Ultrasound treatment is just as effective as surgery or radiotherapy in prostate cancer but without the side effects, new research suggests.
Just like traditional treatments, all patients who receive ultrasound beams to their prostate glands are still alive five years later, a study found.
Yet, the risk of developing urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction are two per cent and 15 per cent lower with ultrasound therapy, respectively, the research adds.
Lead author Professor Hashim Ahmed, from Imperial College London, said: ‘Although prostate cancer survival rates are now very good, the side effects of surgery or radiotherapy can be life-changing.
‘Some patients are left requiring multiple incontinence pads every day or with severe erectile dysfunction. This latest trial suggests we may be able to tackle the cancer with fewer side effects.’
Prostate cancer affects one in every eight men in the UK, and 11 per cent in the US, at some point in their lives.
How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed 625 men with an average of 65 who were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
All of the men received high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) at six hospitals across the UK.
The scientists also tracked the men that required further therapies after their HIFU to treat any cancer cells that returned.
‘The treatment was over in a day. I didn’t have any pain’
Results suggest 10 per cent of patients who have HIFU require additional treatment five years later.
This is comparable to surgery and radiotherapy where between five and 15 per cent need further treatment.
Study participant Anthony Murland, 67, from Suffolk, had HIFU last November to treat his prostate cancer.
He said: ‘I first heard of the treatment from a friend, who had the procedure a few months before. My GP hadn’t heard of HIFU, but was very interested, so I ended up educating him about it. He then referred me for the treatment on the NHS.
‘I liked the sound of the treatment as it seemed the least invasive option, with low risk. The treatment was over in a day – I went in first thing in the morning and was out by the evening.
‘I didn’t have any pain, but needed a catheter for five days, which was a bit uncomfortable’
‘I’m closely monitored by my GP and so far the cancer has not returned.’
‘Men are much more likely to preserve urinary and sexual function’
Dr Caroline Moore, from University College London, who was involved in the study, said: ‘We started the HIFU programme at UCLH in 2003, and now use it as a treatmen, where we treat the cancer but not the entire prostate.
‘This means that men are much more likely to preserve urinary and sexual function, compared to traditional surgery or radiotherapy.
‘[This] is particularly suitable for men who have prostate cancer visible on MRI, which is contained to one area of the prostate.’
Further studies are required to determine HIFU’s effects after 10 years, as well as to directly compare it against surgery and radiotherapy.
The findings were published in the journal European Urology.