BPH study will compare TUNA, TUMT, and combination drug therapy

A new study has been launched to compare long-term benefits and risks of three treatments for BPH-transurethral needle ablation, transurethral microwave thermotherapy, and a combination drug regimen of alfuzosin (Uroxatral) and finasteride (Proscar), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases announced. The NIDDK will invest more than $15 million for the study, which is being directed by the Minimally Invasive Surgical Therapies Consortium for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (MIST).

By July 2006, researchers plan to have recruited and randomly assigned more than 700 men with moderate to severe symptoms and no prior prostate surgery to one of the three therapies. Patients will be followed closely for 3 to 5 years to determine who develops urinary retention, urinary tract infection, or unacceptable incontinence after treatment; who needs additional treatment; and whose symptoms fail to improve by at least 30% after treatment.

MIST will also compare TUNA with TUMT and hopes to identify men best suited for each of the three therapies, the NIDDK said. Changes in sexual function, ejaculation, bladder changes, PSA, prostate size and shape, and ratio of various prostate tissues; and the pain before, during, and after surgery, among other parameters, will be tracked.