Cryotherapy is a form of treatment for prostate cancer in which the cancerous cells are destroyed through freezing.
What Is It and How Does It Work?
The prefix “cryo-“ means “cold” or “freeze.” As you would then expect, cryotherapy is a technology that uses intense cold focused onto an area of tissue to treat a certain disease. A number of different diseases (mostly cancers) throughout the body can be treated with cryotherapy.
It is thought that, by applying intense cold to an area of tissue (such as the prostate), heat is rapidly drawn out of any cells in the area. When this happens, the fluid inside and surrounding the cells freezes quickly. Tiny ice crystals then form inside and around the cells causing them to be destroyed either by the act of freezing itself or by the jagged ice crystals that are created.
How Is Cryotherapy Done?
Cryotherapy for prostate cancer is always done under either regional or general anesthesia in order to minimize your pain and your body’s movement during the procedure.
In order to freeze the prostate quickly, between 5 and 8 probes are inserted through the skin of your lower abdomen and into the prostate (some physicians use a technique that uses many very tiny needles instead). An ultrasound is used to guide these probes into the correct position.
Once the probes are in place, either liquid nitrogen or argon gas (both of which are extremely cold) is sent through the probes and into the prostate. This results in immediate freezing of the tissue. After the prostate has been frozen to a certain temperature it is allowed to thaw and then the freezing is repeated. The probes are removed and the procedure is finished.
Does This Work As Well As the More Common Treatments?
While cryotherapy has been gaining in popularity among physicians who treat prostate cancer, most doctors do not have as much confidence in this treatment as the more standard treatments of surgery and radiation. Both surgery and radiation have been used for longer and by more physicians, have been tested more rigorously, and are better understood.
Sources:
Mazur, P. Cryobiology: the freezing of biological systems. Science 1970; 168:939. Schmidt JD, Doyle J, Larison S. Prostate cryoablation: update 1998. CA Cancer J Clin. 1998 Jul-Aug;48(4):239-53.
