High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (Sonablate®) for Prostate Cancer: Preliminary Outcomes in Taiwan
Mu Yao Tsai1, Chih Tai Lin2, Ping Hsuan Chiang2
1Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Purpose:
We reported preliminary outcomes of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) [Sonablate®] in the combination of transurethral resection of the prostate for localized prostate cancer in Taiwan.
Methods:
Seventy-seven patients using Sonablate® HIFU for localized prostate cancer were enrolled in this study from April 2021 to December 2022. Prostate-specific antigen biochemical recurrence, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 scores, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL) scores, and postoperative complications were recorded during follow-up.
Results:
Overall, 19.5% of patients were low-risk, 36.4% were intermediate-risk, and 44.1% were high-risk according to the D'Amico risk classification. The median follow-up was 12.09 ± 5.85 months, and the biochemical-free survival rates for the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups were 100% (15/15), 96.4% (27/28), and 79.4% (27/34), respectively. Four patients (5.2%) received salvage radiotherapy and all maintained biochemical-free survival. The mean IPSS and QoL scores before versus after HIFU were 10.4 versus 6.8 (p = 0.003) and 3.2 versus 3.0 (p = 0.096), respectively. There was no statistically significant change in preoperative and postoperative IIEF scores (20.6 vs. 19; p = 0.062) in patients who had an IIEF score of >15 at baseline and received nerve-sparing procedures (subtotal ablation).
Conclusions:
The results of Sonablate® HIFU in Taiwan indicated adequate short-term cancer control, excellent potency, and continence preservation. HIFU can achieve improvement of IPSS with low complication rates.
