Focal therapy for localized prostate cancer

In the current PSA era, there has been a dramatic increase in the diagnosis of early localized prostate cancer. These patients pose a challenge in terms of treatment decisions, as radical treatment is often considered as over treatment and active surveillance of these cases could yield poor oncological outcomes. Focal therapy provides a  fine balance between these two options, as it aims to target the cancerous foci only without involving the surrounding normal tissue hence reducing morbidity. The results of our study suggested that among the patients who were subjected to radical prostatectomy, over 50%  would have been potential candidates for focal therapy and could have avoided the complications of surgery. Focal therapy remains an area of growing interest, yet at the same time a subject of criticism, as it can potentially undertreat the disease. We await results of prospective clinical trials to assess the long-term oncological and functional efficacy of this treatment option

Bibliographic Reference:

Aslam MZ et al.: "Focal therapy is an option for the majority of localised prostate cancers: A histopathological study of contemporary UK radical prostatectomies", Br J Med Surg Oncol. 2010, doi:10.1016/j.bjmsu.2010.08.003

M Zeeshan Aslam

Department of Urology, Churchill Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK