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August 2008 Issue of Renal And Urology News

World Literature Review

Parenteral Estrogen An Option for Metastatic PCa

Parenteral estrogen therapy with high-dose polyestradiol phosphate (PEP, Estradurin) has anticancer efficacy similar to that of combined androgen deprivation (CAD) in patients with metastatic prostate ...

Renal Impairment Increases Risk of Acute Renal Failure

CKD increases the risk of hospital-acquired acute renal failure (ARF), a study shows. The greater the degree of underlying renal impairment, the greater the ARF ...

FDA News

Fixed-Dose Combination Tablet Approved for Type 2 Diabetes

Sciele Pharma, Inc., of Atlanta and Novo Nordisk Inc., of Denmark, have announced approval for PrandiMet (repaglinide and metformin HCl) tablets, the first and only ...

New Indication for Combo to Treat Enlarged Prostate

GlaxoSmithKline has received a new indication for Avodart (dutasteride) in combination with the alpha blocker tamsulosin for the treatment of symptomatic enlarged prostate, a disease ...

Compact, Coding-Free Glucose Monitor Cleared

Arkray USA, Inc., of Edina, Minn., has been cleared by the FDA to market its Glucocard 01 Blood Glucose Monitoring System, which requires no coding, ...

Warning Added to Labeling of Diabetic Ulcer Cream

The FDA announced the addition of a boxed warning to the label of Regranex Gel 0.01% (becaplermin), a topical cream indicated for treatment of non-healing ...

Integrated Meter/Pump System Okayed for Insulin Delivery

Animas Corporation of West Chester, Pa., has received clearance for its OneTouch Ping Glucose Management System, with the first full-feature insulin pump that wirelessly communicates ...

Legal Issues

Prostate Cancer Patient Sues Over Late Diagnosis

For more than 30 years, most of the patients in Dr. R's thriving primary care practice had been of retirement age. Now that he was ...

Renal Nutrition Update

How Vitamin D May Help CKD Patients

Deficiency in 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is common in CKD. Although the endocrine functions of vitamin D in bone mineral metabolism are well known, the effects ...

Your Money

How to Profit From Rise in Energy Costs

HIGH GASOLINE prices are infuriating motorists, but for investors in energy stocks, the rocketing cost of fuel has been a blessing. With profits growing, shares ...

Time to Consider Emerging Market Bonds?

DURING THE first quarter of 2008, bond markets went haywire. With investors increasingly worried about defaults, the average high-yield corporate-bond fund lost 3.6%, according to ...

General News

Antihypertensive Agents Found to Slow GFR Decline

TORONTO—Patients treated with antihypertensive agents experience slower declines in renal function, new data show.

Baseline PSA Value Can Predict PCa Up to 30 Years Later

ORLANDO—Premalignant phases of prostate cancer occur over long periods of time and a single PSA measurement taken at age 44-50 can help predict prostate cancer ...

Beta Blocker Meets Stricter Criterion

NEW ORLEANS—Two pooled analyses of the newest beta blocker, nebivolol, demonstrate that it is effective as once daily monotherapy in stage 1 and 2 hypertension ...

Bladder Trauma in Iraqi Civilians Examined

ORLANDO—Penetrating injuries from bullets or metal fragments from explosive devices are the most common cause of civilian bladder trauma in Iraq, according to Firas Ghanim ...

Bone Markers May Aid PCa Management

CHICAGO—Bone remodeling markers may be useful for diagnosing and following prostate and breast cancer patients with bone metastases, according to researchers.

Combination Improves Renal Graft Function, Study Shows

TORONTO—Twelve-month results of the Spare-the-Nephron study show that a regimen that spares calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) can improve renal allograft function and glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

Data Support Prednisolone Use For Gout

A short course of a corticosteroid could supplant nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as the medication of choice to treat gout, Dutch researchers suggest.

Even Brief Lithium Exposure Can Harm

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Impaired renal function is a well-known side effect of lithium, which has been used since the 1950s to treat acute episodes of mania ...

Experimental Drug Benefits Type 2 Diabetics

SAN FRANCISCO—New results from a phase III trial demonstrate that the investigational once-weekly formulation of exenatide, an incretin mimetic agent, provides sustained glucose control and ...

Expert Panel Defines Premature Ejaculation

ORLANDO—For the first time, clinicians have an evidence-based definition of premature ejaculation (PE).

Gene Therapy Shows Promise for ED

ORLANDO—Injections of the Maxi-K gene into the penis of men with erectile dysfunction (ED) appears to be safe and shows potential for improving erectile function, ...

Insurers Should Cover Post-Op ED Treatment

ORLANDO—Men who experience erectile dysfunction (ED) following prostate cancer surgery usually do not have coverage for ED treatment even though their insurance policies cover surgery ...

Lower BP Goal in Black CKD Patients

NEW ORLEANS—An extended follow-up of patients in the African American Study of Kidney Disease (AASK) confirms that ACE inhibitors work better than amlodipine in treating ...

LUTS Identified As Risk Factor for Falls

ORLANDO—Elderly men with moderate or severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are at significantly greater risk for falls, and the risk dramatically increases as the ...

More Home Dialysis at Larger Centers

TORONTO—Dialysis centers that serve more than 62 patients and those with a late shift have higher proportions of patients receiving home dialysis, as do centers ...

Most Graft Failure Causes Identifiable

TORONTO—Study results confirm the wisdom of an expert consensus that nephrologists should not overuse the diagnosis of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN).

Vitamin E Aids Dialysis Patients

Vitamin E-coated dialysis membranes (VECMs) may improve outcomes in hemodialysis patients, Italian researchers reported in the International Journal of Artificial Organs (2008;31:545-552).

CIT and Renal Graft Failure

Prolonged cold ischemia time (CIT) independently increases the risk of renal graft failure in patients who receive kidneys from donors younger than 50 years, according ...

PCA3 Urine Test Superior

The prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) urine test is superior to percent-free PSA in predicting prostate biopsy outcome, data show.

ACE Inhibitors, ARBs Cut Mortality in PD Patients

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients treated with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have a 62% reduced risk of death compared with PD patients not ...

AST Launches Paid-Leave Campaign for Living Donors

The American Society of Transplantation (AST) has launched an outreach campaign to encourage employers to grant paid leave to workers who act as live organ ...

Diuretic Improves ESWL Outcomes

Adding a diuretic to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) improves ureteral stone fragmentation and clearance, researchers reported in the Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and ...

RCC Vaccine of No Benefit, Study Finds

Vitespen (Oncophage), an experimental vaccine, does not prevent renal cell carcinoma (RCC) recurrence or improve survival, researchers reported in The Lancet (2008; published online ahead ...

Normal ACR Can Raise Risk of High BP

HYPERTENSION IS more likely to develop in women with high but normal albumin/creatinine ratios (ACRs) than in women with lower ACRs, according to a new ...

Novel Oral Diabetes Drug Promising

SAN FRANCISCO—The investigational agent saxagliptin, which belongs to a new class of anti-diabetic drugs that is taken orally rather than by injection, is effective and ...

Polypharmacy Common in Women with CKD

TORONTO—Nearly one third of women with CKD are taking at least five medications, according to researchers.

Researchers: Delay Post-Tx Pregnancy

TORONTO—Women who become pregnant in the first or second year after kidney transplantation are placing themselves at a significant risk of graft loss, a study ...

Researchers Regenerate Entire Urinary Bladder

ORLANDO—Researchers have succeeded in regenerating an entire urinary bladder in large mammals, according to new study findings presented here at the American Urological Association annual ...

Sagopilone May Quell Metastatic PCa

CHICAGO—Sagopilone, the first in a new class of microtubule stabilizer drugs, may be effective as part of first-line treatment for men with metastatic androgen-independent prostate ...

Shock Wave Therapy May Ease CPPS

EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK wave therapy (ESWT) may hold promise as a treatment for chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), researchers reported in BJU International (2008; online ahead ...

Single-Dose Chemo for Testicular Tumors

CHICAGO—The first randomized trial to evaluate the long-term outcome of a single dose of chemotherapy for early-stage testicular tumors suggests that this approach is safe ...

Study Links PSA Levels, Cholesterol

ORLANDO—Serum cholesterol levels may have a role in prostate biology, according to a study.

Study Probes Costs of Diabetic Neuropathy

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Diabetics with neuropathy use more health- care resources than diabetics without this complication. In addition, among patients with diabetic neuropathy, those with comorbid de-pression ...

Target Microalbuminuria Aggressively

NEW ORLEANS—Microalbuminuria is a biomarker for vascular disease and warrants aggressive treatment, which may prevent progression to overt nephropathy and reduce the risk of cardiovascular ...

Testosterone Affects Survival in Advanced PCa

The lower the testosterone level achieved in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for advanced prostate cancer, the better their chances of survival, an Italian ...

Urinalysis Not Helpful

Researchers have found that the absence or presence of microhematuria does not accurately predict whether a distal ureteral stone is still present or has passed, ...

Cover Articles

PCa Relapse Risk Linked to Cholesterol

ORLANDO - Elevated cholesterol levels may increase a man's risk of prostate cancer recurrence following radical prostatectomy, data suggest.

Donors Do Well Long Term

TORONTO—Long-term data show that kidney donors have a lifespan and hypertension rate comparable to the general population.

Difficult RCC Cases Respond to New Drug

CHICAGO—Everolimus, an experimental targeted therapy, significantly delays progression of metastatic kidney cancer in patients whose disease has worsened despite treatment, according to results of a ...

Commentary

In Clinical Trials, Does One Size Fit All?

Practicing evidence-based medicine can be difficult in nephrology, where randomized controlled trials are few and far between. In general, the more that trials use hard ...