Volume 9 Issue 3, March 2012

One very important issue faced by clinicians managing patients with prostate cancer is whether after initiating a man on a pure luteinizing-hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonist, he should then be switched to a longer-acting depot LHRH agonist. New evidence suggests that this therapeutic approach is both safe and effective.

Assessment of the clinical validity of the 2004 WHO grading system for bladder cancer staged pTa revealed three important aspects: the presence of substantial interobserver variability; that tumor grade is analogous to stage; and that the system has prognostic value (as low-grade tumors progress, but do so sporadically).

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common problem experienced by women. A recent research article examined the outcomes of women with POP treated with laparoscopic promontofixation. This technique—a relatively new approach to POP surgery—was associated with symptom improvements and a low rate of recurrence.

What is the optimum technique for delivering botulinum toxin to the bladder? Injection techniques vary worldwide and are unstandardized, and there is no consensus regarding whether technique actually matters. Most specialists believe that location and depth of injection is unlikely to alter efficacy, but studies have both confirmed and disputed these opinions.

Rosen and colleagues discuss some of the recently published and ongoing studies that have provided noteworthy insights into the expression of the ERG oncoprotein in prostate cancer. They describe the available monoclonal antibodies and consider the clinical potential of ERG protein detection in the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.

In the past few decades, the global incidence of urolithiasis in children—associated with considerable morbidity and recurrence—has increased considerably. In this Review the authors discuss the reasons behind this, the causative risk factors of pediatric urolithiasis, as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes such asSETD2, KDM6A, KDM5C and PBRM1 has been reported in renal cell carcinoma (RCC)—notably, the proteins encoded by these genes are involved in histone and chromatin regulation. Here, Larkin et al. discuss the role of histone and chromatin regulation in RCC biology and how understanding of epigenetic mechanisms might identify novel therapeutic targets in RCC.

In this thorough and comprehensive Review, Singh and colleagues describe a number of physical deformities associated with the testes, scrotum, epididymis, vasa deferentia, ejaculatory ducts and prostate that either commonly occur in infertile men or are potentially associated with male infertility. They include brief outlines of the available treatment options.