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I have been recently diagnosed with T2B Prostate Cancer, Gleason 6, PSA 4.9, 7 of 12 core samples were positive.. I am of course reviewing all the options. I live in the U.S. and one of the doctors that is part of the group I am dealing with is regularly taking patients out of the country for HIFU treatments.
Can anyone shed any light on their experiences or experiences of those they know who have used HIFU?
My personal choice at this time is to go with external radiation as I am just not anxious to go through a radical. HIFU seems like a possible option to consider.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
Welcome to our club, Danny. Sorry that you have to join us, but we're not a bad bunch.
If you go along to the TREATMENT EXPERIENCES INDEX and click on HIFU you'll find about 20 stories from men who chose this option.
As you'll see, there is a mixture of results and most of the men will respond to any questions you might have.
It seems to me from what I have read, that the experience of the operator (important in all choices of therapy) is perhaps even more important with HIFU because in incompetent hands, damage can occur very swiftly.
The Prostate Cancer Research Institute web site has a very good unbiased article on the latest HIFU data that has been published. It is in the latest issue of their Insights newsletter. The bottom line is that the data shows a reoccurrance rate far higher than any of the conventional treatments and more alarming is that the reoccurrance rate does not decrease as time progresses as in other conventional treatments.
