancer, ideal if (like us) you find it difficult to keep up with this fast-moving area. The three areas are:
1. What sort of patient is this? Risk stratification made easy (by Danny, Master of the universe of Risk Stratification in kidney cancer)
2. Novel scans and biomarkers in kidney cancer - a bluffers guide
3. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in kidney cancer - what the urologist needs to know

Even better on our YouTube channel

Meet the young new faces of collaborative urological research!!  GU Cast host Declan Murphy discusses the latest in international collaborative trials with A/Prof Veeru Kasivisvanathan, Dr Alexander Ng, and highly ambitious medical students, Miss Aishwarya Shah and Mr Alexander Dudko. They discuss their latest research from the COMPASS group including the PRIME trial (bpMRI vs mpMRI in detecting prostate cancer), and upcoming PARADIGM (AI vs Radiologists in detecting prostate cancer trials. And from BURST Urology we hear an update from the RESECT (can audit and feedback improve TURBT outcomes?) trial. The team discusses mentorship and bringing up the next generation of early career researchers, including medical students and early-stage trainees.

Even better on our Youtube channel

Links:
·         COMPASS
·         PRIME DOI
·         PARADIGM DOI
·         BURST
·         RESECT DOI

When Fred Saad (Urologist, University of Montreal, Montreal) and Andrew Weickhardt (Medical Oncologist, Austin Health, Melbourne) popped into our studio recently we decided to pick their brains on a few hot topics in mHSPC - we called it the ABC of mHSPC! Fred was in Melbourne to visit Peter Mac and do some educational talks and we loved welcoming him back on GU Cast. 

A is for ARPIs - who/when/which? 
B is for treatment Break - can we use an intermittent approach to ADT/ARPI doublets without yet having trials in the ARPI era to guide us? 
C is for Chemo - surely there is almost no role for docetaxel chemo in the ARPI era?? Or so asks Declan, well known triplet therapy sceptic! Do Fred and Andrew agree??!

A great overview of hot topics in mHSCP! Thanks to Fred and Andrew! With your usual hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen.

Even better on our YouTube channel 

A big welcome back to EAU Guideline gurus, Dr Derya Tilki (Martini-Klinik, Hamburg, Germany), and Dr Gianluca Giannarini (Santa Maria della Misericordia University Hospital, Udine, Italy), for an overview of the major headlines from this year's EAU Guideline update. Derya is Deputy Chair of the EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline Committee and has picked out four areas to discuss. These are:
1. New stratification for favourable and unfavourable prostate cancer
2. PSMA PET/CT now recommended for unfavourable intermediate-risk cancer
3. No change to PLND recommendations due to lack of benefit in MSKCC RCT update
4. Importance of multidisciplinary approach for mHSPC

So tune in so you can pretend you have read the full 250 page 2025 Guideline!!

Your usual co-hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.

Even better on our Youtube channel

Links:
Updated 2025 EAU Prostate Cancer Guideline 

For serious PSMA theranostics enthusiasts!!! We bring you the ninth of our collaborative PSMA webinars over the past five years, in collaboration with our team at ProsTIC and at the Prostate Cancer Foundation in the US. A truly outstanding faculty presenting today including Misha Beltran, Marty Pomper, Ed Kwan and Louise Emmett.

Co-hosted by Declan Murphy and Michael Hofman with a welcome from Howard Soule and Andrea Miyahira. Declan and Michael are joined in studio by Louise Kostos who helps field the many questions from the huge global audience who joined us live. 

Much better appreciated on our YouTube channel where you can see all the presentations 

What is the da Vinci Single Port (SP) robot and is it any good? Is it easy to transition from the multiport robot to a single port robot? What about Retzius-sparing prostatectomy using the SP robot? GU Cast hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen learn the answers to these questions and more when we visit top prostate cancer surgeons Dr Declan Cahill and Prof Chris Eden at London Bridge Hospital, to see the UK's only SP robot in action. The SP robot has been approved in the US for a few years, and now approved in Europe and Australia, so we hope to have it available for our patients very soon. Plus we see how they use the Neurosafe intra-operative margin assessment technique at London Bridge Hospital. 

This one definitely best enjoyed on our YouTube channel

This is a Themed Episode supported by our Partners, Device Technologies.

