Wow. Human studies—an essential part of bringing treatments to the clinic—show that ultra sound can successfully treat prostate cancer. From the Telegraph story:
A new treatment for prostate cancer can rid the disease from nine in ten men without debilitating side effects, a study has found, leading to new hope for tens of thousands of men. It is hoped the new treatment, which involves heating only the tumours with a highly focused ultrasound, will mean men can be treated without an overnight stay in hospital and avoiding the distressing side effects associated with current therapies. A study has found that focal HIFU, high-intensity focused ultrasound, provides the ‘perfect’ outcome of no major side effects and free of cancer 12 months after treatment, in nine out of ten cases…
In the study published in the journal Lancet Oncology, 41 men were treated with focal HIFU. After 12 months, none were incontinent and one in ten suffered impotence. The majority, 95 per cent, were free of cancer after 12 months.
Now this is the right way to save money in health care! So, if this is true, will the rationers retract their recommendation against prostate PSA cancer screening because of the problems associated with false positives? (See also this post.)
That point aside: Like I always say, never underestimate the ingenuity and imagination of scientists. Let’s hope the larger studies show similar results and this gets to the clinical setting very quickly.
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