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Montreal, Quebec-The interval between transurethral resection of bladdertumor and radical cystectomy significantly influences 3-year disease recurrencerates in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, saidresearchers from McGill University in Montreal.

Chicago-Neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy is associatedwith a statistically significant improvement in the overall survival ofpatients with locally advanced bladder cancer, according to the resultsof a recent meta-analysis presented at the AUA annual meeting here. However,the treatment benefit is not strong enough to support a recommendation forusing neoadjuvant chemotherapy in this setting, said Amir Sherif, MD, PhD,speaking on behalf of the Nordic Cooperative Bladder Cancer Group.

Albuquerque, NM-A new outcome model of prostate cancer progression followingradical prostatectomy has demonstrated good correlation between the model'spredictions and actual patient data. A study using this model suggests thatmen benefit more from radical prostatectomy over watchful waiting, evenif residual disease remains after surgery.

Once-daily quinolone gains new urology indications: West Haven, CT-Bayer Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval to market its once-daily, extended-release fluoroquinolone, ciprofloxacin (Cipro XR), for two new indications: complicated urinary tract infections and acute uncomplicated pyelonephritis.

Among urologic tumor markers, the discovery and application of prostate-specific antigen has established PSA as a vital tool for the early diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of men with prostate cancer.

Edinburgh, Scotland-When used by the same operators in a single center, shockwave lithotriptors of different power generators provide comparable results and have similar complication rates in the treatment of renal stones, urologists at a Scottish stone center reported at the AUA annual meeting.

Atlanta-Patients and physicians are winning the battle against prostate cancer, new data show. What's not so clear-cut, though, is the reason why.

Certain enzyme inhibitors may slow tumor formation within weeks and could lead to treatments that retard or prevent recurrences of cancers, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered.

Age should not be a barrier to treatment for older men who are relatively healthy but have aggressive prostate cancer, say researchers with University Health Network, Toronto.

Texas patients and physicians scored a major victory when voters approved Proposition 12, a constitutional amendment that authorizes the legislature to determine limitations on non-economic damages in medical liability cases. The vote ratifies the state's recently enacted medical liability reforms.

Patients undergoing surgery in ambulatory surgery centers are safer than those who undergo procedures in doctors' offices, although the relative risk of death or injury is low in both types of facilities, a new Florida study indicates.

When drugs have failed, transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) has shown to be an effective long-term option for men suffering from BPH, according to recently published data.

Progress has been shown in the death rates from prostate cancer and the other three leading cancers-lung, breast, and colorectal. Deaths from prostate cancer have fallen 4.0% during the 5-year period from 1996 to 2000. Bladder cancer decreased by 0.4% over the same period.

With the help of state legislators, physicians in Philadelphia have something to celebrate.

A new prognostic model could decrease the number of unneeded prostate biopsies by 24% without sacrificing cancer detection, according to a study to be published in the October 1, 2003, issue of Cancer.

Patients with locally advanced bladder cancer have more than a fighting chance for survival with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which has been found to provide a longer life in patients compared with the standard treatment of surgery alone, according to an 11-year study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2003; 349:859-66).

Nearly 700,000 physicians nationwide are the beneficiaries of a settlement requiring CIGNA Healthcare to institute new business practices.

An oral bisphosphonate may slow the development of symptomatic bone metastases and reduce the risk of death from this disease, new data show.

References

Increasing knowledge of the ways in which we differ from each other genetically has the potential to change the way medicine is practiced in the not too distant future.88 One of the most common forms of human genetic diversity is the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), a single base-pair position in genomic DNA at which different sequence alternatives (alleles) exist in normal individuals.

In the developed world, environmental factors-particularly diet-seem to play a prominent role in the development of prostate cancer.27 Research into the molecular pathogenesis of prostate cancer may help us assess why prostate cells are particularly vulnerable to such environmental effects and to determine what somatic genome mutations are involved in the transformation of normal epithelium into intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and ultimately to invasive carcinoma (Figure 5).

Chemoprevention is the use of natural or synthetic agents to avert the induction of, or to inhibit, delay, or suppress the progression of cancers or other diseases. Carcinogenesis is a process that occurs over a period of months to years and is under the influence of a range of genetic and environmental factors.

Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin malignancy among men in Europe, North America, and Australia and, after lung cancer, represents the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in these regions.4 Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute, which covers approximately 26% of the US population, show the rising incidence of cancer of the prostate (Figure 1).

In the field of prostate cancer, one of the key goals of researchers and physicians is to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the condition. Strategies to help achieve this goal include screening, surgery, therapy (pharmacological, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy), and prevention.

Consolidating research institutions would improve collaboration and datasharing

Urology has always been a fascinating and somewhat hybrid specialty inthe field of medicine. First and foremost, it has been a surgical specialty,requiring many years of intense surgical training to master. Many of ushave been drawn to urology because of the wide assortment of surgical proceduresand the ability to put to use the highest technological advancements inthe course of our work.

Take advantage of a high-capacity Internet connection when setting upmeetings

Physician must be immediately available, and the service must be performedby an employee