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The popular herbal therapy saw palmetto appears to be no more effective than placebo for relieving symptoms of BPH, according to a year-long, double-blind study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine (2006; 354:557-66).

The American Medical Association has awarded the Dr. Nathan Davis International Award in Medicine to Catherine deVries, MD, founder and president of International Volunteers in Urology (IVU), a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing medical education and treatment in developing countries.

Glenn M. Preminger, MD, has been named the new AUA chairman of education, replacing David L. McCullough, MD. Dr. Preminger?s 4-year term will commence on July 1, 2006.

Contrary to popular thinking, consuming food or dietary supplements such as fish oil that contain omega-3 fatty acids provides no protection against developing cancer, according to a study examining 4 decades of medical literature (JAMA 2006; 295:403-15).

Spice, certain vegetables may retard growth of prostate cancer

The FDA has approved sunitinib (Sutent), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Montreal--Idiopathic, primary nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) is linked to a genetic defect known as a dysfunctional DNA mismatch repair pathway that also places these men at increased risk for cancer and other medical illnesses. Given that the problem is genetic in origin, the consequences of this defect may be of significance for both patients and their offspring, researchers say. Both concerns require close monitoring by physicians.

Washington--In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that as many as 98,000 Americans were being killed each year by medical mistakes and made recommendations it said could slash that rate in half within 5 years.

I will leave the reimbursement issues to the expert, Ray Painter, MD, but I would like to focus on overhead and practice efficiency.

Montreal--The level of inhibin B may be a better marker of male infertility than both the typically used follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), according to new research. These findings have yet to be confirmed in a large, prospective trial, however.

New York--Routine ultrasound assessment of the flaccid penis in patients with Peyronie's disease gives otherwise unobtainable clinical evidence that is useful in treatment, according to results of a large study from the University of California, San Francisco.

New York--A multifaceted rehabilitation program designed to improve erectile performance and penile length in men undergoing radical prostatectomy was successful in nearly three-fourths of cases, according to researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

New York--Avanafil, an investigational, fast-acting phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitor, has been successful in its first large-scale trial, Joel M. Kaufman, MD, reported at the Sexual Medical Society of North America annual meeting here.

New York--When a teenager complains of erectile dysfunction, do not assume that the problem is psychogenic, advises John P. Mulhall, MD.

Washington--For children with ambiguous genitalia at birth, surgical techniques have improved vastly, but deciding when and whether to do surgery hasn't gotten easier. That was apparent from the lively and sometimes contentious panel and audience discussion here at the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting.

Washington--Long-term experience with bladder augmentation in children is now giving pediatric urologists and parents a true picture of the risks and benefits of different bowel segments. No single segment was the obvious winner in two experimental studies presented here at the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting, but the maintenance and surveillance required has become clearer. Other than technical considerations, metabolic, rather than urodynamic considerations, may prove more important in deciding which segment to use.

Washington--The most common anomaly detected on prenatal ultrasound is hydronephrosis. Up to 38% of those patients will have vesicoureteral reflux in early life. What to do about it, however, isn't always clear.

I predict that we will find that MR urography will rapidly develop and eventually come to be the imaging technique of choice in adult and pediatric urology.

Montreal--Spermatogenesis markers that can be easily obtained from a noninvasive testis biopsy may predict which patients will respond to surgical varicocele repair. Testis biopsy, therefore, should be part of the regular workup for male infertility patients, suggest the authors of the 2005 Society for Male Reproduction and Urology Prize paper presented here at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting.

Washington--When hydronephrosis is diagnosed antenatally in an infant, is pyeloplasty needed? More often than not, the indication is not clear.

In 2003, more than 48,000 babies were born in the United States as a result of assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This marks an increase from 45,751 babies in 2002.

Obesity may make it more difficult to detect prostate cancer, leading to delayed diagnosis and putting some men at greater risk of death, according to a multicenter study.

In the latest study examining the controversy over prostate cancer screening, researchers have concluded that screening does not appear to reduce men's risk of dying.

Laserscope, San Jose, CA, has announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a technical revision to the 2006 Medicare physician few schedule.

Contrary to previous reports, statins do not appear to reduce the incidence of cancer or cancer deaths, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies (JAMA 2006; 295:74-80). The finding held true for a range of cancers, including prostate cancer.

Trimedyne, Inc., Irvine, CA, has received FDA approval to market its VaporMAX Fiber for use with its Holmium lasers to treat BPH.

Louis R. Kavoussi, MD, has been appointed chairman of the newly combined department of urology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY.

The NMP22 test (BladderChek, Matritech, Newton, MA) significantly increased the detection of recurrent bladder cancer, finding 99% of the malignancies when used with cystoscopy, according to a study published this week in JAMA (2006; 295:299-305).