To relieve the patients who have undergone prostate cancer surgery from the pain of recovery, doctors at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed an approach which is patient-friendly in the sense that it eliminates the use of a penile urinary catheter. The novel technique which is used along with robotic prostatectomy (the surgical removal of the prostate) does away with the discomfort that is associated with the standard catheter. In this approach, urine is redirected from the bladder through a narrow tube that goes out through a small needle puncture below the gut.

The value of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer has declined following changes in medical practice, according to a new study. Study author Dr. Douglas S. Scherr said that the PSA test is still very predictive in men with an abnormal digital rectal examination, while for men with a normal digital rectal examination, the test’s predictive accuracy has declined. For the latter category of men, doctors are opting for biopsies and are using improved biopsy techniques.