Category: Focal Treatment & Laser Ablation

We’ve come a long way in focal therapy in the years since we published the blog below. Dr. Hash Ahmed’s 2014 published paper, as cited in the original blog, summarized compelling data that showed great promise for focal prostate cancer (PCa) treatment. Now, nearly a decade later, four authors from UCLA list several treatment methods with result statistics. Methods include... keep reading

Active Surveillance for prostate cancer is a life-saving option but often comes with a heavy emotional toll. Learn how managing anxiety and uncertainty can transform your journey. Explore why psychological tools and innovative treatments, like MRI-guided focal laser ablation, are reshaping the experience for patients worldwide. keep reading

Excitement peaks every four years when the world’s greatest athletes gather for the Olympics. During the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris, the team gymnastics events were as sparkling as the Eiffel Tower at night. For Americans, the outcomes did not disappoint. The U.S. women’s team took the Olympic podium with their fourth team gold, (1996, keep reading

Imagine it’s 1995. The PSA blood test has recently been deployed for widespread screening. You’re 73 with a mild heart problem. Your doctor suggests you have a PSA test as part of your annual physical. It comes back at 13.5 ng/mL. After a 6 needle TRUS biopsy (yes, a standard sextant biopsy back then meant keep reading

Did you ever watch a murder mystery in which all the clues appear to point to an easy solution—but there’s a late breaking twist when the killer turns out to have “hiding in plain sight” all along? Here’s a similar situation: all the usual clinical factors seem to indicate that a prostate cancer patient has keep reading

I came across a journal article by a Brazilian urologic specialist, Dr. Stênio Cássio Zequi of the Camargo Cancer Center in São Paulo, Brazil. He asks if focal therapy will be the next step in prostate cancer management. Before expressing his opinion, he writes what amounts to a “snapshot” of the current state of prostate cancer treatment... keep reading

We all grew up with the concept of majority rule. It’s the idea that when more than half the people decide on something, everyone is compelled to abide by it. Or, whichever group has the most supporters determines everyone’s fate, including their own. It generally works for organizing government and deciding issues. However, majority rule keep reading

Before a prostate cancer patient makes a final decision to have focal laser ablation, I go over the details of MRI-guided FLA and what to expect after treatment. I remind each person that it’s important to monitor for PCa recurrence. After any focal treatment (cryo, HIFU, Focal Laser Ablation, MRgFUS, TULSA) PCa can either come back in the treatment site—called treatment failure, meaning the treatment did not destroy all the cancer at the site—or recur in a different location... keep reading

Prostate cancer patients are talking about TULSA-PRO, but they don’t mean Tulsa, Oklahoma. TULSA stands for Transurethral ULtraSound Ablation, and PRO refers to its use in the PROstate gland. It is an MRI-guided minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer (PCa). It works by directing ultrasound energy to ablate (destroy) prostate tissue. It keep reading

What do Italy and China have in common? At first glance, the two countries don’t appear to share much by way of geography (Europe vs. Asia), size (small vs. gigantic), or culture (Western vs. Oriental). However, according Eastant, a market research and consulting team, the two nations embrace four similar characteristics: a proud history, family keep reading