Category: Prostate Cancer

But today, treatment doesn’t have to mean losing what makes you who you are. At Urology Innovations Canada (UIC), we offer a different path — one that treats prostate cancer precisely, protects your quality of life, and helps you move forward without pressing pause on everything else.

What “Focal” Really Means

Traditional prostate cancer treatments target the entire gland, even if only a small area contains cancer. Focal therapy changes that. It’s a modern, image-guided approach that targets only the affected area while preserving surrounding tissue and function.

At Urology Innovations Canada, we’ve been at the forefront of this shift for nearly two decades.

• In 2006, we brought High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for prostate cancer to North America — a breakthrough that helped make minimally invasive, tissue-sparing treatment possible.
• Then in 2024, we added NanoKnife (Irreversible Electroporation) to our suite of focal therapies.

With these two complementary technologies, we can now treat low- to intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer in any prostate size and with tumours located anywhere within the gland — all while preserving urinary and sexual function.

You may have come across the term “focal medicine,” which refers to medications designed to act selectively within the body — drugs that circulate systemically but aim to target specific tissues or pathways. It’s a promising pharmaceutical concept, but still one step removed from the problem itself.

Focal therapy, by contrast, is not medication-based. It’s a surgical precision treatment performed by specialists using real-time imaging to target only the cancerous tissue inside the prostate. The energy — not a drug — does the work. There’s no systemic exposure, no chemical side effects, and no long list of downstream risks. Our goal is simple: eliminate the cancer while leaving everything else untouched.

This isn’t experimental. It’s proven, repeatable, FDA- and Health Canada-approved – and available right here in Toronto.

Quality of Life Comes First

Every man facing prostate cancer thinks about side effects — but the reality goes deeper than medical terms. Losing urinary control or sexual function changes daily life. So does missing weeks of work or losing income during recovery.

All focal therapies at UIC are performed under general anaesthesia as outpatient procedures. You arrive in the morning, go home the same day, and usually return to normal activities within days — not months. Because only the cancerous area is treated, not the entire prostate, the risks of incontinence and erectile dysfunction are dramatically lower.

You can see how HIFU and NanoKnife (IRE) compare to surgery and radiation in our prostate cancer treatment comparison table — a quick side-by-side look at recovery time, side effects, and long-term outcomes.

In other words: focal treatment fits your life, not the other way around.

The Bigger Picture

For many patients, focal therapy bridges the gap between “doing nothing” and “doing everything.” It delivers effective cancer control with minimal side effects, allowing men to live fully without constant reminders of their diagnosis.

NanoKnife uses precisely controlled electrical pulses — a process called irreversible electroporation (IRE) — to destroy cancer cells while leaving surrounding tissue, nerves, and structures intact.

Unlike surgery or radiation, it’s a minimally invasive, function-preserving treatment that targets only the cancer, helping men maintain urinary control and sexual function.

TIME recognized NanoKnife for its precision and its potential to transform how prostate cancer is treated. At Urology Innovations Canada, we’ve been using this technology for more than a year to offer men a proven, less invasive option for localized prostate cancer — often performed as an outpatient procedure with minimal downtime.

Dr. Jack Barkin, Medical Director and Founder at UIC, was the first physician in North America to perform HIFU and continues to lead innovation in focal therapy. His team’s early adoption of NanoKnife reflects UIC’s ongoing commitment to bringing world-class, evidence-based treatments to Canadian patients.

“TIME’s recognition reinforces what we see every day — that focal therapy can effectively treat cancer while preserving quality of life,” says Dr. Barkin.

If you’ve been diagnosed with localized prostate cancer or are exploring alternatives to surgery or radiation, ask if you may be a candidate for NanoKnife.

Learn more: NanoKnife / IRE Treatment →

Book a consultation: Contact Us →

After about three years of increasing PSA numbers my family doctor became concerned enough to refer me to a regional prostate diagnostic clinic. It took seven months, during which time I had to advocate proactively, to get a physical examination which determined that I should have an MRI which determined that I should have a biopsy.

Delays like this are common. In Canada’s public system, prostate cancer diagnosis can stretch across many months, leaving men anxious while the PSA continues to rise.

I was then presented with two options, neither of which were appealing. I could perhaps be treated with radiation or I could go radical and have surgery. The surgeon told me matter-of-factly that most patients are down to wearing one diaper a day after the first year and that if I wanted to have sex I could take Viagra.

This blunt conversation is a reality for many men: the standard options are effective at controlling cancer, but they come with major trade-offs in continence and sexual function.

After exhaustively researching what other options there might be I discovered Can-Am HIFU (a UIC company), a private clinic in Toronto. Mary Duggan was professional and informative in my initial inquiries. I was able to provide her with all the data that was needed. Luckily I met the criteria to qualify for HIFU treatment and was passed along to Dr. Barkin.

For men who meet the medical criteria, HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) offers another path: focal therapy for localized prostate cancer that targets the cancer while aiming to preserve quality of life. Access to focal therapies like HIFU or IRE is not available through the public system in Canada — which is why some men explore private treatment options.

The procedure was performed one month later. I walked back to the hotel a couple hours after, feeling like I had been kicked in the balls, but I drove home the following day. Wearing a catheter for two weeks was by far the most uncomfortable part of the process. Thankfully my initial follow up PSA tests have been very good.

Compared with radical surgery, HIFU is an outpatient procedure with short recovery times. While the catheter period is still required, the return to normal activity is much quicker. Early follow-up results are often encouraging.

Dr. Barkin was excellent. Experienced, calm and a good communicator. I have had few side effects since the catheter came out. I’m still able to enjoy intimacy even though it has changed somewhat, but it was changing anyway with age.

For this patient, HIFU offered both peace of mind and preserved quality of life — the two outcomes most men hope for when faced with prostate cancer.

Why This Story Matters

Prostate cancer treatment in Canada often defaults to surgery or radiation, but those aren’t the only options. For men who meet medical criteria and choose private care, focal therapies such as HIFU or IRE provide less invasive alternatives to surgery or radiation for men with localized prostate cancer.

At Urology Innovations Canada, we specialize in advanced diagnostic and treatment options — including HIFU and IRE — with a commitment to accuracy, safety, and doing less harm.

If you’ve been told your only choices are surgery or radiation, we encourage you to explore whether focal therapy like HIFU or IRE could be right for you.