Greater Dietary fat intake is associated with a significantly increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) according to researchers of the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. (British Journal of Nutrition, 2008)
A phase III trial of GVAX immunotherapy (Cell Genesys, Inc.) for metastatic prostate cancer was discontinued due to the number of deaths during the study and insufficient evidence that it would be successful.
A study from John P. Mulhall at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York reports that websites marketing robotic prostatectomy are making claims about erectile function recovery for which there is no outcomes data to support the claims. Read more…
Doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital presented the results of their retrospective review of complications in over ten thousand prostatectomies, comparing standard open approach (RRP) to laparoscopic surgery whether by hand or robotic (LRP). Bleeding complications (i.e. requiring a transfusion or reoperation) were twice as great with LRP as with RRP until the surgeons experience improved, and then they are comparable. Serious complications of bowel obstruction, anesthesia -related complications and medical complications of pneumonia or acute renal failure were less frequent in standard open approach (RRP) than with LRP (hand or robotic) even when compared to very experienced robotic surgeons.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended that men age 75 years and older and men under age 75 with chronic medical problems and a life expectancy of fewer than 10 years not be screened for prostate caner (Ann Intern Med 2008; 149:185-91). This report received a lot of attention in the lay press; however, it is not new. Most in the urologic community have been making this same recommendation for the last 20 years. The key word here is screening. Screening specifically refers to asymptomatic men without significant risk factors for prostate cancer. Only about 10% of men older than 75 years will die of cancer and only 9% of men age 85 or older can expect to live 10 years or longer. This recommendation does not mean that men with a suspicious digital rectal exam, or significant new or continued voiding problems, should not have their PSA checked.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported this week the results of the Physicians’ Health Study II, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on vitamins E and C involving 14,641 male physicians in the US aged 50 years or older.
Conclusion - Neither vitamin E nor C supplementation reduced the risk of prostate or total cancer. These data provide no support for the use of these supplements for the prevention of cancer in middle-aged and older men. JAMA, 2009; 301(1):52-62
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported this week the results of the SELECT study. SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) was a randomized, placebo-controlled study of 35,533 men investigating the potential cancer preventing effects of these agents on prostate cancer.
Conclusion - Selenium or Vitamin E, alone or in comination at the doses and formulations used, did not prevent prostate cancer in this population of relatively healthy men. JAMA, 2009; 301(1): 39-51
A number of studies are underway investigating the use of new treatment modalities for patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer using one or a combination of the following agents:
Docetaxel (Taxotere) - a chemotherapeutic agent
Bevacizumab (Avastin) - a monoclonal antibody
Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) - a vaccine
GVAX immunotherapy cell lines
Dr. Soloway, professor and chairman of urology at the University of Miami recently reported a retrospective study of 243,082 men treated between 1988 and 2003 that showed those who had undergone external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy, or a combination of the two had a statistically significant increased risk of developing a bladder tumor or rectal cancer compared with those who had undergone radical prostatectomy. However, the absolute risk of developing either of these cancers remains low.
Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, and the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, both reported that viable prostate cancer was detected on histologic examination of the surgical specimen from about half of patients who underwent radical cystoprostatectomy for nonprostate cancer-related disease after having received definitive radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. Although these were small studies, the data suggest that radiation therapy does not eradicate all of the prostate cancer in half of the patients treated.