Diagnosis
Do You Still Need a Digital Rectal Exam for Prostate Cancer?
Posted on July 21, 2025 in DiagnosisWritten by The Focal Therapy Clinic Medical Team | Medically reviewed by Dr Aqua Asif, MRCS, Urology Registrar and Fellow at UCLH — August 2026 | Last updated August 2026 · Reading time about 8 minutes At a Glance For routine prostate cancer screening, the digital rectal exam is no longer recommended as the first-line […]
Read more →My Father Had Prostate Cancer — What Is My Risk and When Should I Get Checked?
Posted on May 12, 2025 in Blog, Diagnosis, Mens' health, Patient stories, ScreeningWritten by The Focal Therapy Clinic Medical Team | Medically reviewed by Dr Aqua Asif, MRCS, Urology Registrar and Fellow at UCLH and Mr Alan Doherty, Consultant Urological Surgeon, FRCS(Urol) (GMC 3279241) — August 2026 At a Glance If your father or brother had prostate cancer, your risk of developing it is about 2.5 times […]
Read more →Does Prostate Cancer Have Early Symptoms — or Is Screening the Key?
Posted on March 21, 2025 in Blog, Diagnosis, Mens' health, Prostate Cancer SupportReading Time: 10 minutes Medically Approved by Dr Aqua Asif (15/3/25) and Mr Alan Doherty Consultant Urologist GMC: 3279241 At a Glance Early-stage prostate cancer is usually silent — most men have no symptoms at all and feel perfectly healthy. That is why screening matters more than symptoms. A PSA blood test or digital rectal examination (DRE) […]
Read more →Active Surveillance After the Protect Trial: What Men Should Know
Posted on July 18, 2024 in Diagnosis, Podcast, Treatment optionsReading Time: 6 minutesMedically Approved by Mr Marc Laniado (June 19th 2025) Podcast with Marc Laniado, Consultant Urologist, The Focal Therapy Clinic TL;DR ProtecT trial shows 97% survival but 75% needed treatment (Source: ProtecT Trial, 2023) Modern surveillance requires high-quality MRI and targeted biopsies for accurate risk assessment UK diagnostic quality varies significantly across […]
Read more →From Skeptic to Believer: Why a Urologist Backed Focal Therapy
Posted on July 17, 2024 in Blog, Diagnosis, MRI, Podcast, ScreeningTL;DR Top 10 UK specialist now “more positive than ever” about focal therapy after treating large patient cohort (Source: Daily Mail National Poll) High-quality MRI transforms screening rationale by enabling precise treatment with minimal side effects Patient enthusiasm for focal therapy exceeds expectations with many preferring targeted treatment over radical approaches Combination of early detection […]
Read more →Direct PSA Testing: Early Prostate Cancer Detection
Posted on July 16, 2024 in Diagnosis, Podcast Reading Time: 6 minutes Medically Approved by: Tim Dudderidge, Consultant Urologist (July 2024) Updated: June 2025 TL;DR: Consultant Urologist Tim Dudderidge spearheaded an NHS pilot that lets men book a free, nurse-led PSA blood test directly with the hospital, bypassing GP delays. Early data (465 men, 64 fast-tracked) show the self-referral pathway finds […]
Read more →Why Precision Matters in Prostate Cancer: From Hit-and-Hope to HD
Posted on December 10, 2021 in Diagnosis, MRI, PodcastReading Time: 5 minutesMedically Approved by: Marc Laniado, Consultant Urologist (2025)Referenced Guidelines: PI-RADS v2.1, PI-QUAL Standards, NICE Prostate Cancer Guidelines Updated: June 2025 TL;DR: “Precision” in prostate cancer means knowing exact cancer location, volume, and grade—not just presence. This requires 3T mpMRI with contrast, specialist radiology reporting, and software-fused biopsies under GA. Most UK […]
Read more →From “Cut It Out” to “Treat Precisely”: The Rise of Focal Therapy
Posted on August 13, 2021 in Diagnosis, HIFU, NanoKnife, PodcastReading Time: 7 minutes Medically Approved by: Alan Doherty, Clinical Director, Birmingham Prostate Clinic (2024) Referenced Guidelines/Studies: HEAT registry data, UK focal therapy outcomes, mpMRI quality standards Updated: June 2025 TL;DR: For 20 years Alan Doherty removed or irradiated whole prostates—because in the 1990s they mostly saw late-stage tumours. But PSA, mpMRI and targeted […]
Read more →Any questions?
If you’ve got any questions about your prostate cancer diagnosis or want to know more about HIFU treatment or NanoKnife treatment, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly, knowledgeable team.
