Prostate Cancer

An 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.

The 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.

Results presented at the EAU Annual Congress bolster the Prolaris test’s efficacy in determining disease aggressiveness.

Other highly read UT articles this month include a large comparison of robotic and open RP, answers to your questions about coding for prostate biopsy, and several studies about risks for low and high T.

The 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.

New, large-scale studies on active surveillance, IMRT complications, and robotic versus open prostatectomy were among the highlights of this year’s Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

The review “represents the best available evidence for the morbidity and cost profile” of robot-assisted versus open radical prostatectomy, says one of the study’s authors.

Multiparametric 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.

Urologists with higher surgical volumes, especially in robotic procedures, are more likely to recommend immediate treatment than active surveillance in men with low-risk prostate cancer, according to a recent study.

Use 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.

GI complications add more than $3,000 to the cost of care for a Medicare beneficiary, researchers report.

The use of PSA is not straightforward. It’s not simple or easy. But the last time I checked, we physicians went to school for a long time so that we could explain complicated problems to our patients.

In this interview, Patrick H. McKenna, MD, former chairman of the AUA’s Judicial & Ethics Committee, discusses self-referral as well as the AUA expert witness program, conflicts of interest, and live surgical demonstrations.

African-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.

A recent UCLA study suggests that physicians need to improve treatment counseling for patients with prostate cancer, a leading expert says.

The benefits of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy outweigh the health care and surgical costs, a new study found.

Earlier, more aggressive radiation therapy is recommended in prostate cancer patients with detectable PSA following radical prostatectomy, say the authors of a recently published study.

The muddy waters of patient selection and timing of post-prostatectomy radiation therapy may be clearer. Find out how.

A newer androgen receptor blocker significantly increases survival versus a first-generation agent in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, data show.

A patient with an abnormal PSA level transferred to another physician's care and was never told of his result. Two and a half years later, a biopsy revealed Gleason 9 prostate cancer.

A large-scale study provides new evidence that targeted MRI ultrasound fusion prostate biopsy increases detection of high risk prostate cancers while decreasing detection of low-risk cancers. "More reliable diagnosis"

A newly published analysis “opens a huge opportunity for the discovery of new biomarkers” for multiple cancers, including aggressive prostate cancer, a leading urologic cancer expert says.

Palmetto GBA, a national contractor that administers Medicare benefits, has issued a positive coverage policy through the MolDX Program for the Decipher prostate cancer classifier, developer GenomeDx Biosciences reported.

While 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.

A novel imaging technique may prove more effective than current magnetic resonance imaging approaches for localizing prostate tumors, researchers say.