PDE-5 inhibitor improves ED in men with dyslipidemia
December 20th 2007Vardenafil (Levitra) significantly improves the ability of men with erectile dysfunction and dyslipidemia to achieve and maintain an erection for successful sexual intercourse, according to a study presented at the Sexual Medicine Society of North America winter scientific meeting in Chicago.
Researchers finds gene linked to aggressive prostate cancer
December 20th 2007Results from two genome-wide association studies have identified a genetic variant of the DAB2IP gene that is associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Research teams from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore made the discovery jointly.
HIFU appears to offer cancer control in localized PCa patients
December 20th 2007Transrectal high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) appears to offer long-term cancer control in patients with low- or intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer, according to a multicenter study published in the Nov. 5, 2007, online edition of European Urology.
Tumor cell measurement aids metastatic prostate Ca monitoring
December 20th 2007Immunicon Corp. has filed a request for FDA clearance of a product designed to aid in monitoring patients with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer. According to the company, the CellSearch Circulating Tumor Cell Kit has successfully met its primary endpoint, demonstrating that circulating tumor cell levels 3 to 5 weeks after the initiation of chemotherapy predict overall survival.
Cellular pathway may boost prostate cancer cell growth
December 6th 2007University of California, Davis researchers have identified a microRNA that helps jump-start prostate cancer cell growth midway through the disease process, eventually causing it to become fatal. The discovery is an important link to finding new treatments targeting this cellular function and reducing cancer deaths among American men, researchers say.
'Mismatched' prostate cancer treatment is more common than expected
December 6th 2007More than one-third of men with early prostate cancer who participated in a study analyzing treatment choice received therapies that might not be appropriate, based on pre-existing problems with urinary, bowel, or sexual function. The prevalence of these treatment "mismatches" could reflect patient unwillingness to discuss such problems with their physicians, according to the authors of the study, which will appear in the Jan. 1, 2008, issue of Cancer.
Obesity-linked high blood volumes render PSA test less effective
December 6th 2007The extra blood volume produced in obese patients may so dilute levels of PSA that the PSA test may be significantly less effective for diagnosing prostate cancer in men carrying extra pounds, suggests a recent study in JAMA (2007; 298:2275-80).
Urologists: Perception is reality in side effect reports
December 1st 2007Urology Times randomly contacted urologists across the United States about how they respond to their patients' complaints and concerns about side effects from urologic medications, as well as the types of problems those side effects may create for the physician and the patient.
AUR may foreshadow increased morbidity, mortality
December 1st 2007Clinicians confronting acute urinary retention (AUR) would do well to not only resolve the retention, but to also look for and treat comorbid disease, which amplifies the risk of death in a disease state already associated with a high incidence of mortality.
Urologists bemoan 1-2 punch: Falling pay, rising overhead
December 1st 2007They are signs of the times for today's practicing urologist: declining reimbursement, increasing overhead, an increasingly stringent regulatory environment, and rising malpractice premiums. Urologists ranked these issues as their most pressing concerns in the 2007 State of the Specialty survey, an exclusive study developed by the editors of Urology Times and Contemporary Urology.