HealthTronics Announces Data Comparing Cryotherapy Versus Radiation for Treating Prostate Cancer

HealthTronics Announces Data Comparing Cryotherapy Versus Radiation for Treating Prostate Cancer
Austin, TX Sep 18, 2014 — HealthTronics, Inc., a leading provider of integrated urological and interventional radiology products and services, announced that a poster related to cryosurgery (also known as cryotherapy and cryoablation) versus external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is being presented at the Mid-Atlantic Section of the American Urological Association (MAAUA) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland September 18-21, 2014.
“Comparing Relative Effectiveness of Cryosurgery and External Beam Radiation as Treatments for Localized Prostate Cancer,” Poster P2 from 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014.
Retrospective data were collected from 181 patients who underwent cryotherapy and 40 patients who were treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) since 2002. Post-treatment PSA levels (a common blood test used to screen for prostate cancer) were tracked in the patients for up to 10 years and the occurrence of complications was recorded.
Data found no significant difference in biochemical failure rates between the two treatments after one year post-treatment (χ2 = 0.698, p-value = 0.404) or five years post-treatment (χ2 = 0.066, p-value = 0.797). Most complications occurred with statistically equal frequency in both treatment groups, but gastrointestinal problems were more common in radiation patients than in cryotherapy patients (χ2 = 19.261, p-value = 0.000).
The results suggest that cryoablation of the prostate is as effective a treatment as EBRT. As more long term cryotherapy data becomes available, it may move into a favorable position as a first line therapy for localized prostate cancer. Limitations of research in this field are lack of randomized trials and consensus in defining treatment failure.*
“Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in American men with nearly 250,000 diagnosed each year,” said Anshu Guleria, MD, urologist. “These data help to shed a light on the variety of effective treatment options available for fighting prostate cancer.”