Prostate Cancer

Palmetto GBA, a national contractor that administers Medicare benefits, has issued a positive coverage policy through the MolDX Program for the Decipher prostate cancer classifier, developer GenomeDx Biosciences reported.

While it is often difficult to defend a case involving the removal of an organ for cancer that is then determined to be cancer free, the added claim of lack of informed consent for the procedure does not aid the defense in these lawsuits.

A novel imaging technique may prove more effective than current magnetic resonance imaging approaches for localizing prostate tumors, researchers say.

A combination vaccine and androgen ablation therapy is showing promise in some patients with prostate cancer.

An advanced prostate cancer treatment protocol incorporating testosterone shows promise for treating the disease and reversing resistance to androgen deprivation therapy.

Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer are among the great medical accomplishments of the latter part of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. Five-year survival rates for newly diagnosed loco-regional cancer advanced from 68% in 1975-’77 to 83% in 1987-’89 to nearly 100% in 2003-’09, according to the American Cancer Society. This victory, however impressive, is incomplete.

The addition of radiation treatment to hormone therapy reduces mortality in older men with locally advanced prostate cancer compared with hormone therapy alone, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

A genomic test for prostate cancer was able to predict rapid metastatic disease in node-negative, high-risk men managed by radical prostatectomy without adjuvant therapy in a recently published study.

New products and services from Samsung Electronics America, Syneron Medical, American Medical Systems, New Star, Buffalo Filter, Cook Medical, Endo International, Trimel BioPharma Metamark, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

The rate of prostate biopsy declined steadily and significantly over a contemporary 10-year period, results of a retrospective longitudinal review of data from the Veterans Health Administration show.

Our January 2015 installment in the ongoing "New Frontiers in Prostate Cancer" series focuses on the challenges presented by high-risk disease. Here are some video resources on high-risk prostate cancer.

Our January 2015 installment in the ongoing "New Frontiers in Prostate Cancer" series focuses on the challenges presented by high-risk disease. Here are some recommended articles about the diagnosis and treatment of high-risk prostate cancer.

In this interview, Arie Belldegrun, MD, discusses the benefits of cancer immunotherapy, the importance of a multidisciplinary treatment approach, and what the future holds for this treatment.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from Actavis, Genomic Health, Lipella Pharmaceuticals, Polaris Group, Innocrin Pharmaceuticals, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Heat Biologics, Repros Therapeutics, and Sophiris Bio.

With emergence of new biomarker and tests, high-profile approvals of treatments for new indication, and the ongoing controversy surrounding PSA screening, prostate cancer remained very much in the urology headlines for 2014. Here are some of the most-read Urology Times articles on the disease.

Streamlined management for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, greater autonomy for residents, and a better understanding of issues facing the VA are among changes urologists hope to see occur in 2015.

The authors of a recent study should be commended for exploring a large national database in an attempt to understand contemporary prostate cancer screening and treatment practices.

Other products discussed in this article include a prosthesis for underactive bladder, a prostate cancer test, and an erectile dysfunction drug.

Use of bisphosphonates in men on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer remains low despite the fact that the practice is recommended in several guidelines, Canadian researchers say.

Use of primary androgen deprivation therapy in men with localized prostate cancer is associated with decreased survival compared to men who receive no active treatment, according to new research findings.

The Prolaris prostate cancer test could save the health care system $6 billion over 10 years, according to data from one of several new studies examining the economic and clinical benefits of newer biomarker-based prostate cancer assays.

Robert A. Dowling, MD examines the possible impact of prostate cancer surveillance management approaches on a urology practice’s reimbursement and income.

A receptor involved with HIV therapy also appears to be linked to prostate cancer metastases, according to recent research from Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

Long-term testosterone therapy in hypogonadal men appears to be safe and does not increase the risk of prostate cancer, according to a newly published analysis of three patient registries.

A report analyzing more than 191,000 cases of prostate cancer has found that being overweight or obese increases men’s risk for advanced prostate cancer.

Results from the U.S. validation study of a test that combines plasma levels of four prostate-specific kallikreins with clinical data demonstrated it accurately predicts high-grade prostate cancer and is superior to a validated clinical variable-based risk calculator.

Dendreon Corp., the maker of sipuleucel-T (Provenge), said it expects no impact on access to the prostate cancer immunotherapy following the company’s Chapter 11 filing last week.

This video demonstrates a wide-excision prostatectomy for patients with locally advanced, high-risk prostate cancer.

These videos depict a classic tennis racquet bladder neck reconstruction and mucosal eversion as popularized by Patrick Walsh, MD, for open prostatectomy, but used by relatively few surgeons for robotic prostatectomy.

The AUA has refuted findings from a recent study that reported a modest association between vasectomy and lethal prostate cancer.