Study: Low-dose-rate BT outperforms EBRT boost
April 1st 2015An iodine-125 low-dose-rate brachytherapy boost outperformed dose-escalated external beam radiotherapy boost in achieving biochemical progression-free survival in men with unfavorable risk prostate cancer, according to results of a recent multicenter trial.
Urology groups reiterate support for USPSTF bill
April 1st 2015The major organizations representing urologists are continuing their push for congressional approval of legislation designed to reform the operations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which in May 2012 recommended against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer.
AUA, LUGPA back USPSTF reform legislation
March 9th 2015The AUA, Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUGPA), and American Association of Clinical Urologists (AACU) would like to see the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) revamp the methods it uses to develop recommendations on prostate cancer screening and other preventive care, and the three associations are now backing legislation that would do just that.
MRI may add value in monitoring men on surveillance
March 1st 2015Multiparametric MRI of the prostate with subsequent targeted biopsy shows promise for improving the identification of men on active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer who require definitive treatment, according to researchers from the Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver, BC.
Targeted prostate biopsy: Momentum grows, but questions remain
March 1st 2015Use of targeted magnetic resonance/ultrasound fusion biopsy (“targeted biopsy”) resulted in the diagnosis of significantly more high-risk prostate cancers and significantly fewer low-risk cancers compared with a standardized systematic biopsy technique, reported the authors of a new study from the National Cancer Institute.
Race a factor in prostate cancer risk reclassification
March 1st 2015African-American men with very low-risk prostate cancer being followed on active surveillance are at significantly higher risk for disease upgrading on subsequent biopsy compared to Caucasian men, according to analyses of prospectively collected data from the Johns Hopkins Active Surveillance registry.
Removal of cancer-free testicle prompts lawsuit
January 16th 2015While 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.
High-risk prostate cancer brings new challenge
January 6th 2015Advances 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.
RT/hormone combo cuts PCa mortality in older men
January 5th 2015The 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.