High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) developer USHIFU is touting study results published online in Lancet Oncology. The results suggest that using HIFU to deliver focal treatment for prostate cancer could provide an alternative to traditional treatment with significantly fewer side effects, according to the company.
Researchers at University College London included 42 patients in the study, each of whom received focal HIFU therapy delivered to cancer lesions using USHIFU's Sonablate 500 device. The results showed that urinary and erectile function returned to pretreatment levels 12 months after treatment; none of the men who completed the trial had urine leak, and just one in 10 suffered from poor erections (Lancet Oncology, April 17, 2012).
Although the study's primary aim was not to evaluate the technology's cancer control effectiveness, no biopsy evidence of cancer was identified in the treated regions in 30 of 39 men who were biopsied at six months, and 36 of the 39 men were free of clinically significant cancer. After retreatment in four men, a total of 39 patients had no imaging evidence of disease at 12 months, USHIFU said.
