E. Jason Abel

• University of Wisconsin–Madison

Microwave ablation is an effective treatment modality for T1a and selected T1b renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Independent of the type of thermal ablation techniques used, there are important technical considerations for the successful destruction of targeted tumours while minimising complications, including the use of ultrasound for antenna placement...

Purpose: This study aims to develop and validate a method for synthesizing 3D nephrographic phase images in CT urography (CTU) examinations using a diffusion model integrated with a Swin Transformer-based deep learning approach. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the local Institutional Review Board. A dataset comprisin...

Purpose To evaluate safety and oncologic efficacy of percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) for treating clinically localized T1b (cT1b) renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods This single-center retrospective study was performed under a waiver of informed consent. Seventy-four consecutive patients (49M/25F) with 76 cT1b RCC (median tumor diameter 4.5...

Purpose: To evaluate safety and oncologic efficacy of percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) for treating clinically localized T1b (cT1b) renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: This single-center retrospective study was performed under a waiver of informed consent. Seventy-four consecutive patients (49M/25F) with 76 cT1b RCC (median tumor diameter 4.5...

Purpose The appropriate duration of follow-up after surgical resection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains incompletely defined. To better inform on this time line, we investigate when an individual's risk of RCC recurrence becomes less significant than their risk of non-RCC death. Materials and Methods We identified 1672 patients who underwent...

Purpose To determine if microwave ablation (MWA) of retroperitoneal tumors can safely provide high rates of local tumor control. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 19 patients (median age, 65 years [range = 46-78 years]; 13 [68.4%] men and six [31.6%] women) with 29 retroperitoneal tumors treated over 22 MWA procedures. Hydrodi...

Objective To describe the treatment and outcomes of patients who are medically immunosuppressed due to prior organ transplantation or autoimmune disease with clinical T1 renal cell carcinoma (cT1). Methods An institutional database of patients treated for RCC was queried for patients with cT1 RCC and on chronic medical immunosuppression at the tim...

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with perioperative outcomes in a multi-institutional cohort of patients treated with CN. Methods: Data was analyzed for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated with CN at 6 tertiary academic centers from 2005-2019. Outcomes included: Clavien-Dindo complications, mortality, length of hospi...

Purpose: To compare the safety and efficacy of histotripsy with cryoablation in a chronic human-scale normal porcine kidney model. Materials and methods: Eighteen female domestic swine were divided evenly into histotripsy and cryoablation treatment arms. A planned 2-3cm diameter treatment was performed under ultrasound (histotripsy) or ultrasoun...

Cytoreductive nephrectomy became accepted as standard of care for selected patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) because of improved survival observed in patients treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy in combination with interferon-α in two randomized clinical trials published in 2001. Over the past two decades, novel systemic thera...

Background: Careful patient selection is critical when considering cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) but few studies have investigated the prognostic value of radiologic features that measure tumor burden. Objective: To develop a prognostic model to improve CN selection with integration of common radiologi...

Unlabelled: Patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) who respond to upfront immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combination therapies may be treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) to remove radiographically viable primary tumors. Early data for post-ICI CN suggested that ICI therapies induce desmoplastic reactions in some patients, inc...

Purpose: To determine the risk of mechanical vessel wall damage resulting in hemorrhage during and after hepatic and renal histotripsy in an anticoagulated in vivo porcine model. Materials and methods: Non-tumor-bearing pigs (n=8, mean weight=52.5kg) were anticoagulated with warfarin (initial dose 0.08 mg/kg) to a target PT of 30-50% above basel...

While an important role for the SUMO protease SENP1 is recognized in multiple solid cancers, its role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) pathogenesis, particularly the most dominant subtype, clear cell RCC (ccRCC), is poorly understood. Here we show that a combination of high HIF2α and SENP1 expression in ccRCC samples predicts poor patient survival. Us...

Objective To evaluate the effect of intra-procedural contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) and same-session repeat ablation (SSRA) on primary efficacy, the complete eradication of tumor after the first ablation session as confirmed on first imaging follow-up, of clinically localized T1a (cT1a) renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods 398 consecutive patients wit...

Background Solid renal masses are often indeterminate for benignity versus malignancy on magnetic resonance imaging. Such masses are typically evaluated with either percutaneous biopsy or surgical resection. Percutaneous biopsy can be non-diagnostic and some surgically resected lesions are inadvertently benign. Purpose To assess the performance of...

