Prostate
Hyperthermia Therapy as a New Approach to Treat Prostate Cancer
By BSD Medical Corp.
Jun 21, 2005, 21:41

BSD Medical Corp. (AMEX:BSM) has announced the conclusion of a highly successful conference of the 2005 annual European Society of Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO) held in Graz, Austria, in which major breakthroughs in therapies tied to BSD's cancer treatment equipment were reported. Of the 74 presentations made at the conference, some of the highlights are being reported in several follow-up press releases.

Dr. Sergio Maluta of the Department of Radiology at the University Hospital in Verona, Italy reported the results of a 119-patient clinical study involving locally-advanced prostate cancer (stages T3-T4, which are spread beyond the prostate capsule) in which the BSD-2000 deep regional hyperthermia system was used in combination with radiation therapy to minimize side effects.

Side effects from radiating the prostate are a serious concern because of radiation exposure of the rectum, bladder and other organs. The study used hyperthermia therapy to increase the effectiveness of radiation without increasing the toxicity of the combined treatments.

Of the 119 men treated from 1998 through 2004, 15 were lost at follow-up, but of the remaining 104 patients followed, 99 were still alive and 96 were disease-free. Of the 104 patients tracked, 3 died because of other diseases and only 2 died because of the progression of their cancer. Overall 3-year actuarial survival was 95%, compared to a typical five-year overall survival rate of 60-73% using conventional radiation therapy alone. Precedents for this study were prior research performed at Mosk University, the University of Arizona, Duke University and Northwestern University.

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