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Cryotherapy is based on the science offreezing at very cold temperatureswhich kills cancerous cells. Cryother-apy (also known as cryoablation) wasfirst introduced in the 1960's and dur-ing the last ten years has become wide-ly used in the USA for treating manytypes of benign and malignanttumours. In the UK, cryotherapy is nowlicensed to treat prostate cancer andkidney tumours. An increasing num-ber of this country’s leading expertsare offering the cryoablation proce-dure to their patients who are lookingfor safe and effective cancer treat-ments and the best possible quality oflife. As cryotherapy offers a minimallyinvasive treatment option with fewercomplications and side effects thanconventional therapies, minimal bloodloss, short hospital stays and goodrates of success, it promises to becomea major cancer treatment of the future.

The procedure is carried outthrough keyhole surgery and usesultra thin cryoablation needleswhich are inserted into the tumour.Argon gas is then delivered via theneedle tip, which creates a large ice-ball to cover the tumour, freezing itand destroying the cancer cells atsub zero temperatures. The freezingprocess is then repeated to ensurethat every trace of the cancerouscells is eradicated.

Mr Frank Keeley, Consultant Sur-gical Urologist at Southmead Hospi-tal, Bristol, Department of Urology,Institute of Urology, has successful-ly treated renal cancer withcryotherapy and supports this hightech approach. He says: ”Cryoabla-tion of kidney tumours has beencarried out for over 10 years withgood medium-term results fromAmerican centres. The needle tech-nology has developed considerablysince then and I believe that the

results from the new, slimmercryotherapy needles from Galil Med-ical will be even better. Certainly,they give me even more confidencein the safety and effectiveness ofthis treatment.”

Rosie Cunningham Thomas, Presi-dent and General Manager of GalilMedical in Europe says: “Galil Med-ical is at the forefront of develop-ments in cryotherapy. Our newPresice™ System focuses treatmenton the patient’s cancer, minimisingdamage to surrounding tissue with aview to improving quality of life.We are working closely with leadingclinicians to maximise the value ofthe technology in patient care. Weare optimistic this will extendbeyond prostate and renal to othertypes of cancer in due course.”

Prostate CancerEarlier this year at their 22nd annualcongress in Berlin, the prestigiousEuropean Association of Urology(EAU) recognised the important role ofcryotherapy in treating cancer of theprostate by including this therapy forthe first time in its new guidelines onprostate cancer. This is highly signifi-cant as other minimally invasivetreatment options are still consideredto be experimental or investigationalby the EAU.

Prostate cancer is one of the princi-pal medical problems facing the malepopulation today and is the most com-mon male cancer in the UK, account-ing for almost a quarter of all malecancers, Each year, nearly 32,000 menin the UK are diagnosed and more than10,000 die from the disease. Cases arerare in men aged under 50, but itbecomes more common with age.

Cryotherapy is an excellent treat-ment option for many prostate cancersufferers. The procedure can be used forlocalised prostate cancer both as a pri-mary treatment and for recurrent can-cer where other treatments have failed.

Anthony Purvis from South Shieldsin Tyne and Wear was diagnosed withprostate cancer four years ago at theage of 65. He actively soughtcryotherapy over radiotherapy as atreatment for his prostate cancer asthere were reported to be fewer sideeffects, a speedy recovery and a shorthospital stay. Today, he is free of thedisease and lives as full a life as he did

before the diagnosis.Anthony had thoroughly consid-

ered all prostate cancer treatments andopted for cryotherapy after researchon the internet led him to discover thatthe procedure was used in manyprostate cases but not in the UK at thattime in 2003. Fortunately his Consult-ant Surgical Urologist, ProfessorDamian Greene, from the SunderlandRoyal Hospital was forward thinking

and arranged for Anthony to travel tothe USA for this procedure.

Anthony’s positive experience withprostate cryoablation encouragedProfessor Greene to set up the firstNHS cryotherapy unit in the UK at theSunderland Royal Hospital, which hestill runs today.

He explains: “When Anthony firstcame to see me, he was very clear

about wanting cryotherapy. The pro-cedure was a great success withAnthony still maintaining an excel-lent quality of life four years later.”

Kidney (Renal) CancerAround 7,000 people are diagnosedwith kidney cancer every year in theUK with it affecting more men thanwomen and occurring most common-ly in middle-aged and older people.Cryotherapy is being increasinglyrecognised as a viable treatment forpatients with small renal tumours.

Mr Chris Anderson, St GeorgesHospital, performed the first renalcases in 2004 and continues to offerthis treatment today.

Sixteen years ago, at the age of only44, Alex McLaren from Coventry inthe West Midlands was diagnosedwith renal cancer and had to have akidney removed. Last Christmas, herecognised the symptoms and suspect-ed that the cancer was back in hisremaining kidney; confirmation of hisdiagnosis was finally given last June.

Alex explains: “It really looked like Iwould lose my remaining kidney butafter some research on the internet anda chat with my consultant: I knew thatkidney cryoablation was the best optionfor me.” On September 14th 2007, Alexunderwent laparoscopic cryoablationand was discharged two days after histreatment, with only a little discomfortand minimal scarring. Most important-ly, initial results showed his tumour hadbeen completely destroyed.

The consultant Surgical Urologistwho undertook Alex’s procedure wasMr Frank Keeley, who is based atSouthmead Hospital, Bristol,Department of Urology, Institute ofUrology. Mr Keeley commented:“Alex had limited options because hehad only one kidney and his tumourwas located very centrally within theremaining kidney. The size and loca-tion of the tumour also meant thatpartial nephrectomy would have beenvery risky in terms of bleeding andinjury to the kidney's drainage system.There was a high probability, in fact,that it would have led to loss of hiskidney. Other forms of treatment, suchas using radio frequency ablation orfocused ultrasound, do not have agood track record for moderately largecentral tumours.”

“Cryoablation, by contrast, is morepredictable in its effects on kidneytumours. The ice created by the nee-dles can be dynamically monitoredduring the case so that adjustments, ifnecessary, can be made to ensure thatthe tumour is adequately treated.Because the tumour was located nextto the drainage system of the kidney,we used keyhole surgery to protect thisand other vital structures from thefreezing process. I was delighted to seehim recover so quickly from such acomplex procedure.”

Where Is Cryotherapy Available?Cryotherapy is available at specialcentres in both NHS and private hos-pitals nationwide. To find your near-est centre and practitioner, pleasecontact Galil Medical UK Ltd at:

The Office Building Gatwick RoadManor Royal,

CrawleyWest Sussex, RH10 9RZ

Tel: 01293 459848 or visitwww.galilmedical.com/pages/break

through-in-freezing.aspto find your nearest centre and

practitioner.

Breakthrough in freezing technologysteps up fight against cancerWith a recent Europe-wide report revealing thatcancer survival in the UK is still below the Euro-pean average, the freezing of cells – cryotherapy –is well placed to become a valuable option in thefight against prostate and renal cancer. In Marchthis year, revolutionary new technology, knownas the PresiceTM Cryotherapy System, waslaunched by Galil Medical UK Ltd with patentedstate-of-the-art freezing technology which accu-rately and effectively destroys prostate cancer andtumours in the kidney.

Presice Cryotherapy System HEALTHCARE

Promotional feature

� Anthony Purvis

� Professor Damian Greene

� Mr Frank Keeley

� Presice Cryotherapy System and IceVue Planning Software

� 17-gauge cryoablation needle produces iceball for targeted ablation