Locations:
Search IconSearch
January 2, 2024/Cancer/Surgical Oncology

Exploring Focal Therapies for Prostate Cancer (Podcast)

Patient factors and cancer characteristics are key to deciding between focal therapies and whole gland treatment

Advertisement

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

Cancer therapies treat the entire prostate. But for a subset of patients, minimally invasive focal therapies that leave part of the prostate untreated may be an option. “[The key is] finding men who are intermediate risk, who based on imaging and based on biopsies have cancer localized to one small part of their prostate,” says Zeyad Schwen, MD, a urologic oncologist at Cleveland Clinic.

In a recent episode of Cleveland Clinic’s Cancer Advances podcast, Dr. Schwen discusses focal therapy for prostate cancer. He covers:

  • The difference between traditional treatments and focal therapies
  • Factors that make a patient a good candidate for focal therapy
  • Focal procedures, including Nanoknife, high-intensity focused ultrasound and cryotherapy
  • Risk of recurrence and salvage therapies
  • Clinical trials devoted to focal therapies

Click the podcast player above to listen to the episode now, or read on for a short edited excerpt.

Check out more Cancer Advances episodes at my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/cancer-advances or wherever you get your podcasts.

Excerpt from the podcast:

Podcast host Dale Shepard, MD, PhD: Let’s talk a little bit about what these procedures are, what these focal therapies are. Tell us a little bit about Nanoknife.

Dr. Schwen: This is a newer technology, a newer energy of what we call electroporation. What we do is we deliver high voltage current across the prostate tissue, usually in the form of a needle that disrupts the cell membrane of the cancer cell and then causes cell death. And so, they call it electroporation.

Advertisement

Essentially, it creates pores in the cell membrane, and then as a result, the cell dies. And what’s good about Nanoknife, which is the term that people use, is that it can be directed in a focal way, but also it reduces the collateral damage of the normal tissue around it. So, it has less collateral damage than some of the other energies that we have.

Another advantage of [Nanoknife] is that we can deliver it to other parts of the prostate that were
difficult to reach with other focal therapies, like the anterior prostate. The top of the prostate
traditionally was difficult to reach with some of our other focal therapies like HIFU, which is an
ultrasound ablation, and a lot of these have to be directed through the rectum. So, reaching the top of
the prostate is sometimes more challenging, and sometimes the urethra is in the way. The Nanoknife is another type of energy that allows us to deliver that energy to a focal part of the prostate at the top
that would be difficult to reach with HIFU.

Advertisement

Related Articles

URL_Pavelko_4173760_Care Page Urology  Dr. Bole_08-21-23
November 24, 2023/Urology & Nephrology
Trial Compares Shockwave Versus Radial Wave Therapy for Erectile Dysfunction in Prostate Cancer Survivors

Novel research to evaluate noninvasive treatments in ED and chronic pelvic pain

22-CNR-3127708-CQD-Hero2-650×450-credits
November 22, 2023/Cancer/Radiation Oncology
A Germline Biomarker Offers Insight Into Treatment Selection for Men With Prostate Cancer

Correlation found between the biomarker HSD3B1 and resistance to combined hormone therapy and radiotherapy

23-CNR-3964459-CQD-Hero-650×450 SBRT
New Study Highlights Potential Benefits of Ultrasound-Guided Prostate SBRT

Transperineal ultrasound a viable, non-invasive option for monitoring intra-fractional prostate motion

nomogram
May 24, 2023/Cancer/Research
The Role of Nomograms in Treatment Evaluation for Cancer Patients (Podcast)

Optimized models can personalize predictions for patients with prostate, breast and other cancers

prostate cancer
Lutetium-PSMA for Metastatic Prostate Cancer (Podcast)

FDA-approved therapy offers promise for patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer

23-URL-3595064 CQD 650×450
National Prostate Cancer Trial Testing Therapy Based on Cleveland Clinic Molecular Discovery

Clinical trial strategy was developed through research on a gene associated with treatment-resistant prostate cancer

22-CNR-3290544-CQD-Hero-prostate cancer 650×450
October 24, 2022/Cancer/Research
Study Reveals Gene Expression Patterns Associated With Aggressive Pathologic Features In Prostate Cancer

What is the role of molecular profiling in risk stratification?

Microscopic image showing adenocarcinoma of Prostate.
September 20, 2022/Cancer
In Search of Improved Risk Modeling for Cribriform, Intraductal Carcinoma of the Prostate

Can genomic classifiers contemporize stratification?

Ad