Objective To compare image quality and radiation dose between single-bolus 2-phase and split-bolus 1-phase CT Urography (CTU) performed immediately after microwave ablation (MWA) of clinically localized T1 (cT1) RCC. Methods Forty-two consecutive patients (30 M, mean age 67.5 ± 9.0) with cT1 RCC were treated with MWA from 7/2013 to 12/2013 at two...

Modeling renal cell carcinoma is critical to investigating tumor biology and therapeutic mechanisms. Multiple systems have been developed to represent critical components of the tumor and its surrounding microenvironment. Prominent in vitro models include traditional cell cultures, 3D organoid models, and microphysiological devices. In vivo models...

Renal cell carcinomas are common genitourinary tumors characterized by high vascularization and strong reliance on glycolysis. Despite the many available therapies for renal cell carcinomas, first-line targeted therapies, such as cabozantinib, and durable reaponses are seen in only a small percentage of patients. Yet, little is known about the mech...

Prostate cancer (PC) development involves epigenetic DNA methylation changes that occur in the tumor. However, distinct DNA methylation changes have been previously found to encompass a widespread cancer field defect involving normal prostate tissue. In the current study, we analyzed a series of DNA methylation field markers to determine if they pr...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of CT radiomics features and machine learning analysis to identify aggressive tumor features, including high nuclear grade (NG) and sarcomatoid (sarc) features, in large renal cell carcinomas (RCCs). Methods CT-based volumetric radiomics analysis was performed on non-contrast (NC) and porta...

Management options for small renal masses include active surveillance, partial nephrectomy, radical nephrectomy, and thermal ablation. For tumors typically ≤3 cm in size, thermal ablation is a good option for those desiring an alternative to surgery or active surveillance, especially in patients who are considered high surgical risk. We favor micro...

Although multiple active systemic treatments are now available for patients with metastatic kidney cancer, the tools to clearly identify patients who appear to benefit from cytoreductive surgery remain poorly defined or validated. To improve the level of evidence for future surgical research in metastatic renal cell cancer, it is imperative that sp...

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to evaluate interobserver, intraobserver, and interplatform variability and compare the previously established association between texture metrics and tumor histologic subtype using three commercially available CT texture analysis (CTTA) software platforms on the same dataset of large (> 7 cm) renal cell ca...

Microwave (MW) ablation and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) have potentially complementary advantages and limitations for treating inoperable renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Combining SBRT and MWA may optimize tumor control and toxicity for patients with larger (>5 cm) RCCs or those with vascular involvement. We retrospectively reviewed pati...

Although therapeutic options for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have increased in the past decade, no biomarkers are yet available for patient stratification or evaluation of therapy resistance. Given the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of clear cell RCC (ccRCC), tumor biopsies provide limited clinical utility, but liquid biopsi...

Objective To interrogate the National Veterans Health Administration (VA) database to determine if beta-blocker use at time of initiation of androgen therapy deprivation (ADT) would result in improved oncological outcomes in advanced prostate cancer. Methods All men diagnosed with high risk PCa (PSA >20) from 2000-2008 who were on ADT ≥ 6 months w...

Objective To evaluate the effect of intravenous iodinated contrast on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) when administered immediately after thermal ablation of clinically localized T1a (cT1a) renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods This HIPAA-compliant, dual-center retrospective study was performed under a waiver of informed consent. Three hun...

Close to 74,000 cases of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are diagnosed each year in the United States. The last two decades have shown great developments in surgical techniques, targeted therapy and immunotherapy agents, and longer complete response rates. However, without a global cure, there is still room for further advancement in improving patient c...

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common genitourinary cancer associated with the development of abnormal tumor angiogenesis. Although multiple anti-angiogenic therapies have been developed, responses to individual treatment are highly variable between patients. Thus, the use of one-patient clinical trials has been suggested as an altern...

Objective To describe the CT and MR imaging findings after microwave ablation of clinical stage 1 renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods This single-center retrospective study was performed under a waiver of informed consent. 49 patients (38 M/11F, mean age 66 ± 9.0) with 52 cT1a RCC and 19 patients (10M/9F, mean age 67 ± 9.7) with 19 cT1b RCC were tre...

Objectives To evaluate postoperative recurrence patterns for high-risk non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and to identify prognostic factors associated with site-specific metastatic recurrence using a multi-institutional contemporary cohort. Methods Data for non-metastatic ≥pT3a RCC patients treated with surgery at 4 independent centers was...

