[Irreversible electroporation (IRE) : A minimally invasive therapeutic option in prostate cancer]

CLINICAL PROBLEM

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in older men. As such, screening and early detection are of crucial importance.

STANDARD TREATMENT

The standard management of prostate cancer includes radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, or hormonal therapy. These standard therapies yield excellent oncologic results, but also produce significant side effects. In cases of low-risk prostate cancer, these therapies might result in over-treatment; for this reason, active surveillance has been introduced. However, acceptance of this strategy varies between patients.

TREATMENT INNOVATIONS

Irreversible electroporation is a novel non-thermal ablation technique for soft tissues. The ablation mechanism of irreversible electroporation has some theoretical advantages in the treatment of prostate cancer. It allows image-guided focal treatment of malignant prostate tissue and a potential sparing of adjacent structures, thereby theoretically resulting in a marked reduction in treatment-related side effects compared with standard management.

PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Although irreversible electroporation is a promising ablation technique, it should only be used in the context of clinical trials to treat prostate cancer due to the current lack of solid evidence for this new technology.

Monitoring during hepatic radiofrequency ablation (RFA): comparison of real-time ultrasound elastography (RTE) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS): first clinical results of 25 patients

PURPOSE

To evaluate the reliability of ultrasound elastography for delineating thermal ablation defects post-radiofrequency ablation (RFA) by comparing lesion dimensions determined by real-time elastography (RTE) with the findings of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 21 malignant liver tumors were percutaneously ablated using RFA. Color-coded elastography and CEUS were performed by one experienced examiner, using a 1 - 5 MHz multi-frequency convex transducer (LOGIQ E9, GE). Lesions were examined using CEUS and real-time elastography (RTE) to assess ablation defects. Measurements of lesions (long axis, short axis, and area) representing the same image plane used for elastography were taken during CEUS examination and compared to the measurements obtained from the elastograms. All measurements were performed by two independent observers.

RESULTS

A statistically significant correlation in vivo between RTE and CEUS measurements with respect to the lesion's principal axis and area (r = 0.876 long axis, r = 0.842 short axis and r = 0.889 area) was found. Inter-rater reliability assessed with the concordance correlation coefficient was substantial for all measurements (ρc ≥ 0.96) Overall, elastography slightly underestimated the lesion size, as judged by the CEUS images.

CONCLUSION

These results support that RTE could potentially be used for the routine assessment of thermal ablation therapies.