Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death from malignant disease among men in the developed world. Due to screening, prostate cancer mortality was reduced in about 50% in the last decade. On the other hand, the same screening has influenced an augmentation in the risk overdiagnosis and overtreatment. A 10-year prostate cancer-specific mortality of 2.4% among patients with low-risk prostate cancer in the surveillance group indicates that this treatment option may be ideal for many patients with low-risk disease. However, we retained our inability to differentiate indolent from aggressive disease, and the decision-making tree in localized prostate cancer therapeutics includes different options that must be particularized in every case.

Recent stage migration of prostatic carcinoma towards low risk, overtreatment of biologic insignificant tumors with radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy with their associated morbidity, as well as the potential undertreatment and low acceptance of active surveillance in prostate cancer have led to rationalize the concept of organ-sparing treatment in prostate cancer. Focal therapy in prostate cancer is a particularized therapy that precisely ablates known disease while preserving functionality, aiming to minimize lifetime morbidity without compromising life expectancy. Although still limited, the evidence suggests that focal therapy may play a middle-ground alternative between expectant management and radical treatments.

We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that seek to define the actual role of focal therapy in prostatic carcinoma. We are interested in articles that explore aspects of focal therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Identification of reliable diagnostic tools to differentiate subpopulations of low-risk prostate cancer
• Elucidating the role of imaging tools in the diagnostic workup of prostate cancer patients
• Identifying biomarkers/correlates with an impact on therapeutics decision-making in prostatic carcinoma
• The role of cryotherapy, HIFU, brachytherapy, and photodynamic therapy in focal therapy treatment for prostatic carcinoma
• Development and testing of novel applications of ablation therapies for prostate cancer

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/au/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: