Renal cell carcinoma treated with partial nephrectomy or enucleation produce equivalent results
May 15th 2012Patients with localized renal cell carcinoma treated with either partial nephrectomy or simple tumor enucleation have equivalent results in terms of local recurrence and cancer-specific survival after an estimated 10 years' follow-up.
Planning to merge a urology practice? Tips for a smooth transition
May 15th 2012As has happened throughout the field of medicine over the past decade, a growing number of urologists are merging to create larger, more expansive urology practices. Here's how one newly merged practice stayed on track during the merger process.
Clinical Trial Watch: Overactive Bladder, BPH
May 15th 2012This list of U.S.-based National Institutes of Health trials is derived from the NIH's database and includes phase I-III overactive bladder trials and phase IV BPH trials that are currently recruiting participants. This list is current as of April 19, 2012. For more information, view the complete database at http://ClinicalTrials.gov.
Pathology, IMRT studies heat up self-referral debate for urologists
May 15th 2012Urologists have just been hit with a solid left-right combination in a new round of the fight over self-referral. Within a month, they have had to counter two separate studies questioning their use of in-house pathology and radiology services.
Interstitial cystitis research signals big changes ahead in treatment
May 15th 2012Signs of the sea change to come in the treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) will be part of the 2012 AUA annual meeting. Next year should bring even more, as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and pharma research get readied for meeting debuts.
Maturing data on targeted therapies, vaccines for advanced prostate cancer hold promise
May 15th 2012The program on advanced prostate cancer at the 2012 AUA annual meeting will include maturing data from clinical trials investigating targeted and vaccine therapies, as well as some preliminary information suggesting that folate may have a chemopreventive effect.
Titration of renal cell carcinoma treatment may be needed for optimum efficacy
May 15th 2012Dose titration of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor axitinib (Inlyta) to achieve therapeutic blood levels may be required for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma to derive optimal benefit from the drug as second-line therapy.
Treatments for urologic infections may change host environment
May 15th 2012Several abstracts from this year's AUA annual meeting suggest that, just as bacteria alter their host environment to their benefit, treatments for infection and inflammation may counter by changing the host environment to pathogens' detriment.
Amgen receives complete response letter for denosumab indication
May 9th 2012The FDA recently issued a complete response letter for Amgen Inc.'s supplemental Biologics License Application for the RANK ligand inhibitor denosumab (XGEVA) to treat men with castration-resistant prostate cancer at high risk of developing bone metastases.
Payer retires non-coverage provisions for PTNS
May 9th 2012Uroplasty, Inc., has announced that Novitas Solutions (formerly Highmark Medicare Services) informed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that it has retired the non-coverage provisions concerning posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) from its local coverage determination effective for services incurred on or after April 9, 2012.
History shows USPSTF PSA recommendation may have no impact on screening
May 9th 2012Curious about how the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recently drafted recommendation against routine PSA screening for prostate cancer at any age would affect clinical practice, investigators at the University of Chicago Medical Center and UCLA studied the effect of a 2008 task force recommendation against screening in men aged 75 years or older and found there was none.
Excess body weight linked to increased risk for PCa recurrence
May 2nd 2012Excess body weight may be associated with an increased risk for cancer recurrence in men with clinically localized prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Chicago.
College of Surgeons, CDC team up to prevent surgical site infections
May 2nd 2012A recently announced joint strategic partnership between the American College of Surgeons and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to combine expertise and resources to track, report, and prevent surgical-site infections (SSIs) and other adverse outcomes among surgical patients.
Chemo plus radiotherapy reduces risk of bladder cancer recurrence
May 2nd 2012Bladder cancer patients receiving low doses of chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy were nearly 50% less likely to relapse with muscle-invasive disease compared with patients given radiotherapy alone, a recent study found.