Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD, Author at Grand Rounds in Urology

Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Dr. Rodriguez is a urologist with subspecialty in Urology Oncology, as well as, robotics and minimally invasive surgery. He is American Board of Urology (ABU) certified and currently hold the rank of Associate Professor and the title of Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery for the Urology Department at Wake Forest.

He performs robotic assisted surgery for the treatment of prostate cancer, kidney cancer and bladder cancer, as well as any other malignant and benign diseases of the genitourinary system and have published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts and abstracts regarding these areas of interest.

He is Fellowship trained from Urology Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and Fellowship trained in Urology Oncology and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes in France.

He completed my residency training and chief residency in the department of urology of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, Florida.

He is the present Secretary General of the Confederacion Americana de Urologia (CAU) and the editor of the American Urological Association (AUA) News in Spanish.

He is an honorary member of multiple societies world-wide and enjoys teaching and participating in continuous medical education for medical students, residents, urology colleagues, and the community we serve.

Talks by Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD

Bladder Cancer: Optimizing Detection and Minimally-Invasive Management

Posted by Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD | May 2024

Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD, discusses detection and minimally invasive management of bladder cancer. Dr. Rodriguez begins by noting that bladder cancer is the 10th most-commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, and presents the American Urological Association (AUA) risk stratification that provides the basis for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) management.

Dr. Rodriguez notes that the most frequent treatment for NMIBC is Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor (TURBT.) While he contends that conventional TURBT is the best tool for clinical staging of NMIBC, he enumerates the risks and drawbacks of the procedure.

Dr. Rodriguez then describes narrow-band imaging (NBI) as an additional modality, and presents data showing that TURBT performed in NBI modality reduces NMIBC recurrence risk. Further, NBI with white light cystoscopy TURBT may lower recurrence risk with little-to-no effect on risks of adverse events.

Finally, Dr. Rodriguez turns to the role of TUR in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), with a focus on clinical staging, histology and grade, and bladder preservation options. He notes that trimodality therapy is the primary option for patients with MIBC that seek bladder preservation as an alternative to radical cystectomy.

Care Considerations for the Man on ADT

Posted by Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD | May 2024

Alejandro R. Rodriguez, MD, discusses the management of metabolic, cardiovascular, and other side effects of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT). In this lecture, Dr. Rodriguez highlights common side effects of ADT as a treatment, including:

Bone-Density Loss
Cardiovascular Disease
Diabetes and Other Metabolism Changes
Sexual Dysfunction

For each of these conditions, Dr. Rodriguez presents management strategies that can be used by physicians, patients, and members of the patients’ care team.