Preoperative prediction of multifocal prostate cancer and application of focal therapy: Review 2007

Prostate cancer is a leading malignancy among men. Early prostate cancer is most commonly treated with radical surgery and radiotherapy. In the era of prostate-specific antigen and newly emerging highly specific screening tests, a greater number of men are given a diagnosis earlier in life, and disease is more often confined. Less-invasive treatments, such as focal therapy, are becoming increasingly popular, yielding shorter hospital stays, faster recovery, and fewer complications. Potential drawbacks to focal therapy include the risk of incomplete treatment, which may result from missed cancer foci and inadequate ablation to target tissues. Furthermore, this approach is not universally applicable to all patients-for example, those who have periurethral and extraprostatic extension of the tumor may not benefit from focal treatment. This article reviews the importance of multifocal prostate cancer and the application of focal treatment.