title: Focal therapy for prostate cancer: patient selection and evaluation.
abstract: Recent stage migration toward low-risk prostate cancer, overtreatment of biologically insignificant tumors with radical prostatectomy at the additional expense of a non-negligible morbidity and undertreatment of patients improperly selected for active surveillance are the main reasons that have fueled the concept of focal therapy. Optimal selection of patients is the key for the successful implementation of focal therapy. Selection criteria for focal therapy vary widely and depend on clinical, histological and imaging characteristics of the patients that are highlighted in this article. In addition, the rationales, merits and limitations of the available methods for the assessment of potential candidates, the evaluation of treatment efficacy and follow-up of these patients are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. sgravas2002@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gravas
authors.forename: Vassilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tzortzis
authors.forename: Santiago Isorna Martinez
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: de la Riva
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laguna
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Rosette
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome