LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS

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© 2005 Long Island Business News, June 17, 2005, Claude Solnik

Hospital Study Shows Good Results for Prostate Cancer Treatment

By Claude Solnik

Can minimally-invasive radiation therapy cure prostate cancer? Research by a Long Island doctor that appeared last month in a peer-reviewed scientific publication indicates that may be the case.

The research, conducted by Dr. Louis Potters, medical director of The New York Prostate Institute at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, was published in the May issue of The Journal of Urology.

Entitled Twelve-Year Outcomes Following Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy In Patients With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer, the research tracked the outcome of 1,449 Long Island patients treated with permanent prostate brachytherapy between 1992 and 2000.

Brachytherapy, also known as seeding, is a form of radiation therapy that fights prostate cancer with rice-sized radioactive seeds implanted in the body.

This study found cancer-specific survival over 12 years was 93 percent and a recurrence-free survival rate of 81 percent. That's equal to or better than comparable rates found in studies of other forms of treatment for men with clinically-localized prostate cancer, according to Potters.

The size and length of this study provide mounting evidence that permanent prostate cancer brachytherapy is as effective as surgery for men with localized prostate cancer, Potters said.

He said that previous clinical studies showed that this minimally invasive outpatient procedure has cure rates comparable to or better than surgery.

But long-term tracking studies are crucial in showing efficacy compared to a prostatectomy.

The New York Prostate Institute at South Nassau offers a wide range of treatments for prostate cancer, including brachytherapy.

Potters also has worked as a prostate cancer researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, where he published extensively on prostate cancer treatments.

South Nassau Communities Hospital is a 435-bed institution with more than 820 physicians and 2,200 employees.