Record Status This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database. Citation Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Cryosurgery for prostate cancer. Edmonton: Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). Technote TN 16. 1998 Authors' objectives This report has been prepared in response to a request for an update on the status of cryosurgery as a treatment for prostatic cancer, in relation to reimbursement issues. There was interest in whether the procedure is still considered experimental or in the research stage.
Authors' conclusions Cryosurgery for prostate cancer is a technology whose efficacy has yet to be established. The only long-term results available were obtained from studies which used older technology which is no longer in use. Short-term results from studies using current techniques are promising, but longer-term follow-up and, crucially, better quality studies are needed to establish the place of the technology. The overall situation is similar to that for another treatment for prostate cancer, brachytherapy, where good quality studies and long-term follow-up data are not available for currently-used techniques.
Indexing Status Subject indexing assigned by CRD MeSH Cryosurgery; Prostatic Neoplasms /surgery Language Published English Country of organisation Canada English summary An English language summary is available. Address for correspondence 1200, 10405 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5J 3N4. Tel: +1 780 448 4881; Fax: +1 780 448 0018 Email: djuzwishin@ihe.ca AccessionNumber 31998008933 Date bibliographic record published 21/09/1998 Date abstract record published 21/09/1998 |