NanoKnife: IRE focal therapy treatment

Before your treatment, you will attend a consultation with our expert urologists, who will determine if NanoKnife is the best focal therapy to both treat your prostate cancer and preserve your post-procedure quality of life. 

They will: 

• Ask questions about your medical history, diagnosis and expectations for treatment
• Review your test results from your diagnosis such as your MRI and biopsy. Occasionally they will refer you for additional tests such as a PSMA, PET-CT to confirm that your prostate cancer is still confined within your prostate gland.
• Explain to you how you can physically and mentally prepare for your procedure

You may be advised to stop taking certain medications, and you’ll be told when you should stop eating/drinking before your general anaesthetic. Your consultant will be able to tell you more.

NanoKnife is a minimally-invasive procedure which means that there are no incisions and no wounds to care for after your treatment.   

Like HIFU, NanoKnife is performed under general anaesthetic so you will be asleep and not able to feel anything while your treatment takes place. 

• Your surgeon will insert ultra-fine needles (similar to acupuncture) around the tumour through your skin 
• MRI - Ultrasound 3D fusion technology will guide their placement
• The size of your tumour will dictate the number of needles needed (most patients have 4 or 5) 
• Short electrical pulses will be passed through the needles under sophisticated computer control in order to breakdown the membrane of the targeted cancer cells
• The surrounding healthy tissues are left unharmed

The entire treatment should take between 30 and 60 minutes, plus the time it takes you to come around from the anaesthetic. The electrical pulses themselves are usually only performed for around two minutes

Every patient is unique. Your personal recovery timeline will depend on various things, such as your age and how fit you were before the procedure. 

• You’ll be able to go home on the same day as your treatment
• The effects of your general anaesthetic could take up to 24 hours to wear off — you may feel a little disorientated and lethargic for a while, so you will need someone to drive you home
• You will need to wear a catheter for up to a week — once removed, you should be able to pass urine easily and have good bladder control straight away 
• You’ll be advised to avoid heavy lifting and strenuous exercise for at least a week
• Once your catheter is removed you can resume sexual activity
• You will need to follow any aftercare guidance and attend follow-up appointments 
• 3-4 weeks after NanoKnife treatment, you will have an MRI scan to confirm that the cancer is gone and that there is nothing remaining
• For some men, an MRI is advised in the first 2 weeks to ensure that the prostate cancer has been completely eradicated by the treatment.
• You will speak with your consultant to review your side effects and to check your PSA score
• At 9 months to 12 months you will have a repeat MRI to ensure all your prostate cancer has been removed

Our multidisciplinary team will be with you every step of your journey, ensuring that you  have had no side effects and that your PSA level has been significantly reduced.