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High cholesterol levels appear to be related to prostate cancer, and the association may be somewhat stronger in men diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia before 50 years of age and in those older than 65 years, according to a study by Italian researchers

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This fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, selected the Interstitial Cystitis Association as its partner to manage and direct a 5-year campaign to increase awareness of interstitial cystitis among health care providers and patients.

Valera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has completed its acquisition of the new drug application and other assets associated with valrubicin (Valstar), an FDA-approved drug indicated for treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the bladder.

This fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, selected the Interstitial Cystitis Association as its partner to manage and direct a 5-year campaign to increase awareness of interstitial cystitis among health care providers and patients.

A drug typically used to treat osteoporosis has a potential clinical benefit in treating men with prostate cancer, according to researchers at the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

Bladder cancer patients whose surgery was delayed more than 3 months after diagnosis were more likely to die from their disease than were patients whose surgery was performed sooner, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor.

Turnover is a growing concern at medical groups nationwide, while targeted initiatives to retain physicians are on the rise, according to findings from 2005 physician retention survey recently released by the Cejka Search and American Medical Group Association.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has announced that its guidelines on kidney cancer have been updated as a result of new therapeutic options available for advanced kidney cancer.

The IIF designation was added to include cystic lesions that are slightly more complex than category II, but that do not fulfill criteria of category III.

San Francisco--An increase in the rate of PSA rise is bad news forpatients, but just how bad remains unclear. A series of trialsunveiled at the 2006 Prostate Cancer Symposium point to PSAvelocity, or PSAV, as a prognostic tool that is useful, but thathas some limitations.

San Francisco--The overall level of prostate cancer care in the United States is good, but multiple areas need significant improvement.

Washington--Congress has received a detailed recommendation from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) that would result in an average payment increase of an estimated 2.8% for next year, rather than continued cuts as projected by Medicare.

Setting and achieving goals is important to staying focused and taking your practice where you want to go.

I have found that one of the most effective ways to enhance the efficiency of my practice has been to hire a scribe. A scribe is a person who shadows a physician and takes notes either in the chart, or, better yet, on the computer, freeing the doctor to have more eyeball-to-eyeball contact with the patient.

The consulting physicians can start treatment without jeopardizingthe consultation charge.

Yonkers, NY--The Prostate Px test from Aureon Laboratories applies a proprietary integrated algorithm to patient histologic, molecular, and clinical data to predict the likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Using stored patient tissue, the program generates a risk report within 1 week of testing. The report provides a score for both the probability of PSA recurrence and clinical failure.

The IIF designation was added to include cystic lesions that are slightly more complex than category II, but that do not fulfill criteria of category III.

Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has completed enrollment of approximately 600 patients in the first of two phase III trials for its once-daily formulation of trospium chloride (Sanctura XR) for the treatment of overactive bladder.Enrollment of the second trial is expected to close in May 2006.

Beaver Creek, CO--Driven by demand from U.S. consumers, business is booming for companies that produce dietary and herbal supplements, as well as health foods. Many patients, including those with prostate cancer, take a dizzying array of supplements and alternative therapies. Those who have not yet jumped on the supplement bandwagon frequently ask physicians which supplements they should take or which foods they should eat to ward off or treat prostate cancer.

Washington--Even after surgical ablation, posterior urethral valves (PUVs) in boys can cause bladder and kidney problems in later years. But now, for the first time, a team of pediatric urologists has shown that PUVs also can affect sex accessory glands and, ultimately, fertility. Justine M. Schober, MD, a pediatric urologist at Hamot Medical Center, Erie, PA, reported the group's findings here at the 2005 American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology annual meeting.

Beaver Creek, CO--Recent advancements in radioimmunoscintigraphy and the use of co-registration to fuse images have dramatically improved detection and localization of prostate cancer, according to Michael Manyak, MD.

Beaver Creek, CO--An in-depth pathologic review of specimens collected from participants in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) revealed that the reported increase in high-grade prostate cancer was most likely due to increased early detection of high-grade tumors in men receiving finasteride (Proscar), and that finasteride did not appear to potentiate the growth of high-grade prostate cancer. These findings were reported at the 16th annual International Prostate Cancer Update here by Scott Lucia, MD, associate professor of pathology, University of Colorado and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver.

Beaver Creek, CO--For patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, the new standard of care is docetaxel (Taxotere)-based chemotherapy. The landmark TAX 327 study demonstrated an improvement in median survival and pain relief in patients with advanced, hormone-refractory disease who received this treatment regimen (N Engl J Med 2004; 351:1502-20). The challenge now is to look for new drug combinations that can provide additional benefits.

Beaver Creek, CO--For urologic surgeons who encounter positive surgical margins, the problem may be related to technique, and not simply patient selection.

Beaver Creek, CO--Urologists should not abandon combined androgen blockade as first-line therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, an expert in the disease told colleagues at the International Prostate Cancer Update here.

Beaver Creek, CO--Intermittent androgen suppression (IAS) is reported to be beneficial in select men with advanced prostate cancer, although definitive data are not yet available.

San Francisco--Despite improvements in detection and treatment over the past 2 decades, African-American men remain at higher risk for recurrence of prostate cancer than Caucasian men. While factors such as initial PSA levels and disease severity are similar between the two racial groups, African-American men are 11% more likely than Caucasian men to have a biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy, according to a new study.