Focal therapy prostate cancer trial cuts side effect risk
A major NHS study found focal therapy prostate cancer treatment is as effective as surgery or radiotherapy, with less than half the risk of side effects such as urine leakage and loss of sexual function. Over nearly 3,500 men followed for up to ten years, cancer control matched radical treatments while sparing healthy tissue.
Key Takeaways
- A 10-year NHS study of 3,477 men found focal therapy matched surgery and radiotherapy for cancer control.
- Only two men (0.1%) died from prostate cancer; about 3% saw cancer spread outside the prostate.
- Side-effect risk was far lower than with whole-prostate surgery or radiotherapy.
- About 1,000 UK men get focal therapy yearly; up to 15,000 could benefit if access widens.
- Prostate Cancer UK urged NICE to review the new long-term evidence.
The findings, published in European Urology and led by Imperial College London with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, give regulators the decade-long data they had said was missing. Coverage also featured on our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries desk as a major public-interest health story.
What did the focal therapy prostate cancer study find?
Researchers tracked men treated at 14 UK hospitals between 2004 and 2024 with heat-based high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) or freezing-based cryotherapy. Ten years on, just two of nearly 3,500 patients had died from prostate cancer, and three in 100 had disease that spread beyond the prostate—rates similar to surgery or radiotherapy, according to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
BBC News reported outcomes as good as radical options but with less than half the risk of urine leakage or loss of sexual function. The Imperial team said focal therapy can cut incontinence, erectile dysfunction and rectal problems roughly five-fold by targeting only cancerous areas and sparing nearby nerves and muscles.
Why does this matter for patients now?
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with more than 60,000 diagnoses a year. Roughly half to two-thirds of localised cases may suit focal therapy—up to 15,000 men annually—yet only about 1,000 currently receive it.
Joint senior author Prof Hashim Ahmed said the results show "focal therapy delivers excellent long-term cancer control across a broad range of patients." Fears that sparing healthy tissue would leave more cancer behind appear largely unfounded on this evidence.
Will NICE make focal therapy more widely available?
NICE has not approved focal therapy as routine care mainly because long-term evidence was limited. This study is meant to fill that gap. Prostate Cancer UK said the approach "could help thousands of men each year avoid unnecessary side-effects" and called for a review.
Amy Rylance of the charity said incontinence or sexual problems can be devastating, and this is the first long-term study showing many men could avoid them without raising the risk of return. Separate £60m screening research is also testing rapid MRI plus lower-harm options such as focal therapy.