Guy’s laser trial clears treated prostate cancer in eight of first 10 patients

A laser treatment for prostate cancer has been used on NHS patients for the first time at Guy’s Hospital in Southwark, and the hospital says the first results look promising.

The pilot study of ProFocal laser therapy involves 30 patients whose prostate cancer is localised. The hospital said that in eight of the first 10 patients, no cancer was left in the area treated, while the other two still had a small amount. According to the NHS, no hospital in Europe had used the technology before.

How the ProFocal laser treatment works

The hospital calls the therapy minimally invasive. Laser energy passes directly into the tumour along a thin fibre, which sits inside a cooled metal rod. Surgeons insert the rod through the perineum, using MRI and ultrasound scans to steer it towards the cancer. Patients have a light general anaesthetic for the procedure, which lasts roughly an hour, and can go home that day.

Rick Popert is a senior consultant urological surgeon with the NHS trust that runs Guy’s. Unlike other focal therapies, he said, this system can reach any part of the prostate, including the harder spots. His goal is to treat the cancer properly while keeping “as much normal prostate tissue and function as possible”.

Patients on the prostate cancer pilot

Alex McWhirter, a travel journalist aged 77 who has partly retired, was diagnosed in early 2025. He said the treatment “really feels like a huge leap forward” compared with surgery or radiotherapy. He left hospital straight afterwards and, apart from minimal blood in his urine that night, has had no side effects. His scans so far are clear, he added. Chris Bearfoot, 61, who was diagnosed in January, said before his treatment that the side effects seemed far smaller than those of more traditional surgery.

Mr Popert said he came across the technology in Australia over four years ago. A study there involved more than 100 patients, and Guy’s is repeating it with its first 30. “Although these are still early results, we have been greatly encouraged by what we have seen,” he said. The ultimate aim, he added, is for the treatment to be offered in the UK once it gains the UK Conformity Assessed mark. After long-term testing, it could become an option for some patients.

Everyone in the pilot will be followed up regularly, with an MRI scan after a year to see how well the results last. The ProFocal system itself was bought with £125,000 given by the London Freemasons. Guy’s Cancer Charity administered the money.