Review Articles in 2012

Men with prostate cancer often respond to androgen-deprivation therapy only to later relapse and develop lethal castration-resistant disease. Two models-adaptation and selection-have been described to explain how the disease progresses to this stage. In this Review, the authors describe each model and show that both models might contribute to advanced prostate cancer.

Screening for prostate cancer is a controversial topic within the field of urology. Instead of adopting a 'one size fits all' approach, physicians are likely to perform personalized risk assessment to minimize the risk of negative consequences, such as anxiety, unnecessary testing and biopsies, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment. In this Review, Monique J. Roobol and Sigrid J. Carlsson focus on the effects of shifts in attitude towards PSA testing on risk stratification.

Long-term survival rates for patients with the most common childhood genitourinary cancers—Wilms tumour, rhabdomyosarcoma and germ cell tumour (GCT)—are generally excellent, which has highlighted the need to minimize the long-term complications of treatments. In this Review, the authors discuss the late effects of treating these childhood cancers and consider the need for regular surveillance of childhood cancer survivors.

The diagnosis and treatment of bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) is hampered by the lack of knowledge of basic urinary bladder function and pathophysiology. Consequently, most therapies are off label. In this Review, the authors bring together the available data on intravesical treatments for BPS/IC and discuss the need for more high-quality randomized controlled trials.

Oxidative stress is the central element contributing to infertility in men with varicocele, to which the testis responds by way of a number of mechanisms, including heat stress. In this comprehensive Review, Agarwal et al. discuss these responses, which have their own implications in exacerbating the underlying oxidative stress and on the subsequent infertility.

In this Review, Elashry and Tawfik evaluate recent developments regarding instruments (occlusion devices and accessories) and techniques for preventing upward stone migration during ureteroscopic lithotripsy, with a particular focus on technical applications.

Current evidence suggests that oxidative stress is the central element contributing to infertility in men with varicocele. In this second part of their two-part Review, Hamada et al. discuss the clinical parameters and treatment options for men with varicocele-associated male infertility, focussing on alleviating oxidative stress as the major parameter and target for therapy.

Bladder function is often compromised in juvenile patients with posterior urethral valves (PUV). Although many surgical options are available to treat this condition in infancy, individuals often have risk factors for sexual and fertility dysfunctions later in life, such as cryptorchidism and renal failure. In this Review, Taskinen et al. discuss these risk factors in detail.

In this Review, Boyd and colleagues provide a comprehensive overview of the complex genetic landscape of prostate cancer and the extensive heterogeneity that defines this disease. In addition, they discuss the clinical utility of genomics data.

In this Review, Ochodnicky and colleagues discuss the clinical and experimental evidence that supports a role for neurotrophins in the neural control of bladder function and in the emergence of lower urinary tract symptoms related to overactive bladder (OAB) and bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis. They also consider the potential utility of neurotrophins as urinary biomarkers for improving the accuracy of OAB diagnosis and monitoring therapy efficacy, and review proof-of-principle clinical evidence that confirms nerve growth factor as a potential target in the treatment of bladder disorders.

In this Review, Furtado and colleagues evaluate the different treatment approaches available to patients with gender dysphoria secondary to congenital adrenal hyperplasia and other disorders of sex development.

Aberrant epigenetic mechanisms have been implicated in impaired spermatogenesis, abnormal semen parameters and idiopathic male fertility. This Review covers the unique features of sperm chromatin, the methods used to analyse epigenetics in sperm and the possible roles of the sperm epigenome in early embryo development and assisted reproduction.

A consensus definition for urinary intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) is lacking. As a result, studies evaluating the success of any treatment for ISD are difficult to interpret. In this Review, Shah and Gaunay examine surgical and nonsurgical treatments, and the outcomes, for type III stress urinary incontinence caused by ISD.

Georgiadis et al. provide a comprehensive description of the available animal and human literature on sexual reward and sexual incentive motivation, highlighting the major points of convergence and divergence across species. They discuss a neural concept of human sexual behavioural control and suggest novel testable hypotheses for future sex research.

In this Review, Cho comprehensively explores the diverse characteristics of the reproductive ADAMs (with specific or predominant expression in testis or epididymis) at the gene, protein, cellular, and functional levels. He provides a detailed account of recent advances in our understanding of the involvement of ADAM protein complexes in the process of fertilization, largely derived from gene knockout studies in mice.

Biomaterials can be used as a scaffold for regenerative stem cells to regrow the urinary bladder after resection for cancer treatment. Such engineered tissues show promise in urologic tissue regeneration, but are faced with a number of challenges. In this Review, the authors discuss these challenges and the potential of various cell sources for use in bladder regeneration.

In this Review, Ho et al. discuss historical perspectives and recent progress in the study of normal urothelial and neoplastic bladder stem cells. In particular, they focus on developments in stem cell isolation, molecular characterization, and global gene expression profiling.

In this Review, Kayes and colleagues discuss the aetiology, diagnosis and treatment options for congenital micropenis, acquired micropenis and penile dysmorphic disorder, including both nonsurgical and surgical techniques. They evaluate the role of phalloplasty and penile replacement surgery including transplantation, in this challenging clinical area.

Owing to the expansive nervous components participating in the ejaculation reflex, that multiple neurotransmitters are involved is unsurprising. In this Review, the authors focus on the endocrine control of the ejaculatory reflex and suggest that widely available endocrine therapies might be effective in treating sexual disorders such as premature ejaculation.

Robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) is gaining popularity for use in low-risk patients with bladder cancer as an alternative to open radical cystectomy (ORC). In this Review, Azzouni considers the techniques of RARC and ORC and discusses RARC in terms of learning curve, perioperative, pathologic and oncologic outcomes, cost and quality of life.