News
News
Life-Saving Treatment for Prostate Cancer
NICE Guidelines - 22/07/09
NICE pledge to consider new evidence on Life-Saving Treatment for Prostate Cancer. Thousands of prostate cancer sufferers have been given hope today with news of a pioneering life-saving treatment for the UK’s most common male cancer.
HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound), a radical breakthrough treatment, could be made available to the 35,000 British men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. New research shows that the intensive ultrasound therapy not only matches the 92% cure rate of traditional treatments, but dramatically reduces side effects.
In the UK, a third of men over 50 contract prostate cancer and 10,000 men die annually. Widely heralded in Europe as cutting edge advancement in the battle against prostate cancer (where over 15,000 men have successfully been treated), HIFU blasts cancerous cells without even breaking the skin. It has been proven to kill nine out of 10 prostate tumours, and, five years after treatment, 80 per cent of patients show no sign of the cancer recurring. Furthermore, HIFU is far less likely to lead to devastating side effects such as impotence or incontinence compared with surgery or conventional radiotherapy treatment. The robotic ultrasound treatment is part of a generation of medical procedures that can diagnose and treat the body's ailments using nothing more invasive than sound waves.
The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) originally recommended in 2004 that the therapy should be offered for free on the NHS. In 2008 they then did a u-turn saying there was not enough evidence to prove HIFU had long-term value. However, today they have said they will consider the new evidence to see if it has impact on the guidance and assess its use within the NHS.
Paul Miller, the UK’s leading expert in HIFU treatment and Consultant Urological Surgeon for the Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, is delighted by the NICE decision: ‘HIFU is an extremely effective option for patients with localised prostate cancer who want a less invasive treatment. I have treated patients both privately and on the NHS and its success rate speaks for itself. A recent European study of 402 patients with localised prostate cancer has shown 87.2% had negative biopsies five years after treatment.’
Paul Miller was one of the first surgeons in the UK to offer HIFU treatment. The treatment is now available across Sussex through The British Prostate Centre, founded by Paul and fellow urological surgeon, Tim Larner, the centre specialises in diagnosing and treating the most common form of male cancer. Tim Larner commented; ‘There is currently a very high demand from patients for advanced, non invasive procedures such as HIFU. Nowadays, patients are well informed and reluctant to undergo complicated surgery unless absolutely necessary.’