Genitourinary Cancers

Olympus has announced the FDA 510(k) clearance of Narrow Band Imaging as enabling effective targeting of biopsies not seen under white light and improved visualization of tumor margins in nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Kidney cancer patients were more likely to undergo partial nephrectomy when treated in hospitals that were early adopters of robotic surgery, according to a recent report that one leading expert calls “some of the best evidence to date of a favorable impact of surgical robots in urologic care.”

Other products discussed in this article include a prosthesis for underactive bladder, a prostate cancer test, and an erectile dysfunction drug.

Blue light cystoscopy with hexaminolevulinate HCl (HAL-BLC) should be considered for initial diagnosis of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer, an expert panel of urologists recently concluded.

Survivors of bladder, kidney, and two other forms of cancer who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day prior to their cancer diagnoses have an up to fivefold higher risk of developing a second smoking-associated cancer compared to survivors of the same cancers who never smoked.

Other products featured include a 16-slice CT scanner, new generic testosterone gel, prostate cancer risk calculator, and more.

Research on the quality of bladder biopsy and bladder cancer survival point to problems of suboptimal biopsies and incorrect tumor staging, researchers say.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from Repros Therapeutics, Bavarian Nordic, NxThera, Solace Therapeutics, Generex Biotechnology, Bioniche, OncoCyte, HistoSonics, and Pacific Edge.

Other products featured include a testosterone gel, exercise program to strengthen male pelvic muscles, and a book about prostate cancer diagnosis and management.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline form Clarus Therapeutics, Nymox Pharmaceutical, Bioniche Life Sciences, Repros Therapeutics, BioLight Life Sciences Investments/Micromedic Technologies, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Pharmaceutical, H. Lundbeck A/S, Transplant Genomics, Orion, Bayer, and Roche.

In our “Best of AUA” report, Urology Times’ editors and writers present the AUA annual meeting’s take-home messages in 15 therapeutic areas.

Philippe E. Spiess, MD, MS, presents the take home messages on penile, testis, and urethral cancer from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

Wassim Kassouf, MD, CM, presents the take home messages on bladder cancer from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

Jesse D. Sammon, DO, presents the take home messages on outcomes analysis from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

Monish Aron, MD, presents the take home messages on kidney cancer from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

K.C. Balaji, MD, presents the take home messages on basic science research from the AUA annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

New urology products and services from Symtelligence Medical Informatics, LABORIE, Metamark Genetics, the MediSafe Project, and Olympus

Two recently published Mayo Clinic studies provide genetic clues to clear cell renal cell carcinoma that may have important therapeutic implications, researchers say.

The use of robot-assisted radical nephrectomy increased by 6% over a recent 3-year period, and high-volume robotic centers for partial nephrectomy were found more likely to perform robotic radical nephrectomy despite its increased cost and similar complications to laparoscopic radical nephrectomy, according to a recent study.

None of the comparative studies of robotic radical nephrectomies (RRN) and laparoscopic radical nephrectomies (LRN) has shown benefit of RRN over LRN. Why then are so many minimally invasive RNs performed this way?

New products and services from TERUMO Medical Corp., TOLMAR Pharmaceuticals, Spry Publishing, and Beckman Coulter Diagnostics.

Continent urinary diversion and postoperative complications were found to be independent predictors of hospital readmission following radical cystectomy in an analysis from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Lumenis Ltd. has announced the U.S. launch of the Lumenis Pulse 120H Holmium laser platform for a range of urologic applications.

New products and services from Lumenis, ITelagen, Mission Pharmacal, PatientPoint, and HealthTronics IT Solutions.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from MEI Pharma, Bayer HealthCare, Merck, Pfizer, and Minomic International.