New technology lauded as game-changer in detecting, treating prostate cancer

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- There is some exciting news in the field of prostate cancer.

Fox Chase Cancer Center has gotten some ground-breaking technology that helps take the guesswork out of diagnosis and treatment.

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer in men, with 200-thousand cases diagnosed every year. Traditional methods of diagnosis are PSA screening, imaging and biopsies. And while that is effective it still leaves room for error. That's all about to change with the ExactVu Micro-Ultrasound.

"This technology is so far more advanced that it allows a resolution that's 300-percent, 300 times more than your standard conventional ultrasound," said Dr. Rosalia Viterbo, a urologic oncologist.

Images taken from a conventional ultrasound compared to the ExactVu Micro-Ultrasound show a startling difference in resolution.

"It allows us to see lesions that are within the prostate as well as if you can imagine any type of lesion that's in the vicinity," said Dr. Viterbo.

So before, especially in patients who couldn't get an MRI for various reasons, they were instead subjected to multiple biopsies, or saturation biopsies, in the hopes of locating the cancer. This precision technology tells them where it is.

"I think that with this technology I think that our use of saturation biopsies and that added invasiveness to the patient is going to be reduced tremendously," said Dr. Andres Correa, also a urologic oncologist.

And the only place you can get an ExactVu Micro-Ultrasound in our region is at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

"We always here at the cancer center we pride ourselves to try to get the best care possible for the area and the community. And I think that we are very fortunate to be able to bring this technology here," said Dr. Correa.

"A technology that not only impacts diagnosis, impacts active surveillance, impacts treatment but also it also gets translated into improved quality of life for patients and cancer control and ultimately outcome for a patient," said Dr. Viterbo.

Because this technology is so new it's only being offered in the operating room under general anesthesia, while doctors learn how to use it. That will eventually change and be done in a doctor's office with the patient awake.