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An increased dose of highly conformal external beam radiation shows a survival advantage over conventional-dose therapy in men with early-stage prostate cancer, according to study results presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting in Atlanta.

Among American adults, the Internet is a popular place to seek out information about prescription drugs, although only a small percentage actually purchase them online, according to results of a new survey.

The National Cancer Institute began a 3-year study to validate a test that detects bladder cancer recurrence.

Chemotherapy regimens using docetaxel (Taxotere) significantly reduced the risk of death by 24% and 20% in men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, according to the results of two separate phase III studies published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine (2004; 351:1502-12 and 1513-20).

San Francisco--Urinary incontinence remains a common medical condition in older women, even in those who rate their health as "good" or "excellent." Nearly 12% of elderly women experience stress, urge, or other form of incontinence, according to findings from an analysis of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology (2004; 104:301-7). The condition is more prevalent in Caucasian women than in African-Americans, the study found.

Knowledge about the efficacy and safety of testosterone therapy in men remains inadequate, despite its frequent use in clinical practice. Clinical research into the benefits of testosterone therapy is also lacking, according to Alvaro Morales, MD.

San Francisco--As trade and information flow more freely, health care may become a commodity, auctioned like crude oil and pork bellies on world markets, according to William J. Cromie, MD, MBA, a urologist and CEO of Capital District Physicians Health Plan of Albany, NY.

San Francisco--Urinary incontinence remains a common medical condition in older women, even in those who rate their health as "good" or "excellent." Nearly 12% of elderly women experience stress, urge, or other form of incontinence, according to findings from an analysis of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology (2004; 104:301-7). The condition is more prevalent in Caucasian women than in African-Americans, the study found.

Houston--Early or late recurrence after induction BCG therapy with or without maintenance BCG for high-risk bladder cancer confers a significant increased risk of death, a finding that contradicts the widely held belief that late recurrence has less adverse impact on survival, according to data from a large clinical database.

New York--It is up to urologists to take the lead in conducting clinical trials to define the safety and benefits of testosterone therapy in older men, according to E. Darracott Vaughan, Jr, MD. Dr. Vaughan, one of two urologists who served on an Institute of Medicine committee assessing the need for clinical trials of testosterone replacement, provided an update on the committee's report and its significance to urologists during the AUA annual meeting.

A 6-month course of androgen suppression therapy following radiation treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer confers survival benefits similar to those seen with longer courses of androgen blockade (>3 years), according to a recent study from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. The study also suggests that only partial blockade with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist may be sufficient.

Washington--Even though the new Medicare physician fee schedule rule increases physician payments by 1.5% overall for Medicare services, urologists are facing a 13% reduction, according to AUA officials.

Excessive compensation, in the IRS's eyes at least, indicates that the principal/shareholder was attempting to avoid the double-tax due on dividend income-once at the corporate level and again as the personal income of the recipient.

Prostate web site offers health information, resources

Nocturia is a bothersome condition brought on by a host of factors in a broad segment of the population, particularly the elderly. It may have a significant impact on quality of life, and the associated sleep deprivation may lead to psychological and physical illness. Management of nocturia can only be pursued once the specific etiology of the condition is defined. This article describes a modern approach to pinpointing the underlying etiology, which in turn leads to appropriate treatment.

Q A pediatric urologist I code for is concerned that we cannot bill/code for both orchiopexy and a hernia repair done during the same operating room session. Do you have any documentation on this matter? When you look up 54640 in CPT 2004, it references, "For inguinal hernia repair performed in conjunction with inguinal orchiopexy, see 49495-49525." In the Medicare Correct Coding Guidelines, I do not see any edits stating not to bill both procedures together.

Since its inception in 1995, the Cancer of the Prostate Urologic Research Endeavor has become one of the world's largest databases on prostate cancer. CaPSURE shows a rapidly evolving picture of how the disease is treated and the typical patient confronting it. In this exclusive Urology Times interview, Peter R. Carroll, MD, CaPSURE's principal investigator, discusses these trends and the forces driving them. The interview was conducted by UT Editorial Consultant Richard D. Williams, MD, professor and chairman of the department of urology, University of Iowa, Iowa City.

New Orleans--Four-year results of a phase III clinical trial suggest that a single dose of the chemotherapeutic agent carboplatin (Paraplatin) is as safe and effective as adjuvant 3-week-long radiation therapy following orchiectomy of seminomatous testis cancer. More surprising was the observation that there were fewer germ cell cancers in the other testis, British oncologists reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Tel Aviv, Israel--Twin pregnancy per se, with no trial of labor, increases the risk of postpartum stress urinary incontinence, according to a prospective study by obstetrician-gynecologists from Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Toronto--Patients who show evidence of rare non-motile sperm after undergoing vasectomy will eventually become azoospermic-marking vasectomy success. However, patient compliance post-vasectomy remains low, despite aggressive pre- and postoperative counseling, University of Toronto researchers report.

Homburg, Germany--A combined approach of chemotherapy and surgical resection is not only feasible, it may be preferable to chemotherapy alone in some patients with advanced urothelial cancer, German researchers report.

Honolulu--A standardized hematuria evaluation that follows recommendations of the AUA Best Practice Guidelines appears to improve survival in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, results of a retrospective analysis of a longitudinal database suggest.

Time is an important survival variable in the progression of high-risk superficial bladder cancer.

A leading consumer advocacy group has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over what it says is deceptive advertising of a nutritional supplement known as Enzyte, which is designed to improve erectile function.

The majority of testicular tumors identified during the course of an infertility examination would not otherwise have been found at that stage, according to urologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Drinking alcohol may play a role in preventing the two most common urologic cancers, according to two recently published studies funded by the National Cancer Institute.

A leading consumer advocacy group has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over what it says is deceptive advertising of a nutritional supplement known as Enzyte, which is designed to improve erectile function.

A higher intake of dietary calcium appears to decrease the risk of kidney stone formation in women, according to findings from the Nurses' Health Study II.

Measuring the level of activity of a signaling pathway called Hedgehog may differentiate between localized and metastatic prostate cancer, according to research from Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.

Physicians need to develop a team approach to screen and treat prostate cancer, according to a report released last week by the Prostate Cancer Foundation.