Cryoablation can also be repeated a number of years after the initial treatment.

Doctors today said the procedure was as good a potential cure as more radical treatments in cases where the disease had not spread.

US expert Dr Gary Onik, director of the Center for Safer Prostate Cancer Therapy in Orlando, Florida, led a study of 120 men who underwent cryoablation.

He said: "There is no question that we can eradicate prostate cancer by freezing it."

All men had been treated over a period of 12 years. Ninety three percent had no evidence of cancer, in spite of 72% having been told they had a medium to high risk of recurrence.

"There were no local recurrences in the areas we treated, and with the ability to re-treat the 7% of patients who developed a focus of cancer at a different site in the gland, cryoablation was 100% effective in local control of the patient's disease," said Dr Onik.

Sexual function was retained by 85% of the men, and all those who did not have previous prostate surgery remained continent.

"Incontinence becomes a big issue with many patients," Dr Onik added. "For some it's a more important side effect than impotence.

"Interventional cryoablation for prostate cancer is not experimental. This is a treatment option that doctors should discuss with their patients early on."

The findings were presented at the annual scientific meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology in San Diego, California.

Dr Onik's team also looked at "3-D transperineal mapping", a new way of obtaining tissue sample "cores" from the prostate gland for use in diagnosis.

The technique accurately maps the position of biopsy cores removed by means of a needle inserted through the skin.

Previous undetected tumours were found in more than half of the group of 180 patients who had already undergone a traditional biopsy. In 22% of cases the cancer's Gleason score - a measure of aggressiveness - was increased.