LONDON, August 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- As Prostate Cancer Hits the Headlines - What Anyone who has Been Diagnosed Should Know

Each year nearly 33,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 10,000 die from the disease. It has become the most common cancer in men and mainly affects men over the age of 50. People affected and their families should be informed about all the options available to them - cryotherapy is one such treatment option.

Cryotherapy is based on the science of freezing at very cold temperatures to kill cancerous cells. This minimally invasive, non-surgical and non-radiation treatment freezes and destroys tumours. The treatment is performed by inserting very fine sealed needles directly into the tumours, through which Argon gas is circulated to reach sub-zero temperatures.

Prostate cryotherapy has recently been approved by the European Association of Urologists (EAU) and has been used widely in the United States for many years. It is now available in the UK at both NHS and private hospitals.

Professor Damian Greene, Consultant Urologist at Sunderland Royal Hospital in the UK, considers cryotherapy an extremely valuable option in the treatment of primary as well as recurrent prostate cancer. Prof. Greene commented: "Cryotherapy is a significant alternative to traditional treatments for prostate cancer, such as radical prostatectomy and external beam radiation treatment. Patient satisfaction with cryotherapy is high due to its minimally invasive approach, which allows returning to active life quicker than with alternative treatments."

A patient of Professor Greene's, Anthony Purvis was diagnosed with prostate cancer almost five years ago at the age of 65, and is now free of the disease following treatment with cryotherapy. At that time, cryotherapy wasn't an option in the UK so he had to travel to the US for treatment.

Leading the way in the field is Galil Medical's Presice(TM) Cryoablation System. For further information, please go to http://www.galilmedical.com or call +44(0)1293-459848.

About Galil Medical

Galil Medical develops, manufactures and markets an innovative cryotherapy platform incorporating powerful freezing technology and revolutionary 17-gauge cryoablation needle design. Galil Medical systems enable minimally invasive, targeted ablation of benign and cancerous tumors while ensuring rapid recovery and enhanced quality of life for patients. The Presice(TM) Cryoablation System features multi-point thermal sensors (MTS) and advanced IceVue(TM) planning software for excellent procedure control in treating prostate and renal cancer. The SeedNet(TM) system provides physicians with an easy-to-use cryoablation solution to precisely ablate tumors while protecting adjacent structures.

Galil Medical is a global medical device company with offices in Yokneam, Israel; Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania; and London, United Kingdom. Shareholders include Thomas, McNerney Partners, Vertical Group, Investor Growth Capital, Elron Electronic industries (NASDAQ:ELRN) and RDC Rafael Development Corporation, Ltd. For more information, please visit http://www.galilmedical.com

For further information, please contact Helena Symeou at hsdcommunications on: +44(0)1923-777277 or at helena.symeou@hsdcomm.com.