Monique J Roobol

• PhD, MSc
• Professor (Full) at Erasmus MC

Objectives To present the long‐term outcomes of men with Grade Group (GG) 1 prostate cancer (PCa), included in the Prostate Cancer Research International Active Surveillance (PRIAS) study, and to assess the effect of the inclusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within the active surveillance (AS) protocol. Patients and Methods The PRIAS study...

Compared with systematic biopsy of the prostate, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted biopsies are associated with lower rates of upgrading and higher rates of downgrading between biopsy tissue and radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade group (GG). Higher rates of downgrading could indica...

Background/Objectives: To summarize the current state of knowledge regarding personalized, risk-based approaches in active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer (PCa) and to explore the lessons learned from AS practices in other types of cancer. Methods: This mixed methods review combined a systematic review and a narrative review. The systematic r...

Background Monitoring and evaluation of prostate cancer (PCa) screening is key to ensure that the programme achieves the desired objectives. Utilizing a set of prioritized, feasible and harmonized key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for this purpose. We describe the methodology used to identify the PCa screening KPIs and the outcome of thi...

Importance Active surveillance (AS) for patients with prostate cancer (PC) often includes fixed repeat prostate biopsies that do not account for the varying risk of reclassification to significant disease. Given the invasive nature and potential complications of biopsies, a personalized approach is needed to balance the burden of biopsies with the...

Objective To explore patients’ experience of decision making regarding treatment of localised kidney cancer. Methods A total of 21 patients with localised kidney cancer, across three countries, participated in either four focus groups or seven semi‐structured interviews that lasted on average 2 h. Focus groups and interviews were all conducted in...

Background and objective Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly being used to capture the patients’ perspective of their functional status and quality of life (QoL). Big data can help us better understand patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Using prospectively collected data from the Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Enhance...

Background and objective In 2019 and 2021, Europa Uomo initiated the Europa Uomo Patient Reported Outcome Study (EUPROMS) and the EUPROMS 2.0 survey, with the goal of collecting data on patients’ self-reported perspective on physical and mental well-being outside of a clinical trial setting, to be able to investigate the burden of prostate cancer (...

Background Historical prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening studies reduced prostate cancer-related deaths but also led to overdiagnosis/overtreatment. Since then, opportunistic PSA testing has increased, and late-stage diagnoses and prostate-cancer related deaths are rising. Objectives To review current trends regarding PSA testing in p...

For men with prostate cancer (PCa) within the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), the cause of death is determined by a Cause of Death Committee (CODC) that evaluates all medical records using a fixed algorithm. The aim of this study was to compare the classification of PCa-specific mortality (PCSM) between the CODC...

Background and objective Clinical practice guidelines for prostate cancer (PCa) are a valuable resource for everyday clinical practice. The clinical practice guidelines and recommendations produced by various societies should demonstrate a considerable level of consistency in terms of quality, regardless of the society that developed these given th...

Purpose To investigate the detection and predictors of prostate cancer (PCA) and clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCA) in patients with positive multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) followed by a negative MRI – guided target biopsy (TB) and systematic biopsy (SB). Materials and methods This retrospective multicenter study included 694 patients fro...

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Enhancement through the Power of Big Data in Europe (PIONEER) is a European network of excellence for big data in prostate cancer. PIONEER brings together 34 private and public stakeholders from 9 countries in one multidisciplinary research consortium with the aim of positively transforming the field of prost...

Aims To investigate the surgical margin status in patients with prostate cancer who underwent robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) with intraoperative neurovascular structure‐adjacent frozen‐section analysis (NeuroSAFE) and evaluate differences compared to patients who underwent radical prostatectomy without NeuroSAFE. Patients and Methods...

Abstract Background and objective While prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and mortality rates continue to rise, early detection of PCa remains highly controversial, and the research landscape is rapidly evolving. Existing systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) provide valuable insights, but often focus on single aspects of early detection,...

In 2022, the European Commission updated its recommendation on cancer screening, inviting the Member States (MSs) to explore the feasibility of stepwise implementation of population-based screening for prostate cancer (PCa). In line with this recommendation, the PRAISE-U (Prostate Cancer Awareness and Initiative for Screening in the European Union...

