Prostate cancer trial results encouraging

Wednesday 18 April 2012

A NEW prostate cancer treatment could provide more effective treatment with fewer side-effects according to a new report.

Custom byline text:

The study was the first to use an experimental treatment known as HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) to treat areas of cancer which are only a few millimetres in size, a technique known as focal therapy.

Focal therapy is similar in principle to the "lumpectomy" operation commonly used as an alternative to a full mastectomy in breast cancer.One year after treatment none of the 41 men in the trial had incontinence, and just one in 10 suffered from impotence – both common side-effects of conventional treatment. The majority (95%) were also cancer-free after a year.Researchers concluded that "focal therapy of individual prostate cancer lesions, whether multifocal or unifocal, leads to a low rate of genitourinary side-effects and an encouraging rate of early absence of clinically significant prostate cancer".The results of the phase 1 study, funded by the Medical Research Council and conducted by researchers at University College London, are published in the journal Lancet Oncology.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Prostate cancer trial results encouraging

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED