Focal therapy matches surgery for prostate cancer with half the side effects, 10-year study finds
Of nearly 3,500 men treated on the NHS, only two died of the disease within a decade — evidence regulators had said was missing.
By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Wed, 22 July 2026 · 2 min read
A less invasive treatment for prostate cancer is as effective as surgery or radiotherapy while carrying a substantially lower risk of side effects, according to a major long-term study led by Imperial College London.
The treatment, known as focal therapy, uses high-intensity ultrasound or freezing cryotherapy to destroy cancerous tissue rather than removing or irradiating the whole prostate. The 10-year NHS study followed nearly 3,500 men, supplying precisely the long-term data that medical regulators had previously identified as missing.
Nearly all the men had intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer. Ten years after treatment, only two had died from the disease. Researchers describe the outcomes as matching surgery or radiotherapy, but with less than half the risk of side effects such as urine leakage or loss of sexual function.
"Focal therapy delivers excellent long-term cancer control across a broad range of patients," said Prof Hashim Ahmed, joint senior author and a consultant urologist at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. "It makes a compelling case for more centres to offer this treatment."
The gap between what is available and who could use it is wide. Focal therapy was introduced more than 20 years ago, but only around 1,000 men a year receive it in the UK — against up to 15,000 who could benefit. It is not suitable for everyone: men whose cancer is present in multiple parts of the prostate, or has spread beyond the gland, are not candidates.
The principal reason for slow adoption has been uncertainty about long-term survival, and specifically whether treating only part of the prostate would lead to higher rates of recurrence. That is the question this study was designed to answer.
For patients, the practical barrier has been geography. One man treated on the NHS said he felt "incredibly fortunate" his doctor had offered him the option. "My outcomes have been fantastic. I have no long-term issues at all, and it feels pretty unfair that this isn't offered to men across the whole country. It was the fact that I live in London that I was offered that treatment."
Paul Sayer, 70, founder of the charity Prost8 UK and himself a focal therapy patient, said the findings should change practice. "Our hope is that this evidence marks the point where every suitable man is routinely offered focal therapy as part of his treatment choices, regardless of where he lives," he said. "This research shouldn't just change clinical practice — it should change conversations in every consulting room across the UK."