Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/VP_iTWH8NDc   Zapping intermediate risk prostate cancer with high intensity ultrasound using real-time MRI imaging for aiming offers a way to get rid of smaller tumors without the risks of either radiation or surgery.  Urologists at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center now report the result of their phase 2 clinical trial using this technique for 101 men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer.   The outpatient procedure lasts about 2 hours.  The men, in half-body MRI devices for imaging and mapping the prostatic tumors, were anesthetized and received focused ultrasound beams from several directions sufficient to cook the tumor and a rim of surrounding normal tissue at 140 to 160˚ F.  When the tumor zones were biopsied at 24 months following therapy, 88% of the patients had no evidence of cancer remaining.  The best news: ultrasonic therapy produced none of the urinary incontinence or bowel problems that often follow surgery or radiation therapy.   More studies were un