For Immediate Release

September 18, 2003

Mercy Offers New, Non-Surgical Procedure for Treating Prostate Cancer

Oklahoma City—Mercy Health Center is one of the leading medical institutions nationwide and the only facility in Oklahoma now offering a new treatment alternative for patients with prostate cancer called targeted cryosurgery. Cryosurgery, sometimes called cryoablation, is a minimally invasive one- to two-hour procedure that allows physicians to freeze and destroy cancerous tissue in and around the prostate gland.

Besides offering a faster recovery, less severe side effects and fewer complications than traditional cancer-fighting options such as radiation therapy or prostate removal, studies have shown that more than 90 percent of patients treated with cryosurgery were cancer free a year later.

“With this technology, we can precisely freeze and kill the cancer,” said Dr. Clark Hyde, chairman of urology at Mercy. “We first target the cancerous area through ultrasound visualization and, thanks to the precise targeting as well as temperature monitoring, we can also help ensure that surrounding healthy tissues remain unaffected.”

Targeted cryosurgery is also used to destroy tumors in other parts of the body, including the liver, breasts and kidneys, although physicians have most often used the procedure to treat cancer that is confined to the prostate gland.

Cryosurgery provides a viable alternative to radiation therapy or surgical prostate removal for the treatment of prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Studies have shown that results of cryosurgery are comparable with those of radiation therapy and, in fact, can be more effective in treating higher-risk cancer patients than brachytherapy, a procedure in which physicians implant radioactive seeds in the prostate to destroy the cancer.

In addition, because it is minimally invasive, cryosurgery patients routinely return home the same day as the procedure.

Mercy Health Center is a member of the Mercy Health System of Oklahoma and the Sisters of Mercy Health System-St. Louis.

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