HIFU – Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein adds a cutting-edge procedure to the available treatments for prostate cancer: the Focal One®, a robotic medical device designed for minimally invasive treatment of localized cancer.

Procedures are becoming less and less invasive, and the trend is that with advancing technology, increasingly conservative therapies will be adopted to minimize the impact on patients' quality of life. Focal therapy for prostate cancer is part of this scenario and aims to treat the cancerous area while preserving healthy tissue.

About 30% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer may benefit from this new technology. The new equipment uses high-intensity sound waves, or in English, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), as an energy source to destroy cancer cells. The ultrasound waves are focused and directed through a robotic platform, destroying by heat only the cancerous cells and preserving those around them from possible sequelae, such as erectile dysfunction, one of the main concerns of men diagnosed with this type of cancer.

Patients with low-aggressiveness disease localized to a single focus within the prostate are potential candidates for using the equipment, especially those who have some contraindication to conventional treatments. This procedure has the advantage of allowing the patient to return home on the same day as the surgery, in addition to presenting fewer complications and lower rates of erectile dysfunction and incontinence.