Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is a treatment option for prostate cancer. It is an alternative to surgery or radiation. Cryotherapy kills prostate cancer by freezing prostate tissue. This method has been shown to effectively control cancer in 80 percent to 90 percent of men with early-stage disease, though long-term survival rates appear to be lower than do those with surgery or radiation therapy.

Cryotherapy involves inserting five to seven thin metal rods, each about 6 inches long, through the perineum and into the prostate. An ultrasound probe in the rectum helps guide your doctor to position the rods. Once the rod tips are in place, liquid nitrogen is released into the rods, where it circulates and freezes the nearby tissue, causing the cancerous cells to rupture and die. To keep the urethra from freezing along with the prostate, a catheter is placed inside the urethra and filled with a warming solution.

The procedure is done in the hospital. You're given local, regional or general anesthetics. It takes about two hours, results in very little blood loss, usually requires a hospital stay of one to two days, and has a recovery time of one to two weeks. It takes your body about nine months to a year to shed the dead cells. The procedure may have to be repeated if all cancer cells aren't killed during the first treatment.

Side effects of cryotherapy

• Short-term trouble with urinating.
• Injury to rectum.
• Sexual dysfunction. You have an 80 percent to 90 percent chance of developing erectile dysfunction because nerve bundles that control erections can freeze and die, too. Results from other studies of more technologically advanced cryotherapy methods show an impotency rate as low as 67 percent. Sexual dysfunction may improve with time.