From the level of traffic at its booth to the “Best Poster” honors bestowed on two abstracts featuring its HIFU treatment for prostate cancer, focused ultrasound device maker EDAP TMS reported a “heightened level of interest and enthusiasm” among physicians and others attending the 2013 meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in May. Now in use in 29 countries, EDAP’s prostate cancer treatment device – the Ablatherm – is awaiting regulatory approval in the U.S.
EDAP’s “Best Poster” winners
The importance of biopsies in ablation therapies for prostate cancer: Start of salvage treatment for persistent positive biopsies after HIFU (Poster 1208)
- Authors: Rafael Sanchez-Salas; Dominique Prapotnich; Fernando Secin; Eric Barret; Francois Rozet; Marc Galiano; Annick Mombet; Nathalie Cathala; Xavier Cathelineau
- Summary: This study reported long-term (more than 5 years) oncologic outcomes of 56 patients with low risk localized prostate cancer treated with HIFU and with secondary therapy due to positive persistent biopsies. Key conclusions were that post-HIFU biopsies have a significant impact in therapeutic decisions for patients with localized prostate cancer, and biopsies should be a standardized aspect of post-HIFU follow-up.
HIFU treatment outcomes for localized prostate cancer from the first European centers (Poster 1496)
- Authors: Sebastien Crouzet; Eduard Baco; Viktor Berge; Stephen Brown; Christian Chaussy; Roman Ganzer; Andreas Blana; Gilles Pasticier; Antonello Paulesu; Carry Robertson; Stephen Thueroff; John F. Ward; Gelet Albert
- Summary: This study included 2,162 patients treated at the first European HIFU centers that adopted HIFU. The biochemical survival rate achieved with HIFU at 10 years was encouraging, and negative biopsy rates were high across all risk groups. The study concluded that Ablatherm HIFU treatment appears as a valuable therapy for long term prostate cancer control.
Related articles:
EDAP leads the charge in commercializing FUS for prostate cancer (March 2013, Focused Ultrasound Foundation newsletter)