Stefan W. Czarniecki, MD

Stefan W. Czarniecki, MD is a member of the HIFU CLINIC Medical Team and the second urologist in Poland to obtain the EDAP TMS certificate for Ablatherm® HIFU. Doctor Czarniecki is the Head of the Urology Department at HIFU CLINIC and the Director of Innovation at the St. Elizabeth Hospital (LUX MED Group). He has obtained the international FEBU (Fellow of the European Board of Urology) title.

Dr Stefan W. Czarniecki is a urology specialist and Fellow of the European Board of Urology. He is a graduate of Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He has completed clinical rotations at the Mater Dei Hospital, Malta, and medical internships at invasive cardiology, internal medicine, and emergency units. He holds certificates of the European Association of Urology (EAU), American Urological Association (AUA) and Polish Urological Association (PTU) in the field of prostate imaging in ultransound, multiparametric prostate MRI, fusion prostate biopsy, and focal therapy of prostate cancer.

Dr Stefan W. Czarniecki was born in the USA. He studied at the McGill University in Montreal, where he worked in research on spermatogonial stem cells at the McGill University Health Center.

In 2008, during war operations in Georgia, he was a member and a coordinator of the Medical and Humanitarian Mission of Polish Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the internally displaced persons camp in Gori. As a part of his activities, together with the medical team he consulted over 740 cases in the camp of over 2300 refugees; he also created and managed four medical care centres in Tbilisi during the mission. He is the youngest signatory of "Carta di Venezia" (during the first "World Conference on the Future of Science" in 2005).

Scientific activities

From the very beginning of his professional career, Dr Stefan W. Czarniecki has been conducting scientific research and participating in international clinical studies. One of them was A Randomized, Double-blind, Phase 3 Efficacy Trial of PROSTVAC-V/F ± GM-CSF in Men With Asymptomatic or Minimally Symptomatic Metastatic, Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer (2014-2015). It was an important  global clinical study evaluating an experimental immunotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer based on a vaccine.

Dr Czarniecki participated in many research and continuing education courses. He is a member of the Polish Urological Association (PTU), European Association of Urology (EAU) and American Urological Association (AUA). He is a board member of the EAU Section of Urologists in Office, and is also EAU Guidelines Office dissemination working group.

Since 2013, Dr Czarniecki gives cyclic lectures during courses of Roztocze School of Ultrasonography (RSU). His lectures often focused on the HIFU method and the Ablatherm® Robotic HIFU, as well as prostate cancer imaging and other forms of therapy.

In 2014, Dr Czarniecki underwent a training in Focal-One® HIFU, with Dr Albert Gelet, at Hospices Civils de Lyon Edouard Herriot Hospital, Lyon, France. In the same year, in April, Doctor also participated in a training course "Focal therapy in prostate cancer” organised by the European School of Urology in Stockholm.

In 2015, he participated in the MRI/US Fusion-Guided Prostate Biopsy International Workshop at the Hannover Medical School.

For several years he has been active in the scientific committee of PTU conferences. Dr Czarniecki is regularly actively presenting results of scientifica activity at international urological congresses in the USA and in Europe.

Titles of cyclic lectures conducted by Doctor in Warsaw and in Zamość under RSU include:

  • Biopsy after local ablation therapy of prostate
  • TRUS-guided ablation therapy of prostate
  • Case reports - prostate ablation with the HIFU method
  • HIFU - diagnostic and therapeutic use of ultrasounds in prostate cancer treatment
  • HIFU method in prostate cancer treatment

Some of the most important scientific achievements of Dr Czarniecki include:

  • Paper published in Przegląd Urologiczny 2013/5 (81) "Zastosowanie ogniskowej wysokoenergetycznej terapii ultradźwiękowej (HIFU) w raku stercza" (Use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in prostate cancer patients) (2013)
  • Lecture during the Polish Ultrasound Society Conference, HIFU - diagnostic and therapeutic use of ultrasounds in prostate cancer treatment (Krosno, 2014)
  • Presentation of original publications based on own research at the Polish Urological Association Conference, as an author or co-author (2014)
  • The role of TURP in the assessment of T-staging of prostate cancer in a group of patients undergoing primary “radical-HIFU” in own material.
  • The assessment of PSA concentration dynamics in prostate cancer patients treated with “radical-HIFU” in own material. Preliminary findings.
  • Prostate biopsy in patients following high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for prostate cancer in own material. Preliminary findings.
  • Presentation of original publications at the EAU 14th Central European Meeting (CEM), as an author or co-author (Krakow, 2014)
  • The assessment of PSA concentration dynamics in prostate cancer patients treated with “radical-HIFU” in own material - preliminary findings.
  • The role of TURP in the assessment of T-staging of prostate cancer in a group of patients undergoing primary “radical-HIFU” in own material.
  • Prostate biopsy in patients following high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for prostate cancer in own material – preliminary results.
  • Presentation of an original paper (co-author) on behalf of the Urology Professionals Section of the Polish Urological Association, "Lymphadenectomy pattern during radical cystectomy in selected urological centres in Poland", at EAU 14th Central European Meeting (CEM), (Krakow, 2014)
  • Paper published in „EMJ EUROPEAN MEDICAL JOURNAL” 2017/5.1 "Negative biopsies with rising prostate specific antigen. What to do?" (2017)

Cooperation with units abroad

Dr Stefan W. Czarniecki highly values cooperation and exchange of experience with medical centres abroad, specialising in modern methods for prostate cancer treatment. Since 2011, the medical team at the HIFU CLINIC Prostate Cancer Treatment Centre cooperates with Stefan Thüroff, MD, PhD, from Klinikum Harlaching in Munich, where the HIFU procedure has been used for treatment of prostate cancer for over 18 years. The most difficult medical cases are frequently discussed by specialists from HIFU CLINIC and the team from Munich.

Since 2013, the specialists from the medical centre HIFU CLINIC Prostate Cancer Treatment Centre cooperate with Mark Emberton and Dr. Hashim Ahmed, concerning Sonablate 500 HIFU at the University College in London. They are specialists in the focal therapy of prostate cancer.

In 2014, Dr Czarniecki underwent a training in Focal-One HIFU with Dr Albert Gelet, at Hospices Civils de Lyon Edouard Herriot Hospital, Lyon, France. In the same year, in April, Doctor also participated in a training course "Focal therapy in prostate cancer” organised by the European School of Urology in Stockholm.

Dr Czarniecki speaks fluent Polish and English.