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Brisbane, Australia-Intravesical instillation of certain drugs has proven to be safe in reducing stent-related symptoms in patients undergoing ureteroscopy, and drug-eluting stents could eventually become a new treatment paradigm for other urologic disorders, such as bladder cancer and interstitial cystitis, said John Denstedt, MD, professor of urology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON. Dr. Denstedt discussed current research in stent technology and prospects for the future in a presentation at the Urological Society of Australasia annual meeting here.

Brisbane, Australia-Patients with neurogenic bladder overactivity treated with botulinum toxin A (Botox) have shown improvements in incontinence of up to 50% compared with placebo, but questions about the agent need to be addressed in further prospective, randomized trials before botulinum toxin can be accepted as an established treatment for voiding dysfunction, said Jeffrey Thavaseelan, MD, head of urology at the Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia.

Paris-Significant statistical correlations are seen between body mass index (BMI) and BPH symptoms, according to Claus G. Roehrborn, MD, who led a global 4-year treatment study evaluating the relationships of BMI and both measures of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)/BPH severity and metabolic syndrome. Results of the study were presented at the European Association of Urology annual congress here.

Atlanta-Epidemiologic studies have a tendency to raise as many questions as they answer. A large study emanating from the Watertown, MA-based New England Research Institutes (NERI), an independent research organization, is an example.

Paris-Microwave thermotherapy is a safe, noninvasive treatment modality that challenges transurethral resection of the prostate as a first-line choice of treatment in patients with BPH, Scandinavian researchers said here at the European Association of Urology annual congress.

Paris-Trial without catheter (TWOC) after a median of 3 days' catheterization has become standard practice in France for patients with acute urinary retention associated with BPH, according to results of a prospective, cross-sectional survey assessing current AUR practice patterns. In addition, TWOC was significantly more successful in patients who received treatment with an alpha-blocker prior to a TWOC than it was in patients who did not receive an alpha-blocker, according to Francois Desgrandchamps, MD, who presented the study results at the European Association of Urology annual congress here.

Atlanta-Young men with PSA velocities greater than 0.5 ng/mL/year are at significantly greater risk for prostate cancer, researchers report in a new study. This suggests that the traditional recommendation of a threshold of 0.75 ng/mL/year to distinguish prostate cancer from benign conditions would miss a substantial proportion of prostate cancers among men younger than 60 years of age.

Atlanta-Cryoablation is a feasible treatment option for patients who have failed radiotherapy, especially for those who may not be considered suitable candidates for salvage radical prostatectomy, according to a new study from Canada.

Atlanta-Autologous adipose stem cells lend themselves well to the engineering of bladder smooth muscle and may eventually make the use of gastrointestinal tissue for this purpose obsolete, say researchers from UCLA.

Maywood, IL-The addition of a standard four-stitch Burch suspension to the standard sacrocolpopexy surgical procedure in continent women with pelvic organ prolapse produces dramatic reductions in postoperative stress incontinence, according to a large multicenter study directed by physicians at the Loyola University Medical Center. Results of the trial comparing sacrocolpopexy with and without the Burch suspension were sufficiently dramatic to cause the trial directors to stop enrollment at the first interim analysis.

Atlanta-Men who are being treated with androgen deprivation therapy for progressive prostate cancer face a second, less-recognized risk: osteoporosis and bone fracture. An initial report from a 2-year trial shows that weekly treatment with the oral bisphosphonate alendronate (Fosamax) can halt and even reverse the bone loss associated with androgen deprivation therapy.

Atlanta-Stimulation of the pudendal nerve may be an alternative to sacral neurostimulation (SNS) in the treatment of urinary voiding dysfunction. Two recent studies at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, indicate that pudendal neurostimulation (PNS) significantly improves cystometric parameters and is effective in patients who do not respond to sacral nerve stimulation.

Paris-A combination regimen of tadalafil (Cialis) and slow-release fluoxetine (Prozac) can significantly prolong intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) in patients suffering from premature ejaculation (PE), according to Brazilian researchers.

Atlanta-The first gene therapy treatment for erectile dysfunction could be available as early as 2011.

Atlanta-Results of an analysis based on approximately 52,000 patient-years of observation demonstrate that the incidence of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) among men receiving sildenafil citrate (Viagra) is no higher than that occurring among men in the general population, Rachel E. Sobel, MPH, reported at the AUA annual meeting here.

Atlanta-The population of patients being treated with a penile prosthesis for erectile dysfunction is evolving, with the average patient now being older and having more medical comorbidities compared with less than 20 years ago, according to the results of a nationwide epidemiologic study reported at the annual AUA meeting here.

Paris-Most patients with asymptomatic lower pole calyceal stones can be followed safely without treatment, with a small minority of them requiring surgical intervention in the long-term, according to Turkish researchers who presented the results of a prospective study at the 2006 European Association of Urology annual congress here in Paris.

Paris-Administration of corticosteroid therapy does not significantly increase the expulsion rate of distal ureteral stones. However, the synergistic effect of steroid therapy with concomitant administration of the alpha-blocker tamsulosin (Flomax) increases the effectiveness of tamsulosin, Italian researchers reported at the recent European Association of Urology annual congress here.

Atlanta-When life gives you lemons-or in this case, hypocitraturic nephrolithiasis-make lemonade.

How can neuromodulation be so efficacious? The answer lies in its mechanism of action.

Five states failed the first-ever prostate cancer state-by-statereport card issued by the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, and Wisconsin did not makethe grade while California, Connecticut, Kansas, and New York allearned As.

Spectrum Laboratory Products, Inc., is initiating a voluntarynationwide recall of the active pharmaceutical ingredienttacrolimus after learning some lots are sub-potent.

One-fourth of hospitalized older patients are given medicallyunnecessary urinary catheters, according to a study conducted attwo Ohio hospitals.

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Memorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter, New York, have developed a nomogram capable of predictingthe probability of prostate cancer recurrence within 10 years of apatient's surgical treatment.

The investigational drug NX-1207 has shown significant symptomaticimprovement in men with BPH 29 to 34 months after initial treatmentin a long-term, open-label, phase I/II study.

Men age 75 years and older may not benefit from prostate cancerscreening because they are at risk of adverse outcomes fromaggressive treatment of localized disease, according to a studypublished in the American Journal of Medicine (2006;119:418-25).

The urology community is mourning the death of Joseph W. Segura,MD, who died Tuesday, May 23 after a battle with mesothelioma.

Robert C. Flanigan, MD, was named the new secretary of AUA duringthe association's business meeting yesterday. He is professor andchair of urology at the Loyola University Health System, Maywood,IL.