A trial looking at high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to treat areas of prostate cancer contained in the prostate gland (focal ablation)

The researchers found that focal ablation using HIFU did not cause bad side effects.

The study recruited 42 men who were between 45 and 80 years old. They all had

• Cancer that had not spread outside the prostate gland (localised prostate cancer)
• A PSA level of 16 or less
• A Gleason score of 7 or less

All the men taking part had focal ablation using HIFU. The men completed questionnaires before treatment, and then 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after treatment. The questionnaires asked about their quality of life , urinary problems and any problems they had with getting or keeping an erection.

About 1 in 5 men had some pain passing urine after the treatment but this only lasted a few days. None of the men in this trial said they had urinary incontinence a year after treatment.

Of the 35 men who said they were able to get an erection before treatment, 31 said this was the same a year after HIFU treatment.

The study team also looked at how helpful this treatment was as a treatment for localised prostate cancer. Unfortunately, 1 man taking part in the study died from something unrelated so the researchers only have results for 41 men. They found that for 39 of these men, an MRI scan a year after having HIFU showed no significant signs of prostate cancer.

The researchers suggest there should be more clinical trials to compare focal ablation using HIFU with other types of treatment and to look at how well the treatment works in the long term.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.