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Beaumont Urology Seeks Women
For Incontinence Study

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ould a one-a-day pill be the
answer for women with stress uri-
nary incontinence — a condition
resulting in leakage with coughing, sneez-
ing and laughing?
Urologists at Beaumont Hospital in
Royal Oak are seeking postmenopausal
women with stress urinary incontinence,
or SUI, for a research study of a compound
that may strengthen pelvic floor muscle
and reduce the leakage of urine. Beaumont
doctors are first in the U.S. to study the use
of enobosarm, an investigational medica-
tion to treat women’s SUI.
“Our hope is that this daily pill will
enhance the pelvic floor muscle and
reduce stress urinary incontinence in
women,” said Kenneth Peters, M.D.,
principal investigator and chief, Urology,
Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. “The
pelvic floor muscles are very important in
controlling urinary continence.”
Stress urinary incontinence affects about
13 million Americans. Most are women.
This unintentional leakage of urine affects
up to 35 percent of adult women.
Kathy Abourezk, 55, of Troy has lived
with SUI since 2007, and says it has gotten
worse. “It’s not predictable,” she said. “I

never know when I’ll have leakage.”
Along with coughing and sneezing, she
says her husband’s jokes make her laugh,
resulting in more urine leaks. Even move-
ment, like getting out of her car, is prob-
lematic.
“I would welcome a safe and effective
treatment option for stress urinary inconti-
nence, especially since existing nonsurgical
options like wearing pads or doing Kegel
exercises are extremely limited, and at
times, marginally effective,” Peters said.
When Abourzek found out she was a
candidate for the pill study, she was eager
to participate. “Surgery wasn’t something
I even considered,” she said. “I’m hopeful
this study medication will help me and
other women.”
The study is being conducted only at
Beaumont and is evaluating the effects
of orally administered enobosarm, 3mg
once a day for 90 days, in postmenopausal
women with SUI. Peters and his team plan
to enroll up to 35 women to test the safety
and effectiveness of enobosarm.
For details on the study and its crite-
ria, call Urology Research at (248) 551-
3355.

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Men Needed For Prostate
Study At Beaumont

R

esearchers at Beaumont hospitals
in Royal Oak and Troy are seeking
men with low- and intermediate-
risk prostate cancer for a study to deter-
mine the effectiveness of a one-time,
high-dose-rate radiation treatment. The
outpatient treatment is called single frac-
tion HDR brachytherapy.
“Presently, two separate minimally
invasive outpatient procedures, usually
performed two weeks apart, are considered
standard treatment for low- to intermedi-
ate-risk patients,” said Daniel Krauss, M.D.,
study investigator and radiation oncologist,
Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
The one-time HDR treatment is being
studied by Krauss as “definitive therapy,”
meaning it would be the only treatment a
patient needed to treat his cancer.
According to the American Cancer
Society, nearly 220,000 American men will
be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year.
After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the
most common cancer diagnosed nationally
among men. The prostate is part of a man’s
reproductive system.
“Our research team recently presented
the preliminary results of a similar study
at the national meeting of the American
Society for Therapeutic Radiology and
Oncology,” Krauss said. “The outcomes of
the first 58 patients treated definitively with

44 March 31 • 2016

the entire dose delivered in a single, outpa-
tient treatment demonstrated it was well
tolerated with few side effects. Follow-up
to date indicates promising cancer control
rates as well.”
Prostate HDR brachytherapy typically
takes two to three hours to perform from
the time anesthesia is given. Patients usu-
ally go home from the hospital the same
day. In contrast to permanent seed, or
low-dose rate brachytherapy, with HDR, no
radioactive material is left inside the patient
after the procedure.
Entire treatment delivery occurs in the
operating room under the direct supervi-
sion of the radiation oncologist and physics
staff to ensure total control and optimal
accuracy of the dose.
Eligible prostate cancer patients with
low- and intermediate-risk disease include
those with small tumors, stage T1-T2b;
no evidence of tumor spread beyond the
prostate, such as to lymph nodes or bone;
PSA value less than 15 and Gleason score
of 7 or less.
Contact Melissa Wienczewski at (248)
551-0736 or melissa.wienczewski@
beaumont.org. Eligible patients will
participate in the study for five years.
Participation will be offered at Beaumont
hospitals in Royal Oak and Troy.

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