Jan 12th 2010

'HIFU' - High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

By Dr. Edward Woods, FRCPC, Urologist,
Scarborough General Hospital.

'HIFU' ( High Intensity Focused Ultrasound ) is a relatively new treatment for localized
Prostate Cancer in Canada, but has been used successfully in Europe for as long as ten years.
It uses high intensity focused ultrasound to effectively heat and destroy cancerous tissue.

While admitting that Radical Prostatectomy is still acknowledged as the "Gold Standard"
in PCA treatment, Dr Woods indicated that HIFU treatment offers some distinct advantages
in certain cases and studies are ongoing that may result in HIFU being recognized
as a valid treatment alternative in these cases. Studies ongoing in Europe and North
America are yielding treatment success results very close to those seen in more
typical Radiation Therapy and HIFU has a number of distinct advantages over radiation.

HIFU is recommended for the treatment of low to intermediate risk cancers.It requires less
infrastructure than Radiation and the equipment is mobile and can be moved from site
to site to administer treatments without a more localized investment in equipment.

HIFU can be used multiple times if necessary, whereas repeat radiation therapy is not
normally recommended. As such it can even be used as a follow-up or salvage treatment
for surgical or radiation treatment failures. It can be used for patients unsuitable or unwilling
to undergo surgery or radiation therapy.

HIFU demonstrates good results in terms of continence and potency as well. It is delivered
via a Trans-Rectal Probe under a local spinal anesthetic as an outpatient procedure.
Utilizing cold water to protect the rectum, a computer program moves the probe through a
treatment pattern of 500 to 600 small focused burns over the course of 2½ to 3 hours in a
single treatment. The patient is sent home on antibiotics and mild pain killers.

At present HIFU is not covered by the Ontario Government and treatment costs about $20,000.

About Dr. Edward Woods:
Dr. Woods has a specific interest in new technologies within urology, including the
use of lasers and minimally invasive bladder techniques and surgery. He is also
actively involved in clinical research in benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostate
cancer. Dr. Woods works in co-operation with Dr. Orovan with HIFU treatments
being delivered in Hamilton and Scarborough.

AUDIO & SLIDES DOWNLOADS

AUDIO:
Track 01: High Intensity Focused Ultra Sound Treatment (HIFU) Talk
We are Experiencing Technical Issues

Track 02: High Intensity Focused Ultra Sound Treatment (HIFU) Q& A session
We are Experiencing Technical Issues

SLIDES:

Part1: HIFU for localized Prostate Cancer - Slides


Part 2: Ablatherm HIFU - "The Canadian Experience" Slides


Our thanks to Dr. Woods for an excellent
update and information on HIFU.