Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, which will affect one in six men during their lifetime. If current procedures turn out to be globally invasive, a new treatment might cure it quickly without damaging healthy tissue.
The Nanoknife device
Doctors at University College London Hospital (UCLH) used the device Nanoknife to perform an image-guided minimally invasive procedure on six UK patients with cancer from prostate. Thin needles were inserted through the patients’ skin, guided by an MRI scanner, close to the site of their tumors. Short electrical pulses were then fired, causing the tumor cells to disintegrate. The procedure only lasted an hour and the patients were discharged the same day.
« Cells with holes in their walls are a bit like sinking ships “, illustrates Michael Moser, Canadian surgeon, having successfully used the experimental procedure. ” They end up collapsing and dying. »
Previously, the only targeted treatments for prostate cancer were cryotherapy and focused ultrasound, being only available in a few large specialist centers in the south of England. Doctors now hope to see this new technique, which is also easier to master, be extended to other hospitals in the United Kingdom.
Data collected over three years shows that the retreatment rate for patients treated with Nanoknife is only 10%, compared to 25% at five years for cryotherapy and high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy. Similar to other targeted treatments, the incontinence rate reaches 1%, compared to 10-20% for patients who underwent traditional surgery, while nine out of ten subjects reported maintaining good erectile function.
Important implications
As the procedure can be performed with very high precision, surrounding healthy tissue is spared and patients do not have to deal with the exhausting side effects seen following conventional surgery, which usually involves removal of the gland and can be followed. radiotherapy sessions to reduce the risk of recurrence.
The Nanoknife proves to be particularly life-saving in the event that tumors develop in places that are difficult to access. In 2017, it was successfully used on a patient with pancreatic cancer, whose tumor wrapped around a blood vessel was initially found to be impossible to remove entirely.
In addition to those of the prostate and the pancreas, the approach might potentially be extended to other types of cancer, in particular that of the kidney which would otherwise require the removal of the organ.