Headlines in Urology Treatment

Sex Hormones: No Prostate Cancer Risk?

A man's odds of developing prostate cancer don't appear to be influenced by his blood levels of testosterone and other sex hormones.

That's the verdict from a new review of 18 studies on the topic.

The reviewers pooled data from all 18 studies, which totaled more than 10,000 men.

$300 to learn risk of prostate cancer

A combination of common and minor variations in five regions of DNA can help predict a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer, researchers reported Wednesday.

A company formed by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine is expected to make the test available in a few months, said Karen Richardson, a Wake Forest spokeswoman. It should cost less than $300.

This is, some medical experts say, a first taste of what is expected to be a revolution in medical prognostication. The results, they agree, are clear. But the question is what happens next. And will patients be helped or harmed? Because the new test — which will analyze DNA in blood or saliva samples and is to be offered by ProActive Genetics — cannot predict which men will get aggressive cancers, it could lead to more screening and unnecessary surgery and complications. But, proponents say, it could also help men decide whether they want aggressive screening in the first place.

Aspirin could hinder prostate cancer therapy

Doctors are investigating whether low-dose aspirin could interfere with some prostate cancer treatments.

Many older people take a daily baby aspirin to reduce their risk of a heart attack. In a letter published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, doctors from Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Connecticut describe a study of men taking hormone therapy for prostate cancer.

Is There an Anti-Cancer Diet?

Certain fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of cancer and may even help stop cancer in its tracks, according to new research.

While there's not really an "anticancer diet," eating plenty of certain fruits and vegetables can help reduce your risk of getting cancer, researchers reported today at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Philadelphia.

Their findings confirm and strengthen previous research that have linked a high intake of fruits and vegetables with a reduced cancer risk.

Extra Weight Increases Prostate Cancer Patients' Risk of Dying

Overweight men are more likely to die of prostate cancer within five years of diagnosis than those who are thinner, according to a study in the U.S.

Extra fat raised the risk of dying from the disease by 52 percent and obesity increased it to 64 percent, after researchers adjusted for some other medical reasons, scientists reported in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Cancer.

Study: Exercise Slows Prostate Cancer

If you want to lower your risk of dying from prostate cancer, it's time to get moving. A study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine found vigorous exercise - and lots of it - can help slow the progression of prostate cancer in older men.

Prostate-Specific Antigen Velocity and the Detection of Gleason Score 7 to 10

An increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) velocity is associated with a shorter survival after local therapy for prostate cancer. In this study, the authors evaluated whether PSA velocity was associated with prostate cancer detection and grade at diagnosis after adjusting for established predictors.

Foods Impact Prostate Cancer's Progression

Eating tomatoes and fish, keeping a healthy weight and avoiding meats cooked at high temperatures may help men alleviate prostate cancer, U.S. researchers say.
   
"What we're trying to determine is if men with low grade prostate cancer can manage their disease with these kinds of nutritional interventions and delay or avoid the need for more aggressive treatments, all of which carry a risk of side effects that can adversely affect physical function and quality of life," June Chan of the University of California San Francisco said in a statement.

New Drug Promising Against Tough-to-Treat Kidney Cancer

An experimental drug called axitinib shows promise for treating people with what's known as cytokine-refractory metastatic kidney cancer -- a group of patients who typically have a poor response to drug treatment.

Axitinib is a selective inhibitor of cancer-linked proteins known as vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2 and 3.

Prostate Cancer Increases Hip Fracture Risk By Eight Times In 50 To 65 Year-olds

Men who have prostate cancer are on average four times more likely to suffer a hip fracture, with rates rising to eight times in men aged 50 to 65, according to a study of more than 60,000 men published in the October issue of the urology journal BJU International.

They discovered that prostate cancer made men 1.8 times more likely overall to suffer a fracture and 3.7 times as likely to suffer from a hip fracture. But the hip fracture risk was eight times higher in men from 50 to 65 years of age. No increased risk of vertebral fractures was found by the research.