Will TURP be outdated and Will Prostate Artery Embolization be the accepted way to treat BPH

Don't we all? Just pop a pill or get an injection and you're good right? I doubt that will ever happen. I have high hopes for the TULSA Pro procedure. It's new but promises to also safely remove any mass/tumor within the prostate, while leaving the rest of the gland in tact.

Just went to The Tulsa Pro website. it looks like the procedure involves going through the penis to access the prostate. Is that correct?

Rich

richp21: Yes, that is correct. Once the probe is in the penis and at the prostate, the urethra is cooled while ultrasound is sent out to destroy tissue within the prostate. The nice part about it is that certain areas known to contain cancer tumors can be targeted with multiparametric MRI while the probe is in place so other areas of the prostate can be spared. The rectum is also cooled during the process so there is no damage there either. It is MRI guided so it is a very precise method of prostate tissue and tumor ablation. I can't wait to consult with the doctor at UCLA that performs the procedure.

vernon, look up topsalysin and Fexapotide triflutate then cross your fingers that they're on to something

Generic name: fexapotide triflutate Previous Name: NX-1207 Company: Nymox

Unfortunately:

Despite encouraging data shared earlier by Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp., a pair of phase III studies with NX-1207 for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), known as NX02-0017 and NX02-0018, failed to meet their primary endpoints in top-line results, and the company blamed a strong placebo response – stronger than was seen in previous experiments.

"The drug got to where we expected it to, but the placebo was not sufficiently distant from it," said CEO Paul Averback during a conference call with investors after the markets closed. "There are a number of approaches that people take to try and dampen placebo effect, by run-ins and this sort of thing," he added, but none were attempted in these two studies, known as NX02-0017 and NX02-0018.

There are some positive aspects (improvement in IPSS score) but the drug does not appear like it's going to fix BPH for good.

Topsalysin:

Cool video from the makers of topsalysin :

It shows topsalysin being activated by PSA (that's what makes it so prostate-specific) and then shows it boring a hole in a prostate cell causing it to die by leaking out its contents (lysis).

Seems like it's mostly being targeted to prostate cancer.

Sophiris is the company that's developing it:

As previously stated, a total of 27% of patients (10/37) demonstrated a clinical response six months following a single administration of topsalysin.

(That was for PCa. I didn't find much discussion about topsalysin for BPH.)

Doesn't appear it's going to be a knock-it-out-of-the-park drug either.

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Not sure if my previous message is going to pass moderation because it had a lot of source links, so while I'm thinking about, what I found is this:

Topsalysin did no better than a placebo in clinical trials.

Fexapotide triflutate has a great mechanism of action in that it is a protein that is activated by PSA and punches holes in prostate cells causing them to leak out their contents and die.

A patient died during clinical trials, but an autopsy pointed to a bad coincidence in that he apparently died of a heart attack. Even so, it delayed the investigation until it could be sorted out.

The drug seems mainly geared to PCa, not BPH, although theoretically is should work because it is specific to prostate cells. One article I saw says that it is getting close to being approved in Europe.

I mixed up the names in my last post. Fexapotide triflutate is what did no better than placebo in clinical trials.

Topsalysin is the drug that is activated by PSA and bores holes into prostate cells. It's the drug that might be approved in Europe.

Sophiris Bio is a penny stock, which trades at 50 cents a share. It’s ticker is SPHS.

YTD it’s lost over 50% in value, which tells me that the prospects for Topsalysin are not be all that great.

They both seem to be working on FDA and European approval. Since I'm still doing well on my assorted drugs I'm holding out hope one of these drugs or something similar will come along.

And if they do offer it in another trial I'm going to try and participate

English please?