Like very many countries around the world our friends in China are big fans of the EAU Guidelines, and are always tuned in when the updated Prostate Cancer Guidelines is released every year. So as part of our China Themed Episode Series, supported by our Gold Partners Bayer China, we are discussing some key updates to this year's Guideline with our China Editor Dr Yao Zhu (Shanghai) along with Dr Junlong Zhuang (Nanjing).

Even better on our Youtube channel 

A bit of a break from the usual GU Oncology routine today folks! Declan was back at Guy's Hospital recently doing a talk and heard a remarkable story told by one of the Urology Fellows, Dr Joachim Jimie. A quite spectacular mid-air crisis, and some great life lessons in there also.

Declan could not resist the opportunity to grab Jimie and tell the tale again for GU Cast. Enjoy!!!

Even better on our YouTube channel 

180 episodes later and Declan and Renu have cracked out the champagne in the GU Cast studio! Tune in for this quick pod with some reminiscing and some thank you's, especially to you our global audience!

Radiation cystitis! Now this can be a really challenging condition for urologists, and especially for patients, to manage and to live with. And we frequently struggle to get good results.
It is often years and years after radiation to the pelvis when patients return with problems like bleeding, pain, incontinence, fistula etc, which can have everything from minor, to ruinous effects on quality of life. And although these are radiation oncology patients, it is the urologist (and sometimes other surgeons) who have to manage these unfortunate side-effects of radiation.
Today we travel to London to chat with two Urologists at Guy’s Hospital who have set up a dedicated clinic to manage Radiation Cystitis patients from across the UK. Dr Ramesh Thurairaja and Dr Yasmin Abu Ghanem, explain why they set up this service, and share with us their strategy for assessing and managing radiation cystitis. This episode is full of useful advice for anyone out there managing radiation cystitis, and hopefully might inspire more people to set up similar clinics to look after these unfortunate patients.

Even better on our Youtube channel

Links:
Guy's Hospital Radiation Cystitis Clinic
Pelvic Radiation Disease Best Practice Pathway

More great highlights from the recent EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Declan and Renu chat with Christian Gratzke, Sima Pore]ten, Yinjie Zhu, Rod Dunn, and have a most entertaining "pit lane walk" with Ben Challacombe around the various robots in the exhibition area.

GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Declan and Renu bring you some great highlights from the recent EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Hear from Laurie Klotz and Adam Kinnaird about the OPTIMUM RCT, Sarah Psutka and Laura Bukavina discuss their bladder cancer highlights, Riccardo Campi talks biomarkers, changes in practice and other highlights, and Rod van den Bergh and Eoin Dinneen debate the finer points of the NEUROSAFE Proof RCT.

GU Cast Conference Highlights are supported by our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
OPTIMUM paper in JAMA
Our Neurosafe podcast 

Really big prostate cancer news today with the release of very interesting results from the Neurosafe Proof trial at the EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid. Also simultaneously published in Lancet Oncology so this is a big deal!! In summary, this multi centre randomised trial from the UK demonstrates that men undergoing the Neurosafe technique (intra-operative assessment of surgical margins), had higher rates of nerve sparing surgery and this in turn led to improvements of recover of sexual function. 
We were delighted to have a detailed discussion on this with key members of the University College London team who led this trial - Prof Greg Shaw, Dr Eoin Dinneen, and Dr Ricardo Almeida-Magana.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partner, Mundipharma

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
Full paper in Lancet Oncology

Funders:
National Institute for Health Research
JP Poulton Charitable Foundation
Rosetree Trust
Orchid

We are delighted to drop this pod just as the landmark TRANSLATE trial reads out at the EAU Annual Meeting in Madrid, with a simultaneous publication in Lancet Oncology. This is the world's largest trial of transrectal vs transperineal (TP) prostate biopsy, and reports that TP biopsy has superior cancer detection ability. Is this the end of the road for TRUS biopsy.
Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen are delighted to welcome first and senior authors, Prof Richard Bryant and Dr Alastair Lamb of the University of Oxford to have a detailed discussion about TRANSLATE and what this means for prostate biopsy.

`Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
Lancet Oncology paper

Funders: 

Declan Murphy is in the GU Cast studio in Shanghai with GU Cast China Editor, Prof Yao Zhu. We sit down with Prof Hao Zeng (West China Hospital) and Dr Ye Yan to discuss their experiences and perspectives on advancements in diagnostics like MRI and PSMA PET, the increasing use of Chinese-developed robotic surgery platforms, and the ongoing debate surrounding pelvic lymph node dissection. They also address the application of systemic therapies for metastatic disease, considering the unique characteristics of the Chinese patient population and the potential for dose adjustments. Today's pod also highlights the growing importance of precision oncology, including genomic testing for mutations to guide treatment decisions, while acknowledging the challenges and future directions in this area.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partner, Bayer China. 

