Prostate cryotherapy treatment available in UK
27 August 2008
Prostate cryotherapy has recently been approved by the European
Association of Urologists (EAU) and has been used widely in the United
States for many years. It is now available in the UK at both NHS and
private hospitals.
Each year nearly 33,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate
cancer and more than 10,000 die from the disease. It has become the most
common cancer in men and mainly affects men over the age of 50. People
affected and their families should be informed about all the options
available to them — cryotherapy is one such treatment option.
Professor Damian Greene, Consultant Urologist at Sunderland Royal
Hospital in Northeast England, considers cryotherapy an extremely
valuable option in the treatment of primary as well as recurrent
prostate cancer.
Professor Greene commented: "Cryotherapy is a significant alternative
to traditional treatments for prostate cancer, such as radical
prostatectomy and external beam radiation treatment. Patient
satisfaction with cryotherapy is high due to its minimally invasive
approach, which allows returning to active life quicker than with
alternative treatments."
Cryotherapy is based on the science of freezing at very cold
temperatures to kill cancerous cells. This minimally invasive,
non-surgical and non-radiation treatment freezes and destroys tumours.
The treatment is performed by inserting very fine sealed needles
directly into the tumours, through which Argon gas is circulated to
reach sub-zero temperatures.
A patient of Professor Greene's, Anthony Purvis was diagnosed with
prostate cancer almost five years ago at the age of 65, and is now free
of the disease following treatment with cryotherapy. At that time,
cryotherapy wasn't an option in the UK so he had to travel to the US for
treatment.