Charles Bankhead

San Diego--In a comparison of sling materials for sacral colpopexy, polypropylene mesh met the challenge of solvent-dehydrated cadaveric fascia lata and demonstrated a statistically significant outcome advantage at 1 year, University of Louisville (KY) researchers reported.

New Orleans--Data from a randomized clinical trial show that long-term treatment with the bisphosphonate agent zoledronic acid (Zometa) halved the rate of skeletal events in patients with advanced prostate cancer and bone metastases.

Boston--A preoperative rise in serum PSA of >2.0 ng/mL predicts an increased mortality risk in patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy and might identify men who require additional therapy, investigators have concluded after reviewing outcomes in more than 1,000 cases.

Chicago-The selective endothelin receptor antagonist atrasentan significantly attenuates changes in biochemical markers of bone metabolism and disease progression in a group of patients with advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer that had progressed on placebo, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial.

New Orleans-Radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation, and brachytherapy achieve comparable rates of relapse-free survival in patients with localized prostate cancer, according to long-term follow-up data on approximately 1,800 patients treated with one of the three therapeutic modalities.