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The Prostate Health Index (phi), a noninvasive blood test its developer says is three times more specific in detecting prostate cancer than PSA, is now available nationwide.

Analyses of serial magnetic resonance imaging and three-dimensional renderings of those images provide proof of principle for using convective thermal heating to ablate prostate tissue, and early evidence suggests the efficacy and potential clinical advantages of using this novel technology to treat BPH, said first author Lance A. Mynderse, MD, at the European Association of Urology annual congress in Stockholm, Sweden.

Sling surgery, robotic approaches to sacrocolpopexy and pelvic organ prolapse, and mesh are among the key studies in the area of female urology to watch for at the 2014 AUA annual meeting.

Intralesional injection of collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH [XIAFLEX]) improves the physical and psychological aspects of Peyronie’s disease in men regardless of erectile dysfunction severity and whether they have a history of prior treatment or prostatectomy, according to a recent study.

Focal therapy has been promoted as a minimally morbid option for men with localized low-risk prostate cancer who nevertheless want their disease treated. Opponents of focal therapy note the heterogeneity and multifocal nature of prostate cancer, the difficulty of accurately targeting and destroying an index tumor with focal therapy, and the unknown biologic potential of the tumor.

Researchers have come up with a potential blood-based biomarker that can identify men with castration-resistant prostate cancer who are not likely to respond to enzalutamide (XTANDI).

Preliminary studies suggest that inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1, 2, 3, and 4 may be a promising approach for the treatment of bladder cancers and other cancers that harbor FGFR alterations.

A new study has found that for men 65 years of age and older, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and open prostatectomy have similar rates of complications, providing further evidence that outcomes between the two procedures are not significantly different.

Is inflammation a potential target for the treatment of BPH? New research being presented at the 2014 AUA annual meeting may help answer this question.

So with ICD-10 implementation pushed to Oct. 1, 2015, what happens now? In this article, we will discuss what we think you should do next.

The OIG recently released its work plan for 2014, and it is worth noting what is new and what is ongoing in the scope of the office’s intended activities for the coming year and beyond.

New research about staged buccal mucosa graft urethroplasty and a study examining urethrotomy with mitomycin C for recurrent bladder neck contractures are among the key research in trauma/reconstruction being presented at the 2014 AUA annual meeting.

Research in stone disease and minimally invasive surgery will also make its mark at the Society for Pediatric Urology annual meeting, which runs concurrently with the first 3 days of the AUA meeting.

While there are many non-financial issues to consider when going through a divorce, financial implications must also be examined, especially in the event of a second marriage.

Our traditional thinking about sex steroids is being challenged.

The safety of testosterone replacement therapy has been the subject of two recently published studies, which were followed by a January 2014 FDA announcement that the agency is investigating the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death in men taking TRT. Additional data on the safety of TRT, including its use in men following radical prostatectomy, will be presented at the AUA meeting, said John J. Mulcahy, MD, PhD.

In discussing research at the 2014 AUA annual meeting, Anthony J. Schaeffer, MD, called attention to an important paper concerning urinary tract infection in children, as well as another study showing that antimicrobial prophylaxis after surgery is subject to considerable variation.

At the 2014 AUA annual meeting, look for the AUA to focus on many of its 2014 legislative priorities.

The latest SGR patch includes a provision that instructs Medicare officials to review the value of some procedures and sets a target for reductions of misvalued codes, which has drawn the criticism of organized urology.

At the 2012 AUA annual meeting, researchers reported that ureteroscopy had overtaken extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) as the treatment of choice for kidney stones. Look for research at the 2014 meeting showing that trend is ongoing.

Urologists continue to push the limits of minimally invasive surgery, and key papers presented at the AUA meeting will explore the functional and cancer control outcomes associated with minimally invasive and robotic procedures in prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma. When to use such approaches remains a source of controversy.

Research in advanced prostate cancer is largely focused on newer agents for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, including abiraterone acetate (ZYTIGA), enzalutamide (XTANDI), radium Ra 223 dichloride (Xofigo), and the immunotherapy sipuleucel-T (Provenge).

A number of studies at the 2014 AUA annual meeting will indicate that male infertility is a harbinger of other diseases, specifically suggesting “linkage to all-cause mortality, psychiatric disorders, morbidity, and offspring birth defect risk,” said James M. Hotaling, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the division of urology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

The most informative presentations on interstitial cystitis/bladder syndrome at the 2014 AUA annual meeting will be a plenary talk by J. Quentin Clemens, MD, updating attendees on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ Multidisciplinary Approach to Pelvic Pain project and an abstract providing long-term follow-up on the use of cyclosporine A in patients with refractory IC, according to Philip M. Hanno, MD, MPH.

Real estate purchases can be made on an individual basis or in a diversified form through partnerships or real estate investment trusts.

In this article, Deepak A. Kapoor, MD, provides an overview of existing benchmarks used in determining physician compensation and basic tools that can assist in the negotiating process.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from Astellas Pharma, Medivation, Repros Therapeutics, Metamark Genetics, Argos Therapeutics, S1 Biopharma, Ipsen, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Antigen Express, Generex Biotechnology, Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, and Absorption Pharmaceuticals.

New products and services from Accuray, Cook Medical, OPKO Health, Intuitive Surgical, Skipta, Mauna Kea Technologies, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.