An Alternative Approach to Prostate Cancer Treatment
Researchers have found that high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can access and target the particular few millimeter thick area of the prostate cancer resulting in its removal from the body.
In this study, researchers have reported that it could be the best alternative to surgery and radiotherapy for prostate cancer treatment. Moreover, this therapeutic strategy can also reduce the chances of incontinence and/or impotence. The high frequency sound waves produce vibrations in the tissues heating them up resulting in the death of cancer cells. This procedure is done with general anesthetic and many of the patients were able to leave the hospital within 24 hours.
"The results ... show that 12 months after treatment, none of the 41 men in the trial had incontinence of urine and just 1 in 10 suffered from poor erections - both common side effects of conventional treatment," said a statement.
"The majority of men (95 per cent) were also cancer-free after a year."
"Our results are very encouraging," said Dr Hashim Ahmed, who led the study.
"We're optimistic that men diagnosed with prostate cancer may soon be able to undergo a day case surgical procedure, which can be safely repeated once or twice, to treat their condition with very few side-effects. That could mean a significant improvement in their quality of life."
Britain's Medical Research Council has funded this research, which has been published online in the journal Lancet Oncology.
From here, I think that researchers can combine the use of the “Provenge” – recently approved alternative prostate cancer treatment – and HIFU to improve the therapeutic results in case of Prostate Cancer.
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