Prostate Cancer 'Lumpectomy' Tested

Preliminary Results Look Promising

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News  Reviewed By Brunilda  Nazario, MD
on Friday, April 01, 2005

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April 1, 2005 -- A new, approach to prostate cancerprostate cancer has
reportedly fared well in early tests.

The technique, called focal cryoablation, targets tumors without
harming healthy tissue. Gary Onik, MD, who tested the procedure on a
small group of prostate cancer patients, calls it "lumpectomy" for
prostate cancer.

The technique still needs long-term study but could be a "major and
profound departure from the current thinking about prostate cancer,"
says Onik, in a news release.

Onik pioneered prostate cancer cryoablation in the early 1990s, says
the news release. For more than five years, Medicare has approved
cryoablation of the whole prostate gland. The new technique refines
that strategy, zeroing in on tumors, not the entire prostate.