A device to ease enlarged prostate symptoms has demonstrated durability, safety, and efficacy five years post-treatment.

Data from the pivotal LIFT study of the UroLift system by Pleasanton, CA-based NeoTract Inc. showed that the minimally invasive system is tolerable, rapidly and sustainably reduces symptoms, preserves sexual function, improves patients' quality of life, and has a 2% to 3% annual retreatment rate, according to the company. Claus Roehrborn, professor and chair of the Department of Urology UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and co-principal investigator for the LIFT clinical program, presented the results at the recent 18^th annual European Urological Association meeting in London.

An enlarged prostate gland, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), occurs in about 60% of men in their 60s, and 80% of men in their 80s, although not all men have symptoms, Roehrborn told Qmed. The prostate gland surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. As it gets bigger, the prostate may squeeze or partially block the urethra, making urination difficult.

Treatment options include medication and several types of minimally invasive or surgical therapy, including transurethral resection, incision, needle ablation, microwave and laser therapies, embolization, open or robot-assisted prostatectomy, according to Mayo Clinic.

Medications produced modest symptom relief on the International Prostate Symptom Score, a screening tool used to measure symptoms and quality of life for patients with BPH. Up to 25% of men on drug therapy discontinue treatment due to dissatisfaction, according to the four-year follow-up study on UroLift (the five-year study has not been published yet).

Surgical treatment with transurethral resection of the prostate produced more symptom relief, but is associated with urinary incontinence (3%), urethral stricture (7%), and erectile dysfunction (10%), the study notes. Other side effects include bleeding, scarring, and backflow of semen.

"For a long time, doctors and the industry have tried to find a way to actually do this without requiring such a surgery and without having to go to the operating room and without having those side effects, particularly sexually related side effects," Roehrborn said. "This device uses no heat, no cautery, no tissue removal by surgery, so it doesn't have these side effects."

Urolift consists of permanent implants that retract the lateral lobes of the prostate gland to reduce compression of the urethra. Its implantation is the only BPH procedure that does not require cutting, heating, or removal of prostate tissue, according to the company. It is also the only procedure shown to not cause sustained sexual issues, Roehrborn added.

"The five-year data look pretty good," Roehrborn said. "There is a stable improvement in the urinary flow and there is an improvement in the quality of life score."

Nancy Crotti is a contributor to Qmed.