Targeted prostate cancer treatment cuts risk of side effects, study suggests
Researchers said focal therapy delivered encouraging 10-year cancer control in selected men, but one-third needed further treatment and randomised trial data are still needed.
- European Urology published 10-year outcomes from a large observational registry evaluating focal therapy for localized prostate cancer, reporting encouraging long-term cancer control for carefully selected patients.
- The observational registry design limits direct comparison with standard radical treatments like surgery or radiotherapy, meaning outcomes cannot establish superiority over established therapies.
- Around one-third of patients required further treatment over 10 years in the intention-to-treat analysis; the study also lacks long-term data on urinary, sexual, or bowel function.
- Prof Prabhakar Rajan, Professor of Urology and Robotic Surgery at Barts Cancer Institute, warned findings "should be interpreted with caution" as focal therapy remains experimental without randomized trial evidence.
- Clinical experts await results from the ongoing PART Trial, which will provide the definitive evidence required by NICE to determine whether focal therapy should become standard clinical practice.
4 Articles
4 Articles
Focal therapy proves 'as effective' as surgery for prostate cancer in decade-long study
A groundbreaking decade-long NHS investigation has revealed a targeted approach to treating prostate cancer delivers outcomes comparable to conventional surgery or radiotherapy while dramatically cutting the likelihood of debilitating complications.The research, conducted by Imperial College London and tracking approximately 3,500 patients, demonstrates focal therapy – which employs concentrated ultrasound waves or cryotherapy to eliminate tumou…
expert reaction to study looking at focal therapy (using a heat-based treatment (high intensity focused ultrasound, HIFU) or a freezing-based treatment (cryotherapy)) for prostate cancer
A study published in European Urology looks at focal therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Prof Freddie Hamdy, Professor of Urology, and Head of the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford; and Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, said: “These findings are encouraging but suffer from the known limitations of a registry analysis, with many insurmountable biases. For instance, the ma…
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