Volume 17 Issue 12, December 2020

Plastics have an integral role in our daily lives but at a considerable cost to the environment and, as we are now learning, to human health. Increased plastic exposure has been linked to compromised endocrine function, reproductive health and semen quality and, potentially, urological cancers. However, the long-term consequences of plastic exposure remain to be seen.

Cancer sequencing studies have revealed that urothelial carcinomas harbour recurrent mutations in multiple genes that control epigenetics. A major challenge for basic and clinical researchers is to convert this genetic information into biological and pathological insights, as well as to tailor novel therapeutic modalities for individual patients with bladder cancer.

In this Review, Blum et al. summarize the current knowledge on sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma, a diagnosis characterized by the presence of sarcomatoid dedifferentiation and a poor prognosis. They discuss the origin, presentation, molecular biology and treatment of this disease.

Radical prostatectomy is increasingly used as a first-line treatment for patients with high-risk, localized prostate cancer. Here, Wilkins and colleagues highlight the heterogeneous outcomes of these men and discuss the role of this approach in individualized, multimodal prostate cancer therapy.

Animal models that naturally and spontaneously form uroliths — including domestic dogs and cats, and a variety of other captive and wild species, such as otters, dolphins and ferrets — are an underused resource in the study of human stone disease and offer many potential opportunities for improving insight into stone pathogenesis. Improved collaboration between urologists, basic scientists and veterinarians is warranted to further our understanding of how stones form and to consider possible new preventive and therapeutic treatment options.