UROLOGY NEWS

Men who receive some form of radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer have an elevated risk of later developing bladder and rectal cancers.

Combination therapy using targeted agents is a promising yet elusive target in renal cell carcinoma, but questions about toxicity and benefits versus monotherapy have been raised in other studies.

The bisphosphonate zoledronic acid (Zometa) offers significant benefit in lowering the skeletal-related events rate in patients with bony metastatic bladder cancer, according to results of a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Findings from a study of testicular cancer survivors add to existing evidence that cognitive impairment is a potential long-term risk of cancer chemotherapy.

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin remains the treatment of choice for bladder cancer in the United States, but more than half of patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancers will eventually fail BCG. Several promising alternative treatments are under development, but radical cystectomy remains the optimal choice for patients who fail BCG.

Results of a phase three study evaluating second-line chemotherapy with gemcitabine/paclitaxel for metastatic bladder cancer failed to answer its primary question of whether maintenance treatment is superior to a temporary six-cycle regimen because maintenance treatment was usually not possible. However specific subgroups of patients who may be more likely to benefit from this combination regimen after failing first-line chemotherapy.

Long-term results from Southwest Oncology Group trial S8949 confirm the original study finding that performing palliative debulking surgery prior to starting systemic therapy with interferon alfa-2b confers a survival benefit in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.