Palapattu, Ganesh S.

57 Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading non-cancer cause of death among men with prostate cancer (PC), particularly during androgen-deprivation therapy. While CVD risk-prediction models are well established in the general population, barriers to integration within oncology workflows remain poorly defined. Guided by the PRISM and RE-AIM frameworks, this study evaluated multilevel determinants influencing adoption, feasibility, and sustainability of CVD risk-assessment tools in PC care. Methods: A national, cross-sectional survey of 45 physicians (medical oncology 49%, urology 38%, radiation oncology 13%) from 18 U.S. states was conducted. Respondents represented early- (27%), mid- (36%), and late-career (38%) clinicians across academic (87%) and community (13%) settings. Quantitative items mapped to PRISM/RE-AIM domains assessed adaptability, cost/resource feasibility, effectiveness, equity, and sustainability; open-ended responses explored contextual barriers and facilitators. Descriptive statistics summarized quantitative data. Results: Physicians reported moderate-to-high readiness to adopt a CVD risk-assessment tool, emphasizing workflow alignment and EHR integration over algorithmic complexity. Table 1 summarizes domain-specific findings. Ninety-three percent of respondents favored lab-independent models that minimize workflow disruption. Conclusions: Pre-implementation analysis highlighted that structural barriers, rather than algorithmic or statistical limitations, remain the primary obstacles to adopting CVD risk-assessment tools in prostate-cancer care. Physicians emphasized the need for EHR-integrated, non-laboratory-based, and time-efficient tools that align with routine oncology workflows and minimize cross-specialty friction. Addressing these practical and organizational determinants may be pivotal to achieving equitable, scalable, and sustainable cardio-oncology implementation across diverse practice settings. PRISM and RE-AIM constructs evaluation results. Construct Likely/Very Likely (%) Interpretation Perceived Effectiveness 87% Broad confidence in clinical utility Equity in Patient Reach 75% Strong perceived equity in reach Equity in Effectiveness 73% Expected to perform consistently across populations Adaptability to Workflow 71% High compatibility with existing clinic workflows Cost/Resource Feasibility 65% Feasible for resource-constrained settings Likelihood of Adoption 60% Moderate readiness for implementation Equity in Adoption 58% Equitable uptake possible despite resource differences Reach to Target Population 57% Moderate likelihood of reaching most patients Sustainability Over Time 51% Moderate long-term feasibility Consistency of Implementation 42% Need for standardized protocols

PURPOSE Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is used widely for prostate cancer (PCa) evaluation. Approximately 35% of aggressive tumors, however, are not visible on mpMRI. We sought to identify the molecular alterations associated with mpMRI-invisible tumors and determine whether mpMRI visibility is associated with PCa prognosis. METHODS Discovery and validation cohorts included patients who underwent mpMRI before radical prostatectomy and were found to harbor both mpMRI-visible (Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System 3 to 5) and -invisible (Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System 1 or 2) foci on surgical pathology. Next-generation sequencing was performed to determine differential gene expression between mpMRI-visible and -invisible foci. A genetic signature for tumor mpMRI visibility was derived in the discovery cohort and assessed in an independent validation cohort. Its association with long-term oncologic outcomes was evaluated in a separate testing cohort. RESULTS The discovery cohort included 10 patients with 26 distinct PCa foci on surgical pathology, of which 12 (46%) were visible and 14 (54%) were invisible on preoperative mpMRI. Next-generation sequencing detected prioritized genetic mutations in 14 (54%) tumor foci (n = 8 mpMRI visible, n = 6 mpMRI invisible). A nine-gene signature (composed largely of cell organization/structure genes) associated with mpMRI visibility was derived (area under the curve = 0.89), and the signature predicted MRI visibility with 75% sensitivity and 100% specificity (area under the curve = 0.88) in the validation cohort. In the testing cohort (n = 375, median follow-up 8 years) there was no significant difference in biochemical recurrence, distant metastasis, or cancer-specific mortality in patients with predicted mpMRI-visible versus -invisible tumors (all P > .05). CONCLUSION Compared with mpMRI-invisible disease, mpMRI-visible tumors are associated with underexpression of cellular organization genes. mpMRI visibility does not seem to be predictive of long-term cancer outcomes, highlighting the need for biopsy strategies that detect mpMRI-invisible tumors.

Abstract The trend toward precision-based therapeutic approaches dictated by molecular alterations offers substantial promise for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, current approaches for molecular characterization are primarily tissue based, necessitating serial biopsies to understand changes over time and are limited by the challenges inherent to extracting genomic material from predominantly bone metastases. Therefore, a circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based assay was developed to determine gene expression across a panel of clinically relevant and potentially actionable prostate cancer–related genes. CTCs were isolated from the whole blood of mCRPC patients (n = 41) and multiplex qPCR was performed to evaluate expression of prostate cancer–related target genes (n = 78). A large fraction of patients (27/41, 66%) had detectable CTCs. Increased androgen receptor (AR) expression (70% of samples) and evidence of Wnt signaling (67% of samples) were observed. The TMPRSS2:ERG fusion was expressed in 41% of samples, and the aggressive prostate cancer–associated long noncoding RNA SChLAP1 was upregulated in 70%. WNT5a [HR 3.62, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.63–8.05, P = 0.002], AURKA (HR 5.56, 95% CI, 1.79–17.20, P = 0.003), and BMP7 (HR 3.86, 95% CI, 1.60–9.32, P = 0.003) were independently predictive of overall survival (FDR < 10%) after adjusting for a panel of previously established prognostic variables in mCRPC (Halabi nomogram). A model including Halabi, WNT5a, and AURKA expression, termed the miCTC score, outperformed the Halabi nomogram alone (AUC = 0.89 vs. AUC = 0.70). Understanding the molecular landscape of CTCs has utility in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with aggressive prostate cancer and provides an additional tool in the arsenal of precision-based therapeutic approaches in oncology. Implications: Analysis of CTC gene expression reveals a clinically prognostic “liquid biopsy” signature in patients with metastatic castrate-resistance prostate cancer. Mol Cancer Res; 16(4); 643–54. ©2018 AACR.