Purpose: To compare prostate shrinkage after transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) with calculated cell-kill.
Materials and methods: The calculated cell-kill from 33 males with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treated with TUMT according to the ProstaLund Feedback Treatment (PLFT) method was compared to the post-treatment prostate volume change. The prostate volume was estimated with three-dimensional transrectal ultrasound (3D-TRUS) planimetry at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. A paired t-test was used to test the statistical significance of differences between the cell-kill volume and the prostate volume change. Linear regression was used to infer a relationship between the cell-kill and the 3D-TRUS data. The reproducibility of the 3D-TRUS method was assessed in repeated measurements.
Results: The mean prostate volume at baseline (N=33) was 56.1cm(3). After 3 (N=25), 6 (N=29) and 12 months (N=23), it was 45.5 cm(3), 39.7 cm(3), and 45.1cm(3), respectively. The corresponding average cell-kill volume was 16.4 cm(3), 17.1cm(3), and 17.2 cm(3), respectively. Predicted cell-kill volume was significantly larger than prostate shrinkage at 3 (p<0.0001), 6 (p=0.0002), and 12 months (p<0.0001), and showed a strong correlation at 3 and 6 months (r=0.74, p<0.0001). Correlation at 12 months was moderate (r=0.57, p=0.0041). Examination and investigation variability both averaged 2.5%.
Conclusions: Cell-kill calculations of the PLFT method are proportional to the 3D-TRUS prostate shrinkage by a factor of 0.5 and have a precision of approximately +/-10 cm(3) for 90% of the patients during the first year after treatment.