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Major organizations representing urology are livid at the conclusions of a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which basically accuses urology practices with in-office intensity-modulated radiation therapy facilities of ripping off Medicare.

Provision of intensity-modulated radiation therapy services performed by self-referring groups “increased rapidly” between 2006 and 2010 while the rate declined for non-self-referring groups, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

A group of scientists that includes a urologist is proposing a major update of the way the U.S. approaches diseases now classified as “cancer,” including eliminating that term from tumors considered indolent.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from Targacept, Inc., Cubist, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Apricus Biosciences, and Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp.

The rate of therapy for localized prostate cancer does not rise in markets with higher penetration of robotic surgical technology and intensity-modulated radiation therapy, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

Data from a pivotal phase III trial of the radiotherapeutic agent radium Ra 223 dichloride (Xofigo) in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2013; 369:213-23).

A greater percentage of men who had an incomplete response to as-needed phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitor treatment returned to normal erectile function when given tadalafil (Cialis) once daily, compared to placebo, researchers reported.

Some men with low-risk prostate cancer who are being managed by active surveillance can have their PSA levels measured every 6 months instead of every 3 months, researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

The data are not convincing that one form of newer technology is superior to the traditional lower-cost prostate cancer treatments they replace (eg, robotic vs. open prostatectomy and photon vs. proton radiation).

Men plan to continue getting PSA tests despite the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendation against screening, but just over one-third of men report shared decision making for screening with their physician, according to findings from two recently published studies.

A study of more than 1,800 men ages 52 to 62 years suggests that African-Americans diagnosed with very low-risk prostate cancers are much more likely than Caucasian men to actually have aggressive disease that goes unrecognized with current diagnostic approaches.