The advantages and disadvantages of cryotherapy depend on whether you are having it as a first treatment for prostate cancer, or because the cancer has come back after another treatment. There is a higher risk of side effects if you have already had another treatment for prostate cancer.

Advantages
• Cryotherapy is less invasive than surgery with little blood loss.
• You will only be in hospital for a short time and recovery is quick.
• If you have cryotherapy as a first treatment, you may still be able to have radiotherapy or surgery if your cancer starts to grow again.
• It may be a treatment option if your cancer has come back after radiotherapy or brachytherapy.

Disadvantages
• There is a high risk of erection problems.
• Cyotherapy is relatively new, and not as much is known about long term survival and impact on everyday life compared to other treatments.
• It is available in relatively few centres in the UK compared with other treatments.

Each treatment centre will do things slightly differently, so ask your specialist team how they carry out the procedure.

Cryotherapy is carried out under either general or local anaesthetic. The procedure usually takes around two hours.

You will have a tube into your bladder (catheter) to drain urine during the treatment. This will be left in, in case you have any problems passing urine afterwards.

Very thin needles are inserted into the prostate gland through the skin between the testicles and back passage (perineum). Freezing gases are passed down the needles, causing the temperature to drop to about -40oC. The prostate gland is then allowed to warm up. This is called a freeze-thaw cycle. There are often two freeze-thaw cycles, but there may be more if you have a large prostate gland.

Most people can go home on the same day or the day after treatment. The catheter will be removed after about two weeks.

You will have follow up appointments to monitor your recovery. Your PSA level will be checked about every three months for at least the first year, and every six months after that.

Read our Tool Kit fact sheet online for more information about cryotherapy.

The side effects of cryotherapy will vary from man to man and there is no way of knowing which you will get. There is a greater risk of side effects if you have already had radiotherapy or brachytherapy because these treatments may have damaged the tissues surrounding the prostate gland.

Short term side effects include:
• Blood in the urine
• Difficulty passing urine
• Bruising and swelling of the penis, skin around the testicles (scrotum), inner thigh and the area between your testicles and back passage (perineum)
• Pain and/or bleeding where the needles were inserted

The most common long term side effect is problems getting or keeping an erection (erectile dysfunction). Cryotherapy can cause a variety of urinary problems.

You can read more about the side effects in our fact sheet online.

• How successful is cryotherapy at treating prostate cancer?
• What are my other treatment options?
• How much experience does the specialist have in carrying out cryotherapy?
• How long does the procedure take?
• What is the risk of side effects?
• How often will you check my PSA after the treatment?