To ease the pain of recovery following prostate cancer surgery, physician-scientists have developed an innovative and patient-friendly approach that eliminates the use of a penile urinary catheter.

Men over 70 years of age with early-stage prostate cancer have 20 percent higher mortality if they are treated first with hormone therapy before being treated with radiation seed implants (brachytherapy), compared to men who are treated with brachytherapy alone, according to the largest cohort study of its kind presented September 23, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

A new Fox Chase Cancer Center study suggests men with early stage prostate cancer treated with radiation therapy should begin hormone therapy immediately if their PSA level rises quickly and doubles within six months at any time after treatment.

Doctors have created a free online computer tool, the CaP Calculator, that provides cancer specialists access to the latest prostate cancer research and helps them better individiualize each patient's treatment options, according to a study presented in a scientific session on September, 23, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

For men with locally advanced prostate cancer the addition of radiation treatment to anti-androgen hormone therapy reduces the risk of dying of prostate cancer by 50 percent compared to those who have anti-androgen hormone treatment alone, according to a randomized study presented September 22, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

When the American Urological Association (AUA) guideline on the Management of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: 2007 Update was published, insufficient information was available to include cryosurgery in the data analysis.

Gene activity in prostate cancer is reminiscent of that in the developing fetal prostate, providing further evidence that all cancers are not equal, Johns Hopkins researchers report. The finding could help scientists investigate how to manipulate the genetic program to fight a disease whose biology remains poorly understood despite more than half a century of investigation.

Regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen, may reduce serum levels of the prostate biomarker, PSA (prostate specific antigen), and hence may alter the detection of prostate cancer in individuals who take these medications.

Common painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen appear to lower a man's PSA level, the blood biomarker widely used by physicians to help gauge whether a man is at risk of prostate cancer.

Men who have too much calcium in their bloodstreams may have an increased risk of fatal prostate cancer, according to a new analysis from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin.

A man's height is a modest marker for risk of prostate cancer development, but is more strongly linked to progression of the cancer, say British researchers who conducted their own study on the connection and also reviewed 58 published studies.

Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues who are studying a prostate cancer gene called HNF1B have found a second independent site within the HNF1B gene on chromosome 17 (17q12) – increasing the number of genetic variants that may contribute to risk of developing the disease.