Objectives To understand how best to further reduce the inappropriate use of pre‐surgical androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), we investigated the determinants (influences) of ADT prescribing in urologists in two European countries using an established behavioural science approach. Additionally, we sought to understand how resource limitations cause...

Objectives To prospectively evaluate how the Prostate Health Index (PHI) impacts on clinical decision in a real‐life setting for men with a prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level between 4 and 10 ng/mL and normal digital rectal examination. Patients and Methods Since 2016, the PHI has been available at no cost to eligible men in all Hong Kong publi...

Background Prostate cancer (PCa) (early) detection poses significant challenges, including unnecessary testing and the risk of potential overdiagnosis. The European Association of Urology therefore suggests an individual risk-adapted approach, incorporating risk calculators (RCs) into the PCa detection pathway. In the context of ‘The PRostate Cance...

Objective To evaluate whether a subgroup of men can be identified that would benefit more from screening than others. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort study was based on three European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) centres, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. We identified 126 827 men aged 55–69 years in...

Purpose To investigate the detection and predictors of prostate cancer (PCA) and clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCA) in patients with positive multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) followed by a negative MRI – guided target biopsy (TB) and systematic biopsy (SB). Materials and Methods This retrospective multicenter study included 694 patients fro...

Background and objective The treatment landscape of metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) has evolved significantly over the past two decades. Despite this, the optimal therapy for patients with mPCa has not been determined. This systematic review identifies available predictive models that assess mPCa patients’ response to treatment. Methods We criti...

Background and objective The ability of health care professionals to communicate with patients compassionately and effectively is crucial for shared decision-making, but little research has investigated patient-clinician communication. As part of PIONEER—an international Big Data Consortium led by the European Association of Urology to answer key q...

Population‐based organised repeated screening for prostate cancer has been found to reduce disease‐specific mortality, but with substantial overdiagnosis leading to overtreatment. Although only very few countries have implemented a screening programme on a national level, individual prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) testing is common. This opportunis...

Importance Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)–based risk calculators can replace or augment traditional prostate cancer (PCa) risk prediction tools. However, few data are available comparing performance of different MRI-based risk calculators in external cohorts across different countries or screening paradigms. Objective To externally validate and...

With the new policy recommendation in 2022 to explore the possibilities of screening for prostate cancer by the European Commission, the landscape for prostate cancer early detection is evolving. In line with this recommendation, the PRAISE-U project aims to evaluate the early detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer through customised and risk-b...

Over the last three decades, the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) and the US-based Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening have steered the conversation around the early detection of prostate cancer. These two randomized trials assessed the effect of screening on prostate cancer disease-speci...

The transferability and clinical value of genetic risk scores (GRSs) across populations remain limited due to an imbalance in genetic studies across ancestrally diverse populations. Here we conducted a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of 156,319 prostate cancer cases and 788,443 controls of European, African, Asian and Hispanic men, ref...

Background Lymphoceles, lymph fluid-filled collections within the body lacking epithelial lining, are a common complication after pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). In this study, we investigate the incidence of imaging confirmed symptomatic lymphoceles (SLC) in a centralized high-volume operatin...

Androgen deprivation therapy-based with or without first-generation anti-androgens, was the standard of care for patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) for decades. However, the development of docetaxel chemotherapy and new androgen receptor-targeted agents, abiraterone acetate and prednisolone, apalutamide , enzalutamid...

Objectives To compare the performance of currently available biopsy decision support tools incorporating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in predicting clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa). Patients and Methods We retrospectively included men who underwent prostate MRI and subsequent targeted and/or systematic prostate biopsies...

Background: Previous research quantified the effect of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based prostate cancer (PCa) screening on quality-adjusted life years using 11-yr follow-up data from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) extrapolated by the Microsimulation Screening Analysis (MISCAN). ERSPC data now matured to...

Background: Conservative management is an option for prostate cancer (PCa) patients either with the objective of delaying or even avoiding curative therapy, or to wait until palliative treatment is needed. PIONEER, funded by the European Commission Innovative Medicines Initiative, aims at improving PCa care across Europe through the application of...

Unlabelled: An updated Council of the EU recommendation on cancer screening was adopted in December 2022 during the Czech EU presidency. The recommendation included prostate cancer as a suitable target disease for organised screening, and invited countries to proceed with piloting and further research. To support further discussions and actions to...

