“This is the most robust and definitive study ever done to compare clinical and pathologic staging,” stated formal discussant of this study, Dean F. Bajorin, MD, Attending Physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. “The study found that 42% of patients were understaged clinically, and 46% of T2 tumors were upstaged pathologically,” he said.

“The study implies that we cannot compare overall survival in surgical and nonsurgical series, and we cannot pick the favorable stage T2 tumors. Markers are needed to enhance accuracy. This presents a compelling argument for multimodality therapy and for better understanding of tumor biology,” Dr. Bajorin told listeners. ■

Disclosure: Dr. Bajorin reported no potential conflicts of interest.