💧 GU Oncology — 2026-W37

What this page is. Every paper the week's monitor reviewed — including the ones that did not go into the digest. Material marked “Not selected” was reviewed and deliberately left out. It has not been fact-checked to digest standard and is not endorsed. For the curated read, see the digest itself.

Prospective exploratory biomarker study in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients examining serum preptin as a marker of bone metastasis, published in J Bone Oncol. Findings show no significant difference in preptin levels by metastatic status, offering limited prognostic/diagnostic insight without a therapeutic implication.

Retrospective real-world cohort study using the TriNetX database comparing darolutamide-based triplet therapy to ARPI-based doublet therapy in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, published in Jpn J Clin Oncol. Suggests an overall survival advantage with triplet therapy, supporting its use though limited by retrospective design and modest matched sample size.

Narrative review in Curr Cancer Drug Targets on ubiquitin-proteasome system regulation of androgen receptor signaling and DNA damage response in castration-resistant prostate cancer, discussing emerging targeted protein degradation and PARP-based strategies. Offers mechanistic insight that could inform future therapeutic development but does not report new clinical data.

Prospective observational biomarker study in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients receiving tandem PSMA-radioligand therapy, published in BMC Cancer, showing ctDNA tumor fraction and copy-number burden track with progression and survival, supporting their use as monitoring biomarkers during this specific therapy.

Large pharmacovigilance analysis of FAERS and JADER databases, published in Frontiers in Oncology, examining interstitial pneumonia/ILD signals associated with androgen receptor signaling inhibitors used in advanced prostate cancer. Identifies differential ILD reporting risk across apalutamide, darolutamide, and enzalutamide, informing clinicians' vigilance for this rare pulmonary toxicity.

Prospective multicentre real-world evaluation in European Urology Oncology of a urine-based DNA mutation assay (GALEAS Bladder) as a triage tool in haematuria clinics. Suggests the assay could safely reduce reliance on invasive cystoscopy by ruling out bladder cancer with high negative predictive value.

Phase 1 dose-finding trial of a novel steroid-free micellar docetaxel formulation in chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Reports acceptable safety/PK and preliminary PSA and radiologic responses, but small sample size and early-phase design limit immediate practice impact.

Exploratory post hoc analysis of the phase 3 PEACE-3 trial in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Eur Urol Oncol. Shows faster/greater ALP and PSA responses with enzalutamide plus radium-223 versus enzalutamide alone, but biomarker changes were not linked to clinical outcomes in this analysis.

Retrospective cohort study of PARP inhibitor use and survival among US Veterans with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, published in Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, with attention to outcomes by race. Offers real-world insight into PARPi effectiveness and disparities in a population underrepresented in pivotal trials, though findings are descriptive rather than practice-changing.

Preclinical/translational study in Translational Oncology using darolutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell and xenograft models to identify TIMM17A as a driver of ARSI resistance. Findings are mechanistic with only public-dataset prognostic validation, not a clinically validated predictive biomarker, so practice impact is limited for now.

Preclinical study in enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell/xenograft models, published in Clinical and Translational Oncology, identifying a natural compound that targets AR signaling to overcome resistance. Early-stage mechanistic work without patient data, informing future drug development rather than current practice.

Retrospective targeted-sequencing study characterizing actionable genetic alterations in muscle-invasive and metastatic urothelial carcinoma, published in Eur Urol Oncol, with real-world validation of molecular tumor board recommendations. Shows high prevalence of actionable alterations (e.g., FGFR3) but limited translation into actual therapy use, underscoring gaps in real-world precision oncology implementation.

Preclinical mechanistic study in cell lines and mouse models, published in Molecular Oncology, showing castration-resistant prostate cancer cells depend on CDK2 activity and identifying combination strategies (anti-androgens, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) with CDK2 inhibitors. Provides rationale for future combinatorial trials but no clinical or patient outcome data yet.