Effectiveness of Cryotherapy Study for Prostate Cancer

Conventional treatment options for localized prostate cancer include prostatectomy, radiotherapy and active surveillance. However, prostatectomy and radiotherapy carry certain degree of morbidity, including the risks of urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and injury to the structures in the proximity. Active surveillance carries the risk of disease progression and psychological distress to the patients. Focal therapy employs the concept of only destroying the significant lesion, resulting in disease cure and improved functional outcome. Among the different options of focal therapy, cryotherapy is one of the most commonly employed energy sources. It exerts its effect through freezing of tissue and vascular injury, leading to destruction of cancer tissue. Our study aims at assess the safety and effectiveness of such treatment in prostate cancer management

Inclusion criteria

• Men aged between 40 - 85 years
• Visible index lesion(s) on MRI
• Found to have localized prostate cancer after MRI-USG fusion targeted biopsy:

• Clinical tumour stage <= T2, or
• Gleason score <= 7, or
• PSA <= 20 ng/ml

Exclusion criteria

• Patients unfit for contrast MRI exam
• Patients with active urinary tract infection
• Patients with bladder pathology including bladder stone and bladder cancer
• Patients with urethral stricture
• Patients with neurogenic bladder and/or sphincter abnormalities
• Patients who fail to give informed consent