Doctors from all over the world look with confidence at the results of an innovative technique which is already giving excellent results. It could give them the ability to cure millions of people with prostate cancer, and more.
The procedure, defined as "revolutionary" and incredibly simple and fast, uses electric currents to destroy tumors difficult to reach.
The technique underlying the operation is called “irreversible electroporation“. It consists of opening the cell membrane to administer targeted electrical impulses, in a much less invasive way than standard treatments, with less risk to surrounding organs and tissues.
This type of therapy comes at the right time. In a global context that sees the increase in various cancers, even difficult to treat. Specifically, for prostate cancer, treatments generally involve radiotherapy or surgery to remove the prostate, with many consequences for the health of patients.
Electroporation: safer and faster
This procedure represents a totally new class of therapy. It can really be a game changer, and for several reasons. First of all the simplicity, which allows many surgeons to be trained in its use. Not secondary is also the speed of treatment, which avoids long hospitalizations and pressure on hospitals.
Electroporation has the potential to become a standard treatment for prostate cancer and other difficult-to-treat tumors, and it can do so not only in large specialized centers.
How does this prostate cancer procedure work?
The procedure works by administering rapid electrical pulses around the tumor, to kill the cancer cells. Guided by MRI, short pulses can be targeted to the right area, while surrounding healthy cells are left intact and preserved. The risk of side effects is particularly low.
“Early studies suggest that treatments like this could really effectively treat prostate cancer,” he says Natalia Norori, Chief Knowledge Officer at Prostate Cancer UK. “This technology is one of many types of focal therapy on the horizon, designed to target the cancer more precisely and limit damage to the rest of the body.”
After the first operations carried out in the last two years, electroporation will be tested and perfected in increasingly larger contexts.
If you are concerned about the risk of developing prostate cancer, talk to your doctor, hold tight and be optimistic: the future is on your side.
