NEWS:
CaverMap 'Nerve-Locating' Technology for Prostate Cancer Surgery Demonstrates Promising Results
Business Wire - May 06, 1999 14:19
DALLAS--(BW HealthWire)--May 6, 1999--
Positive Multi-Center Clinical Data Presented at American Urological Association Annual Meeting; Results of Interest to Prostate Cancer Patients
Intraoperative Cavernosal Nerve Stimulation with "CaverMap" Nerve-Locating technology demonstrates positive clinical results when used to assist surgeons in identifying and sparing sensitive erectile function nerves during prostate cancer surgery according to a new study presented yesterday. A 61 patient, multi-center, phase 3, Canadian Study presented at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting demonstrated that when surgeons used the device (CaverMap(tm) Surgical Aid, UroMed Corp, Norwood, MA), patients reported a substantial increase in erectile function at one year follow-up. These patients also demonstrated a highly significant improvement in quality of erectile function when CaverMap was used to aid in guiding the surgeon during the dissection as compared to the control group, where the device was only used to confirm nerve function at the end of the procedure.
Although the cure rate for prostate cancer surgery is high, the most frequent complication of this surgery is impotence, often caused by intraoperative damage to sensitive erectile function nerves. This complication poses a significant dilemma for newly diagnosed patients with localized prostate cancer. Protecting these nerves and preserving potency offers significant clinical and quality of life benefits to patients. Recent studies also indicate that sparing these nerves and their function improves post-operative continence and is essential for patients to respond to erectile dysfunction medications like Viagra.
Commenting on the study, principal investigator, Laurence Klotz M.D., a Uro-Oncologist at Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre and Associate Professor of Urology at University of Toronto, stated "While patients continue to seek treatments that have the highest cure rate, the side effects of radical prostatectomy include impotence and incontinence. Previously, surgeons have used anatomical landmarks and experience to locate and avoid damaging the cavernosal nerves responsible for erectile function. The data released today substantiates our earlier experience that use of CaverMap during nerve-sparing surgery can aid surgeons in determining the optimum dissection pattern for improved nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy results. Equally importantly, there were no adverse events resulting from utilizing this new technology intraoperatively. This is the first randomized clinical trial to clearly demonstrate with objective data the significant benefits of this promising new technology."
Commenting on the technology, Peter T. Scardino, Chief of Urology at Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, NY, said, "CaverMap represents an exciting advance in learning what we do during surgery and how it affects patient erectile function post-operatively." CaverMap is now available at approximately 60 leading Prostate Cancer treatment institutions in the United States and Canada. For more information on the Clinical Study Data or CaverMap Surgical Aid, contact:
Laurence Klotz MD Paul Cardarelli
Univ. of Toronto UroMed Corporation
Sunnybrook & Women's College Health (800)433-5474 ext.309 phone
Science Centre
(416) 480-4673 phone
CaverMap(tm) Surgical Aid is a registered trademark of the UroMed Corporation
CONTACT: UroMed Corporation CaverMap(tm) Surgical Aid
Domenic Micale Paul Cardarelli
(781) 762-2080 x 247 781-762-2080 x 309
www.uromed.com
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