"Power of Sound" Used to Destroy Prostrate Cancer

Surgeons say the high-powered beam of ultrasound is so precise that it obliterates tumours without damaging delicate surrounding tissues, including the nerves that are critical for male sexual function.

Conventional surgery or radiotherapy leave half of men impotent and a fifth incontinent.

As a result, men with slow growing tumours are advised to leave their cancers alone and have regular monitoring rather than treatment.

But of the first 18 men in a new trial of the ultrasound treatment, none has suffered from incontinence. And only one has had significant impotence.

Richard Hindley, consultant surgeon at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, described the technique as a "no-brainer".

"For some men the thought of being monitored doesn't rest easy and there is always the concern that their cancer will progress and need more radical treatment," he said.

"Furthermore the radical treatments we have come with a significant risk of collateral damage "

The hospital is conducting a trial of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, or HIFU, with University College Hospital in London. It's partly funded by the charity The Pelican Cancer Foundation.

Surgeons use a highly focused beam of ultrasound to target prostate tumours with pinpoint accuracy.

A three second burst of energy vaporises an area smaller than a grain of rice.

It's so precise that surgeons call it the male lumpectomy. Healthy tissue, including the urine tube that runs through the middle of the prostate, and nearby nerves that control erections are unlikely to be damaged.

Ken Phipard-Shears was one of the first patients to have the procedure.

He said:"A friend of mine took two years to recover from radical surgery. I came out of hospital and was fragile for about a week. But after that I had no pain. Six weeks later I was windsurfing."

Each year more than 35,000 British men develop prostate cancer.

John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, said the technique gives hope to men told that it's too risky to remove their tumour.

But he said more trials are needed to prove that it is safe and effective.