Contents
What are the
advantages and disadvantages?
The advantages and disadvantages of cryotherapy may depend on
whether you are having it as a first treatment for prostate cancer
or because the cancer has come back after another treatment. There
is a higher risk of side effects if you have already had another
treatment for prostate cancer.
Advantages
- Cryotherapy involves less invasive surgery than some other
treatments, with little blood loss.
- You will only be in hospital for a short time and recovery time
is quick.
- Cryotherapy may be a treatment option if your cancer has come
back after radiotherapy or brachytherapy.
Disadvantages
- Many men who have cryotherapy have long term erectile
problems following treatment.
- There is also a risk of other side effects which could affect
your quality of life such as urinary problems and a small risk of
bowel problems.
- We do not know as much about how effective the treatment is in
the long term (after 10 or 15 years), compared with other
treatments.
- Cryotherapy is only available in specialist centres in the UK
or as part of a clinical
trial.
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What does cryotherapy
involve?
Each treatment centre will do things slightly differently, so
ask your doctor or nurse how they carry out the procedure.
Cryotherapy is carried out under either general or local
anaesthetic. The procedure usually takes around two hours.
You will have a tube into your bladder (catheter) to drain urine
during the treatment.
Several thin needles are inserted into the prostate gland through
the skin between the testicles and back passage (perineum).
Freezing gases are passed down the needles, causing the temperature
to drop to about -40oC. The prostate gland is then allowed to warm
up. This is called a freeze-thaw cycle. There are often two
freeze-thaw cycles, but there may be more if you have a large
prostate gland.
Most people can go home on the same day or the day after
treatment. You will go home with a catheter in place to avoid any
problems passing urine. The catheter will be removed after about
two weeks.
You will have follow up appointments to monitor your recovery.
Your PSA level will be checked about every three months for at
least the first year, and every six months after that.
Read our Tool Kit fact sheet online for more information
about cryotherapy.
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What are the side
effects?
Like all treatments, cryotherapy can cause side effects.
Cryotherapy will affect each man differently, and you may not get
all of the side effects. There is a greater risk of side effects if
you have already had radiotherapy or brachytherapy because these
treatments may have damaged the tissues surrounding the prostate
gland.
Short term side effects include:
- blood in the urine (haematuria)
- difficulty or discomfort passing urine
- bruising and swelling of the penis, skin around the testicles
(scrotum), inner thigh and the area between your testicles and back
passage (perineum), or
- pain and bleeding where the needles were inserted.
The most common long term side effects are problems getting or
keeping an erection (erectile dysfunction) and a number of urinary
problems.
You can read more about the side effects in our Tool Kit fact sheet, cryotherapy.
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Questions to ask your
doctor or nurse
- How successful is cryotherapy at treating prostate cancer?
- What is the risk of side effects?
- What are my other treatment options?
- How much experience does the specialist have in carrying out
cryotherapy?
- How often will you check my PSA after the treatment?
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