Men's Health

Michael C. Gong, MD, PhD, presents the take home messages on prostate cancer from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL, including new findings about enzalutamide (XTANDI).

I consider urology to be a very unique field, one that I am lucky to be part of. Recently, though, I have begun to wonder whether the medical community (not necessarily the urology community) has been too quick to embrace the widespread use of testosterone replacement therapy.

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A recent large study has found no increased risk of heart attack in men undergoing testosterone replacement therapy.

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy may be associated with improved surgical margin status compared to open radical prostatectomy for men with intermediate-risk and high-risk prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

Men with prostate cancer who are treated with external beam radiation therapy are at an increased risk for cancer of the bladder and rectum 10 years or more after their prostate cancer diagnosis, according to an analysis using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program.

The majority of urologists and radiation oncologists feel active surveillance is an effective and underused modality for managing low-risk prostate cancer; however, few of these specialists would recommend this strategy to patients, according to recent survey results.

Salvage extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) may be highly beneficial for selected prostate cancer patients with biochemical recurrence and clinically recurrent nodal disease, say German researchers.

Shared decision making occurs in only one-third of men who have made a decision about prostate cancer screening, according to findings from a new study that one leading prostate cancer expert said were not at all surprising.

Testosterone replacement therapy is in the news again, for reasons both good and bad.

Results of a validation study confirm that cell cycle progression score provided by a commercially available genomic test (Prolaris) is a strong and independent outcome predictor in men with conservatively managed, clinically localized prostate cancer.

Two years ago in May, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer, asserting that “many men are harmed as a result of prostate cancer screening and few, if any, benefit.”

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Inappropriate use of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist for androgen deprivation therapy of localized prostate cancer fell dramatically following implementation of reimbursement cuts mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, but overuse remains problematic, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

The FDA has approved a new testosterone gel formulation, marking the agency’s second approval of a testosterone replacement therapy in the course of a week.

The FDA has approved a nasal gel for men with hypogonadism and has granted clearance to a treatment for urinary incontinence in men. Separately, two drug makers are approaching the agency about regulatory approval for an over-the-counter version of a phosphodiesterase-type-5 inhibitor.

Results from the phase III PREVAIL trial of the oral androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide (XTANDI) have been published online in the New England Journal of Medicine (June 1, 2014).

A new study showing a survival benefit of more than 1 year with a chemotherapy-hormonal therapy combination given prior to castration resistance is being hailed by the study’s first author as a “new standard” of treatment for certain men with metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Dr. Henry Rosevear’s blog post about my recently published book, “The Great Prostate Hoax: How big medicine hijacked the PSA test and caused a public health disaster,” does a disservice to the readership of the Urology Times by mischaracterizing the book’s central message.

Drugs in the pipeline from Astellas Pharma, Medivation, TesoRx, Strategic Science and Technologies, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and SCA.

Most urologists turn to alpha-blockers as first-line treatment for BPH-related lower urinary tract symptoms, while transurethral resection of the prostate remains the most commonly used surgical modality, according to a recent survey.

The recently concluded AUA annual meeting in Orlando may not go down as one of the most memorable annual meetings in recent years. Nevertheless, it was noteworthy for some interesting news and lively debate on hot-button topics: the safety of certain urologic products, namely, testosterone and transvaginal mesh; new tests for prostate cancer; infection prevention and treatment; and use of an advanced prostate cancer agent in the pre-chemotherapy setting.

Testosterone replacement therapy may be considered for treatment of hypogonadism in carefully selected men who have undergone radical prostatectomy for low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to researchers from New York University Medical Center, New York.

A new nomogram may help better predict the risk of disease progression in men who are being managed by active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer.

It is hard to imagine a world without dogs. Since the beginning of civilization, from hunting to herding, dogs have literally been man's best friend. Now, canines are being enlisted to help with a major health problem of the modern age: prostate cancer detection.