BBC ONLINE: 16 April 2012
Last updated at 23:05 GMT
By Adam Brimelow
Health Correspondent, BBC News
The new technique targets small patches of cancer cells
A new technique to treat early prostate cancer may have far fewer side-effects than existing therapies, say experts.
A 41-patient study in the journal
Lancet Oncology suggests targeted ultrasound treatment could reduce the risk of impotence and incontinence.
Researchers say it could transform future treatment if the findings are repeated in larger studies.
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which funded the study, welcomed the results, which it said were promising.
Each year 37,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Many face a difficult dilemma: the disease kills about 10,000
men every year, but for some it may not get worse if left untreated.
Standard treatment with surgery or radiotherapy involves
treating the whole prostate gland, and can harm surrounding tissue, with
a serious risk of side-effects, including urinary incontinence and
impotence.
Targeted treatment
Doctors at University College Hospital in London have carried
out the first trial using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) aimed
at small patches of cancer cells on the prostate.
Surgeon Hashim Ahmed explains how the treatment works
This was a "proof of concept" study involving 41 patients.
They used a probe, placed close to the prostate, which emits
sound waves that heat the targeted cells to 80C, while causing minimal
damage to surrounding nerves and muscles.
Hashim Ahmed, a urological surgeon at the trust who led the
study, says the results, 12 months after treatment, are very
encouraging.
"We've shown in this study that
focal therapy - by targeting the individual areas of cancer - can avoid
the collateral damage. We've shown that nine in 10 men had no impotence
and none of the men in the study had incontinence of urine."
Mr Ahmed says the early evidence on cancer control is also
very good. But he says this needs to be evaluated in much larger
studies.
"This could offer a transformation of the way we treat
prostate cancer. It could offer a cost-effective treatment for the NHS,
and offer men with early prostate cancer an opportunity to treat their
disease, but with very few side-effects."
A patient on the trial, 72-year-old Robert Page, from Croydon, says his treatment, two years ago, was a great success.
"The outcome was very good," he said. "I was very pleased
with the treatment and very happy with the lack of side-effects,
particularly when I contrast that with what might have been the case if
I'd had one of the other, alternative, treatments."
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council, the Pelican Cancer Foundation and St Peter's Trust.
Further trials
Professor Gillies McKenna, director of the Gray Institute for
Radiation Oncology and Biology, a joint collaboration between the MRC
and Cancer Research UK, welcomed the findings.
"If these promising results can be confirmed in a randomised
controlled trial, focal therapy could soon become a reasonable treatment
choice for prostate cancer alongside other proven effective therapies."
The chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, Owen Sharp, also emphasised the importance of further research.
"We welcome the development of any prostate-cancer treatment
which limits the possibility of damaging side-effects, such as
incontinence and impotence. These early results certainly indicate that
focal HIFU has the potential to achieve this in the future.
"However, we need to remember that this treatment was given
to fewer than 50 men, without follow-up over a sustained period of time.
"We look forward to the results of further trials, which we
hope will provide a clearer idea of whether this treatment can control
cancer in the long term whilst ridding men of the fear that treating
their cancer might mean losing their quality of life."
PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or Petpositive.
Our stories are CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE.
We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly.
PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then are now 150,000 and ever increasing!
PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily.
Kindly note that views expressed in PET+BLOGSPOT are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE.
You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my
You can also find us in Facebook under PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT.
Please sign up as a FOLLOWER of this Blog if you haven't done so already in order to show us your kind support for our work. Thank you!
The idea is that you could convert immortal cancer cells back into mortal ones by blocking telomerase in this way 
Are you receiving prostate cancer treatment? What do you think about the new technique? Please send us your comments and experiences. Please note, the BBC can not pass contact details to the research group.