Abstract
With the spread of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and the increasing life expectancy, especially in developed countries, the number of patients with localized prostate cancer has increased dramatically. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an extracorporeal ablative technology. Over the past 15 years, more than 30,000 treatments of whole gland therapy and salvage therapy after recurrence with radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer using HIFU have been performed worldwide with encouraging oncological results and excellent postoperative functional outcomes. HIFU has the advantages of repeatability, applicability in patients after radiation therapy, radical prostatectomy possible after HIFU in patients with prostate cancer, can be used on outpatient basis, low rate of complications, easy to perform, and low cost. These advantages of HIFU are superior to radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. In addition, its minimal thermal damage to the tissue outside the focal region make HIFU an attractive therapeutic modality for focal therapy of the prostate that aims to cure the cancer whilst preserving continence and erectile function. However, further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of focal HIFU in patients with localized prostate cancer.
