The big news from yesterday is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a MRI-guided, focused ultrasound therapy for the treatment of bone pain associated with metastatic advanced prostate cancer.
In a media release written by InSight, an Israeli company states that its ExAblate® MRI-guided, focused ultrasound technology is indicated to treat pain from bone metastases in patients with advanced prostate cancer who do not respond or cannot undergo radiation treatment for their bone pain. The quantity of allowable radiation is limited and once the threshold has been reached the only alternative a man with advanced prostate cancer currently has available are heavy duty pain drugs, including opiates and methadone.
Severe bone pain is common in men with late stage advanced prostate cancer. This approval could have a significant impact on men in this situation, providing pain relief without all the associated side effects of pain medication.
The FDA approval was based an international, multi-center, randomized clinical trial. The trial included sites