Ferromagnetic thermal ablation effective in locally recurrent prostate cancer

Ferromagnetic thermal ablation produces significant prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decreases in men with locally recurrent prostate cancer, according to the results of a study published in the December issue of The Journal of Urology.

ThermoRods are permanently implantable rods that produce self-regulated temperatures to 70 degrees Celsius through oscillation of a magnetic field, the authors explain.Dr. Viraj A. Master and colleagues from University of California, San Francisco, sought to determine whether ThermoRod treatment could improve outcomes in 14 men with locally recurrent prostate cancer following external beam radiation therapy.Eleven of the 14 patients had PSA decreases 6 months after treatment, the authors report. Eight of these 11 patients had decreases to PSA less than 0.1 ng/mL.Significant necrosis in the prostatic urethra was common until the rods were revised to incorporate a urethral cooling device, after which urethral necrosis was not seen, the report indicates.Impotence was extremely common following treatment, the researchers note, but there was no pretreatment assessment of potency status.”Together with effective urethral protection the procedure appears to have reasonable local control of disease with minimum toxicity even in a previously irradiated prostate gland,” the authors write.”Long-term survival data are necessary to confirm that this treatment is worthwhile and evaluate long-term toxicity,” they add.”It is still an experimental treatment and should only be offered to patients in the setting of a clinical trial,” Dr. Master told Reuters Health. “The company that makes these ferromagnetic rods is not in business anymore.””Given the prevalence of this disease, there are a number of patients who have recurrent disease after treatment,” Dr. Master said. “Besides the mainstay treatments of salvage radical prostatectomy and hormonal therapy, which may have undesirable side effects, novel, minimally invasive methods of treatment, such as this, should be investigated.”(Source: J Urol 2004;172:2197-2202: Reuters Health: Will Boggs, MD: Oncolink: December 2004.)