Even better on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/xlOuS4swcuc

This week we had the great pleasure of attending the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), which took place in the beautiful city of Perth, far out on the West Coast of Australia. Not just that, but we spent a wonderful afternoon on one of Australia’s top tourist attractions, Rottnest Island. Tune in for plenty of quokka action!

Plus, of course we bring you some great conference highlights, chatting with international guests, including Laura Bukavina, Alberto Breda, Samir Taneja, plus Australian guests, Nathan Lawrentschuk, Michael Chamberlain, and Scientific Convener Trenton Barrett.

GU Cast conference highlights are brought to you by our Conference Highlights partner, Bayer China.

Even better on our YouTube channel (check out Rottnest Island and the Quokkas)!!

A fantastic episode for urologists, radiation oncologists, and anyone interested in localised prostate cancer. Biochemical recurrence (BCR) is unfortunately all too common after surgery or radiation for prostate cancer, and today we talk with someone who has been working in BCR for more than 20 years. Dr Steve Freedland, Urologist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, popped into the GU Cast studio to talk about the landmark series from Johns-Hopkins Medical Institute (links below) which still today remains our best guide to the natural history of BCR after radical prostatectomy. And the key message that PSA doubling time is our most important tool to risk stratify patients reminds true today. 
And Steve of course is the lead investigator of the EMBARK trial, published in NEJM in 2023, which has led to a new standard of care for men experiencing high-risk BCR after surgery or radiotherapy. EMBARK has clearly shown us that the use of enzaluamide, either on its own, or with androgen deprivation therapy, reduces the risk of metastases when compared with ADT alone. We dive deep into EMBARK with Steve.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Astellas. Astellas also supported Steve to be in Australia this week for the USANZ ASM in Perth, and visits to Melbourne and Sydney. 

Your hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen. 

Even better on our Youtube channel

Links:
Freedland et al JAMA 2005
EMBARK paper in NEJM

Two great international visitors recently led to two great sets of podcast chats!! Dr Kim Chi (Vancouver), and Dr Carmen Mir (Valencia) were in Melbourne to speak at the PROSPECT Meeting (see links below). We grabbed Kim along with Prof Arun Azad (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne), and Dr Louise Kostos (also Peter Mac), to overlook some hot topics in mHSPC. And then a cracking chat with Carmen along with two Europeans doing Urology Fellowship training in Melbourne  - Dr Christa Babst (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/Switzerland), and Dr Marta Alves (Royal Melbourne Hospital/Barcelona). Carmen had also done a Fellowship in Melbourne at Austin Health so could give some great perspectives. 

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also supported the recent PROSPECT meeting. 

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:

PROSPECT podcast Part 1

PROSPECT Podcast Part 2

A breaking news podcast from ASCO GU in San Francisco! Prof Louise Emmett (St Vincent's, Sydney), has just read out the latest update from the ENZA-P trial (and simultaneous publication in Lancet Oncology), reporting that the combination of LuPSMA and enzalutamide improves overall survival when compared with enzalutamide alone, in men with poor prognosis mCRPC. Big news!! A 45% reduction in the risk of death in favour of the combination. Plus excellent quality of life for those receiving the combo.
We are joined by Louise and co-author A/Prof Andrew Weickhardt (Austin Health, Melbourne), to discuss this exciting data from the ENZA-P trial, and what it means for the future of not just mCRPC, but also for similar combinations in mHSPC.
ENZA-P is an investigator-initiated Phase II trial led by ANZUP in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Research Alliance, a join initiative between the Australian Government and Movember.

Your co-hosts as ever are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen.

This is a Themed podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Astellas, and our Silver Partners, Novartis.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
Lancet Oncology paper
ANZUP 

Look who popped into the GU Cast studio this week for a chat about where we are going next with radioligand therapy (RLT) for prostate cancer! Professors Oliver Sartor (Mayo Clinic, Rochester) and Michael Hofman (Peter Mac, Melbourne), are two of the world's most pre-eminent experts in the world of RLT for prostate cancer. They were each respectively PIs  on the VISION and TheraP RCTs published in NEJM and Lancet in 2021, and both have many ongoing trials in RLT for prostate cancer. 
We hear in which stages of prostate cancer LuPSMA is next likely to be approved, and some discussion about exciting trials soon to read out. We also discuss other RLTs including actinium and terbium, combinations, imaging technology for patient selection, AI, and the word "cure" even gets a mention. A very entertaining and exciting discussion with two of the best in the business. 
Your regular hosts are Professor Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen, Urologists at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Novartis. 

