Elevating Community Oncology Care: Insights From World GU 2025
A group of community and academic oncologists exchanged ideas on optimizing therapy across different prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer populations.
Oncology Decoded hosts Manojkumar Bupathi, MD, MS, and Benjamin Garmezy, MD, traveled to the 2025 World Conference on Genitourinary Cancers (World GU) to speak with different experts about important advances and key takeaways related to the care of patients with genitourinary malignancies. Bupathi is executive cochair of the Genitourinary Cancer Research Executive Committee at Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) and medical oncologist with Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers specializing in solid tumors and genitourinary cancers. Garmezy is associate director of genitourinary research and executive cochair of the Genitourinary Cancer Research Executive Committee at SCRI and medical oncologist at SCRI Oncology Partners specializing in genitourinary cancers.
In this episode, Bupathi and Garmezy sat down with Sam S. Chang MD, MBA, and Jeff Yorio, MD, to exchange knowledge on elevating the efficacy of multidisciplinary care for patients with prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer in a community-based setting. Chang is the chief surgical officer and the Urologic Oncology division chief at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. Yorio is a medical oncologist who serves as the Central Texas Research Site Leader for Texas Oncology and SCRI.
The conversation partly focused on overcoming challenges associated with prostate cancer management in a community practice. Chang highlighted strategies for risk stratifying disease based on previously published guidelines, noting the importance of surveillance depending on a patient’s observed degree of risk. Additionally, the experts discussed how factors such as Decipher® Prostate scores, MRI scans, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels may factor into the decision to surveil patients with prostate cancer.
Regarding kidney cancer, the group spoke about strategies for deciding between monitoring patients or expediting intervention with modalities like nephrectomy or cryoablation. An observed mass of less than 2 cm, for example, represented a situation where surveillance could be optimal. The experts also detailed appropriate circumstances for offering immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)–based regimens upfront prior to surgery.
As part of the discussion on bladder cancer management, the group emphasized improving systemic therapies and locally assessing the bladder more efficiently. Additionally, with a newfound “embarrassment of riches and possibilities” regarding the development and approval of novel intravesical therapies, the experts discussed how medical oncologists can best collaborate with urologists to monitor patients undergoing this type of treatment.
