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Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has named Dennis G. Smith as interim head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Scientists say they have coaxed uncommitted mouse embryonic stem cells to grow into sperm cells in the laboratory.

The American Medical Association said it has amended its policy to address inequities in the size, composition, and distribution of the U.S. physician workforce that are limiting patient access to care.

The controversy over prostate cancer screening does not appear to be going away any time soon.

Tom Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will resign effective Dec. 15, following 3 years at the helm of two of the nation's largest domestic programs.

Among men undergoing cryotherapy for prostate cancer, 95% showed no biochemical evidence of cancer recurrence at a follow-up of 3.5 years in a small study presented at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting.

A single 15-minute CT scan may be all that is needed to detect tiny cancers, stones, and other problems in the urinary tracts of high-risk patients, potentially saving them from additional tests and from delayed detection and treatment.

A new study has joined a host of others concluding that high-volume surgeons have better outcomes than surgeons who perform a procedure less often.

The FDA has approved what is said to be the first gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist for prostate cancer available as a depot formulation. Abarelix (Plenaxis) is indicated for the palliative treatment of men with advanced symptomatic prostate cancer, in whom LHRH agonist therapy is not appropriate, who refuse surgical castration, and have one or more of the following: risk of neurologic compromise due to metastases; ureteral or bladder outlet obstruction due to local encroachment or metastatic disease; or severe bone pain from skeletal metastases persisting on narcotic analgesia.

Also, always use the ­59 modifier when inserting an indwelling stentduring ureteroscopy

Failure to have the proper licenses and permits on hand can cost youin the long run

In this month's issue of Urology Times, attention is given to evolvingmethods for treating renal masses in less invasive ways, including laparoscopicnephron-sparing surgery and cryosurgical ablation.

Overactive bladder patients respond favorably to botulinum injectionsin small studies

Portland, OR-Weekly preoperative chemotherapy with docetaxel (Taxotere)and mitoxantrone (Novantrone) reduced PSA levels and was associated witha high rate of negative surgical margins in a small preliminary clinicaltrial involving high-risk localized prostate cancer patients.

Report calls for more study of testosterone replacement; urologists saybenefits are knownWashington-Clinical studies on the use of testosterone replacementtherapy (TRT) in men over age 65 years should move forward to determinethe efficacy of testosterone therapy in older men and the nature and extentof the potential benefits, according to a report released last month byan expert committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Initially, studiesshould include a limited number of participants and proceed in a stepwisefashion, the report said.

Jackson, MS-Magnetic resonance imaging offers a far better picture of both tumors and a growing ice ball, and these factors may contribute to the success seen in the University of Mississippi's percutaneous cryoablation procedure in treating renal cell carcinoma, according to W. Bruce Shingleton, MD, formerly at the University of Mississippi and currently associate professor of surgery and radiology, division of urologic surgery, University of Louisville (KY) School of Medicine.

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In the modern era of safe and effective oral treatment of male erectile dysfunction, urologists may overlook the importance of a thorough patient evaluation.

Cleveland-Immunoscintigraphy scanning, criticized in the past for poor performance in imaging metastatic disease, may have found a reliable niche in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Chicago-Although laparoscopic nephron-sparing surgery is a firmly established procedure, its full potential has not yet been reached, according to a host of studies intended to demonstrate the expanding range of the procedure's applications.

Prostate cancer patients who receive hormone treatments before undergoing three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) do not have increased side effects compared with those not receiving hormone therapy before radiation, according to a new study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology Physics (2003; 57: 614-20).

A treatment approach that uses a donor's immune cells appears to provide anti-cancer activity in some patients with recurrent or refractory renal cell carcinoma, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2003; 21: 3785-91).

A novel approach that combines gene therapy and radiation therapy for treating prostate cancer has shown promising safety and efficacy results, according to a small study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The percentage of American men with early prostate cancer who were treated with brachytherapy increased from less than 5% in 1994 to 36% in 1999, according to a report published in Cancer (2003; 98: 1987-94).

African-American men tend to have poorer overall survival rates than Caucasian men after being treated for localized prostate cancer, a new study shows.

The FDA has approved tadalafil (Cialis), a new oral PDE-5 inhibitor, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Santa Monica, CA?Patients aged 65 years and older with urinary incontinence and other health problems affecting their independence fail to receive recommended medical care for these conditions about two-thirds of the time, according to a study by RAND Corp. and UCLA.

Chicago?The American Medical Association?s House of Delegates has adopted new guidelines for prescribing medications via the Internet.

New York?John L. Phillips, MD, is the new physician-in-charge of urologic oncology at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York.

Athens, Greece?Early response to treatment with an investigational anticholinergic agent for overactive bladder appears to be an accurate predictor of long-term therapeutic success, according to data recently presented at the AUA New York Section meeting.