High-intensity Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer: A National Cohort Study Focusing on the Development of Stricture and Fistulae

Primary Whole-gland Ablation for the Treatment of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: A Focal Therapy Society Best Practice Statement

CONTEXT

Whole-gland ablation is a feasible and effective minimally invasive treatment for localized prostate cancer (PCa). Previous systematic reviews supported evidence for favorable functional outcomes, but oncological outcomes were inconclusive owing to limited follow-up.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the real-world data on the mid- to long-term oncological and functional outcomes of whole-gland cryoablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in patients with clinically localized PCa, and to provide expert recommendations and commentary on these findings.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

We performed a systematic review of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library publications through February 2022 according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. As endpoints, baseline clinical characteristics, and oncological and functional outcomes were assessed. To estimate the pooled prevalence of oncological, functional, and toxicity outcomes, and to quantify and explain the heterogeneity, random-effect meta-analyses and meta-regression analyses were performed.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Twenty-nine studies were identified, including 14 on cryoablation and 15 on HIFU with a median follow-up of 72 mo. Most of the studies were retrospective (n = 23), with IDEAL (idea, development, exploration, assessment, and long-term study) stage 2b (n = 20) being most common. Biochemical recurrence-free survival, cancer-specific survival, overall survival, recurrence-free survival, and metastasis-free survival rates at 10 yr were 58%, 96%, 63%, 71-79%, and 84%, respectively. Erectile function was preserved in 37% of cases, and overall pad-free continence was achieved in 96% of cases, with a 1-yr rate of 97.4-98.8%. The rates of stricture, urinary retention, urinary tract infection, rectourethral fistula, and sepsis were observed to be 11%, 9.5%, 8%, 0.7%, and 0.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The mid- to long-term real-world data, and the safety profiles of cryoablation and HIFU are sound to support and be offered as primary treatment for appropriate patients with localized PCa. When compared with other existing treatment modalities for PCa, these ablative therapies provide nearly equivalent intermediate- to long-term oncological and toxicity outcomes, as well as excellent pad-free continence rates in the primary setting. This real-world clinical evidence provides long-term oncological and functional outcomes that enhance shared decision-making when balancing risks and expected outcomes that reflect patient preferences and values.

PATIENT SUMMARY

Cryoablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound are minimally invasive treatments available to selectively treat localized prostate cancer, considering their nearly comparable intermediate- to long term cancer control and preservation of urinary continence to other radical treatments in the primary setting. However, a well-informed decision should be made based on one's values and preferences.

Prostate cancer outcomes following whole-gland and focal high-intensity focused ultrasound

OBJECTIVE

To report the 5-year failure-free survival (FFS) following high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This observational cohort study used linked National Cancer Registry data, radiotherapy data, administrative hospital data and mortality records of 1381 men treated with HIFU for clinically localised prostate cancer in England. The primary outcome, FFS, was defined as freedom from local salvage treatment and cancer-specific mortality. Secondary outcomes were freedom from repeat HIFU, prostate cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). Cox regression was used to determine whether baseline characteristics, including age, treatment year, T stage and International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Grade Group were associated with FFS.

RESULTS

The median (interquartile range [IQR]) follow-up was 37 (20-62) months. The median (IQR) age was 65 (59-70) years and 81% had an ISUP Grade Group of 1-2. The FFS was 96.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 95.4%-97.4%) at 1 year, 86.0% (95% CI 83.7%-87.9%) at 3 years and 77.5% (95% CI 74.4%-80.3%) at 5 years. The 5-year FFS for ISUP Grade Groups 1-5 was 82.9%, 76.6%, 72.2%, 52.3% and 30.8%, respectively (P < 0.001). Freedom from repeat HIFU was 79.1% (95% CI 75.7%-82.1%), CSS was 98.8% (95% CI 97.7%-99.4%) and OS was 95.9% (95% CI 94.2%-97.1%) at 5 years.

CONCLUSION

Four in five men were free from local salvage treatment at 5 years but treatment failure varied significantly according to ISUP Grade Group. Patients should be appropriately informed with respect to salvage radical treatment following HIFU.

Current emerging novel therapies for Alzheimer's disease and the future prospects of magneto-mechanical force therapy

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease among the elderly, and the morbidity increases with the aging population aggravation. The clinical symptoms of AD mainly include cognitive impairment and memory loss, which undoubtedly bring a huge burden to families and society. Currently, the drugs in clinical use only improve the symptoms of AD but do not cure or prevent the progression of the disease. Therefore, it is urgent for us to develop novel therapeutic strategies for effective AD treatment. To provide a better theoretical basis for exploring novel therapeutic strategies in future AD treatment, this review introduces the recent AD treatment technologies from three aspects, including nanoparticle (NP) based drug therapy, biological therapy and physical therapy. The nanoparticle-mediated therapeutic approaches at the nanomaterial-neural interface and biological system are described in detail, and in particular the magneto-regulated strategies by magnetic field actuating magnetic nanoparticles are highlighted. Promising application of magneto-mechanical force regulated strategy in future AD treatment is also addressed, which offer possibilities for the remote manipulation in a precise manner. In the future, it may be possible for physicians to realize a remote, precise and effective therapy for AD using magneto-mechanical force regulated technology based on the combination of magnetic nanoparticles and an external magnetic field.

