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Prostate Cryosurgery Carries No Guarantee | |
| By Paul W. Valentine (c) 1996, The Washington Post Doctors report mixed results in treating prostate-cancer patients since 1993 with cryosurgery, an experimental alternative to radiation and traditional surgery, in which tumor cells are destroyed by a freezing process. Among 50 men who had not had prior prostate treatment, 75 to 80 percent showed negative biopsies three months after the cryosurgery as well as other signs that the cancer had been killed, said Michael Naslund, a surgeon and director of the program at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The negative biopsy rate was much lower (about 50 percent) among another 25 patients who had been treated previously for prostate cancer with radiation, but in whom the cancer had recurred, Naslund said. "Apparently when the cancer reappears, it is tougher to freeze," said Naslund. As a result, he said, some patients now are being given two "freeze" doses about 15 to 25 minutes apart during the treatment. Age of the patients ranged from 64 to 80. The procedure involves inserting thin metal probes through the skin into the prostate gland. Liquid nitrogen is fed through the probes, freezing the gland to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit and killing the cancerous tissue. The prostate gland is a walnut-shaped organ that surrounds the urethra near the bladder and produces secretions that form part of the seminal fluid in males. Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among men, killing 38,000 a year. Prostate cryosurgery, available on an experimental basis since 1991, is performed at more than three dozen hospitals in the country. Naslund cautioned that prostate cryosurgery is still in its "investigational stage" and several more years are needed to determine long-term survival rates for patients. "I still view it very cautiously," he said. "Short-term data can be very deceiving." | |