Urology News and Research

Latest Urology News and Research

Smoking ban triggered the biggest fall in smoking ever seen in England

Smokefree law in England has helped more smokers to quit than ever before and will help prevent an estimated 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years - according to new research being presented in Birmingham tomorrow (Tuesday).

30 Jun 2008

Seven elevated biomarkers predict prostate cancer risk with 86.6 percent reliability

A simple blood test screening for a panel of biomarkers can accurately predict whether a patient who has had prostate cancer surgery will have a recurrence or spread of the disease.

26 Jun 2008

Pregnancy may protect against bladder cancer

Female mice that had never become pregnant had approximately 15 times as much cancer in their bladders as their counterparts that had become pregnant, according to new findings by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Their work appears online as a rapid communication in the journal Urology.

26 Jun 2008

Jefferson scientists discover way to immunize mice against metastatic disease

Taking advantage of the fact that the intestines have a separate immune system from the rest of the body, scientists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have found a way to immunize mice against the development of metastatic disease.

24 Jun 2008

Seven biomarkers that may help pinpoint prostate cancer recurrence found

A simple blood test may help doctors better predict whether prostate cancer will recur or spread in patients who have undergone surgery for the disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

24 Jun 2008

Seven biomarkers found that predict with 86 percent accuracy prostate cancer recurrence

A simple blood test may help doctors better predict whether prostate cancer will recur or spread in patients who have undergone surgery for the disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

17 Jun 2008

Radiation therapy prolongs life in men with recurrent prostate cancer

Men whose tumors recur after prostate cancer surgery are three times more likely to survive their disease long term if they undergo radiotherapy within two years of the recurrence. Surprisingly, survival benefits were best in men whose new tumors were growing fastest, according to results of a 'look-back' study of 635 men by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions researchers reported June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 Jun 2008

Massachusetts insurers to expand health plans with physician ranking system despite lawsuit

Two of Massachusetts' largest health insurers are expanding or launching health plans that feature physician ranking systems despite opposition to those systems by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Boston Globe reports. Under such ranking systems, patients who seek care from a top-rated, or top-tiered, physician have lower copayments.

11 Jun 2008

Kidney cell suicide in diabetes patients

Diabetes is the leading cause of renal failure that requires dialysis. The disease generates such a hostile environment that it forces the kidney cells to kill themselves, progressively reducing the renal functions of the kidneys.

4 Jun 2008

NGAL protein levels in simple urine test speed diagnosis of failing kidneys

Walk into any emergency department complaining of chest pain and you are likely to have blood drawn. Within hours it should be clear whether you've had a heart attack, based on enzyme levels in your blood and whether those levels reveal the tissue damage normally associated with a heart attack or other major cardiac event.

2 Jun 2008

New model predicts whether patients will be free of renal cancer 12 years after initial treatment

A UT Southwestern Medical Center physician and other researchers have developed a unique statistical model that predicts the probability of a patient being cancer free 12 years after initial surgical treatment.

2 Jun 2008

Researchers find gene signature profile for metastasis

A common signature of tiny, specific pieces of non-coding genetic material known as microRNAs (miRNAs) may be directly involved in the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

2 Jun 2008

Monitoring blood flow helps improve prostate biopsies

Using a special ultrasound technique to spot areas of blood flow in the prostate gland may substantially reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies, according to a new study by urologists and radiologists at the Jefferson Prostate Diagnostic Center and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia.

26 May 2008

Simple blood test could indicate higher risk for coronary events in women after post-menopausal hormone therapies

A research study has found that a simple blood test may indicate whether post-menopausal hormone therapies present an elevated risk of a heart attack.

22 May 2008

Investigational smallpox drug may treat adenovirus infections in humans

Scientists at Saint Louis University have made two key discoveries that could lead to the first-ever human testing of a drug to target the adenovirus, which causes a number of severe upper-respiratory infections and is one of many viruses that causes the common cold.

19 May 2008

Finasteride for prostate cancer

A comprehensive re-evaluation of the largest prostate cancer prevention study ever completed produced new findings suggesting that men and their doctors should consider a more aggressive approach that includes finasteride to prevent the development of prostate cancer.

19 May 2008

Majority of kidney cancers diagnosed at earliest stage

Patients in the United States today are now much more likely to be diagnosed with smaller tumors, in the earliest, most treatable stage of kidney cancer than a decade ago, leading to a slightly higher survival rate, according to the results of a national study led by a UC San Diego Medical Center researcher.

19 May 2008

Obesity and unhealthy lifestyles linked to more complex urinary problems

People who are obese and lead unhealthy lifestyles are more likely to suffer from a larger number of urinary problems, according to a population-based study of more than 5,000 men and women published in the May issue of the UK-based urology journal BJU International.

15 May 2008

Vitamin D protects cells from stress that can lead to cancer

By inducing a specific gene to increase expression of a key enzyme, vitamin D protects healthy prostate cells from the damage and injuries that can lead to cancer, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers report.

13 May 2008

Ancient protein myosin 2 offers clues to killer condition

More than 600 million years of evolution has taken two unlikely distant cousins - turkeys and scallops - down very different physical paths from a common ancestor. But University of Leeds researchers have found that a motor protein, myosin 2, remains structurally identical in both creatures.

12 May 2008