Ultrasound destroys 80 percent of prostate cancers

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Ultrasound destroys 80 percent of prostate cancers in one-year study

Treating prostate cancer through traditional means such as surgery or radiotherapy carries certain risks, with some patients experiencing impotence, urinary problems and bowel trouble, among other unwanted side effects. Safer and less invasive treatment options could soon be on the table, however, including a novel MRI-guided ultrasound technique that eliminated significant cancers in 80 percent of subjects in a year-long study.

The new technique is called MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA) and has been under development for a number of years. The minimally invasive technology involves a rod that enters the prostate gland via the urethra and emits highly controlled sound waves in order to heat and destroy diseased tissue, while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.

These waves come from 10 heating elements built into the length of the rod to treat the entire prostate gland. An algorithm controls which of these elements emit the sound waves at any one time, along with their shape, direction and strength. All of this takes place within an MRI scanner, allowing doctors to keep a close eye on which tissues are being heated and by how much.

"Unlike with other ultrasound systems on the market, you can monitor the ultrasound ablation process in real time and get immediate MRI feedback of the thermal dose and efficacy," says study co-auhor Steven S. Raman, M.D., professor of radiology and urology at the University of California at Los Angeles. "It's an outpatient procedure with minimal recovery time."

Raman and his team recently put TULSA to the test in a study involving 115 men with low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer that was confined to the gland. The TULSA treatment was administered to the whole gland for an average time of 51 minutes, with the cancers then reassessed 12 months later.

No bowel complications were reported, while the group reported low rates of severe toxicity, low rates of impotence and close to no incontinence (involuntary urine loss from the bladder). Additionally, the technique can be used to treat other benign conditions, such as prostate enlargement. On average, prostate volume among the study subjects decreased from 39 cubic centimeters beforehand, to just 3.8 cubic centimeters following the treatment.

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