[Recent advances and trends in the therapies for benign prostatic hyperplasia]

A number of new treatment modalities for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have been introduced in these days: for example, laser ablation, alpha-adrenergic blocker, antiandrogens, hyperthermia, stenting and balloon dilation. The author basically mentioned the personal experiences in some of these modalities, and gave a general review on their effectiveness and safety. Also pointed out were a variety of problems, important but sometimes ignored, in the evaluation of treatments for BPH, including severity grading of BPH, response criteria of effectiveness, method for proper selection of treatment.