A treatment that freezes away prostate tumours is as effective as surgery but avoids life-changing side effects, researchers have found. Focal cryoablation, known as the “male lumpectomy”, destroys cancerous tissue with super-cold gas fired through several needle probes.

The treatment targets the tumour without damaging surrounding tissue. Because nerves and blood vessels are preserved, it does not cause the side effects of impotence and poor bladder control associated with surgery and radiotherapy.

Cryoablation can also be repeated a number of years after the initial treatment. Doctors today said the procedure was as good a potential cure as more radical treatments in cases where the disease had not spread.

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