¹The Royal Surrey County Hospital, Egerton Road, Guildford, Surrey, UK

Correspondence: S Ahmed, Department of Urology, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Egerton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XX, UK. E-mail: shwanahmed@yahoo.co.uk

Received 23 August 2004; Revised 1 October 2004; Accepted 28 October 2004; Published online 7 December 2004.

Abstract

The popularity of radiotherapy as a minimally invasive treatment for prostate cancer is increasing. Despite advancements in radiation delivery, a number of patients will fail treatment. Salvage radical prostatectomy has been the main therapeutic option for locally recurrent radiation failure prostate cancer with curative intent. The operation is technically difficult to perform and associated with significant comorbidities. Salvage cryotherapy has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative option. In this article, we review the role of cryotherapy in recurrent prostate cancer and compare its outcome with salvage radical prostatectomy.