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(Chris Woollams, CANCERactive). This article tells you about HIFU, or High-Intensity Focussed Ultrasound, an alternative prostate cancer treatment to normal surgery. It is also called Ablatherm. It involves heating the cancer cells (hyperthermia) using the frequency of sound waves to kill them. The procedure only lasts about 90 minutes, and side effects are minimal. The UK National Newspapers described this cancer treatment as a ´Breakthrough´ in the treatment of prostate cancer. Ablatherm has also been used as an alternative to kidney cancer surgery.
In Volume 4, Issue 1 of icon, we briefly covered the news of this ´breakthrough´ therapy. Life moves on apace. On March 18th 2005 in an Istanbul conference, the European Association of Urology (EAU) launched a ´club´ of top Urologists across Europe to support and develop this highly promising, non-invasive treatment.
 In 2005, over 7,000 prostate patients had already been successfully treated using HIFU By 2005 over 7,000 patients had been successfully treated using this therapy, in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland and now the UK.
By 2009 Clinical Trials in the UK taking newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients (where the cancer was small and confined to the prostate) showed that although surgery was effective with these people (although not recommended by the likes of Sloan-Kettering and the Royal Marsden), HIFU was just as effective and had the advantage significantly lower levels of side-effects. A Clinical Trial is also now taking place in MD Anderson in Texas.
The therapy involves the use of High Intensity Focussed Ultrasound (HIFU) and is called Ablatherm.
The treatment lasts for about one and a half hours with patients being admitted the night before and leaving hospital two to three days later.This in itself is a major benefit to patients - shorter time in hospital, being able to walk out easily, with no anaesthetic used and so on.
An endorectal probe is introduced while the patient is under general or spinal anaesthesia. Ultrasound scanning is used to locate the exact area of infection and then high intensity focussed ultrasound transmissions are applied to raise the temperature of the localised area to 85o to 100oC. This induces necrosis of the affected prostate tissue. Reports suggested that the tumour and infected cells liquefy. The treatment is a precise local treatment, involving in just one session and is minimally invasive with no side effects. Only a few complications have been reported to date and patient recovery time is short.
Furthermore the treatment can be used selectively on certain areas and may be repeated. To date it has been used on patients for whom surgery was not an option, or those where radiotherapy had failed and recurrence had occurred.
The treatment can be used selectively on certain areas and may be
repeated if necessary in later years
"HIFU Technology for the treatment of prostate cancer is very promising, as is demonstrated by the high rate of success that we experienced in Munich", stated Dr Stefan Thüroff of the Krankenhaus München Harlaching. That success is a staggering 87 per cent without relapse at five years.
Another positive of the treatment is that nadir PSA is reached after only 3 months and so success is more quickly established.
FDA approval has been sought and the UK´s National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has already published guidelines on April 1st 2005 for its usage in the UK.
While 63 centres are working with the therapy by 2005 across Europe, the main trial centre in the UK was Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport. The Consultant Urologist is Stephen Brown. We are also pleased to note that some London Hospitals are now offering this therapy as of 2007. Ask your oncologist for details.
We are totally supportive of this development work. Originally we were contacted by a ´club´ formed from a core group of urologists and doctors across Europe concerned that this cheap, non-invasive and non-toxic therapy might simply be ignored. If successful, it would mean more conservative surgeons saw it as a threat, and drug companies would lose business - drug therapies for prostate cancer can cost more than 15,000 pounds sterling a year. With UK 5 year survival rates at barely 60 per cent, this alternative prostate treatment really should be considered seriously. Certainly it seems more user friendly that traditional surgery.
However, readers should also look at the prostate surgery article by Christopher Eden, who explains exactly how the potentially horendous side-effects of surgery can be minimised by the expertise of the surgeon. Click here to read this article.
UKHIFU Limited provides prostate cancer sufferers with information and advice on obtaining a HIFU treatment in the UK. UKHIFU Limited also provides hospitals and clinics with HIFU technology on a for profit basis, using the Sonablate 500 from Misonix and Focus Surgery in the USA. Misonix Limited owns a 60% share of UKHIFU Ltd. www.ukhifu.co.uk
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