No differences in outcomes between HIFU- and cryotherapy-treated men were reported. What the data revealsĪfter follow-up durations ranging up to five years, 96% of the men were still alive, and the overall failure-free survival rate was 82%. The primary goal of the study was to assess "failure-free survival," whereby treated men avoid a prostate cancer death, or worsening disease leading to further interventions. Two-thirds of the men had cancer with an intermediate risk of further spread, and the remaining third had more aggressive, high-risk prostate tumors that are more dangerous.Īll the men were treated with HIFU or a different type of focal therapy, cryotherapy, that destroys cancer by freezing it. During this newer study, researchers assessed outcomes for 649 men ages 70 and above who were treated at 11 sites in the United Kingdom. Now, findings from the same research team show that focal therapy is also an effective option for older men with prostate cancer. This approach destroys cancer by subjecting it to high-energy ultrasound waves that heat tumors to high temperatures. The men were 66 years old on average, and doctors treated them with a technique called high-intensity focused ultrasound, or HIFU. Last year, researchers reported that 1,379 men treated with focal therapy or radical prostatectomy had similar cancer outcomes after five years of follow-up. And growing evidence shows it can be an effective strategy. While there is a small risk that some cancer may be left behind after treatment, focal therapy also has the benefit of minimizing risks for erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, which are both potential side effects of radical prostatectomy. The aim is to remove "clinically significant" tumor tissue, cancer that would spread further if it wasn't treated at all. However, men with localized prostate cancer - meaning cancer that is still confined to the prostate - have another surgical option.Ĭalled focal therapy, this alternative procedure treats only the cancerous part of the prostate and leaves the rest of the gland intact. Think of prostate cancer surgery and what likely comes to mind is a radical prostatectomy, which is an operation to remove the entire prostate gland along with the seminal vesicles that produce semen.
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