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Re: HIFU Hemiablation, the best kept secret. PSA update = stable 18 months
HAPPY to share this information with you: my PSA level went further down to 1.15 from a previous 18 months static around 1.3.
And obviously all systems function as indicated above.
HIFU HEMIABLATION is indeed the next generation!!! :)
Re: HIFU Hemiablation, the best kept secret. PSA update = stable 18 months
Further decrease in my PSA level following my HIFU hemiablation.
My procedure took place on 1/2009.
results which speak for themselves:
24/01/08 3.6 Just before the procedure.
12/05/08 0.96
15/09/08 1.58
13/05/09 1.5
10/12/09 1.32
30/08/10 1.15
30/12/10 1.19
Again, it was agreat decision to undergo HIFU Hemiablation, and I wonder why this procedure is not adapated widely by people who have a confirmedd focal PCA.
Any questions: +972-525253642 or skype moni.stern (Israel)
Thank you for sharing your experience with HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound). Perhaps you would like to post that with the other HIFU stories by going to JOIN US and filling in that form.
I believe that sharing our stories is important, but it is also important to understand some of the issues more fully and so the comments below are intended, not as criticism, but as commentary so that people gain a greater understanding of what you have to say.
You say, in your latest post:
…it was a great decision to undergo HIFU Hemiablation, and I wonder why this procedure is not adapated widely by people who have a confirmedd focal PCA.
So, let’s look at that statement first and then go back your original post back in May last year. I guess I didn’t respond to that because I was on one of my jaunts at the time.
The main reason HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) is not widely adopted is because it is not approved in some countries, it is regarded as experimental in some countries and there are therefore insufficient people trained fully to provide the therapy. The reason it is not approved is because there is insufficient data regarding its safety and efficacy to satisfy the requirements of those countries where it is not approved.
The second part of your statement refers to ‘confirmed focal PCA' but there are some doubts that it is always possible to identify all the cells labelled as ‘cancer’ in the gland, even with saturation biopsy. Of course, if it is not possible to identify all the cells, then it means that some may not be treated. In this context it is worth reading STEVE Z’s account of his focal Cryotherapy. He too had a saturation biopsy, but this apparently failed to identify all the cancer cells. As he puts it:
….. if you do the math on the biopsy data, the areas of cancer were 2mm maybe 3mm at the most, the grid for the mapping biopsy was 5mm; if you move the grid a mm or so you’ll find different small cancers.
Turning now to your original post you say:
1. Medical status prior to procedure: PSA=3.8, Gleason =6(3+3) twice in Israel and 7=(3+4) through a saturated biopsy, Gland = 28 CC, age=60. MRI and saturated biopsy/ template guided (55 samples) proved that my Cancer is localized, in one lob, tight to the right seminal vesicle. This is a T1C-T2A case.
As suggested above, this does not prove that your cancer is in fact localized. The nature of prostate cancer is that it is usually multi-focal even if the other foci are not identified. This diagnosis would classify a man as having a Very Low Risk disease and one where AS (Active Surveillance) might be considered as the best option to maintain QOL (Quality of Life).
You seem to recognise this when you say:
My assumptions were that even if there are some undetected cancer cells in the other lob, it is a slow progress and since HIFU can be redone, worse case would be a repetitive HIFU. In the mean time I gain quality of life :)
If the variant of the disease which you have is in fact ‘slow progress’ or Very Low Risk, your argument here could be used to justify an initial AS (Active Surveillance) decision.
2 I decided to perform a PCA3 test and got score of 26 which means I am 70% clean and 30% “contaminated”..
The PCA3 test is no more accurate than a PSA test in identifying prostate cancer or progression/regression of the disease, especially in a gland that has been treated, where there are no studies. A PCA3 of 26 cannot be stated categorically as meaning anything other than it appears that it is possible that there is a low probability that the score is due to prostate cancer.
3. My main considerations for selecting HIFU as the best procedure for me: Quality of life = Least side effects in terms of ED and incontinence.
There are no long term studies that accurately compare QOL (Quality of Life) issues for the various long established therapies, let alone the newer therapies like HIFU and Cryotherapy.
It is also clear from the stories men have told in the HIFU section of the site that there are no guarantees of QOL (Quality of Life) when HIFU is the chosen therapy. See for example ERIC SONDEEN’s story.
In your own case you say, even at this early stage:
I do have a slight erectile degradation as 1 of the 2 seminal vesicles had to be ablated,. I used 16 10 mg cialis for 2 months jut as a standard procedure to get the things going. Since then I do not use them at all. I lost the spontaneous erection, but with a foreplay everything gets going as it should be, also I have to activate some imagination
We know that in some cases erectile function improves over time after surgery, for example, but decreases over time with radiation therapies. Will HIFU over time reduce the function further – we don’t know because there are no long term studies.
4. After selecting HIFU thanks its least side effects, I was looking for 100% success.
I then further investigated for the best results and stumbled over HIFU hemi-ablation with 100% proven success. This was published based on a trial with 22 carefully selected people whose PCA is light and confined into 1 lob.
To describe HIFU hemi-ablation as a “100% proven success” based on a very small, short term, trial of carefully selected men with Very Low Risk disease may be overstating the case. As stated previously there are no long term good studies demonstrating that HIFU is any better than any other therapy in matched cohorts of men with Very Low Risk disease.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I am not intending to criticise your decision because I truly hope that it will turn out to be a good one for you. I also believe absolutely that we all have the right to choose whatever path we believe will suit us best. So I wish you all the very best and again suggest that you post your story and updates on the site.
