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Cancer Issues: New Non-Invasive Cancer Treatment

(HealthNewsDigest.com) Ablatherm® HIFU, a non-invasive technique using high intensity focused ultrasound for treatment of prostate cancer is now available in North America at the Don Mills Surgical Unit in Toronto (www.hifu.ca). This proven prostate cancer treatment was developed in Europe and has been successfully used in over 9,000 patients.

Although it is not yet available in the United States, American patients are traveling to Canada to access this outpatient procedure that offers a faster recovery time with fewer complications than standard therapies for prostate cancer. U.S. Food & Drug Administration clinical trials are just getting underway at the present time.

Ablatherm® HIFU is a highly precise procedure using high intensity focused ultrasound to eliminate prostate cancer. Ninety per cent of patients can be treated by a single procedure lasting between 1 ½ to 3 hours. Patients are generally discharged a few hours after the procedure. There are fewer side effects with the Ablatherm® HIFU treatment than conventional treatments such as radical prostatectomy, radiation, and cryotherapy.

During the procedure an Ablatherm® HIFU probe is placed into the rectum after administration of spinal anesthesia. A high intensity focused beam of ultrasound is directed into the prostate which rapidly raises thetemperature of the prostate to 85 degrees Celsius and destroys the prostate tissue. By computer imaging, the prostate beam is focused to incorporate the entire prostate gland. The Ablatherm® HIFU procedure is completed without blood loss or exposure to radiation.

The treatment can be effectively used on patients with localized prostate cancer (clinical stage T-1 or T-2) who would otherwise be considered curable by radiation or radical surgery. This treatment can also be considered in patients who have received external beam radiation for localized prostate cancer but who have developed a recurrence without evidence of disease outside of the prostate.

Until recently, definitive treatment options for localized prostate cancer included either radical surgery, radiation, or cryotherapy. The surgical approach, known as a radical prostatectomy, requires the complete removal of the prostate including the seminal vesicles, deferent canals, and part of the bladder neck. This major surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia requires hospitalization for a number of days and usually a recovery time of at least 6 weeks. Complications can include permanent impotence and total incontinence.

External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) treatment is a non-invasive technique requiring high levels of radiation to be directed through the pelvis into the prostate. The daily treatments are completed in a cancer center over a 7-week period (35 treatments in total). Immediate complications include fatigue and weakness while long-term problems include erectile dysfunction and incontinence. Recent information suggests that external beam radiation for prostate cancer is associated with a 70% increased risk of rectal cancer.

Additional treatment options for localized prostate cancer include brachytherapy, a surgical procedure during which radioactive pellets are inserted into the diseased prostate gland, and cryotherapy, during which probes are surgically placed into the prostate and areas are frozen thus destroying portions of prostate tissue. Each of these procedures carries its own significant side effects including incontinence, impotence and severe pelvic pain and rectal injury in the case of cryotherapy.

A study published in the journal Urology (February, 2004; 63(2):297-300) showed that 93% of patients had negative biopsies and 87% had stable PSA levels (less than 1.0) with up to five year follow-up after treatment. Overall 90% of all patients treated with Ablatherm-HIFU require only one treatment and with complication rates lower than surgery, radiation, or cryotherapy.

Ablatherm HIFU has shown to be an effective treatment for recurrent prostate cancer. Recently published results in Urology (April, 2004; 63(4):625-9)
indicate that 71 consecutive unsuccessful external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) patients show 62% of patients had negative biopsies, stable psa results and zero rectal fistulae. The study reports that complication rates are significantly lower with Ablatherm HIFU than with salvage cryotherapy or salvage surgery. Unlike treatment with salvage cryotherapy or salvage surgery there have been zero incidents of rectal injury in patients treated
with Ablatherm HIFU since 2003.

For further information, please visit www.hifu.ca



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