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Links:
Michael's paper in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine:"The Hierarchy of SUVs: From Diagnostics to Therapeutics and the Pathway to Effective Theranostics"

Dr Toni Choueiri, Chief of GU Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA) returns to GU Cast with members of his team at Dana Farber Cancer Institute to discuss our favourite lists of top GU Oncology papers for 2024. Toni has posted these now legendary lists at the end of each year on Twitter/X since the start of Covid, and they have become essential reading for anyone wanting a superb overview of top trials. Each tweet contains a top line summary of each trial and key images such as K-M curves, plus links to the original papers. A huge amount of work and a great resource.

Today we are joined by Toni along with Dr Marc Eid and Dr Emre Yekeduz who helped compile this year's lists. We hear about the process behind it all, and we run through their Top 10 Bladder and Renal Cancer papers, and their Top 5 Prostate Cancer papers. The team also post their Top 10 Translational papers and Their Top 10 non-GU Oncology papers.

Well done again to Toni, Marc, Emre and team! Links to the tweets below.

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Links:
Top 10 Bladder and Renal Cancer Papers

Top 5 Prostate Cancer Papers 

Part 2 of our GU Cast Conference Highlights from Shanghai including discussions with Dr Stephen Freedland (Los Angeles), Dr Liang Liang (Shaanxi), Dr Andrea Necchi (Milano), Dr Xiaojie Bian (Shanghai), and Dr Hongkai Wang (Shanghai).  Declan Murphy travelled to Shanghai for the 14th GU Oncology Academic Meeting hosted by Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre, and to meet up with our GU Cast China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu. This is an excellent meeting in one of our very favourite cities. In Part 1 we spoke to Conference Chair, Dr Dingwei Ye, Dr Karim Fizazi, Dr Peng Wu, and Dr Axel Merseburger, to overview the latest stories in GU Oncology. 
Special thanks to our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China, who set up an amazing GU Cast studio for us in Shanghai. Thanks to Hexun and all the local Bayer team in China.  

Also available as an audio podcast - just search GU Cast wherever you get your podcasts

Declan Murphy travels to Shanghai for the 14th GU Oncology Academic Meeting hosted by Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre, and to meet up with our GU Cast China Editor, Dr Yao Zhu. This is an excellent meeting in one of our very favourite cities, and this year Declan joins International Faculty including Dr Stephen Freedland (Los Angeles), Dr Karim Fizazi (Paris), Dr Axel Merseburger (Lubeck). and Dr Andrea Necchi (Milano) to overview the latest stories in GU Oncology. Top Chinese experts from across the country also join and the meeting includes some landmark consensus statements from multidisciplinary panels.
Today we post Part 1 of our GU Cast Conference Highlights from Shanghai including discussions with Conference Chair, Dr Dingwei Ye, Dr Karim Fizazi, Dr Peng Wu, and Dr Axel Merseburger.
Special thanks to our Conference Highlights Partner, Bayer China, who set up an amazing GU Cast studio for us in Shanghai. Thanks to Hexun and all the local Bayer team in China.

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Our final episode of the year! And we end with a very seasonal celebration of single-port surgery and the Boxing Day Test with Australia playing India in one of the world's most famous cricket matches. We coaxed Dr Mihir Desai (University of Southern California, Los Angeles) and A/Prof Daniel Moon (Peter Mac, Melbourne) out of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and into our nearby studio at the close of play on Day 2 to talk all things single-port surgery (and cricket). Cricket-mad Mihir flew in from LA to tick off his bucket list ambition of attending a Boxing Day Test. We reminisce about the early days of single-port laparoscopy and talk about what robotic surgery does (and does not) bring to single-port surgery.
Plus we remember the day that Indy Gill met Shane Warne at the MCG ten years ago while attending a meeting here! Two legends of their games.
And to end season 5 of GU Cast, your hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen thank our amazing Partners for supporting our ever expanding pool of content from GU Cast.

