BJU international
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To look at the role and safety of ureteroscopy for stone management in obese patients. ⋯ Retrograde stone treatment using ureteroscopy is a safe and efficient modality for treating obese patients with urinary tract calculi with an increased efficiency with smaller stones less than 2 cm in size.
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What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The additional use of anti-androgen (deferred combined androgen blockade [CAB] therapy) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) initially treated with androgen deprivation monotherapy (ADMT) can provide a clinical response, although the reported response rates vary widely. Our previous study, which reported a response rate of 66% to deferred CAB therapy, suggested that deferred CAB responders would also respond better to subsequent therapies than non-responders because the difference in cancer-specific survival between the deferred CAB responders and the non-responders was much larger than the progression-free survival rates for the responders. The present study showed that PSA response to deferred CAB therapy predicts clinical outcomes after subsequent oestrogen and docetaxel therapy. We propose that PSA response to deferred CAB be used for planning individualized treatment that includes secondary hormonal therapy and chemotherapy. ⋯ PSA response to deferred CAB predicts clinical outcomes after subsequent oestrogen and docetaxel therapies in patients with CRPC, and provides useful information for planning individualized optimum treatment courses that include secondary hormonal therapy and chemotherapy.
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Comparative Study
Flexible ureterorenoscopy versus extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for treatment of lower pole stones of 10-20 mm.
What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Shock wave lithotripsy and flexible ureterorenoscopy are acceptable treatment options for lower pole stones smaller than 10 mm, while percutaneous nephrolithotomy is the favoured treatment for stones larger than 20 mm. For treatment of lower pole stones of 10-20 mm, flexible ureterorenoscopy has a significantly higher stone-free rate and lower retreatment rate than shock wave lithotripsy. ⋯ For treatment of lower pole stones of 10-20 mm, F-URS provided significantly higher stone-free rate and lower retreatment rate compared with ESWL. The incidence of complications after F-URS was not significantly more than after ESWL.
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What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? To date, there has been limited impetus to examine the use of cytarabine in prostate cancer. We presented preliminary laboratory data to suggest its utility in the castration refractory prostate cancer (CRPC) population which, combined with a previous case report, suggested it may have hitherto unrecognized utility in this setting. Embedded in this study was peripheral blood sampling for TMPRSS2-ERG and SPINK1, two genes that are believed to define prostate cancer genotypes, to assess their utility as biomarkers This study suggests that at the delivered doses, cytarabine has limited efficacy and significant myelotoxicity suggesting, it does not have a role in the treatment of docetaxel-refractory CRPC. The presence of serum TMPRSS2-ERG and SPINK1 mRNA biomarkers recovered from blood suggest that their analysis is worthy of further study. ⋯ Cytarabine at the doses used is ineffective for men with CRPC. Blood mRNA levels of prostate cancer genes may represent a novel aspect of monitoring prostate cancer and have implications for the understanding of tumour-derived mRNA.
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What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Finasteride (Proscar) and dutasteride (Avodart) are 5-α reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) used to treat LUTS in men with benign prostatic enlargement. Because these drugs suppress androgens, the theory has been put forward that 5-ARIs might prevent the development of prostate cancer. Careful analysis of two randomized controlled trials, however, showed that, in the clinical setting, this was not the case, and that these drugs can increase the occurrence of more aggressive high-grade disease. Because of this, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not approve 5-ARIs for the primary prevention of prostate cancer and notified healthcare professionals about a change in the 'Warnings and Precautions' for these drugs. Interest remains among some for using 5-ARIs in men diagnosed with very low-risk prostate cancer to delay the progression from clinically indolent disease to clinically significant disease requiring treatment. The present study investigated whether 5-ARI use among men with very low-risk prostate cancer in an active surveillance (AS) programme would reduce the number of cancers reclassified to clinically significant disease on surveillance biopsy. Our results do not support the use of 5-ARIs for slowing or preventing cancer progression in men with low-risk prostate cancer, but do suggest that men with very low-risk prostate cancer who take 5-ARIs for LUTS are unlikely to be at increased risk for the development of high grade disease during AS. ⋯ Treatment with 5-ARIs did not significantly alter the outcome of biopsy reclassification by grade in men with very low-risk prostate cancer.