Diabetes, prostate cancer link: Surprising, or not?
April 17th 2013Men with abnormal findings on digital rectal exam or other indicators of prostate cancer should be tested, but the evidence is insufficient to justify preferentially screening diabetic men because they may be at a higher risk of developing clinically significant prostate cancer.
Support, momentum build for SGR repeal
April 17th 2013The possibility of Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula being repealed continues to strengthen in Washington following release in February of a new report by the Congressional Budget Office that cut the estimated cost that would be incurred by nearly 50%.
Push for self-referral restrictions not going away
April 15th 2013A coalition that includes the American College of Radiology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology is praising a segment of President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2014 budget recommending the exclusion of radiation therapy, advanced imaging, and therapy services from the Stark law’s in-office ancillary services (IOAS) exception.
Laparoscopic pyeloplasty found safe, efficacious in infants
April 15th 2013Ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction in young children can be successfully repaired with transperitoneal laparoscopic pyeloplasty, say researchers from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Partial nephrectomy shows increased survival benefit
April 15th 2013A recently published population-based study reinforces prior evidence from retrospective studies of the increased survival benefit of partial nephrectomy over radical nephrectomy, and suggests a cancer-specific survival benefit for nephron-sparing approaches as well.
Metastatic renal cell carcinoma agent nearly doubles survival
April 15th 2013A personalized immunotherapy (AGS-003) nearly doubled expected progression-free survival and overall survival when added to standard sunitinib (Sutent) in patients with unfavorable-risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to results from a single-arm phase II study.
Immediate prosthesis insertion key for treating ischemic priapism
April 11th 2013Immediate insertion of a penile prosthesis as a treatment for acute refractory ischemic priapism resolves the acute episode of ischemic penile pain and treats the inevitable erectile dysfunction, according to a recent study.
5-ARI does not affect prostate cancer mortality
April 2nd 2013Eighteen years of follow-up of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) suggests that 7 years of treatment with the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor finasteride (Proscar) for prostate cancer prevention does not appear to affect mortality but does reduce the risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Advanced prostate cancer agent efficacious regardless of age
April 2nd 2013Older men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) derive a similar if not superior survival benefit from treatment with enzalutamide (Xtandi) as do younger men, according to a post-hoc analysis of the phase III AFFIRM trial.
GnRH antagonist linked to lower CV event, death risk
April 1st 2013The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist degarelix (Firmagon) may be associated with lower risk of a cardiovascular event or death compared to commonly prescribed luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, data presented at the European Association of Urology annual congress in Milan, Italy indicate.
Microhematuria findings contribute to evidence base
April 1st 2013This letter is in response to an editorial by J. Brantley Thrasher, MD (“In support of AUA guidelines,” February 2013, page 7). The editorial concerned the article, “Microhematuria a poor predictor of urinary tract cancer” (February 2013, page 8).
Baldness raises PCa risk in African-Americans
March 26th 2013Baldness was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer among African-American men, and risk for advanced prostate cancer increased with younger age and type of baldness, reported researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.