OPTIMISE MUO

OPTIMISE MUO (prOsPecTIve MultIcentre Study investigating the managemEnt of patients with Malignant Ureteric Obstruction) is a prospective multi-centre study that seeks to investigate whether the management decisions taken by clinical teams treating patients with malignant ureteric obstruction are effective. The BSIR Research Committee has approved this study, and we are looking for sites to flag their interest, along with their urology colleagues In previous work, our group has shown that there is geographical variation in interventional management for these patients, as well as demonstrating that median overall survival is 6 months (IQR 2-14), and that the majority (57%) do not go on to receive further oncological treatment(1).

We aim to undertaken a multi-centre study to investigate some of these issues further, using the UNITE (UK National Interventional Radiology Research Collaborative) and British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) Oncology networks. These networks have already been successfully leveraged in the INSITE MUO study (currently ongoing) to collect data from 25 sites to investigate the incidence of malignant ureteric obstruction in patients with abdominopelvic malignancy.

In OPTIMISE MUO, study teams consisting of clinical team members from urology and interventional radiology will capture information from incoming referrals for patients with malignant ureteric obstruction (expected to be February 2025) Numbers will therefore likely be low (<10) for each centre. Some information will need to be captured contemporaneously about the outcome of the referral (decision to intervene) and the reasons for the outcome (rationale for intervention and mode of intervention). Other information (such as blood results) can be captured at a later timepoint Teams will then collect follow-up data at 3 month timepoints for up to 12 months.

The methodology will require collaboration between urological and interventional radiology study teams In some centres without interventional radiology provision, teams may solely consist of urology team members. Site set up will involve local R&D approval, which can be supported with documentation from the OPTIMISE MUO team The REDCap platform, (hosted by the Department of Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh) will be used by local study teams to upload pseudonymised data, keeping a local secure document to link patient identifiers to study number REDCap accounts will be provided by the OPTIMISE MUO team.

The findings will be disseminated by presentation at urology and radiology conferences and published in relevant journals. Publications resulting from the OPTIMISE MUO project will be as a collaborative. All collaborators meeting minimum required criteria of involvement will be accredited as collaborators on any publications from the study and will be Pubmed citable.

Read the full article: https://issuu.com/bsir/docs/2024_autumn_newsletter_3_