Gujarat is now the second state in the country, after Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), to have this non-invasive therapy for prostate cancer.

The hospital has already undertaken six operations with the new system, which required an investment of Rs 3.5 crore for installation.

“Prostate cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer in India. While we have over 8,200 such patients in the hospital, people are quite sceptical about going under the knife,” said Dr Mahesh Desai, Chairman, department of Urology, Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital.

He added: “This technology is tried and tested and has been in use in other countries for the last ten years. It is important that the technology be utilised in India as well,” said Dr Desai.

To facilitate the operations, German urology experts, Dr. Stefan Thüroff and Dr. Christian Chaussy, are currently in the hospital to conduct a training programme for the doctors. “We will be having two more operations with them in the coming days,” said Dr Desai.

In this non-invasive treatment, he said, while the process is robotically controlled, the cancer cells are burnt without undergoing any operation.