Urethra News and Research

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In anatomy, the urethra is a tube which connects the urinary bladder to the outside of the body. The urethra has an excretory function in both genders to pass urine to the outside, and also a reproductive function in the male, as a passage for sperm.

Prostatic artery embolization comparable to transurethral resection

A new interventional radiology treatment that blocks blood supply to men's enlarged prostate glands shows comparable clinical results to transurethral resection of the prostate (or TURP), considered the gold standard (or most common) treatment. However, this minimally invasive treatment-prostatic artery embolization-has none of the risks associated with TURP, such as sexual dysfunction, urinary incontinence, blood loss and retrograde ejaculation, noted researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 36th Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

30 Mar 2011

NeoTract initiates patient enrollment for UroLift System trial to treat prostrate cancer

NeoTract, Inc. a medical device company focused on developing urology devices, today announced that the first U.S. patients have been enrolled in a multinational trial of its UroLift® System at Western Urological Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah.

23 Mar 2011

Lab made urinary tube going strong after six years of transplant

In a scientific breakthrough, five boys who were unable to urinate due to pelvic injury were cured for up to six years after getting new lab-grown urethras or urinary tubes that connect with the bladder. This breakthrough comes from Wake Forest University researcher Anthony Atala. It was in 2006 that the team reported the first successful implantation of lab-grown urinary bladders into humans. Today six years after the operation all of the boys continue to do well, with normal or near-normal urinary flow. The boy first treated is now 16 years old and received his lab-grown urethra over six years ago.

8 Mar 2011

New advance in tissue engineering

Researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues reported today on a new advance in tissue engineering.

8 Mar 2011

Behavioral therapies help improve bladder control in men following prostate cancer surgery

Behavioral therapies such as pelvic-floor-muscle training and bladder-control strategies can reduce incontinence episodes by more than 50 percent in men following prostate-cancer surgery, according to new research from the Center for Aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Birmingham/Atlanta Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.

12 Jan 2011

Elis granted exclusive rights to market Apricus Bio's Vitaros in the Gulf and part of the Middle East

Apricus Biosciences, Inc. and Elis Pharmaceuticals, announced today that the two companies have entered into a licensing agreement granting Elis the exclusive rights to market Apricus Bio's new drug for erectile dysfunction, Vitaros®, in the Gulf and part of the Middle East. "This new agreement is the next step in our strategy of seeking to partner Vitaros in more than 100 countries around the world," said Dr. Bassam Damaj, President and Chief Executive Officer of Apricus Bio.

5 Jan 2011

Janssen files abiraterone acetate NDS with Health Canada for metastatic, advanced prostate cancer

Janssen Inc. has filed a New Drug Submission (NDS) to Health Canada for the investigational drug abiraterone acetate administered with prednisone for the treatment of metastatic, advanced prostate cancer in patients who have received prior chemotherapy containing a taxane. Submissions for abiraterone acetate have also been filed with health authorities in the United States and Europe.

23 Dec 2010

High-dose rate brachytherapy procedure to treat prostate cancer

Beaumont Hospital radiation oncologists have launched a research study to treat men with low to intermediate risk prostate cancer with a single dose of radiation.

17 Dec 2010

COU-AA-301 Phase 3 study demonstrates improvement in CRPC survival rate

Results from a pre-specified interim analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study, COU-AA-301, demonstrate that patients treated with the investigational agent abiraterone acetate plus low-dose prednisone/prednisolone showed a significant improvement in overall survival compared to patients treated with prednisone/prednisolone plus placebo.

11 Oct 2010

Odd foreign bodies removed from patients

Sermo, the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced its weekly hot topic. Of over 200 physician respondents to an online poll and discussion, 85% said they have removed odd foreign bodies from patients.

6 Oct 2010

Urovalve reports promising early results from Surinate Bladder Management System multi-site clinical study

Urovalve, a medical device company focused on creating superior products for urinary flow and control, reported today that early results are promising in a multi-site clinical study of the Company's Surinate® Bladder Management System. The Surinate® Bladder Management System is designed to improve the quality of life and health of men who suffer from acute or chronic urinary retention, an inability to empty the bladder.

6 Oct 2010

TNS NIPO study underlines need for wide-scale, reliable prostate cancer screening

A recent TNS NIPO survey, on behalf of the Dutch Association of Urology (NVU) and the European Association of Urology (EAU), showed that almost four out of 10 Dutch men of 50 years and older suffer, or have suffered, from urinary complaints. The same number of men also said in the same survey they are worried that they may have prostate cancer.

15 Sep 2010

NIH announces award to improve human microbiome research

The National Institutes of Health today announced it has awarded approximately $42 million to expand the scope of eight demonstration projects designed to link changes in the human microbiome to health and disease.

8 Sep 2010

Scientists develop new surgical procedure for prostate cancer using natural orifices

With a recent first of its kind surgery, physicians at Mayo Clinic in Arizona have developed a new surgical procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer using natural orifices - signaling the next step in the evolution of minimally invasive surgery.

29 Jul 2010

FDA grants AMS clearance for MiniArc Precise Single-Incision Sling System

American Medical Systems® (AMS), a leading provider of world-class devices and therapies for both male and female pelvic health, today announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the MiniArc® Precise Single-Incision Sling System, a product for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). MiniArc Precise is the next generation sling in the MiniArc family sling system, the number one selling single-incision sling in the United States.

29 Jun 2010

Prevention, awareness of enlarged prostate can help save lives

We live in a country of excess where size often matters most. Supersize, grande, max, king size - but is bigger always better? Certainly not when it comes to male health and an enlarged prostate.

16 Jun 2010

Researchers compare outcomes of two surgical procedures for stress urinary incontinence

As part of a national clinical trial, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found little difference in effectiveness between two popular treatments for one of the most common ailments among American women: stress urinary incontinence.

4 Jun 2010

UT Southwestern researchers compare TVT and TOT sling procedures for stress urinary incontinence

2 Jun 2010

Two common operations for SUI help women achieve similar levels of dryness: Study

Two common operations for stress urinary incontinence help women achieve similar levels of dryness, according to a team of urologists and urogynecologists who compared the treatments in a large U.S. trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study is being released online May 17, 2010, by the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with a presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Results will appear in the June 3 print edition.

19 May 2010

Trans-urethral prostate hyperthermia treatment offers 100% response rate

According the Dr. Friedrich Douwes, Medical Director of St. George Hospital in Bad Aibling, Germany, president of the German Oncological Society and the author of several hundred scientific articles and books, trans-urethral prostate hyperthermia has a 100% initial response rate.

16 Apr 2010