Genome-wide polygenic risk scores (GW-PRSs) have been reported to have better predictive ability than PRSs based on genome-wide significance thresholds across numerous traits. We compared the predictive ability of several GW-PRS approaches to a recently developed PRS of 269 established prostate cancer-risk variants from multi-ancestry GWASs and fin...

Genome-wide polygenic risk scores (GW-PRS) have been reported to have better predictive ability than PRS based on genome-wide significance thresholds across numerous traits. We compared the predictive ability of several GW-PRS approaches to a recently developed PRS of 269 established prostate cancer risk variants from multi-ancestry GWAS and fine-m...

Background and objective: Active surveillance (AS) has been established as an important treatment option for patients with localised prostate cancer (PCa). Current evidence suggests that health literacy is an important facilitator or barrier to choosing and adhering to AS. We aim to understand how the level of health literacy has an impact on choo...

Background: To further strengthen the voice of patients, Europa Uomo initiated the Europa Uomo Patient Reported Outcome Study 2.0 (EUPROMS 2.0) in October 2021. Objective: To collect the self-reported perspective of prostate cancer (PCa) patients on physical and mental well-being after PCa treatment outside a clinical trial setting to inform fut...

Samenvatting Het positieve effect van de Rotterdam Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator (RPCRC)-3/4 en RPCRC-MRI is reeds bevestigd. Toch worden de prestaties en de toepasbaarheid ervan in de klinische praktijk in twijfel getrokken. Deze studie verricht een externe validatie van de RPCRC-3/4 en -MRI binnen een Nederlands klinisch hoogrisicocohort. Manne...

Long-term screening with serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and systematic prostate biopsies can reduce prostate cancer mortality but leads to unacceptable overdiagnosis. Over the past decade, diagnostic methods have improved and the indolent nature of low-grade prostate cancer has been established. These advances now enable more selective detec...

PIONEER is a European network of excellence for big data in prostate cancer consisting of 37 private and public stakeholders from 9 countries across Europe. Many progresses have been done in prostate cancer management, but unanswered questions in the field still exist, and big data could help to answer these questions. The PIONEER consortium conduc...

In response to the rising incidence of indolent, low-risk prostate cancer (PCa) due to increased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in the 1990s, active surveillance (AS) emerged as a treatment modality to combat overtreatment by delaying or avoiding unnecessary definitive treatment and its associated morbidity. AS consists of regular monito...

Background: Considering the long natural history of prostate cancer (PCa), long-term results of the European Randomised Study of Screening for PCa (ERSPC) are crucial. Objective: To provide an update on the effect of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening on PCa-specific mortality (PCSM), metastatic disease, and overdiagnosis in the Dut...

Background: Nerve-sparing (NS) radical prostatectomy (RP) results in better functional outcomes. Intraoperative neurovascular structure-adjacent frozen section examination (NeuroSAFE) significantly increases the frequency of NS surgery. The effect of NeuroSAFE on postoperative erectile function (EF) and continence is not yet clear. Objective: To...

Background: The European Association of Urology guidelines recommend a risk-based strategy for prostate cancer screening based on the first prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and age. Objective: To analyze the impact of the first PSA level on prostate cancer (PCa) detection and PCa-specific mortality (PCSM) in a population-based screening tri...

Background: The ERSPC study has demonstrated that prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening results in a relative increase in diagnosis of (low-risk) prostate cancer (PCa) and a reduction in metastatic disease and PCa mortality. Objective: To evaluate the burden of PCa among men randomized to active screening compared to those in the contr...

Background: Our objective was to assess the accuracy of transabdominal ultrasound (TAUS) measured prostate volume in the primary care setting with transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) measured prostate volume by the urologist as the reference test. Furthermore, our objective was to assess whether risk-stratification using TAUS prostate volume by the prim...

Background: Active surveillance (AS) is recommended for low-risk and some intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Uptake and practice of AS vary significantly across different settings, as does the experience of surveillance-from which tests are offered, and to the levels of psychological support. Objective: To explore the current best practice and d...

Background Currently, transperineal prostate biopsy (TPB) is preferred over transrectal biopsy (TRB) because of less infectious complications and improved clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) detection. However, literature on omitting antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) is limited. Furthermore, previous studies did not include invasive cribriform...

