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| |  AUA: Cryoablation, First-Line Treatment For Prostate Cancer, As Effective As Radiotherapy IRVINE, CA -- May 8, 2000 -- Endocare, Inc. a leading developer of FDA-approved cryosurgical technologies for the treatment of cancer and temperature-based treatments for benign prostate growth, announced that five-year follow-up data presented by clinical researchers at the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting in Atlanta showed that the use of cryoablation as a first-line treatment for prostate cancer can be as effective as radiation therapy. The five-center, 975-patient study showed that the overall success rate across several cryosurgical techniques and risk groups was 63 percent, meaning patients had a prostate specific antigen (PSA) score of less than 1.0 ng/mL upon five-year follow-up. A patient with a PSA score higher than 1.0 is considered to be at higher risk of recurrence. John P. Long, M.D., Director of the Urological Oncology Department at the Boston-based New England Medical Center, and lead clinician for the study, stated, "This five-year data has reversed some thinking on the effectiveness of cryosurgery and actually indicates that cryosurgery as a treatment for prostate cancer, can be comparable to radiation therapy. Significant also is the fact that these positive results were produced despite using a number of cryosurgical technologies and techniques, some of which have been shown to be less effective than current state-of-the-art methods." Data was also presented in a separate Company-sponsored presentation at the AUA that addressed patients who underwent cryosurgery using the current "gold standard" techniques of cryosurgery including temperature monitoring, a technology patented by Endocare. This patient group showed a significantly higher overall success rate of 82 percent across risk profiles based on resultant PSA levels below 1.0ng/mL. "It is encouraging that clinical data continues to validate cryosurgery as a viable, and many times, preferable option for the treatment of prostate cancer and that these findings are being highlighted at important medical conferences such as the AUA," said Paul Mikus, President and CEO of Endocare, Inc. "This five-year data marks the emergence of cryosurgery as a primary option for those diagnosed with prostate cancer for the first time as well those whose cancer has been treated with radiation and have suffered a recurrence of the disease." Endocare, Inc. is a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets cryosurgical and stent technologies for applications in oncology and urology. The Company has initially concentrated on developing devices for the treatment of the two most common diseases of the prostate, prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia. The company is also developing cryosurgical technologies for treating tumors in other organs, including the kidney, breast and liver. Related Link: Endocare, Inc.
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