Key Points
- Since 2019, the percentage of urologists using focal therapies to treat prostate cancer has increased from 24 to 43 percent.
- The uptick is attributed to better visualization technologies for diagnosis and treatment.
Physicians from the University of Cincinnati, University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan recently surveyed members of the American Urological Association to reveal shifting attitudes toward focal therapies like focused ultrasound in treating prostate cancer.
The standard of care for prostate cancer has been radical treatments like surgery or radiation. These treatments can often have unpleasant genitourinary side effects, which can negatively impact the patient’s quality of life. In the last decade, focal therapies like focused ultrasound have emerged as treatment options for men with prostate cancer confined to a section of the prostate. Focal therapies factor in spatial distribution of cancer in the prostate and only treat the affected region, minimizing negative impacts. The survey measured American urologists’ perspectives on focal therapies for treating prostate cancer.
Among 264 responding urologists, around 43% of them reported using focal therapies. This is an increase from 24% of urologists responding to a 2019 survey. This increase may be driven by the development of better visualization technologies, as 85% of respondents believed that better imaging methods for localizing cancer in the prostate have been a major factor in the increased use of focal therapies over the past five years. In addition, 68% of respondents answered that focal therapies are moderately, very, or extremely beneficial, and 83% held that focal therapies like high-intensity focused ultrasound will be a standard-of-care option in the future. Focused ultrasound was the most common focal therapy modality mentioned by respondents.
“This article emphasizes that as technology for precise localization of cancer in the prostate has emerged, adoption of focal therapies for prostate cancer have also risen,” said Tim Meakem, MD, co-director of the Foundation’s Research and Education Team. “Hopefully, as these technologies become more widely available, more urologists will gain experience with focal therapies and will adopt these less invasive methods where possible.”
Notably, approximately 40% of respondents who do not offer focal therapies currently indicated they plan on adding them to their practice in the future.
Urologists are gaining confidence in focal therapies like focused ultrasound for treating prostate cancer.
The Foundation encourages patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer to ask their urologist the following questions when discussing treatment options:
- What are the side effects of focal therapy as compared with open surgery?
- Am I a candidate for focal therapy?
- If yes, do you, or does anyone in your group, have experience using focal therapies to treat prostate cancer?
See the Indian Journal of Urology (Open Access)