Background Evidence-practice gaps exist in urology. We previously surveyed European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines for strong recommendations underpinned by high-certainty evidence that impact patient experience for which practice variations were suspected. The recommendation “Do not offer neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) bef...

A diverse group of experts in active surveillance, including a broad range of healthcare professionals and researchers and those with lived experience of prostate cancer agreed that best practice includes use of high quality MRI, which can allow digital rectal examination and some biopsies to be omitted. The highest research priority in active surv...

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of multivariable risk stratification for early prostate cancer (PCa) detection in a primary healthcare diagnostic facility with regard to its effects on the referral rate and subsequent PCa diagnoses compared to a PSA threshold of 3.0 ng/mL as the current referral indicator. Patients and Methods In 2014, the E...

Background: We aimed to quantify the difference in patient reported outcome (PRO) data between clinical studies and the (patient initiated) EUPROMS study for sexual functioning and urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy (RP) and external beam radiotherapy (RT). Methods: Europa Uomo, the patient organization of men with prostate cancer...

Purpose This study aims to externally validate the Rotterdam Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator (RPCRC)-3/4 and RPCRC-MRI within a Dutch clinical cohort. Methods Men subjected to prostate biopsies, between 2018 and 2021, due to a clinical suspicion of prostate cancer (PCa) were retrospectively included. The performance of the RPCRC-3/4 and RPCRC-MRI...

Objectives Genome-wide association studies have revealed over 200 genetic susceptibility loci for prostate cancer (PCa). By combining them, polygenic risk scores (PRS) can be generated to predict risk of PCa. We summarize the published evidence and conduct meta-analyses of PRS as a predictor of PCa risk in Caucasian men. Patients and methods Data...

In the pre-PSA-detection era, a large proportion of men were diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and died of the disease; after the introduction of the serum PSA test, randomized controlled prostate cancer screening trials in the USA and Europe were conducted to assess the effect of PSA screening on prostate cancer mortality. Contradictory ou...

Background: Guidelines on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PCa) arise from a critical appraisal of scientific evidence, which is a costly effort. Despite these efforts and the side effects of ADT, guidelines may not always be adhered to. Objective: To determine ADT overtreatment in PCa patients compared to the European Ass...

Background Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (PCa) on active surveillance (AS) have shown to cope with anxiety caused by living with an ‘ untreated cancer ’ and different factors can influence the tolerance level for anxiety in these patients. The present study analyzes Italian (Milan) and Dutch (Rotterdam) men prospectively included in...

Background Active surveillance (AS) is a management option for men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer. Opinions differ on whether it is safe to include young men (≤60 yr) or men with intermediate-risk disease. Objective To assess whether reasons for discontinuation, treatment choice after AS, and adverse pathology at radical prostatectomy (RP...

Objective To assess the predictive value of biopsy-identified cribriform carcinoma and/or intraductal carcinoma (CR/IDC) within the Briganti and MSKCC nomograms predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with primary prostate cancer (PCa). Methods We retrospectively included 393 PCa patients who underwent radical prostatectomy with extende...

Background Previous studies had limited power to assess the associations of circulating insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) with clinically relevant prostate cancer as a primary endpoint, and the association of genetically predicted IGF-I with aggressive prostate cancer is not known. We aimed to investigate the asso...

Objectives To investigate the impact of intra‐operative neurovascular structure‐adjacent frozen‐section examination (NeuroSAFE) on the rate of nerve‐sparing surgery (NSS) and oncological outcome in a large radical prostatectomy (RP) cohort. Patients and methods Between January 2016 and December 2020, 1756 prostate cancer patients underwent robot‐a...

Introduction: Treatment choice for localized prostate cancer is complicated, as each treatment option comes with various pros and cons. It is well established that active surveillance (AS), may be ended with a change to curative treatment at the time of disease progression, but it is less clear whether secondary treatment after initial curative tre...

Objectives: To recalibrate and validate the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer risk calculators (ERSPC RCs) 3/4 and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-ERSPC-RCs to a contemporary Norwegian setting to reduce upfront prostate multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and prostate biopsies. Patients and methods: We retrospectively ident...