Men who have tried External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) or Interstitial Brachytherapy for clinically localized prostate cancer possess a 20-30% greater probability of having prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure. Salvage therapy is indicated when men are treated with radiotherapy, brachytherapy, or a combination of these for presumed localized prostate cancer and have a recurrence. The success rates after salvage procedures are considerably less than those that have been reported after more fundamental treatments. The results of the use of HIFU as a salvage therapy for patients with recurrent prostate cancer have been good, with negative biopsy rates as elevated as 80% and 61% achieving a PSA nadir of <0.5 µg/L (n = 71); 44% were reported as freed from biochemical relapse at the follow up exam, at an average follow-up of 14.8 (6-86) months.

To analyze the usage of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as a salvage therapy in patients with a recurrence of localized prostate cancer after external beam radiation (EBRT), brachytherapy, or proton therapy, the charts of all patients who had undergone salvage HIFU for biopsy-proven prostate cancer after primary radiation therapy, were reviewed retrospectively. Patient characteristics and oncological effects were assessed.

Records of 22 patients with a median (range) follow-up of 24 (5-80) months were reviewed. Patients were men with presumed organ-confined disease who were treated with salvage HIFU following recurrent disease after EBRT (fourteen patients), brachytherapy (five patients: four with high-dose brachytherapy using In (192); and one with low-dose brachytherapy applying Au (98)) or proton therapy (three patients). The median (range) age at salvage HIFU was 65 (52-80) years, with a median (range) prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level before radiation therapy of 14.3 (5.7-118) ng/mL and an average (range) PSA level of 4.0 (1.2-30.1) ng/mL before HIFU. The median (range) period to HIFU after radiation therapy was 36 (4-96) months. The biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS) rate in all patients at 5 years was 52%. Rates of bDFS in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups were 100%, 86%, and 14%, respectively. One among the twelve patients who received post-HIFU prostate biopsy showed malignancy. Side effects included urethral stricture in four patients, grade I urinary incontinence in four patients, rectourethral fistula and epididymitis in one of each patient.

This preliminary data recommend that high intensity focused ultrasound represents a legitimate alternative treatment strategy for patients with localized prostate cancer. Salvage HIFU is often a promising treatment option for local recurrence after radiation therapy, with morbidity comparable with other types of salvage treatment. A careful choice by the patient is imperative depending upon the aforementioned prognostic factors.
 

PRESS RELEASE - For Immediate Release                                                                    

Media Contact
Kollin Yelensky
407-584-7771
www.hifucare.com
screening@hifucare.com


Second Annual Free Prostate Cancer Screening Event In Central Florida.

Florida, Orlando, February 15th, 2011
Central FL Prostate Care Center, announces its second annual free prostate cancer screening event in Orlando Florida.  Anyone in the central Florida area will be able to attend the screening free of charge.  The event, is open to the public and will be held on Saturday, May 7, from 7:30 am to 1pm at the College Park Baptist Church (1914 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804).  

Screening for prostate cancer can lead to a substantial number of tumors being diagnosed at an earlier and more treatable stage. Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men and the third leading cause of male cancer deaths.  Prostate cancer can be slow-growing or aggressive. Men with a non-aggressive form may not develop symptoms for many years and not always receive treatment - the side effects of which can be significant. The difficulty with Prostate Cancer is that upon diagnosis, doctors cannot always tell which forms of prostate cancer are aggressive and which are slow-growing.

Prostate Cancer is most common among men between ages 60 and 80. Known risk factors for prostate cancer include age, race and family history. African-American men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer than Caucasian or Asian men in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimated about 234,460 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States in 2010. About 28,660 men were estimated to die of this disease in 2010.

Dr. Richard R. Lotenfoe will be conducting the prostate cancer screening. Richard R. Lotenfoe, MD, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Board Certified Urological Surgeon in Orlando, Florida.  He is one of an elite group of physicians in the United States certified to perform High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, an outpatient procedure which uses focused ultrasound wave energy to treat cancer cells without an incision or blood loss.

"It is my goal to provide a compassionate, comfortable healing environment for my patients,” says board-certified urological surgeon Richard R. Lotenfoe, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of Urology Health Solutions in Celebration, Florida.
 

###