HJAR Jan/Feb 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JAN / FEB 2021 51 Qualities of a Good Research Patient It is important for providers to knowwhat type of patients would make good candi- dates for participation in clinical trials. In many cases, patients that are considered have already exhausted other, more tradi- tional forms of treatment. However, this is not always the case. Some great character- istics of a research patient include some- one who is detail oriented, is involved in the planning of their own care and has time to dedicate to additional treatment visits. Be- ing part of a clinical trial requires a greater time commitment, as it typically involves more scheduled visits and providing addi- tional feedback on how his or her body is responding to treatment. In this case, our research center staff typically allow for a long patient consent process, where expectations are clearly out- lined, and time is given for consideration. Many times, the choice of a patient entering a clinical trial is not only about their current condition, but also considers the additional commitment participation will involve. Urological Research and Beyond Currently, two of the landmark trials throughArkansas Urology Research Center are centered around BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) and prostate cancer. Optilume is a drug-coated balloon trial for urethral stricture and BPH. The goal of Optilume is to provide long-term relief from stric- ture recurrence. This minimally-invasive treatment combines balloon dilation and localized drug delivery of a proven antipro- liferative. The balloon expands into the tis- sue, creating microfissures, which facilitate circumferential drug absorption. In addi- tion to ending the high recurrence cycle and being less invasive, other benefits include compatibility with flexible cystoscopes that make the patient more comfortable and by providing optimal expansion for urology applications. “The Optilume system is the first ever, minimally invasive treatment that can provide TURP [transurethral resection of the prostate]-like results without cutting, burning, steaming, lasering, or leaving a per- manent implant behind, and it is designed to minimize or eliminate the common [ad- verse] effects associated with other surgical BPH procedures,”said StevenA. Kaplan, MD, professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, New York. The prostate cancer trial involves apalu- tamide (APA) plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in treatment-naïve partici- pants who have undergone radical prosta- tectomy (RP) for non-metastatic prostate cancer and who are at high risk for metasta- ses. The purpose of this study is to determine if treatment with APA plus ADT after RP in patients with localized high-risk prostate cancer results will improve the biochemi- cal recurrence (BCR)-free rate. The study is specific to men who have more high-risk Jeff Marotte, MD Arkansas Urology prostate cancer, which accounts for roughly 15% of all prostate cancer cases. It is hypoth- esized that androgen blockade before and after undergoing a radical prostatectomy may improve patient outcomes for those who are at the highest risk for recurrence. One of the main reasons that we feel re- search is important to our practice at Ar- kansas Urology is it improves our ability to care for our patients. We have made our research center separate from our clinics so that we are able to provide our research patients with a more intimate setting and extra time for the attention that they need. Right now, the Arkansas Urology Research Center primarily focuses on prostate can- cer, bladder cancer, BPH, kidney stones and others, but the vision of the research center goes beyond that. The goal is to branch into more general and other specialized health- care research to improve the overall health of Arkansans for now and into the future. n Richard D’Anna, MD, joined Arkansas Urology in 2004. D’Anna received a medical degree from Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico. He was the chief resident of urology at the University of California Davis Medical Center and was certified in lithotripsy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy at the Northern California Kidney Stone Center. Jeff Marotte, MD, joined Arkansas Urology in August 2017. Marotte received a medical degree from UAMS and graduated from the Hendrix College in Conway with a degree in Biology. He did a surgical residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and completed a urology residency at Stanford University in California.