Ultrasound used to successfully treat prostate cancer: Study
Rose Nor
Doctors have used ultrasound to successfully treat prostate cancer in a new study promising a new alternative to surgery. Prostate is the second most deadly type of cancer in men, with lung the only variant to claim more lives. Treatment is challenging because surgery and radiation can leave men incontinent or impotent.
However, a pioneering new technique avoids the risk by using a rod-shaped device inserted into the urethra and guided by magnetic resonance to administer precise bursts of ultrasound. The sound waves heat and destroy the tumour, leaving surrounding areas unharmed.
The new study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America and involved 115 men with localised prostate cancer.
After treatment, clinically significant cancer was eliminated in 80% of the group with 65% having no signs of cancer after a year. Most of the men also saw reduced blood antigen markers for prostate cancer, and no bowel complications were reported.
