Prostate Cancer

Other pipeline developments include an agent to control pain in IC/BPS patients, an antibody to treat prostate and bladder cancer, an injectable OAB treatment, and more.

In this interview, Leonard G. Gomella, MD, provides an update on prostate cancer genetics, discusses the recent Prostate Cancer International Consensus Conference, and outlines why urologists should conduct more extensive family histories of their prostate cancer patients.

Despite technological advances in treatment for localized prostate cancer, men continue to experience clinically meaningful side effects that affect quality of life, according to an examination of data from a prospective population-based cohort study.

Metformin may act synergistically with androgen deprivation therapy to improve outcomes for men with advanced prostate cancer, according to findings of an observational study presented at the AUA annual meeting in Boston.

Taller men and those with greater adiposity are at increased risk of having high-grade prostate cancer and of dying from their malignancy, according to recently published research.

The study of men with prostate cancer also found that the majority of the men with a germline cancer predisposition gene mutation did not meet existing criteria for clinical genetic testing.

Other products discussed include cancer tests, an app to connect patients with specialists, a revenue management system, and more

Transrectal saturation biopsy resulted in higher rates of disease reclassification compared with magnetic resonance (MR) fusion biopsy plus extended sextant prostate biopsy in patients with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance.

Patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer show race-related differences in what men perceive as important factors in their treatment decision-making process.

Findings from the ProtecT trial, the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, and PIVOT were among the other noteworthy studies in prostate cancer presented at the AUA annual meeting.

Other pipeline developments include a new company formed to develop OAB treatments, a phase III urothelial cancer study meeting its primary endpoint, the formation of a partnership to study RCC treatment, and more.

Findings from a recent study also suggest that obesity may be a factor to consider for men with prostate cancer deciding between active surveillance and definitive treatment.

Men who experience a prostate biopsy-related complication are more likely to seek active treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer than those who do not experience a complication, according to findings from a review of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare linked database.

Results of a retrospective case-cohort study show no significant differences in surgical outcomes among men who did and did not have preoperative magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate prior to radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.

Continuing its participation in the Choosing Wisely campaign, the AUA has added five new recommendations about tests and treatments that physicians and patients should question.

“We strongly believe that PSA-based prostate cancer screening should be made available, especially to men 70 years and older to decrease the morbidity and mortality of prostate cancer,” write Navin Shah, MD, and Vladimir Ioffe, MD.

“Abiraterone should change the treatment paradigm for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer and largely displaces chemotherapy from the current paradigm,” said Sumanta Kumar Pal, MD.

Administering bone supportive therapy within 1 month prior to starting radium Ra 223 dichloride (Xofigo) may increase the likelihood of achieving pain palliation with the radionuclide therapy and reduce the chance of pain flare, according to the findings of a retrospective study.

Among the guideline’s recommendations is that active surveillance should serve as the preferred method of care for low-risk localized prostate cancer.

Diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging strategies for the diagnosis of prostate cancer should be considered prior to biopsy of suspicious lesions, according to a recent study.

Although theory and preliminary clinical data indicated that intraoperative regional hypothermia could improve the return to potency and continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, the intervention did not have any significant benefits when put to the more rigorous test of a randomized controlled trial.

"For low-grade disease, it’s certainly worth a try because nothing is really lost. For high-grade disease, I don’t know that it’s appropriate-we don’t have the data," says one urologist.

"The nurse practitioner, nurse, and other ancillary providers who make up the urology team are an essential and valuable asset in the consideration of adding oral androgen receptor inhibitors into the office setting," writes Gwendolyn Hooper, PhD, APRN.

More than 96% of urologists surveyed said that incorporating abiraterone acetate (ZYTIGA) treatment into practice for patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer is easy or manageable after overcoming initial barriers, according to new research presented at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, FL.

While close to 90% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1998 and 2012 had stage 1 and stage 2 disease, more than 90% underwent surgery or radiation to treat the cancer, according to a study presented at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, FL.

“From our results, the Decipher test helps reassure low-risk patients that observation may be warranted or confirm that high-risk patients need additional treatment,” says study author John L. Gore, MD, MSHS.

"As a urologic community, we should promote the use of AS for favorable-risk disease to reduce the downstream harms of screening while preserving the benefits of early detection for life-threatening cases," writes Stacy Loeb, MD, MSc.

“We believe that aggressive loco-regional resection may be worth considering in well-selected patients as a part of a multimodal approach in the management of men with node-positive prostate cancer,” says study author Bimal Bhindi, MD.