The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired March 18, 2008, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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There are a lot of ways to kill cancer, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy but when it comes to prostate cancer, results of a 10-year study confirm that freezing cancer to death is just as good as any other way.

The technique is called cryotherapy. It's been around since the 1960s but considered experimental until it was refined in the early 1990s at Allegheny General Hospital. The results of the study were published in the journal Urology.

Fifteen years ago, the shock of prostate cancer was compounded by the prospect of surgery.

With cryosurgery, there is no cutting or radiation, just freezing. For 20 years, doctors tested, refined and used the technique to kill prostate cancer.

The machine used in cryotherapy is completely computerized. It not only shows doctors exactly where the prostate is but also will then freeze the tip of an ice rod to minus 20 degrees celsius. The entire procedure takes about 35 minutes.

Dr. Jeffrey Cohen's retrospective analysis of 370 cryosurgery patients found that it is comparable to other treatments.

"Early stage disease, 81 percent of the patients had undetectable PSAs with a median follow-up of 12 years," he said. "That compares with 85 percent for radical prostatectomy and 88 percent for seed implantation."

As good as the news is about cryotherapy, it's important to note that it is not for every man with prostate cancer. It is another primary treatment and is an important option for men with localized prostate cancer.

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