5/21/2008
American Urological Association (AUA) Clinical Guidelines Recognizes Cryotherapy as Treatment Option for Prostate Cancer Patients
The new best practice statements were presented at the AUA Annual Meeting being held in Orlando, Florida Yokneam, Israel and
Plymouth Meeting, PA, – May 21, 2008
- Galil Medical, a global leader in cryotherapy,
announced today that the American Urological
Association has introduced clinical guidelines
with best practice statements for prostate
cryotherapy. The guidelines state that
cryoablation is a treatment option for men
with clinically confined prostate cancer
of any grade and that salvage cryoablation
is a treatment option in men who have failed
radiation therapy. Prostate
cryotherapy uses extreme cold to freeze
and destroy prostate cancer cells. This
minimally invasive procedure is routinely
and successfully performed on prostate cancer
patients with varying disease stages as
well as those who have failed radiation
treatment. Prostate cancer is the most common
cancer, other than skin cancers, in American
men. The American Cancer Society estimates
that during 2008 about 186,320 new cases
of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in
the United States.
The American Urological Association (AUA), the premier professional association for the advancement of urologic patient care, routinely adopts clinical guidelines and best practice statements, releasing updates as technology improves. Dr. Richard Babaian, Professor and Senior Medical Director at the MD Anderson Physician Network, presented the new guidelines for cryotherapy for the treatment of localized prostate cancer at the plenary session of the AUA annual meeting. Martin J. Emerson, Galil Medical
President and CEO comments, “We are pleased
that the AUA, in its preeminent role in
assessing new treatment options for urologists
and their patients, now recognizes cryotherapy
as a mainstream treatment option for patients
diagnosed with localized prostate cancer.”
A recently published retrospective
study of primary prostate
cryotherapy by Dr. Jeffrey Cohen reported
10-year follow up data with biochemical
control comparable to external beam radiotherapy
or prostate brachytherapy. The literature
has also shown that advances over the last
10 years in cryoablation techniques have
dramatically improved the morbidity profile.
New guidelines for the treatment of localized prostate cancer were released by the AUA in 2007 and emphasized communication with the patient regarding risk, treatment options, and potential outcomes. At that time, it was recognized that cryotherapy for the treatment of localized prostate cancer should be the topic of an AUA best practice policy.
About Galil Medical
Galil Medical develops, manufactures and
markets innovative products utilizing a
proprietary cryotherapy platform that incorporates
powerful freezing technology and revolutionary
17-gauge
cryoablation needle design. Galil Medical
systems enable minimally invasive, targeted
ablation of benign and cancerous tumors
while ensuring rapid recovery and enhanced
quality of life for patients. The Presice™
Cryoablation System features multi-point
thermal sensors (MTS) and advanced
IceVue™ planning software for excellent
procedure control in treating prostate and
renal cancer. The SeedNet™
system provides physicians with an easy-to-use
cryoablation solution to precisely ablate
tumors while protecting adjacent structures.
Galil Medical is a global medical device company with offices in Yokneam, Israel; Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania; and London, Shareholders include Thomas, McNerney & Partners, The Vertical Group, Investor Growth Capital, Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELRN) and RDC Rafael Development Corporation, Ltd. For more information, please visit www.galilmedical.com
Contact information:
Pam Schwartz
Communications Manager
Galil Medical
T: +972.4.909.3273
M: +972.52.625.4443
F: +972.4.959.1077
pam.schwartz@galilmedical.com
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