Tissue-Freezing Technique Effective Against Prostate Cancer - washingtonpost.com

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TUESDAY,

March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Freezing the prostate to kill cancer, a procedure

called cryotherapy, may be as effective as more common treatments such as

radiation, U.S. researchers report in the first such follow-up study spanning

10 years.

In this

procedure, thin needles are placed into the prostate through which super-cooled

argon gas is circulated -- reducing the temperature to up to -150 degrees

centigrade. The technique freezes the prostate, killing the cancer it contains.

But the

method remains controversial, and is currently the least-used method for

treating prostate cancer in the United

States.

" One

of the reasons cryotherapy is controversial is we didn't know the long-term

results, " said study co-author Dr. Ralph , director of the prostate

center at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

" It really takes 10 years of good follow-up before you can tell how well a

treatment works, because prostate cancer typically grows slowly, " he said.

The

10-year follow-up study is the first of its kind, noted. It found that

clinical outcomes " are basically the same as seed implant radiation and

external radiation therapy, the other minimally invasive therapies, " he

said.

's

team reviewed the cases of 370 men who underwent cryotherapy as first-line

treatment for various stages of prostate cancer, according to the report in the

March issue ofUrology.

To

read the entire article click the link below

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031800895.html