The American Urological Association (AUA) will co-host two FDA public workshops to address research in the areas of bladder and prostate cancer. The events, free and open to the public, will take place in San Diego on May 5 and May 6, during the AUA's annual scientific meeting.

These educational workshops are designed to provide beneficial and comprehensive information on clinical trials to both medical professionals and the general public. Panels will discuss trial designs and study endpoints for prostate and bladder cancer trials, as well as strategies to foster clinical cancer research.

The first event, "Clinical Trial Design Issues: Drug and Device Development for Localized Prostate Cancer" will be held on May 5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature key leaders in the field of prostate cancer, including physicians, advocates and industry representatives from a variety of specialties, including urology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, biostatistics and experts in clinical trial methodology. The second, "Clinical Trial Design Issues: Development of New Therapies for Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer" will take place on May 6 from 1 p.m.

to 5 p.m. Both events will be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego.

"The overall objective of this workshop is to discuss and develop new pathways for drug approval in localized prostate and bladder cancer," said Dr. Johannes Vieweg, chair of the AUA's Research Council. Drug or device development is currently hampered by a lack of validated clinical trial endpoints and this workshop is designed to aid with accelerating the pipeline of new drugs and devices with benefit to our patients.

More information about the prostate cancer workshop can be found online by visiting the FDA website.