Whole-gland high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation and transurethral resection of the prostate in the patients with prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting functional and oncologic outcomes of combining whole-gland high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation (HIFU) with transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

Methods

PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched until June 30, 2022. The ROBINS-I tool scale was used to evaluate quality of eligible studies. Biochemical failure was defined according to the criteria used in each raw study. The presence of any cancer on follow-up biopsy was classified as “positive biopsy”. Patients able to penetrate their partner without pharmacologic support were rated potent. Meta-analysis was performed to evaluate functional outcomes using R project.

Results

A total of 1861 patients in 15 eligible studies were included. All studies were identified as moderate or high quality. There were 1388 (74.6%) patients with low-risk or intermediate-risk PCa in 15 studies and 473 (25.4%) patients with high-risk PCa in 12 studies. The mean PSA nadir postoperatively ranged from 0.20 to 1.90 ng/mL within average time of 1.9-12 months. Biochemical failure rates in all 15 studies ranged from 6.3% to 34% within average time of 1.9-60 months. Eleven studies reported the rates of positive biopsy ranged from 3% to 29.7% within average time of 3-12 months postoperatively. Based on the results of single-arm meta-analysis, the pooled rates of any degree urinary incontinence, acute urinary retention, urinary tract infections, and urethral stricture were 9.4% (95% CI: 6.1%-12.6%), 0.9% (95% CI: 0%-2%), 2.6% (95% CI: 0.8%-4.3%), and 4.3% (95% CI: 1.4%-7.1%), respectively. The pooled rate of being potent after procedure in previously potent patients was 43.6% (95% CI: 27.3%-59.8%). The sensitivity analysis revealed all the pooled results was relatively reliable. Egger’s tests for the pooled results of acute urinary retention (p = 0.0651) and potency (p = 0.6749) both did not show significant publication bias.

Conclusions

It appears that the combination treatment of whole-gland HIFU and TURP could be applied for PCa patients. It might have potential advantages of decreasing catheterization time and improving urinary status. Prospective and comparative studies are needed to validate our findings.

Long-term outcomes of whole gland high-intensity focused ultrasound for localized prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES

To report the 10-year oncologic and functional outcomes of whole-gland HIFU as first-line treatment for localized prostate cancer (PCa).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients were retrospectively included between January 2005 and July 2018 from a prospectively maintained database at a single academic institution. No patient underwent androgen deprivation therapy prior to HIFU. Primary endpoint was biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS). Secondary oncological endpoints included salvage treatment-free survival (STFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

A total of 97 patients met our inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. According to D'Amico classification, the numbers of patients with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease were 38 (39.2%), 52 (53.6%), and 7 (7.2%). A total of 21 (21.6%) patients received salvage treatment at a mean of 4.1 years (± 2.8) after HIFU. The 10-year OS, CSS and BRFS rates were 91.8%, 100% and 40.3% in the overall cohort, respectively. In multivariate analysis, predictive factors for biochemical recurrence were intermediate-risk group (RR = 2.065; 95% CI 1.008-4.230; p = 0.047) and PSA nadir > 0.5 ng/mL (RR = 4.963; 95% CI 2.251-10.947; p < 0.001). Symptoms related to bladder outlet obstruction were the most frequently recorded adverse events. In multivariate analysis, positive biopsy on the prostatic apex was predictor of obstructive complications (RR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.092-9.476, p = 0.034). Only four patients developed severe urinary incontinence (> 1 pad/day).

CONCLUSIONS

HIFU showed low PCa-specific mortality, but biochemical recurrence rates were highly variable among patients. Future studies are needed to improve patient selection.

Technical Note: Quantification of blood-spinal cord barrier permeability after application of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound in spinal cord injury

PURPOSE

To demonstrate that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) facilitates blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability and develop observer-independent MRI quantification of BSCB permeability after MRgFUS for spinal cord injury (SCI).

METHODS

Noninjured Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 3) underwent MRgFUS and were administered Evans blue post-MRgFUS to confirm BSCB opening. Absorbance was measured by spectrophotometry and correlated with its corresponding image intensity. Rats (n = 21) underwent T8-T10 laminectomy and extradural compression of the spinal cord (23g weighted aneurysm-type clip, 1 min). The intervention group (n = 11) was placed on a preclinical MRgFUS system, administered microbubbles (Optison, 0.2 mL/kg), and received 3 MRgFUS sonications (25 ms bursts, 1 Hz pulses for 3 min, 3 acoustic W, approximately 1.0-2.1 MPa peak pressure as measured via hydrophone). The sham group (n = 10) received equivalent procedures with no sonications. T1w MRI was obtained both pre- and post-MRgFUS BSCB opening. Spinal cords were segmented manually or semiautomatically and a Pearson correlation with P ≤ 0.001 was used to correlate the two segmentation methods. MRgFUS sonication and control regions intensity values were evaluated with a paired t-test with a P ≤ 0.01.

RESULTS

Semiautomatic segmentation reduced computational time by 95% and was correlated with manual segmentation (Pearson = 0.92, P < 0.001, n = 71 regions). In the noninjured rat group, Evans blue absorbance correlated with image intensity in the MRgFUS and control regions (Pearson = 0.82, P = 0.02, n = 6). In rats that underwent the SCI procedure, an increase in signal intensity in the MRgFUS targeted region relative to control was seen in all SCI rats (10.65 ± 12.4%, range: 0.96-43.9%, n = 11, P = 0.002). SCI sham MRgFUS revealed no change (0.63 ± 0.52%, 95% CI 0.320.95, n = 10). This result was significant between both groups (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

The implemented semiautomatic segmentation procedure improved data analysis efficiency. Quantitative methods using contrast-enhanced MRI with histological validation are sensitive for detection of blood-spinal cord barrier opening induced by magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound.