The AVOCAT study: Bicalutamide monotherapy versus combined bicalutamide plus dutasteride therapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the prostate-a long-term follow-up comparison and quality of life analysis.

Purpose: Compare the efficacy and tolerability of dutasteride in combination with bicalutamide to bicalutamide monotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods: One-hundred-fifty PCa patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg once daily (79 patients) or bicalutamide 150 mg plus dutasteride 0.5 mg once daily (71 patients).

Patterns of outcome and toxicity after salvage prostatectomy, salvage cryosurgery and salvage brachytherapy for prostate cancer recurrences after radiation therapy: a multi-center experience and literature review.

Purpose: Current salvage treatments for recurrent prostate cancer after primary radiation therapy include radical prostatectomy, cryosurgery and brachytherapy. Because toxicity and failure rates are considerable, salvage treatments are not commonly performed. As most centers perform only one preferred salvage technique, the literature only describes single-center outcomes from a single salvage technique with a limited number of patients.

Management of adult anterior urethral stricture disease: nationwide survey among urologists in the Netherlands.

Background: Adult anterior urethral stricture disease is most often treated with dilatation or direct vision internal urethrotomy (DVIU). Although evidence suggests that anastomotic urethroplasty for short bulbar strictures is more efficient and cost effective in the long term, no consensus exists. It is unclear by whom and how often urethroplasties are performed in The Netherlands and how results are being evaluated.

In vivo bladder cancer diagnosis by high-volume Raman spectroscopy.

We studied the feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for the diagnosis of bladder cancer in vivo. Since the invasion stage is crucial for the treatment choice, a high-volume based Raman probe was used to investigate the potential of determining the invasiveness of bladder cancer. High quality spectra were obtained from suspicious and nonsuspicious bladder locations during the procedure of transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT) with collection times of 1-5 s.

Treatment of ureteropelvic junction obstruction using a detachable inflatable stent: initial experience.

Objective: We describe a new method for treating ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction using a detachable inflatable stent positioned via a cystoscopic transvesicular approach.

Conclusion: Eleven patients with UPJ obstruction were treated using a detachable inflatable stent, 64% of whom experienced complete pain relief. In 82% of patients, no obstruction was seen on renograms obtained after the procedure.

Late coronary stent thrombosis complicating urologic surgery.

The current practice of withdrawing antiplatelet therapy before major surgery has been challenged by the introduction of coronary drug-eluting stents (DESs) since evidence is accumulating that a DES requires dual antiplatelet therapy for at least a year. The authors present a case demonstrating difficulty in decision-making when it comes to appropriate perioperative antiplatelet therapy. The patient experienced a coronary stent thrombosis possibly due to discontinuation of clopidogrel prior to urologic surgery.