Why choose focal therapy?
There are many factors to consider when choosing a treatment for your prostate cancer. Medical factors, such as your cancer stage and tumour location are important. However, your current and future quality of life is also very important.
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Read more.
What are the different types of focal therapy?
“As cancer treatments go, and if this kills my cancer or cures my cancer, I mean, it’s unbelievable. What a prostatectomy would have done to me mentally and what this did, is not even a comparison.”
Michael Anthony
The Focal Therapy Clinic patient
What are the benefits of focal therapy?
Because focal therapy treats just the tumour and doesn’t remove the whole gland, you are significantly more likely to preserve the nerves that are responsible for getting and maintaining erections, and going to the toilet. Focal therapy has also been shown to be as effective in treating prostate cancer as radical prostatectomy, with a 5 year recurrence rate of 12%.
You can also have further treatments after focal therapy, including another focal therapy procedure, hormone therapy, or a prostatectomy. It you have a prostatectomy, you are very limited in further treatments you could have if your cancer comes back.
Learn more about focal therapy and how it works
How could focal therapy preserve my quality of life?
Weighing your treatment options
Many men consider side effects like impotence and incontinence to be an unavoidable part of getting treatment for their prostate cancer. However, this is no longer the case. You deserve the opportunity to make an informed decision about what your life after prostate cancer will look like.
Ask yourself what matters most to you:
- Do you want to preserve erections and the ability to have children?
- Do you want to preserve your bladder control?
- Do you want a treatment that is done within a day, or are you willing to undergo treatment for weeks?
- Do you want all the cancer in your gland gone, at the expense of other risks?
- Do you want the reassurance of your whole prostate gland gone, as the expense of other risks?
Any questions?
If you’ve got any questions about your prostate cancer diagnosis or want to know more about HIFU or NanoKnife, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly, knowledgeable team.
