Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1108468
Exploring a Potential New BY JENNA HAINES CURRENT TRE ATMENT METHODS for early stage prostate cancer are highly effective. However, they often come with lifelong side effects. For many patients, the benefits of treatment simply do not outweigh the risks. MagForce, a leader in the field of oncology nanomedicine, hopes to alleviate some of the concern about risk by bringing its proprietary NanoTherm therapy to the mainstream as a treatment for low- to medium-risk prostate cancer. THE STATUS QUO There are currently three primary methods of responding to prostate cancer: surgery, radiation and active surveillance. Patients with low- to medium-risk prostate cancer — defined as having a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 20 ng/ml or lower, a Gleason score of 7 or lower and a tumor state of T1, T2a or T2b — have a high chance of being cured with either surgery or radiation. Unfortunately, either treatment option may result in significant side effects. With surgery, for instance, patients may experience pain, bleeding or infection during the procedure. Afterward, the patient may experience potentially long-term urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. There is also the potential, albeit low, risk of death associated with prostate surgery. Radiation therapy might lead to urinary obstruction or incontinence, erectile dysfunction and bowel problems, such as diarrhea or rectal bleeding. These side effects, in combination with the often slow-growing nature of prostate cancer, lead many patients with low- to medium-risk prostate cancer to opt for active surveillance, the close monitoring of the cancer's growth. This choice, however, can leave patients vulnerable. "We increasingly see patients with low-grade, low-volume prostate cancer managed with active surveillance and patients with high-grade, high-volume prostate cancer managed with multimodal therapies," says Ian Thompson Jr., MD, a partner with Texas Urology Group and President at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital - Medical Center and Principal Investigator for MagForce USA Inc. "There is a group of medium-risk patients in between, however, for whom we really do not have an optimal therapy. On active surveillance, those patients tend to do well, but there is a 10 to 20 percent chance of mortality within 10 to 15 years. That is unacceptable." " There is no doubt that focal therapy will play a role in the future of prostate cancer treatment, as MagForce is providing a new, alternative method for the ablation of prostate cancer. The innovative clinical trials we are starting here in San Antonio could have global implications in regards to prostate cancer care." — MICHAEL LISS, MD, UROLOGIST AT UT HEALTH SAN ANTONIO AND PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR MAGFORCE USA INC. MAGFORCE USA INC., A SUBSIDIARY OF GERMAN MEDICAL DE VICE COMPANY MAGFORCE AG, IS TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NANOTECHNOLOGY-BA SED THER APY THAT IS BELIE VED TO SAFELY ABL ATE PROSTATE CANCER CELLS. Prostate Cancer Treatment Option 0 6