© 2002 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 94, No. 13, 962-964,
July 3, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
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High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Makes Its Debut
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
When an American living in France learned he had early-stage prostate cancer, he was advised that any of the classic treatments for it—radical prostatectomy, radiation, or watchful waiting—would be a reasonable choice for him. But at 68 years old and otherwise healthy, the thought of watchful waiting made him uneasy, and the considerable risk of life-altering changes the other options posed did, too. So when he heard about Ablatherm, a French system for prostate cancer treatment that reportedly had a lower side-effects profile than the surgery or radiation, he looked into it further and then put himself in the hands of a Paris physician experienced in its use.
Ablatherm uses a technique known as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). The method is still too new (less than a decade old) to tell how it will stack up against the more established alternatives, but reassuring to him was that it, unlike radiation
U.S. Trial
Other HIFU Systems