High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) was experimentally used for focal therapy for anti-cancer effects in prostate cancer (PC). Focal therapy is a diagnosis-based investigational treatment option for localized PC that cures clinically significant PC (csPC) while preserving the anatomical structures related to urinary and sexual function based on its spread observed using multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI). The European Association of Urology indicated that the current status of focal therapy for localized PC was an investigational modality and encouraged prospective recording of outcomes and recruitment of suitable patients in 2018. During the last few years, large-population multi- and single-center prospective studies have investigated focal therapy as a treatment strategy for localized PC. In a multicenter prospective study with 5-year follow-up, failure-free survival, which was defined as avoidance of local salvage therapy (surgery or radiotherapy), systemic therapy, metastases, and prostate cancer-specific death, was 88%. In the previous studies, there was no significant influence on urinary function before and at 3 months after the treatment, although transient impairment was reported 1 month after the treatment. Pad- and leak-free continence was preserved in 80-100% of the patients after treatment. Erectile function was significantly impaired in the initial 3 months after treatment compared to the pretreatment values, but it improved 6 months after the focal therapy in the previous reports. Paired comparison studies and cohort studies with long-term follow-up will contribute to verifying this treatment's clinical outcomes for patients with localized PC.
Keywords: Focal therapy; Functional outcomes; High-intensity focused ultrasound; Oncological outcomes; Prostate cancer.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japan Society of Ultrasonics in Medicine.