Timothy McClure, MD, on patient selection for focal therapy

Patients best suited for focal therapy are those who have a true focal lesion, that is an MRI-identified lesion of grade group 2 or 3 confined to that target area, according to Timothy D. McClure, MD.

In a recent interview with Urology Times®, McClure outlined his approach to patient selection with focal therapy as well as how NanoKnife fits into that landscape.

“We will treat some patients with grade group 1 or lower risk prostate cancer outside that MRI zone, but ideally, patients really just have prostate cancer within the MRI target,” he explained. McClure is an assistant professor of urology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, New York.

McClure also touched on how irreversible electroporation (IRE) with the NanoKnife System has been integrated into his practice.

“Because we do so much [transperineal] TP biopsies, it's a great transition from TP biopsy to TP ablation, because it's all needle-based,” McClure added. “So, from an application perspective in our patients, we've essentially mapped them out with a prostate fusion biopsy beforehand. We can look back from that fusion platform exactly where our positive biopsies were. We can correlate where those findings were seen on the MRI, and then we can treat the patient almost the same way based off of that biopsy information that we have.”

McClure also noted additional benefits with IRE, such as being able to treat anterior lesions, posterior lesions, and even apical lesions.

McClure reports relevant disclosures with AngioDynamics.