PurposeEvaluate the safety and efficacy of adrenal microwave ablation performed with continuous intra-arterial blood pressure monitoring (IABPM) and without alpha-adrenergic blockade (AAB) as pretreatment.Material and MethodsA single-center, retrospective review of all percutaneous adrenal microwave ablation performed between 2011 and 2018. Microwa...

On the basis of institutional and population‐based data, it has become clear that the risk of progression is distinctly different for lymph node–positive (LN+)/M0 renal cell carcinoma in comparison with locally advanced, nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma. It is critical that the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system recognize the incre...

Epidural anesthesia is used to improve pain control after major surgeries. Few data describe the impact of epidural use for bladder cancer patients treated with radical cystectomy (RC). Here, we evaluate epidural use on perioperative and long-term outcomes for patients treated with radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. Patients who received radica...

652 Background: Studies suggest that overall survival (OS) following cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) is associated with preoperative tumor measurements including primary tumor diameter, number of metastatic sites, sum of metastatic tumor diameters and primary tumor percent of overall burden. Current risk models, however, do not account for tumor bur...

646 Background: Surgical selection is critical to obtain the best outcomes for mRCC patients treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN). Prior studies suggest that international metastatic disease consortium (IMDC) poor risk patients should not be considered for upfront CN because of expectation for short overall survival (OS). The purpose of this...

Purpose of Review In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in abdominal imaging and intervention. The goal of this article is to review the practical applications of CEUS in the kidney, including renal mass characterization, treatment monitoring during and after percutaneous ablation, and bi...

Objective: To compare perioperative and oncologic outcomes for patients with clinical T1b renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following treatment with microwave ablation (MW), partial nephrectomy (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN). Methods: Comprehensive clinical and pathologic data were collected for non-metastatic RCC patients with cT1b tumors following...

Before you apply for a job, it is important to spend some time and honestly evaluate how you would envision your ideal future career. Every young doctor has different aspirations for his or her career. The first step should be introspective, to define and prioritize what you value most. Although your own description of your ideal career goals and y...

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of CT texture analysis (CTTA) in differentiating low-attenuation renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from renal cysts on unenhanced CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Ninety-four patients with low-attenuation RCC on unenhanced CT were compared with a cohort of 192 patients with benign renal cysts. CT...

Introduction: Oncocytic neoplasms are renal tumors similar to oncocytoma, but their morphologic variations preclude definitive diagnosis. This somewhat confusing diagnosis can create treatment and surveillance challenges for the treating urologist. We hypothesize that these subtle morphologic variations do not drastically affect the malignant pote...

Objective: To analyze risk factors and patterns of RCC recurrence following percutaneous ablation for stage 1 tumors and develop risk-stratified follow-up imaging protocols. Method: Biopsy-proven sporadic stage 1 RCC patients treated with percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) or cryoablation (CA) from 2002 to 2017 were included. Kaplan-Meier ana...

Purpose of review: Recent cytoreductive nephrectomy studies provide continued evidence of the critical role of patient selection prior to surgery. The purpose of this review is to examine current data regarding patient selection for cytoreductive surgery and evaluate, which metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients are likely to benefit from...

Purpose: To assess CT texture features of small renal cell carcinomas (≤ 4cm) for association with key pathologic features including protein biomarkers. Methods: Quantitative CT texture analysis (CTTA) of small renal cancers (≤ 4cm) was performed on non-contrast and portal venous phase abdominal MDCT scans with an ROI drawn at the largest cross-...

Abstract Background The traditional pathologic grading for human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has low concordance between biopsy and surgical specimen. There is a need to investigate adjunctive pathology technique that does not rely on the nuclear morphology that defines the traditional grading. Changes in collagen organization in the extracellular m...

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of Robotically Assisted Sonic Therapy (RAST)-a noninvasive and nonthermal focused ultrasound therapy based on histotripsy-for renal ablation in a live porcine model. Materials and methods: RAST ablations (n = 11) were performed in 7 female swine: 3 evaluated at 1 week (acute) and 4 evaluated at 4 weeks (ch...

Objective To evaluate the impact of anterior tumor location on oncologic efficacy, complication rates, and procedure duration for 151 consecutive biopsy-proven clinical T1a renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with percutaneous microwave (MW) ablation. Methods This single-center retrospective study was performed under a waiver of informed consent. O...

Background: To assess factors that can predict active surveillance (AS) failure on serial transrectal ultrasound guided biopsies in patients with low-risk prostate cancer. Methods: We evaluated the records of 144 consecutive patients enrolled in AS between 2007 and 2014 at a single academic institution. Low risk inclusion criteria included PSA <...