New Technologies and Techniques for Prostate Cancer Focal Therapy

Introduction: The aim of this study was to review the oncological and functional outcomes of new and established primary focal treatments (FT) for localized prostate cancer (PCa).

Evidence Acquisition: We performed a systematic search of published studies on FT for localized PCa using electronic databases (Medline and Embase). These studies included reports on hemi-ablation, focal ablation and target-ablation. We excluded salvage focal therapy studies and limited the search to those with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up.

Evidence Synthesis: We selected 20 studies with a total of 2523 patients who were treated in the primary setting. The energy sources used were cryotherapy (8), high-intensity focused ultrasound (9), irreversible electroporation (1), photodynamic therapy (1) and focused laser ablation (1), with 65% hemiablation, 25% focal ablation and 10% target-ablation. The median follow-ups ranged from 6 to 44.4 months. Mean age was 60.4-70 years and mean prostate-specific antigen was 4.4-<10 ng/dL; 26-100% had a Gleason Score of 6, and 0-65% had a Gleason Score of 7. Patient selection was carried out by TRUS biopsy in 9 studies, while transperineal template mapping biopsy and mp-MRI were employed in six and 13 studies, respectively. The overall post-treatment positive biopsy rate was 1.2-51% with 1.6-32% patients having a residual disease in the treated area. The post-treatment continence rates were 90-100%, and the rates of erectile dysfunction ranged from 0-53.2%.

Conclusions: Reliable evidence for the partial-gland treatment of PCa is increasing, and encouraging mid-term oncologic outcomes with the preservation of sexual and urinary functions have been reported. Accurate patient selection at the outset of treatment and careful follow-up seem key attributes to achieve excellent functional results and encouraging oncological outcomes.