Orlando Health One Of The First In The Nation To Offer New Prostate Cancer Treatment

Orlando Health is now offering a new option to treat patients who have localized intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Orlando Health is among one of the first health systems in the nation to use this treatment, following FDA approval of the Vanquish System.

The water vapor ablation therapy for prostate cancer is an outpatient procedure that received FDA Breakthrough Device designation and is being performed at Orlando Health South Lake Hospital by Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD, a board-certified urologist who was specially trained for this procedure.

This treatment option provides targeted ablation in any location in the prostate. The procedure works by delivering vapor to the targeted prostate tissue and, as it reverts to its liquid state, stored thermal energy is released directly onto the cell membranes, causing cell destruction.

Unlike traditional ablation technologies, water vapor transfers energy convectively. The natural boundaries of the prostate are effective physical barriers to the movement of vapor, reducing the opportunity to damage adjacent structures.

“Localized prostate cancer procedures have moved decisively toward personalized, minimally invasive care,” said Dr. David Jablonski, Orlando Health Medical Group Urology, Service Line Chief. “This procedure gives us another well-targeted tool for appropriately selected patients, one that can address a patient’s prostate while protecting the quality of life they’re wishing to preserve.”

Orlando Health CEO David Strong sits on the board of Francis Medical, which developed this treatment.

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in men with 1 in 8 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health is a private not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare system with $15 billion of assets under management, that serves the southeastern United States – including Florida and Alabama – and Puerto Rico. With corporate offices in Orlando, Florida the system provides a complete continuum of care across a network of medical centers and institutes, community and specialty hospitals, physician practices, urgent care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare, and long-term and behavioral health care services. Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health’s mission is to improve the health and the quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve. The system provided nearly $2 billion in community impact in the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital investments in FY 24, the most recent period for which the information is available. For more information, visit orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.

About Francis Medical

Francis Medical is committed to developing urological cancer treatments that are tough on cancer and gentle on patients, driven by compassionate belief and clinical data supporting minimally invasive therapies that safely and effectively treat cancerous tissue. The inventor, Michael Hoey, founded Francis Medical as a tribute to and legacy of his father, Francis Hoey, who endured prostate cancer treatments that had harsh implications on his everyday life before he died from the disease in 1991. Unfortunately, current prostate cancer treatments, which typically come with side effects like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, are not much different than what Francis Hoey encountered. In contrast, water vapor technology applies the thermal energy stored in sterile water vapor to ablate targeted prostate tissue via a transurethral procedure, potentially minimizing life-altering side effects. For more information on Francis Medical, visit www.francismedical.com or call (763) 951-0370.