European urology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Adjuvant hormonal treatment with radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer.
Long-term results of radiotherapy in locally advanced prostate cancer are poor due to local and distant failures. Since prostate cancer is hormone dependent, tumor androgen deprivation may enhance tumor eradication. ⋯ Androgen suppression prior to and during radiation improves disease-free survival; adjuvant hormonal therapy with an LH-RHa during and after radiation improves overall survival.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Primary endoscopic treatment of ureteric calculi. A review of 378 cases.
In the post-ESWL period, ureteroscopy represented the solution giving a second choice in the treatment of ureteral calculi in case of failure of extracorporeal lithotripsy. The aim of this study is to review a wide series of ureteral stones in which ureteroscopy combined with endoscopic lithotripsy can be chosen as the first approach for the treatment of ureteral calculi. ⋯ Ureteroscopy with miniscopes has a high success rate (93.6%) with low morbidity and can be given as a primary approach in the management of ureteral calculi. In the lumbar ureter (especially in women) this technique can represent a good alternative to ESWL in the treatment of obstructing stones (which need stenting) or when the patient asks for a 'one-shot' treatment.
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Comparative Study
Prostate cancer screening in Tyrol, Austria: experience and results.
This article summarizes the experience and results of different prostate carcinoma screening projects using total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and percent free PSA as the initial test. ⋯ (1) of the 21,079 volunteers, 1,618 (8%) had elevated PSA levels. Of these men, 778 (48%) underwent biopsies; 197 biopsies were positive for prostate carcinoma and 135 underwent radical prostatectomy. Ninety-five were found to be organ-confined. (2) A PSA cut-off of 2.5 ng/ml in men aged 45-49 years and of 3.5 ng/ml in men aged 50-59 years resulted in an 8% increase in the detection rate of organ-confined disease. (3) Of the 2,272 men, 284 had elevated PSA levels and prostate carcinoma was detected in 62 men. All patients underwent radical prostatectomy and histologic examination revealed organ-confined tumor in all but 8 men. (4) Ninety-eight of 340 men had biopsies positive for carcinoma; 28 of these patients (28.5%) had carcinoma that originated in the transition zone only. (5) In the retrospective study, receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that by using a percent free PSA of 18% as a biopsy criterion, 37% of the negative biopsies could be eliminated although 94% of all carcinomas would still be detected. In the first prospective study, 106 of 158 men with elevated PSA levels <10.0 ng/ml were further evaluated and 37 prostate carcinomas were detected. By using a % free PSA of <22% as a biopsy criterion, 30% of the negative biopsies could be eliminated although 98% of the carcinomas would still be detected. In the second prospective study, 120 of 465 men with total PSA levels between 1.25 and 6.49 ng/ml and a % free PSA <18% were further evaluated and 27 (22.5%) were found to have prostate carcinomas. (6) Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis for PSA transition zone density showed that by using a PSA transition zone density of >22 ng/ml/cm3 as a biopsy criterion, 24.4% of negative biopsies could be avoided without missing a single carcinoma. (7) In the prescreening era the incidence of T1a grade 1 and 2 carcinomas was 3.1% and the incidence of T1a grade 3 and T1b carcinoma was 2.3% whereas in the years after the establishment of PSA-based screening the incidence was 4.6 and 1.03% respectively. (8) The rate of organ-confined tumors increased from 28.7% in 1993 to 65.7% in 1997. (9) In this evaluation a new approach to proceed with a prostate biopsy based upon the individual risk of having prostate cancer rath
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Comparative Study
Early prostate-specific antigen relapse after radical retropubic prostatectomy: prediction on the basis of preoperative and postoperative tumor characteristics.
This study was undertaken to distinguish between patients who will and will not benefit from a retropubic radical prostatectomy (RRP) for clinically localized prostatic carcinoma (PCa) on the basis of preoperative and postoperative tumor characteristics. ⋯ For preoperative and postoperative estimation of biochemical recurrence after RRP, a quantitative analysis of high-grade cancer, expressed by the number of preoperative biopsy cores containing high-grade cancer and the volume of cancer, proved to be the best predictor of relapse. CART analysis might be useful in advising patients for their best therapy options. However, defined characteristics of risk groups should be evaluated with new prospective data before they are used routinely.
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Intermittent hormonal treatment of prostate cancer was first developed based upon experimental study results. Using the Shionogi mouse breast cancer model, it was shown that the tumor grows rapidly in the presence of androgens, then undergoes apoptotic regression when androgens are removed. This apoptotic potential can be reinduced several times by cyclic replacement and withdrawal of androgens. These results led to the concept being evaluated in clinical trials. ⋯ These studies demonstrated that the androgen-dependent state of prostate cancer can be maintained during a course of intermittent androgen suppression, supporting the possibility of multiple apoptotic regressions under well-regulated conditions. Oliver et al. in 1997, conducted a retrospective study of 20 patients and concluded that intermittent androgen deprivation reduced induction of hormone-resistant prostate cancer, with no acute or major risk associated with the use of intermittent androgen suppression. More clinical studies are required to clarify the indication for intermittent hormone therapy and evaluate improvement in quality of life and survival. In the future, approaches to the improvement of therapeutic apoptosis could include intermittent hormone therapy, associated with additive cytotoxic therapeutic strategies.