High Intensity Ultrasound Being Studied as New Treatment for Prostate Cancer
Urologic
researchers at Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia are
studying whether high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can be an
effective treatment for low-risk prostate cancer and an alternative to
using surgery, radiotherapy or cryosurgery.
Jefferson is taking part in a phase three clinical trial for treating localized prostate cancer using HIFU and is currently
enrolling participants.
“It’s
widely used in Europe and has shown to be effective and less invasive,”
said urologist Edouard J. Trabulsi, M.D., assistant professor of
Urology, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, who
is the principle investigator at Jefferson.
Nearly a quarter-million cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in American men each year.
Therapeutic ultrasound has been used as a minimally invasive or non-invasive method to deposit acoustic energy into tissue
to treat tissue ablation, uterine fibroids and hyperthermia.
In
HIFU treatment, ultrasound beams are administered through a
trans-rectal probe and focused into the prostate to kill tumors. Due to
the significant energy focused, the temperature within the tissue rises
to near boiling in a few seconds, destroying the diseased tissue by
coagulation necrosis. Each application of the beams treats a precisely
defined portion of the targeted tissue.
In
most cases, HIFU is a two to four hour, one-time procedure performed on
an outpatient basis under spinal or general anesthesia. Unlike
radiotherapy, HIFU is non-ionizing, meaning HIFU may also be used as a
salvage technique if other prostate cancer treatments fail.
An
important difference between HIFU and other forms of focused energy,
such as radiation therapy, is that the passage of ultrasound energy
through intervening tissue has no apparent cumulative effect on that
tissue. In contrast, radiation therapy has a cumulative, damaging
effect on healthy tissues, even when they are distant from the focal
target. This often limits the ability to use this modality more than
once for a specific treatment.
Participants in the study must:
- Be age 60 or older
- Have a small prostate gland of 40 grams or less
- Have organ-confined prostate cancer stage T1 or T2
- Have had a prostate biopsy within six months that is positive for cancer cells
- Have a biopsy Gleason score (score given to prostate cancer based upon its microscopic appearance) of six or less
For more information, please call 215-955-9954.
Media Only Contact:
Ed Federico
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 2/14/2008