HAMPSHIRE Hospitals has become one of only three trusts in the country to offer two forms of non-invasive treatment for prostate cancer.

The urology department at Basingstoke hospital recently acquired the equipment to carry out both high-intensity focused ultrasound and cryoablation treatments.

High-intensity focused ultrasound destroys cancer cells by heating the tissues, while cryoablation, which freezes cancer, can be used to treat areas of the prostate gland inaccessible to ultrasound treatment.

Both treatments reduce the damage done to healthy parts of the gland, lessening the risk of side effects such as impotence and incontinence for patients whose cancer is in the early stages.

Mr Richard Hindley, consultant urologist at Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust, said: “In the past, even when we caught the cancer early we had to treat the whole gland with either surgery or radiation therapies, making side-effects unavoidable.

“High-intensity focused ultrasound or cryoablation can be used in a more precise and focal way, minimizing the collateral damage. This has been planned for a long time but for both technologies to arrive so close together has allowed us to hit the ground running.

“It’s really exciting for us to be able to offer both of these treatments.

“High-intensity focused ultrasound is the treatment we tend to explore initially, but a significant minority of men have either a large prostate gland or a prostate containing calcium deposits, which makes it unsuitable for this particular technology.

“Cryoablation offers an alternative option and is particularly good at targeting tumours at the front of the gland, which means we can offer all suitable patients a focal treatment that allows them to maintain a good quality of life.”

The high-intensity focused ultrasound machine, which cost £194,000, was bought for the trust by the North Hampshire Medical Fund, a charity that raises funds for advanced medical equipment to be used at Basingstoke hospital.