NIH Launches New Study to Compare Prostate Surgery and Drugs
IN NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN MEDICINEThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) (www.nih.gov), is launching a study to compare surgeries and drugs for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Researchers will be investigating which treatments are most effective in the long run and which types of patients would be best served by drugs versus one of the minimally invasive therapies. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is investing more than $15 million in the study. Surgery Transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) and transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) use heat to destroy part of the enlarged prostate to improve urine flow and symptoms. Early studies suggest that these procedures reduce the occurrence of erection or bladder control side effects, which occur more often with the traditional surgery for BPH, known as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). TUNA and TUMT are said to be minimally invasive in part because they typically are done with local anesthesia and men go home the same day, whereas TURP requires general anesthesia and an overnight hospital stay. Medication As for drug therapy, a recently published large randomized study showed that a regimen of finasteride (Proscar) and the alpha-1 inhibitor doxazosin (Cardura) prevents progression of BPH in a significant percentage of symptomatic men and it helps men at high risk avoid surgery. The Study By July 2006, researchers plan to have recruited and randomly assigned more than 700 men with moderate to severe symptoms and no prior prostate surgery to one of the minimally invasive surgical therapies (MIST). The men, age 50 and over, will be followed closely for three to five years, until about July 2009, to see who develops urinary retention, urinary tract infection, or unacceptable incontinence after treatment; who needs more treatment; and whose symptoms don’t improve by at least 30 percent after treatment. If you are interested in learning more about PBH or possibly participating in the study, visit www.mistbph.org. Click the Men's Health link at the left of this article to view Strategies for a Healthy Prostate. © 2013. True North Custom Media. All Rights Reserved.
