A minimally invasive treatment that relieves the symptoms of an enlarged prostate continues to be effective for a minimum of three years after therapy. This conclusion was reached by urologists and radiologists from the Society of Interventional Radiology, who in 2017 presented the data from a study on the subject involving more than 1,000 men. Enlargement of the prostate, called benign prostatic hyperplasia, is among the most common diseases affecting men around and over the age of 50. Nearly 50% of men of this age suffer from the symptoms of this disease. The therapy is known as prostatic artery embolization and is much lighter and more minimalistic than other methods of treating an enlarged prostate. Applied by specialist radiologists around the world, it helps men with an enlarged prostate who also complain of severe accompanying symptoms: urinary retention, inability to urinate voluntarily, incontinence (involuntary urination), dysuria (painful urination) and others . Embolization is characterized by minimal medical intervention, no concomitant medications (apart from local anesthesia during the procedure) and a quick recovery period, allowing treated men to quickly return to their normal lifestyle. Also, this procedure avoids the possible complications of traditional surgical treatment, which include possible sexual dysfunction and a significantly longer recovery period. NEWS_MORE_BOX Between March 2007 and March 2016, the authors of the publication performed the procedure on more than 1,000 patients. All of them were reviewed at regular intervals after the intervention. Urethral obstruction tests and erectile function tests were performed, and the size of the prostate gland and the amount of urine left in the bladder after voiding were measured. Levels of the prostate-specific antigen PSA, a key marker for the development of prostate cancer, were also measured. Based on the analysis of all these factors, the therapy is characterized by an 89% cumulative success rate. In most patients, the positive effects of the therapy were present in the first days after the treatment and lasted long after the 3rd year. 81% of those treated did not report urinary retention and incontinence at follow-up testing. The procedure itself begins with a small incision around the scrotum through which a microscopic catheter is inserted. Guided by the radiologist using an imaging technique, the catheter enters an artery leading to the prostate. There, the radiologist directs it to blood vessels from both layers of the enlarged gland, which are blocked by microscopic elements. This blockage of blood vessels leads to oxygen starvation of the prostate cells, which in turn shrinks the gland.