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Links:
BJUi Blog about when Indy met Warnie 

Have you ever found the choice of agents in metastatic kidney cancer just a bit perplexing??! Well then this is the podcast for you! To celebrate a fantastic review paper recently published in European Urology, we chat with first author Dr Regina Barragan-Carillo (City of Hope, California), and second senior author Dr Tian Zhang (UT South-Western, Texas). The title of the paper is "First and Second-line Treatments in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma", and it's about the best paper we have read on this topic, with a proper who's who in renal cancer contributing. Plus completely up to date with a literature review up to October 2024. 

Co-hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen really enjoyed this one! 

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Bronze Partner, Ipsen Pharmaceuticals.

Even better on our YouTube channel

Links:
European Urology paper (paywall) 

Legendary British cyclist Sir Chris Hoy (48) recently shocked the world by announcing that he has progressive metastatic prostate cancer. His specialists have given him a 2-4 year life expectancy. The dreadful news that no prostate cancer patient wants to hear.
Today, hosts Prof Declan Murphy and Dr Renu Eapen welcome their good mates A/Prof Ben Challacombe (Guy's Hospital, London), and A/Prof Daniel Moon (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne) to the GU Cast studio, and patient advocate Andrei Norris who joins on Zoom to discuss the huge publicity this has generated, and the importance of family history in assessing men's risk of prostate cancer.

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Silver Partners, Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

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Part 2 Highlights from a GU Cast Live Event! Dr Kim Chi (Medical Oncologist, Vancouver) and Dr Carmen Mir (Urologist, Valencia) joined the PROSPECT meeting in Melbourne to discuss high-risk prostate cancer and mHSPC, along with many experts from around Australia. On the eve of the meeting over dinner, Declan Murphy led a GU Cast-themed panel discussion on five hot topics in prostate cancer, featuring snippets from GU Cast over the past few months.Part 2 today features controversies in PLND, the somewhat notorious ARPI switch control arm beloved of mCRPC trials, and teh importnt topic of de-escalation in advanced prostate cancer. Part 1 recently in your feeds included PSMA conundrums and triplet vs doublet therapy.

Even better on our YouTube channel

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also support the PROSPECT meeting. 

Special thanks to David Chen for help with videography

What are we to make of this large RCT of extended vs standard pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) for prostate cancer?? Despite it not meeting its primary endpoint of improving biochemical recurrence, the authors now report in European Urology that it does reduce the incidence of distant metastases 10 years later! Go figure!
We chat with Dr Karim Touijer (MSKCC) and try to figure it out. We ask about data dredging, p-hacking and statistical shenanigans, and how adding two minutes and two extra lymph nodes to a PLND could possibly lead to reduced metastases.
Plus guest comments from Dr John Yaxley (Brisbane). What do you think??!! Will this change practice?? Will this change guidelines? Tune in and share your thoughts!

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Links:
Paper in European Urology
Previous GU Cast with Karim discussing earlier paper (Feb 2022) 

Highlights from a GU Cast Live Event! Dr Kim Chi (Medical Oncologist, Vancouver) and Dr Carmen Mir (Urologist, Valencia) joined the PROSPECT meeting in Melbourne to discuss high-risk prostate cancer and mHSPC, along with many experts from around Australia. On the eve of the meeting over dinner, Declan Murphy led a GU Cast-themed panel discussion on five hot topics in prostate cancer, featuring snippets from GU Cast over the past few months. Part 1 today features PSMA conundrums and triplet vs doublet therapy.

Even better on our YouTube channel

This is a Themed Podcast supported by our Gold Partners, Johnson & Johnson, who also support the PROSPECT meeting. 

Special thanks to David Chen for help with videography

A GU Cast Live Event!! Everything you need to know about treatment intensification in mHSPC!! Doublet vs Triplet. Who should have radiotherapy? PSMA PET/CT conundrums, e-escalation, case discussions and more. Featuring GU Cast Hosts Declan Murphy and Renu Eapen, Medical Oncologist Ben Tran, Nuclear Medicine Physician Louise Emmett, and Radiation Oncologist Amy Hayden. Plus lots of interaction from our live audience around Australia.
Watch the full webinar including presentations on our YouTube channel

This GU Cast Live Event was an interactive educational webinar supported by our Gold Partners, Mundipharma.

Learning objectives:
1. Provide an overview of the landscape of mHSPC today, with a particular focus on intensification of therapy
2. Provide an overview of the role of novel and conventional imaging in diagnosis of mHSPC, both synchronous
 and metachronous
3. To better understand options for intensification of systemic therapy in mHSPC
4. To better understand the role of radiotherapy in mHSPC