Traditional prostate cancer treatments come with a 50 percent risk of erectile dysfunction and up to a 25 percent risk for urinary incontinence. HALO Diagnostics (HALO Dx) is drastically improving those odds with laser focal therapy.
“I’m a science and engineering guy. This procedure just made sense to me,” says Tom Lowell, who decided to treat his prostate cancer with laser focal therapy (LFT), also known as focal laser ablation (FLA).
Lowell, like many men facing a prostate cancer diagnosis, was told he needed a radical prostatectomy — a full, surgical removal of his prostate. Whole gland prostate cancer treatments like radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy put delicate nerves and muscles that regulate erectile function and urinary control at high risk. Damaging these structures can cause permanent impotence and urinary incontinence.
In LFT, HALO Dx doctors use MRI technology and heat maps to target and destroy prostate cancer cells with a laser fiber in real time. The treatment site visualization and laser-precision afforded by LFT minimizes the risk of collateral damage.
HALO Dx LFT patients have a less than 10 percent risk of erectile dysfunction, and less than a 3 percent risk for urinary incontinence. Unlike a radical prostatectomy, LFT is performed in an outpatient setting and does not require radical surgery, general anesthesia, or hospitalization.
“Planning treatment for a man with localized prostate cancer, or BPH {benign enlarged prostate}, no matter how small or advanced, should be personalized, safe, and precise. LFT makes that possible,” says Dr. John Feller, chief medical officer for HALO Diagnostics.
Dr. Feller, alongside HALO Dx chief research officer, Bernadette Greenwood, performed the very first outpatient LFT over 11 years ago. Patient results published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urology show a 100 percent prostate cancer specific survival rate to date.
Lowell, now 5 years after laser surgery, says he has no side effects from the procedure. “Get the latest and greatest technology, zap the cancer, leave everything else alone,” says Lowell. “I’m so glad I had this option.”
To learn more visit https://www.halodx.com/