Life saving treatment for prostate cancer

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) originally recommended in 2004 that the therapy should be offered for free on the NHS, but has now presented new guidance for treatment of prostate cancer that restricts use of (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) HIFU in the NHS.  

HIFU is only routinely available privately to the 35,000 British men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. In the UK, a third of men over 50 contract prostate cancer and 10,000 men die annually. In use across Europe, (where over 15,000 men have successfully been treated), HIFU blasts cancerous cells without even breaking the skin. The robotic ultrasound treatment is part of a generation of medical procedures that can diagnose and treat the body's ailments using nothing more invasive than sound waves.

Paul Miller, the UK’s leading expert in HIFU treatment and Consultant Urological Surgeon at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital for the Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, is disappointed by the NICE decision: ‘HIFU is an extremely effective option for patients with localised prostate cancer who want a less invasive treatment. I have treated patients both privately and on the NHS and its success rate speaks for itself.  A recent European study of 402 patients with localised prostate cancer has shown 87.2% had negative biopsies five years after treatment. I am saddened that tens of thousands of British men will now be denied the chance to beat this disease effectively and quickly on the NHS.’

The HIFU Clinic at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital was the first centre in the UK to offer HIFU treatment. Founded by Paul and fellow urological surgeon Tim Larner, the centre specialises in diagnosing and treating the most common form of male cancer. Tim Larner commented last night; ‘There is currently a very high demand from patients for advanced, non invasive procedures such as HIFU. Nowadays, patients are well informed and reluctant to undergo complicated surgery unless absolutely necessary’.

Stephen James who paid for his treatment at The HIFU Clinic in 2007 has had fantastic results; ‘If you are anything like me, when you think cancer treatment, you immediately think chemotherapy.  But when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer I began to research treatment options and it was then that I came across HIFU’.

‘Following treatment, the recovery period was minimal compared to what I had expected and I was up and about again in a matter of days. I would recommend this procedure to anyone who finds themselves in my position. It has been the best decision my family and I have ever made.’

For further information or to book an appointment please call Spire Gatwick Park Hospital on 01293 778966.  

More information about HIFU treatment can be found at: www.hifu.org.uk  

Notes to editors:

Spire Healthcare is one of the leading independent hospital providers in the UK, with a 25 year heritage of customer service and clinical excellence. It was formed this year from the sale of BUPA Hospitals to leading private equity company Cinven.

Spire Healthcare has 25 hospitals across the UK, providing services for private and insured patients as well as NHS funded patients under the government’s Choose and Book scheme. It also offers cosmetic and weight-loss surgery.

Its hospitals carry out more than 160,000 in-patient and day-case treatments a year and work with over 3,000 consultants. It is proud to be the first independent hospital group to publish clinical outcome data. 

Mr Paul Miller and Tim Larner are two of the few surgeons in UK with extensive experience in treating prostate cancer by both open and HIFU techniques. He is currently training surgeons from across the UK in new surgical techniques for treatments of prostate cancer.

The HIFU clinic which is based at the Spire Gatwick Park Hospital treats patients from all over the world, is a pioneering centre for prostate cancer offering the latest minimally invasive surgery.

The hospital has a long history of introducing new advanced surgical procedures and diagnostic technology resulting in patients having the best treatment options for prostate cancer surgery available to them

This therapy is available as a therapeutic option and has the advantages of a non-invasive treatment, precise local treatment in one session, repeatable if necessary with a short period of hospitalization and a low complication rate. Unlike some other minimally invasive treatments other options are still open after HIFU therapy, if needed This treatment is recommended for patients with localized cancer (stage T1-T2) who are not candidates for a prostatectomy (because of their age, their general condition or a concomitant. disease) and patients who want an alternative to radical surgery. Additionally, this treatment can be used for patients who have local recurrence after external radiotherapy (“salvage” treatment).