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New York--The FDA has granted approval of oral sunitinib malate (Sutent), a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. The approval came after a priority review and was based on results from two phase II clinical trials dem-onstrating impressive drug activity measured by high partial response rates and delay to disease progression. It marks the second FDA approval of a drug for advanced RCC in as many months.

Baltimore--Scientific thinking about pain in general and chronic pain in particular has changed drastically in the last 50 years. Providers who treat chronic pain syndrome, such as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), need to discard the old models if they are going to help patients.

Washington--Results from a small study demonstrate that urinary interleukin-8 (IL-8) can be used as an early diagnostic tool for nosocomial urinary tract infections, Mexican infectious disease specialists said during a presentation at the 45th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy here. IL-8 appears to offer a faster alternative to quantitative cultures, according to the researchers.

In one study, 85% of the CP/CPPS patients had decreased frequency of sexual contact because of their pain, 67% said it interfered with or ended relationships, and 43% said it inhibited forming new relationships.

Baltimore--Psychological treatment, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, can help ease chronic pain. That's why these therapies may be able to do the same for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) patients, argued Judith Turner, PhD, at the NIDDK-sponsored Chronic Pelvic Pain/Chronic Prostatitis Scientific Workshop here.

Past terminology has held management back, Dr. Baranowski argued. The 'itis' of prostatitis, for example, has encouraged patients to seek anti-inflammatory or long-term antibiotic therapies that often don't help.

Baltimore?Someday, you may be using neurophysiologic testing for follow-up and possibly even diagnosis of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) before you turn to the four-glass or modified test. That's because, increasingly, CP/CPPS is being recognized not as a disorder of the prostate, but as a neurologic disorder?a chronic pain syndrome that may begin in the viscera, but becomes a nervous system disorder as pain is centralized.

Baltimore--As the focus on pelvic pain syndromes moves away from the organs to the nervous system, researchers such as Ursula Wesselmann, MD, PhD, are trying to find out how acute pain develops into chronic pain.

Lt. Cmdr. Rich Jadick, MD, has received a Bronze Star with Combat "V" for Valor, one of the Marine Corps? most prestigious awards.

Omega-6 fatty acids, such as those found in corn oil, appear to cause human prostate tumors in cell culture to grow twice as quickly as those to which omega-6 fats have not been added, according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and published in Cancer Research (2006; 66:1427-33).

Only 25% of African-American men ages 60 to 69 years undergo PSA screening and 36% receive annual digital rectal exams, while just under 50% of African-Americans at high risk for the disease (those with a family history) undergo PSA tests and 38% receive DREs, according to a study published in Cancer (2006; 106:796-803).

Losing a modest amount of weight through dietary changes and increased activity reduces the occurrence of urinary incontinence in women with prediabetes, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care (2006; 29:385-90).

Based on American Cancer Society estimates, cancer deaths in the United States will decline slightly in 2006 compared with estimates made for 2005.

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--As the controversy over whether to perform vasovasostomy or vasoepididymostomy for vasectomy reversal rages, two small studies have provided some new insight into when to choose one surgical technique over the other. One study demonstrates that expert surgeons can provide better results with vasoepididymostomy among patients with vasospermia, defined as no sperm in the vasal fluid, regardless of the condition of the vasal fluid. The second study suggests that the presence of sperm parts in the vasal fluid signals that vasovasostomy might be the better option.

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.