EDAP TMS has announced the results of a study using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for localised prostate cancer which demonstrates promising oncologic outcomes with low side effects.
The prospective, independent, multi-centre study conducted by the French Urological Association (AFU) was designed to evaluate HIFU hemiablation (treatment of the half of the prostate where the tumour is located, sparing the rest of the gland) as a primary treatment for localised, unilateral prostate cancer.
In the study, 111 patients received focal hemiablation using HIFU with the medical device called Ablatherm HIFU at 10 different clinical institutions. Control biopsies were performed one year following treatment, with 95% of subjects showing absence of clinically significant cancer on the treated side. The study also showed very low side effects with continence preserved in 97% of patients at one year and erectile function preserved in 78% of patients. There was no significant decrease in Quality of Life score observed at 12 months, and the rate of radical treatment free survival at two years was 89%, meaning that only 11% of patients underwent surgery or radiotherapy. Pascal Rischmann, lead author on the study, said: "This study supported by the French Association of Urology builds upon the interest in focal therapy and demonstrates its role in the management of prostate cancer based on quality of life preservation and efficacy. I have long thought HIFU was an ideal ablation modality for focal therapy and this is substantiated by the study results." The results of the study are published in the journal European Urology.
