Urology News and Research

Latest Urology News and Research

A new technique might allow women diagnosed with cancer the opportunity to have children when chemotherapy and radiation treatments rob them of their fertility

Freezing eggs is one thing; thawing them safely so they can lead to pregnancy is the challenge. In the past, efforts to freeze a woman's eggs, or oocytes, have not worked well because the cells are large. When the egg is thawed, ice crystals cause damage that prevents the egg from being fertilized.

29 May 2005

A small kidney stone should not preclude people from being donors

Results from a Mayo Clinic study suggest that using kidneys which have kidney stones for living donor transplant has little impact on the organ's function one year later.

26 May 2005

Men being treated with alpha-blockers for an enlarged prostate may not have to endure sexual dysfunction

Research conducted by Hellstrom comparing the impact of two commonly prescribed medications on men's ability to ejaculate was presented today at the 100th annual meeting of the American Urological Association May 23.

23 May 2005

Obesity appears to increase the risk of prostate cancer

The obesity study examined the association between body mass index - weight to height ratio - and prostate cancer in 787 men undergoing biopsy due to an elevated tumor marker in the blood or an abnormal physical exam at a Veterans Affairs hospital in California between 1998 and 2002.

23 May 2005

Being married or in a relationship significantly improves quality of life for prostate cancer patients following treatment

Partnered men reported better psychosocial and spiritual well-being, suffered fewer adverse effects from treatment and had less fear and anxiety about their cancer coming back than did their single counterparts, the study found.

23 May 2005

Commonly prescribed incontinence drug may help control symptoms of overactive bladder

When taken orally, trospium chloride not only helps control symptoms of overactive bladder systemically, but according to this study, it also may help control symptoms in the bladder itself when it comes into contact with the bladder walls.

22 May 2005

Researchers have isolated two biomarkers for interstitial cystitis (IC)

The discovery of these biomarkers could lead to a definitive test for IC and have the potential to lead to new therapies. Results of two studies are being presented today at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in San Antonio, and are published in abstracts 69 and 80 of the AUA proceedings.

22 May 2005

Identifying high-risk prostate cancer means more prudent treatment decisions

While prostate cancer is a very common diagnosis, it is a deadly disease in relatively few men. One in 6 men will develop prostate cancer during his lifetime. However, of these, only one in 10 cases will be life-threatening.

16 May 2005

Herceptin could be used safely for bladder cancer

A targeted drug shown to improve the outcome of certain breast cancer patients may be of use in the treatment of advanced cases of bladder cancer, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

15 May 2005

Inherited variations in mitochondrial DNA linked to renal and prostate cancer

More than 20 million men in the United States with a particular signature set of inherited characteristics and mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are at significantly increased risk for developing renal and prostate cancers, according to research at Emory University.

20 Apr 2005

Innovative urine test for highly specific prostate cancer gene shows promise

Gen-Probe's prototype urine test for PCA3 gene expression may help improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to three early-stage studies presented as posters at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's 37th Annual Oak Ridge Conference and the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

20 Apr 2005

cT3 prostate cancer is operable

New findings from Mayo Clinic indicate that cT3 prostate cancer, a disease in which the cancer has spread locally from inside the prostate to immediately outside it, is operable and has 15-year cancer survival rates of almost 80 percent.

3 Apr 2005

New prostate cancer test

Tessera, Inc., a Seattle-based biomedical company, has released its first product, ProstaMark EPCA (Early Prostate Cancer Antigen), as an Analyte Specific Reagent (ASR) for commercial use in pathology laboratories to assist pathologists in their efforts to determine if cancer is present in the prostate.

28 Mar 2005

KCP protein protects kidneys from damage caused by chronic renal disease and injury

University of Michigan scientists have identified a new and unusual protein that reduces, in laboratory mice, kidney damage caused by chronic renal disease and acute toxic injuries.

28 Mar 2005

Relief for overactive bladder patients

New landmark data (the STAR Study), revealed today from the European Association of Urology in Istanbul, Turkey, show that patients suffering from Overactive Bladder (OAB) syndrome will see considerably better improvements in their symptoms when being treated with the new antimuscarinic drug solifenacin, than on tolterodine ER - an antimuscarinic drug that is widely used.

17 Mar 2005

Uncertainty about the need for prostate cancer

Initial results from an ongoing study evaluating the benefit of prostate cancer screening practices demonstrate that the combined use of both standard tests - the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and the digital rectal exam (DRE) - is optimal for detecting cancer.

16 Mar 2005

Tumor-targeted immune cells cure prostate cancer without causing systemic immune suppression

In a major breakthrough in cancer gene therapy, a Northwestern University researcher has endowed immune cells with the ability to specifically target metastatic prostate cancer in mice without causing the toxic immune suppression that has been associated with earlier forms of cancer gene therapy.

14 Mar 2005

Prostate screenings could be used to encourage colon checks

Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in men, but according to a new University of Michigan Health System study, fewer than half of men surveyed were up-to-date with colon cancer screenings.

3 Mar 2005

U.S. cancer researchers launch first American-Israeli cancer conference

Leading cancer researchers from Baltimore, Miami and New Jersey have organized the first Joint American-Israeli Conference on Cancer. The meeting, scheduled for March 16 through 18 in Jerusalem, seeks to foster collaboration among physicians and scientists in the two countries.

1 Mar 2005

More dependable, less expensive tool to help detect bladder cancer earlier

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found that a simple test that can be administered and read in the doctor's office was three times more effective than a conventional laboratory test for detecting bladder cancer.

15 Feb 2005