Ultrasound – for prostate cancer
British scientists minimized side effects
in the treatment of prostate cancer by ultrasound
The results of the work of Hashim Ahmed and his colleagues from University College London are published in the journal Lancet Oncology (Focal therapy for localized unifocal and multifocal prostate cancer: a prospective development study).
During clinical trials, surgeons used the technique of focal therapy (removal of the tumor without removing the entire organ), based on the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).
Hashim Ahmed with the HIFU device. Image from the website oddonion.com .
A high-intensity ultrasonic wave, acting on the tissue, leads to mechanical damage to the cells. Such a wave is directed to a small area segment and quickly spreads to the surrounding tissue, while it can lead to a sharp increase in temperature (up to 70-100 ° C) within a few seconds, destroying a clearly defined tissue zone, while the surrounding areas remain unaffected. Therefore, patients are under general anesthesia during treatment sessions. HIFU is undergoing clinical trials in various fields of urology.
British scientists have used the technique to treat tumors with a diameter of several millimeters. Traditional treatment affects the entire prostate gland, which undergoes either radiation therapy or complete surgical removal. The most common side effects of traditional treatment include incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
Surgeons selected 41 men aged 45 to 80 years with an early stage of prostate cancer to participate in the study. Patients have not been treated before.
A year after treatment, erectile dysfunction was found in four patients (10 percent), and none of the test participants suffered from incontinence. Also, the majority of patients (95 percent) had no signs of cancer a year after treatment.
"The results of the clinical trials are very inspiring to us. We hope that soon we will be able to treat men with a procedure that is carried out without risk to health from one to two times," Ahmed said.
The results of the previous trial of the prostate cancer treatment method using high-intensity focused ultrasound were somewhat less impressive, but also very satisfactory. In 2004, the experimental technique was tested by scientists from the French Institute for Research in Medicine and Healthcare in Paris under the leadership of Jean-Yves Chapelon in one of the Lyon hospitals with the participation of 243 patients.
According to Chapillon, the effectiveness of ultrasound treatment of tumors reached 80 percent, that is, it was comparable to the results of traditional operations. At the same time, the percentage of complications with it was significantly lower. Impotence was observed in 40 percent of cases, which is half as much as with conventional operations, and urinary incontinence – only in eight percent, which is three times less frequent.
The author of the work noted that ultrasound leaves nerve fibers intact, while a scalpel almost always damages them. "If you take care of the preservation of nerves, you can preserve potency," he added. Doctors also hope that the technique they have developed will find application in the treatment of other forms of cancer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.04.2012