Insights and highlights from EAU 2023: A recap of the most impactful discussions

The 38th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress was one of the most significant urological events of the year, providing a platform for urologists to learn, connect, and share knowledge. The conference was held in Milan, Italy, from March 10-13, 2023. The conference included more than 3000 sessions, covering a broad range of topics, including plenary, thematic, poster, video, and special sessions. These sessions were held in a combination of in-person and virtual formats, allowing attendees to participate regardless of their location.

Ferma.AI has utilized its Social Listening technology to analyze all 3,214 abstracts submitted for EAU 2023 conference, along with social media buzz and news reports, to determine the most relevant and highly impactful sessions among urologists. The top sessions that generated the most buzz covered a diverse range of content, including cutting-edge research, new treatments and therapies, and insights into the latest clinical practices. By assigning a normalized "buzz score" to each conference session, Ferma.AI was able to identify the most highly anticipated and talked-about sessions among the attendees.

Interested in learning more about how Ferma.AI can enhance your conference coverage and insights while also reducing costs by 40%? Schedule a brief call with us to see a live demonstration.

Key Themes in EAU 2023

Latest Developments in Prostate Cancer

Prognostic Significance of Baseline PSMA PET-CT in Prostate Cancer Treatment: proPSMA. (ABSTRACT)

The proPSMA trial showed that PSMA PET-CT has superior accuracy to conventional imaging for detection of nodal and distant metastatic disease. PSMA PET-CT nodal staging is more prognostic than CT/bone scan for medium-term oncologic outcomes in men with intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer without distant metastases. Among 251 patients, those with N1M0 had a higher risk of treatment failure than those with N0M0, with a hazard ratio of 2.1 and a significant p-value of 0.01. At 3 years, 70% of N0M0 patients remained free from treatment failure, compared to 46% of N1M0 patients. CT and bone scan-defined N1M0 was not prognostic.

STAMPEDE Trial: Long-term Fracture Incidence in Metastatic Prostate Cancer. (ABSTRACT)

The STAMPEDE trial compared ADT ± docetaxel (Doc) ± zoledronic acid (ZA): Adding ZA did not improve overall survival but long-term effects of bisphosphonate treatment on skeletal health was not formally collected as part of the trial. Long-term Androgen Deprivation Therapy ( for metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mHSPC) increases fracture risk. This trial evaluated ADT ± DOC± ZA but did not formally collect long-term skeletal health data. Hospital Episode Statistics data for 2,145 eligible patients (72% of total) showed a 5-year fracture incidence of 6.4%, higher in M1 patients (9.6% vs. 2.1% in M0). ZA significantly reduced fracture risk in M1 patients (HR 0.36) but not in M0 patients (HR 0.67).

Pilot Phase Results of Prostate Pathway Comparative Trial: Ip3-prospect. (ABSTRACT)

The feasibility of a novel trial design called the cohort-multiple RCT (cmRCT) was tested in the pilot phase of IP3-PROSPECT for delivering results in localized prostate cancer in a multicentre setting. The study successfully recruited 139 patients from four sites, passing its feasibility endpoint of 80 patients at a rate of 35.3%. Data collection completion rate was >95% at each study visit, and PROMS return rate was >70%. Patients liked having a choice in treatments and healthcare professionals thought the design had promise.

Recent Advancements in Bladder Cancer

Implementing Active Surveillance Follow-Up for Low-Grade NMIBC Tumors. (ABSTRACT)

This retrospective analysis aimed to determine the optimal surveillance strategy for patients on active surveillance (AS) with recurrent Low Grade (LG) Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC). A total of 214 patients were included, with a median follow-up of 38.8 months and a median time on AS of 13 months. Over 251 AS events, 51.8% experienced AS failure and underwent TURBT. Patients who had undergone ≥2 TURs before AS had a higher risk of failure, with a 70% failure rate at 12 months compared to 45% for patients with only one TUR.

VISIOCYT 1 Trial: AI Improves Bladder Cancer Diagnosis Accuracy. (ABSTRACT)

The sensitivity of VisioCyt was evaluated in a prospective, multicenter clinical trial involving 319 patients with non-muscle invasive bladder tumors and control patients with negative urinary cytology and cystoscopy. VisioCyt showed a significantly higher sensitivity than standard cytology (80.9% vs. 45.9%, p<0.0001) with a higher sensitivity for both low grade (66.7% vs. 26.1%) and high grade (93.7% vs. 62.8%) tumors. The specificity of VisioCyt was 61.8%, but could not be compared with that of standard cytology due to the trial design.

EB-StaR study: En bloc versus Standard Resection of Bladder Tumor. (ABSTRACT)

The EB-StaR study compared En bloc Resection of Bladder Tumor (ERBT) and Standard Resection (SR) in treating NMIBC patients. A total of 276 histologically confirmed NMIBC patients were randomized and the 1-year recurrence rate was significantly lower in the ERBT group (28.5%) compared to the SR group (38.1%) (p=0.007). The ERBT group had a longer operative time but similar outcomes in terms of detrusor muscle sampling rates, complications, and disease upstaging. In patients with NMIBC of ≤ 3cm, ERBT resulted in a significant reduction in 1-year recurrence rate when compared to SR.

Highest Buzz Session

Global variation in the quality of multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the prostate from the PRIMEtrial (The Glimpse Study) Indication: Prostate Cancer | Buzz Score:  100% | Link

Baseline PSMA PET-CT is prognostic for treatment failure in men with intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer: 54 months follow-up of the proPSMA randomized trial.
Indication: Prostate Cancer | Buzz Score: 82%  | Link

A comprehensive overview of patient reported outcomes: Results from the PIONEER consortium.
Indication: Prostate Cancer | Buzz Score: 81% | Link

Development of an individual postoperative prediction model for kidney cancer recurrence using machine learning (UroCCR study 120)
Indication: Kidney Cancer | Buzz Score: 79% | Link

Implementing the Active Surveillance (AS) follow-up schedule for low-grade Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) tumors.
Indication: Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer | Buzz Score: 77% | Link

Artificial intelligence to improve cytology performance in bladder urothelial carcinoma diagnosis: Results of the French, multicenter, prospective VISIOCYT1 trial
Indication: Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma | Buzz Score: 76% | Link

Clinical fracture incidence in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and risk-reduction following addition of zoledronic acid to androgen deprivation therapy with or without docetaxel: Long-term results from the STAMPEDE trial
Indication: Hormone Sensitive Prostate Cancer | Buzz Score: 75% | Link

Novel trial designs in localised prostate cancer: Pilot phase results from the prostate pathway embedded comparative trial (ip3-prospect)
Indication: Prostate Cancer | Buzz Score: 73% | Link

Transurethral en bloc resection versus standard resection of bladder tumour: A multi-center randomized trial (EB-StaR Study)
Indication: Bladder Cancer | Buzz Score: 73% | Link

Timing of symptomatic venous thromboembolism after surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Indication: Venous Thromboembolism | Buzz Score: 72% | Link

Wrap-up

Ferma.AI tracks abstract and data releases for all major healthcare conferences, alongside social media and healthcare news reactions. Interested in learning more about how Ferma.AI can enhance your conference coverage and insights while also reducing costs by 40%? Schedule a brief call with us to see a live demonstration.