UBE sessions elevate urological care across nations: A focus on Pakistan and South Korea
The Urology Beyond Europe (UBE) sessions have commenced today, as a result of collaborative efforts between the EAU and urological societies worldwide. These sessions are intended to encourage and cultivate the exchange of pertinent information among participating nations. This article provides a glimpse into valuable updates disseminated during some of the sessions.
The UBE session with the Pakistan Association of Urological Surgeons (PAUS) was a synergistic endeavour to provide novel developments in the training of minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) and management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer in Pakistan.
In his presentation “MIS training: Where are we in Pakistan?”, Dr. Syed Saeed Abidi (PK) stated that the country with a population of 220 million is currently ranked 122nd out of 190 countries in the World Health Organization performance report, and 154th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility to healthcare facilities. At present, there are a total of 41 teaching hospitals for supervised training in urology and 15 centres for laparoscopic urological surgery.
According to Dr. Abidi, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) represents a healthcare model aimed to boost urological care in the country. The institute devised a structured training MIS programme where skills acquisition is divided into three consecutive phases: dry lab, wet lab, and human interference. He stated, “Both dry and wet labs help in achieving skills and shorten the learning curve.”
Dr. Abidi added that SIUT’s simulation-based MIS training in urology is categorised into simulators for the upper urinary tract (e.g. endo-urological high-fidelity simulators for PCNL [percutaneous nephrolithotomy] and ureteroscopy, etc.) and lower urinary tract (e.g. endo-urological low-fidelity simulator for cystoscopy and TURP [transurethral resection of the prostate], etc.). In addition, SIUT also offers robotic workshops at varying levels.
The joint EAU-PAUSA session was chaired by Dr. Michiel Sedelaar (NL) and Prof. Matin Sheriff (GB).
During the UBE session in collaboration with the Korean Urological Association (KUA), Dr. Jae Duck Choi (KR) presented important insights during his lecture “Current role of surgery for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the immuno-oncology era”. He stated that cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) remains an important treatment option in carefully selected patients with favourable or intermediate-risk RCC. He added that ongoing trials with immunotherapy (IO)-based combination therapy may challenge the benefits of surgical treatment for metastatic RCC (mRCC).
Dr. Choi also mentioned the following ongoing trials examining the benefit of neoadjuvant IO and CN:
- Cyto-KIK trial
A phase-II multi-centre trial investigating the impact of neoadjuvant nivolumab and cabozantinib followed by CN and continued systemic therapy. - PROBE trial (NCT04510597)
This trial evaluates CN followed by systemic therapy versus systematic therapy alone. - NORDIC-SUN trial (NCT03977571)
This trial assesses deferred CN combination IO versus combination IO alone.
The joint EAU-KUA session was chaired by Prof. Sung Kyu Hong (KR) and Guidelines Office Chair, Prof. Maria Jose Ribal Caparros (ES).
To (re)watch the full UBE sessions, please visit EAU On Demand on the Virtual Platform.