This Issue 32‐12

We now share 3 Review articles, 15 Original Articles, 3 Urological Notes, 15 Editorial comments, in this issue of the International Journal of Urology, including contributions from a variety of urology fields: urologic oncology, urinary injury, kidney transplantation, and interstitial cystitis. Molecular residual disease (MRD) refers to the presence of microscopic cancer that remains undetectable on conventional imaging or pathology. Because of the rapid advancement in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis using next-generation sequencing technology, MRD testing using ctDNA has demonstrated significant potential for predicting recurrence in various types of cancer. Kato et al. described the good review, which provides an overview of the potential utility of ctDNA-based MRD detection for GU cancers and highlights several ongoing clinical trials for the development of MRD-guided treatments with ctDNA. ctDNA-based MRD testing has the potential to personalize cancer precision medicine in GU cancers, guiding adjuvant therapy decisions, improving early detection of recurrence, and refining surveillance. I hope this ctDNA-based MRD testing will be available in clinical settings in Japan. Ishii et al. also provided a good review about robot-assisted redo pyeloplasty for recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction presents significant surgical challenges due to fibrosis, altered anatomy, and impaired vascularity. Open redo pyeloplasty has traditionally been the gold standard. Here the authors provided a comprehensive evaluation of the current literature on robot-assisted surgical management of recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Redo robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty achieves high success rates (75%–100%) with low complication rates and shorter hospital stays compared with open or conventional laparoscopic approaches. Moreover, they mentioned advanced robotic techniques including ureterocalicostomy, buccal mucosa graft ureteroplasty, ileal ureter replacement, renal auto transplantation and single-port robotic platforms. In the 3rd Review, Inamoto et al. provided the Current Kidney-Preserving Strategies for Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma. Although radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is the standard treatment, a kidney-sparing strategy (KSS) should be considered for patients with low-risk disease or compromised renal function to avoid the morbidity associated with RNU. Kidney-preserving approaches, when appropriately applied, improve quality of life and reduce surgery-related morbidity while maintaining oncologic control in patients with UTUC. This issue also provided many interesting original articles including the results of RCT using open-ended urinary catheters in CRBD (catheter-related bladder discomfort) demonstrating their efficacy. The ARASHI study, which was conducted in Japan, described clinical use and outcomes of androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSIs) darolutamide, enzaluta mide, and apalutamide in patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC). In addition to these, there are many other highly interesting original papers and Notes published, so please enjoy them. The author declares no conflicts of interest.