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Continuing its participation in the Choosing Wisely campaign, the AUA has added five new recommendations about tests and treatments that physicians and patients should question.

“We strongly believe that PSA-based prostate cancer screening should be made available, especially to men 70 years and older to decrease the morbidity and mortality of prostate cancer,” write Navin Shah, MD, and Vladimir Ioffe, MD.

A 3-month old baby born with atypical genitalia has an XY karyotype. The baby undergoes diagnostic laparoscopy. The baby is doing clinically well without medication.

“Abiraterone should change the treatment paradigm for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer and largely displaces chemotherapy from the current paradigm,” said Sumanta Kumar Pal, MD.

Administering bone supportive therapy within 1 month prior to starting radium Ra 223 dichloride (Xofigo) may increase the likelihood of achieving pain palliation with the radionuclide therapy and reduce the chance of pain flare, according to the findings of a retrospective study.

Findings of a meta-analysis show that phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor use is associated with a statistically significant increased risk of melanoma, but they do not support a causal relationship.

Researchers have observed an association between a lifetime of inactivity and higher risks for bladder and renal cancers.

There are no notable differences in overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free survival between radical cystectomy and bladder-preserving combined modality treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, according to a recent meta-analysis.

In this interview, Raj S. Pruthi, MD, discusses the factors behind burnout and steps that can be taken to address and prevent it.

Urologist Henry Rosevear, MD, reviews his personal highlights from AUA 2017, along with a few bumps in the road.

The FDA has approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for treating any solid tumors that exhibit DNA mismatch repair deficiency.

While drug importation may sound like a good option to reduce drug costs, the potential can of worms it could create isn’t worth it, the AACU’s Ally Lopshire writes.

Among the guideline’s recommendations is that active surveillance should serve as the preferred method of care for low-risk localized prostate cancer.

Diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging strategies for the diagnosis of prostate cancer should be considered prior to biopsy of suspicious lesions, according to a recent study.

Although theory and preliminary clinical data indicated that intraoperative regional hypothermia could improve the return to potency and continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, the intervention did not have any significant benefits when put to the more rigorous test of a randomized controlled trial.

The use of robot-assisted simple prostatectomy is increasing for the management of BPH in the United States. Patients were nearly seven times more likely to undergo RASP in 2011-2015 compared to 2003-2006, after adjusting for confounders.

The fiscal 2017 appropriations wrap-up package approved by Congress in early May included a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health, despite a Trump administration request for a $1.2 billion reduction for the nation’s primary medical research facility. That bipartisan action, which funds the federal government through September, came in the face of President Trump’s demand to slash spending for domestic programs to pay for a huge increase in appropriations for defense.

Analyses of data from 5 years of prospective follow-up in the pivotal trial supporting regulatory approval of the prostatic urethral lift ([PUL] UroLift System, NeoTract) show that the minimally invasive procedure remains safe and provides rapid and durable benefits for men with symptomatic BPH.

In this Urology Times supplement, we’ll take a look at the science behind Rezūm, the nuts and bolts of the procedure, what sort of short- and long-term outcomes patients can expect following the procedure, and ways that urologists can educate their patients about this new technology.

"For low-grade disease, it’s certainly worth a try because nothing is really lost. For high-grade disease, I don’t know that it’s appropriate-we don’t have the data," says one urologist.

Medicare beneficiaries who undergo major urologic cancer surgery at hospitals with higher Hospital Compare Star Ratings introduced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2016 have superior short-term outcomes than patients operated on at hospitals with lower Hospital Compare rating, according to data presented at the AUA annual meeting in Boston.

"Things have gotten worse. Patients are definitely more demanding," says urologist Casey McCullough, DO.

The practical application of medical necessity has taken many forms, and in this increasingly complex world of health care, understanding these applications has become a critical component of your business.

Badar M. Mian, MD, discusses a recent study about the use of external physical vibration lithecbole for treating residual stones after retrograde intrarenal surgery.

"Learning from my junior residents means realizing that sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, they may know more than I do," writes Amy Pearlman, MD.