Drug Therapy

Ferring Pharmaceuticals, USA has received FDA approval to market degarelix, an injectable gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist, indicated for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

In a new study that appears to refute earlier research, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found that treating prostate cancer patients with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists does not appear to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Patients receiving NX-1207, an investigational drug for BPH, experienced significant quantitative improvement in urgency and frequency of urination, according to Nymox Pharmaceuticals, the drug's manufacturer.

Overactive bladder patients treated with solifenacin succinate (VESIcare) experience significant increases in warning time before having to urinate, according to a study published in the online edition of Urology.

The FDA has accepted the new drug application for a 6-month formulation of triptorelin pamoate (Trelstar), a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, according to Watson Pharmaceuticals, the drug's manufacturer.

A European phase III double-blind placebo controlled study of PSD502, a proprietary formulation of lidocaine and prilocaine for the treatment of premature ejaculation, has met its three co-primary endpoints of intra-vaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) and index of premature ejaculation (IPE), Plethora Solutions Holdings PLC has announced.

In chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), two pivotal clinical trials "are going to have an immediate impact on the way you practice," said Anthony J. Schæffer, MD, professor and chairman of the department of urology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago.

Las Vegas-The best way to treat premature ejaculation (PE) is through a combination of sex therapy and pharmaceutical management, Michael A. Perelman, PhD, argued at the Sexual Medicine Society of North America fall meeting here.

Las Vegas-An investigational drug that acts on the central nervous system may work as a treatment for female sexual dysfunction (FSD), according to a recent study from New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. The drug, bremelanotide, is also being investigated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men.

New York-Management of metastatic, clear-cell renal cell carcinoma has been significantly advanced by the development of the oral small-molecule kinase inhibitors sunitinib malate (Sutent) and sorafenib (Nexavar), recent results from two large, international, randomized, double-blind, phase III trials indicate. Both studies appeared in the Jan. 11, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (2007; 356:115-24 and 125-34).

Patients should be advised that ED is a good possibility with any form of treatment.

GPC Biotech AG has completed its rolling submission of a new drug application to the FDA for its oral formulation of satraplatin for the treatment of patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer who have failed prior chemotherapy.

The FDA has approved new labeling for sunitinib malate (Sutent) to include first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. The labeling change is based on results of a large phase III trial that showed prolonged progression-free survival.

San Francisco-Community-acquired urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly difficult to treat in several countries due to the widespread increase in drug resistance. In Spain, isolated strains of Escherichia coli have become resistant to nearly all oral antimicrobials, reported Genoveva Yague III, MD, professor of microbiology at the University of Murcia Medical School, Murcia, Spain.

Herbal supplements and other complementary therapies are surrounded by clinical and ethical issues, some involving urologists.

San Francisco-How uropathogenic Escherichia coli spreads within families is a continuing question for both practicing urologists and researchers. It has long been known that sexual contact may spread specific strains. A new study examining members of a single family confirms that casual contact between family members and even pets can also contribute to the transmission of E. coli, leading to cystitis and possibly other urologic infections.

San Francisco-Farm animals often are implicated as the source of drug-resistant Escherichia coli and other pathogens in humans. In some cases, human outbreaks have been traced back to infected farm animals, but a recent study of such outbreaks in Iowa exonerates food herds as the source of resistant E. coli that are responsible for urinary tract infections.

San Francisco-A study at one of the largest health systems in Vancouver, British Columbia, has found that long-term care facilities have become a significant reservoir for resistance to fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The rise of resistance appears to be the result of the increased use of quinolones for empiric treatment of urinary tract infections and pneumonia in residents of these facilities.

San Francisco-One of the most frustrating problems for women with urinary tract infections is to complete apparently successful antibiotic treatment, only to have the infection reoccur.

San Francisco-Community-acquired urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly difficult to treat in several countries due to the widespread increase in drug resistance. In Spain, isolated strains of Escherichia coli have become resistant to nearly all oral antimicrobials, reported Genoveva Yague III, MD, professor of microbiology at the University of Murcia Medical School, Murcia, Spain.

Atlanta-Tissue engineering research has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade and a half, yielding findings that may someday have a profound impact on the field of pediatric urology. At the 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting here, several groups presented cutting-edge data on novel systems for organ generation, including research demonstrating the feasibility of generating a functioning bladder from stem cells.

Atlanta-The impact of environmental toxins on male sexual development has become a topic of keen interest among pediatric urologists, who have released a growing body of data suggesting environmental links to hypospadias, cryptorchidism, and other urinary tract anomalies and diseases. At the 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting, several groups presented data on the effect of in utero exposure to endocrine disrupters on the developing fetus.

Atlanta-A study funded by the National Institutes of Health and a new registry promise to provide needed information on the incidence, prevalence, and consequences of two important urologic conditions in children: vesicoureteral reflux and prenatal hydronephrosis. Both the study and the registry were highlighted at the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting here.

New York-Satraplatin, an oral platinum analog in late-stage development as second-line chemotherapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer, has shown encouraging results in phase III trials, said Oliver Sartor, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. Dr. Sartor, who reviewed phase III results of the drug at the recent Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium here, said satraplatin is one of the most promising new agents under study for hormone-refractory disease.

New York-The administration of sipuleucel-T (Provenge), an investigational immunotherapy designed to stimulate a patient's immune response, followed by docetaxel chemotherapy prolonged survival in men with asymptomatic androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC), according to a recently released study. Median survival in these men was 14 months longer than would have been predicted by a prostate cancer survival nomogram, said Daniel Petrylak, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of genitourinary oncology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.