Author: Dr. Savatta
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Medical News: ASTRO: Proton Radiation Fails to Impress in Prostate Cancer Study – in Meeting Coverage, ASTRO
Source: Med page today Proton radiation for early prostate cancer had an acceptable tolerability profile but produced little evidence of a “gee whiz” impact to support its cost, according to preliminary results from a phase I/II clinical trial. Two-thirds of patients had acute genitourinary or gastrointestinal toxicity, and a third had late GU/GI toxicity, Anthony…
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UroToday – Trial Evaluation of Erectile Function after Attempted Unilateral Cavernous Nerve-Sparing Retropubic Radical Prostatectomy With Versus Without Unilateral Sural Nerve Grafting for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer – Abstract
Source Urotoday The trial planned to enroll 200 patients, but an interim analysis at 107 patients met criteria for futility and the trial was closed. For patients completing the protocol to 2 yr, potency was recovered in 32 of 45 (71%) of SNG and 14 of 21 (67%) of controls (p=0.777). By intent-to-treat analysis, potency…
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Regrets After Prostate Surgery
Source: Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog One in five men who undergoes prostate surgery to treat cancer later regrets the decision, a new study shows. And surprisingly, regret is highest among men who opt for robotic prostatectomy, a minimally invasive surgery that is growing in popularity as a treatment. The research,…
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Organ-confined disease more common in screen-detected prostate cancer
Source: MedWire News Prostate cancers detected by screening have a higher rate of organ-confined disease and a lower rate of extracapsular extension and positive surgical margins than non-screen-detected cancers, say researchers. The widespread use of prostate cancer screening had led to stage migration, with more cancers detected at a lower stage, which has led to…
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Kidney Cancer Cells Tricked Into Killing Themselves
Source: NPR A researcher has found a potential therapy for patients with kidney cancer, which historically hasn’t responded well to other therapies, such as radiation and chemotherapy. Most cancerous kidney cells — also known as renal cells – have lost a gene called VHL, says Amato Giaccia, a cancer researcher at the Stanford University School…
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Best of AUA Orlando 2008 for Prostate Cancer
Source: Urology Times Robotic Surgery Presented by Ashutosh K. Tewari, MD, Weill-Cornell Medical College, New York. * Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is associated with shorter hospital stay and less bleeding, but the warm ischemia time is still around 30 minutes. * Studies comparing robot-assisted laparoscopic cystectomy and open radical cystectomy show similar oncologic outcomes. At…
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Surgeon and hospital volume linked to radical prostatectomy outcomes
Source: MedWire News “Briefly, higher hospital and surgeon volumes are associated with a decreased risk of most in-hospital complications after RP,” the team concludes. They add: “These associations are statistically significant and likely to be clinically important, especially if doubling hospital or surgical volume can lead to an 8% to 9% decrease in the rate…
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New for kidney cancer: robotic surgery
Source: Washington University Website “Robotic surgery is more efficient and precise than either open or laparoscopic surgery for tumors confined to the kidney,” says Bhayani, assistant professor of surgery and a leader in the field of robotic surgery. “Rather than operate with two hands, I can simultaneously control four robotic instruments with mechanical “wrists” that…
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Prostate Cancer-Specific Survival Following Salvage Radiotherapy vs Observation in Men With Biochemical Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy: Abstract
Source: JAMA Prostate Cancer-Specific Survival Following Salvage Radiotherapy vs Observation in Men With Biochemical Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy Bruce J. Trock, PhD; Misop Han, MD; Stephen J. Freedland, MD; Elizabeth B. Humphreys, MS; Theodore L. DeWeese, MD; Alan W. Partin, MD, PhD; Patrick C. Walsh, MD JAMA. 2008;299(23):2760-2769. Context Biochemical disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy…