Drug Therapy

Attendees at the AUA annual meeting will hear about a number ofexciting developments relating to the treatment of male sexualdysfunction and will learn about important epidemiologic researchthat could have significant implications for clinical management,according to Gregory A. Broderick, MD, professor of urology, MayoClinic, Jacksonville, FL.

At the upcoming AUA annual meeting, urologists will see newconcepts emerging from research in both urinary tract infection andprostatitis, but those will take some time to produce newtherapies, cautioned Anthony J. Schaeffer, MD.

Today, interstitial cystitis is being viewed more as a painsyndrome than as a bladder disease, and that new view is drivingmuch of the research that urologists will hear about at this year'sAUA annual meeting and beyond. It should also inform their approachto treatment until the cause and cure are discovered, according toPhilip M. Hanno, MD.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., has been granted FDA approvalfor a generic formulation of mitoxantrone hydrochloride injection,2 mg/mL.

Urologix, Inc., has received FDA approval to market its CoolWavecontrol unit for use with its catheter-based treatments that usemicrowave technology to treat BPH.

San Francisco-Women with prediabetes who lose a modest amountof weight through attention to diet and increased physical activityhave a reduced likelihood of suffering from urinary incontinence,according to recently published results from The DiabetesPrevention Program (DPP). An intensive lifestyle intervention wasshown to reduce the prevalence of stress, but not urge,incontinence.

Clearwater Beach, FL-Physicians who are faced with anincontinent, wet child should always ask that child if he or she isconstipated, specialists suggest.

Vancouver, British Columbia-A combination of intermittentandrogen ablation and finasteride (Proscar) appears to slow tumorgrowth and improve survival time compared with continuous androgenablation (CAA) and intermittent androgen ablation (IAA) strategies,according to findings of an animal study conducted at NorthwesternUniversity, Chicago. Researchers found that mice treated with IAAplus finasteride were three to five times more likely to survivefor 70 days from start of treatment than were those in the othertreatment groups.

San Francisco-A prospective analysis of more than 4,600 menindicates that the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) gene appearsto play a role in prostate cancer development and carcinogenesis,according to a recently published study (J Natl Cancer Inst 2006;98:123-34).

Bethesda, MD-In the largest randomized clinical trial ofcalcium and vitamin D in postmenopausal women, researchers havefound that women taking calcium with vitamin D supplementation had17% more kidney stones than did women on placebo.

Pfizer, Inc. has entered into an agreement with Schwarz Pharma AGunder which Pfizer will acquire worldwide rights to fesoterodine, anew drug candidate for the treatment of overactive bladder.

Quinolones have surpassed sulfas as the most common class of antibiotics prescribed for isolated outpatient UTI in women, and this growth raises concerns about increases in resisitance, suggest the authors of an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2006; 166:635-9).

Valera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has completed its acquisition of the new drug application and other assets associated with valrubicin (Valstar), an FDA-approved drug indicated for treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the bladder.

A drug typically used to treat osteoporosis has a potential clinical benefit in treating men with prostate cancer, according to researchers at the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

Yonkers, NY--The Prostate Px test from Aureon Laboratories applies a proprietary integrated algorithm to patient histologic, molecular, and clinical data to predict the likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Using stored patient tissue, the program generates a risk report within 1 week of testing. The report provides a score for both the probability of PSA recurrence and clinical failure.

Beaver Creek, CO--Driven by demand from U.S. consumers, business is booming for companies that produce dietary and herbal supplements, as well as health foods. Many patients, including those with prostate cancer, take a dizzying array of supplements and alternative therapies. Those who have not yet jumped on the supplement bandwagon frequently ask physicians which supplements they should take or which foods they should eat to ward off or treat prostate cancer.

Beaver Creek, CO--An in-depth pathologic review of specimens collected from participants in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) revealed that the reported increase in high-grade prostate cancer was most likely due to increased early detection of high-grade tumors in men receiving finasteride (Proscar), and that finasteride did not appear to potentiate the growth of high-grade prostate cancer. These findings were reported at the 16th annual International Prostate Cancer Update here by Scott Lucia, MD, associate professor of pathology, University of Colorado and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver.

Beaver Creek, CO--For patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, the new standard of care is docetaxel (Taxotere)-based chemotherapy. The landmark TAX 327 study demonstrated an improvement in median survival and pain relief in patients with advanced, hormone-refractory disease who received this treatment regimen (N Engl J Med 2004; 351:1502-20). The challenge now is to look for new drug combinations that can provide additional benefits.

Beaver Creek, CO--Urologists should not abandon combined androgen blockade as first-line therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, an expert in the disease told colleagues at the International Prostate Cancer Update here.

Beaver Creek, CO--Intermittent androgen suppression (IAS) is reported to be beneficial in select men with advanced prostate cancer, although definitive data are not yet available.

San Francisco--A pair of international phase III trials have shown that taxane-based chemotherapy can lead to increased survival in men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer. While the study results effectively made docetaxel (Taxotere) the current standard of care for androgen-independent disease, many questions about when to administer it remain, said Cora Sternberg, MD, chair of the department of medical oncology at the San Camillo and Forlanini Hospitals in Rome, Italy.

Beaver Creek, CO--A common type of medication taken for lowering cholesterol is also showing promise in the fight against prostate cancer.

The White House is expected to nominate the acting commissioner of the FDA, urologist Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, to formally head the agency, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Intermittent tamsulosin (Flomax) treatment appears to be well tolerated and provides comparable improvements for abnormal ejaculation, according to a study by Turkish researchers.

Preliminary results of a small study show that high-dose statin therapy may help improve erectile dysfunction in men who had shown minimal reaction to sildenafil citrate (Viagra).

Washington--Outpatient urinary isolates of Escherichia coli that exhibit resistance to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic are likely to be resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics, results of a large North American laboratory study suggest.

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Washington--Outpatient urinary isolates of Escherichia coli that exhibit resistance to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic are likely to be resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics, results of a large North American laboratory study suggest.

Washington--Increasing rates of fluoroquinolone-resistant urinary isolates of Escherichia coli have occurred against a backdrop of genetic variability, as no predominant variant has emerged as the principal culprit in resistance, according to a study of medical centers across the United States and Canada.