When might cryosurgery be used to treat prostate cancer?
Cryosurgery may be used to treat men with early-stage cancer that is confined to the prostate gland, particularly when standard treatments such as surgery and radiation are unsuccessful or cannot be used. For men in good physical condition with cancer limited to the prostate, however, the standard treatments of prostatectomy (surgical removal of the prostate) or radiation therapy are usually considered better options. Cryosurgery is not considered an effective treatment for prostate cancer that has spread outside the gland, or to distant parts of the body. In addition, although cryosurgery may be considered an alternative to surgery or radiation therapy in a limited number of cases, its long-term effectiveness has not been demonstrated conclusively. When might cryosurgery be used to treat liver cancer or liver metastases? Whether tumors originate in the liver (called primary liver cancer) or spread to the liver from another site (such as the colon or rectum), surgical removal often is
