Prostate Cancer Hifu Is Effective But

Does Hifu Have Side Effects

HIFU prostate cancer treatment offers non-invasive alternative

The advantage of HIFU performed by an experienced, peer-to-peer trained physician, such as those at Vituro Health, is the minimal risk of side effects. However, urinary tract infections can occur following HIFU therapy since a catheter is used in the immediate days following treatment. Other side effects can include effects on the frequency and urgency of urination, mild discomfort, or discharge in the urinary stream in the first few weeks following HIFU.

If an inexperienced and untrained physician performs HIFU, the same side effects that accompany traditional prostate cancer treatments, such as incontinence and impotence, can occur.

Q Is Hifu An Effective Prostate Cancer Treatment

A: Long-term cancer outcomes for HIFU patients are unavailable due to the fact that the procedure is still relatively new in the United States. However, some research indicates 8-20% of HIFU patients have clinically significant prostate cancer in the treated area. If a patient experiences persistent prostate cancer after an HIFU treatment, the cancer can be retreated with HIFU or other treatments.

Whole Prostate Gland Hifu Therapy

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer who pursue a treatment option typically undergo treatment of their entire prostate gland. The cancer removal is typically performed surgically , with external beam radiation, with internal radiation, or with cryotherapy . While these modalities can be effective with varying success rates, all have the potential of causing erectile dysfunction and urinary dysfunction ranging from urinary frequency, urinary urgency, obstructive voiding symptoms to urinary incontinence.

HIFU is an outpatient treatment modality that can similarly treat the entire prostate gland with curative intent. As with other, above-mentioned, modalities, HIFU can be a very effective treatment modality for treating this cancer. However, because of its precision, HIFU can have favorable outcomes in regards to erectile function and urinary symptoms as compared to surgery, radiation therapy or cryotherapy.

Many patients who choose to have HIFU, do so with the aim of treating their prostate cancer while trying to minimize their post-treatment side-effects. The other advantage of HIFU is that it performed as an outpatient . HIFU treatment for prostate cancer typically takes about 3 hours to complete.

How is whole gland HIFU performed?

What Are The Pros Of Hifu Therapy

Theres less down time and pain

Theres no lengthy hospital stay after the HIFU treatment.

HIFU is an outpatient procedure, Dr. Klein says. It generally lasts about 90 minutes and then you go home.

You typically wont need pain medications after HIFU because it isnt as invasive as other treatments, he says. It doesnt involve a surgical incision or radiation.

It has fewer side effects

Many men worry that theyll lose the ability to get an erection after prostate cancer treatment, Dr. Klein says. The inability to control the bladder or rectal symptoms after radiation treatments are common side effects of more traditional treatments.

But Dr. Klein says with HIFU, Theres no incontinence, and no bowel symptoms. He says the data suggests since only part of your prostate is treated, the result is better preservation and potency.

Some patients will experience some temporary diminishment in erections, but those with good pretreatment erections will be fine.

Other treatments are still an option

If HIFU isnt effective and the cancer returns, your doctor can pursue other options, including surgery.

Some treatment options such as radiation therapy generally arent used a second time because of the increased risk for negative side effects.

Who’s A Good Candidate For Hifu

GBU: Almost anybody is a good candidate. All prostate cancer can be treated with HIFU, although advanced cancers may require additional modalities or therapies. But no one is excluded except for the very few patients who have severe latex allergies or they have severe rectal wall thickening. But otherwise, everybody is a candidate.

That would include patients who have failed other types of prostate cancer treatments, including those who have failed radiation, external beam radiation, and radiation by implantation of prostate cancer seeds. Or patients who have failed treatments by cryoablation or freezing of the prostate. Also patients who have been on active surveillance are very good candidates for undergoing treatment with HIFU because the cancer can be ablated in a non-invasive fashion. Then, the patient would no longer have to worry about the cancer growing and spreading during the time of surveillance.

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Can You Tell Us A Little More About Hifu’s History

GBU: The theory behind using energy goes back to shockwave lithotripsy for kidney stones. Scientists and physicians saw how focusing energy could break up kidney stones and wondered if it might be possible to use a different form of energy to destroy tissue, specifically cancer cells. Ultrasound was chosen because ultrasound can be delivered non-invasively and because you can image at the same time, meaning we can actually see the tissue that we’re destroying as we’re destroying it.

What Happens On The Day Of Hifu Treatment For Prostate Cancer

On the day of treatment you will be met by the administrative and nursing team who will carry out an update of your medical file to make sure that there are no other issues that the anaesthetist or the surgeon need to consider. You will then have an opportunity to meet with the surgical team who will go through formal written consent and answer any further questions that you have. The process of consent is very much one in which the it starts on the first consultation and is reinforced on subsequent consultations and in written format with patient information sheets and information such as Professor Ahmeds website, as well as the final written consent form which should carry a summary of the treatment and its side effects and complications.

As a result, expertise and having done lots of cases is critical to doing HIFU. Professor Ahmed is one of the most experienced HIFU urologists globally having performed hundreds of cases over the last decade, and has taught many HIFU surgeons the technique around the world.

How Is Hifu Treatment Given

You have HIFU under a general anaesthetic or a spinal anaesthetic. You can usually go home when you have recovered from the anaesthetic.

The surgeon passes a probe into the back passage . It produces beams of high-energy ultrasound that heats and destroys the area of prostate cancer cells. The probe is surrounded by a cooling balloon so the high-energy beams are only given to the areas with cancer. This means the normal prostate tissue is protected.

Questions To Ask Your Doctor Or Nurse

Case Study on HIFU for Prostate Cancer

What are the advantages and disadvantages of HIFU?
Where is this treatment available?
Can I see the results of HIFU treatments you have carried out?
What are my other treatment options?
Will I have focal HIFU or whole-prostate HIFU?
What are the side effects of HIFU? How likely am I to get them?
How can I manage any side effects I get?
How will I know if the treatment has worked?
How likely is it that Ill need more treatment after HIFU?
What treatments are available after HIFU?

What Does Hifu Involve

Each hospital will do things slightly differently. Weve included some general information about what might happen before, during and after HIFU. Your doctor or nurse will give you more information about your treatment.

Before your treatment

If you have a large prostate, you might be offered other treatments before you have HIFU.

Hormone therapy is sometimes given for two to three months before HIFU. This can make the prostate smaller, and make the cancer easier to treat.
Transurethral resection of the prostate is an operation to remove prostate tissue and improve the flow of urine. This operation is sometimes used before HIFU to reduce the risk of some urinary problems after the treatment.

As with all treatments, these can cause side effects.

If youre having focal HIFU, you will usually go to a screening appointment first. Youll have a magnetic resonance imaging scan, which produces detailed images of the prostate and shows the location of the cancer. You may also have a prostate biopsy, which shows the location of the cancer and how likely the cancer is to grow and spread outside the prostate. These tests will help your surgeon target the area of the prostate that needs to be treated.

During your treatment

You will usually have a general anaesthetic so that youre asleep during the treatment.

Your surgeon will plan your treatment so the HIFU machine moves the beam around, heating and destroying the cancer cells in the area being treated.

Focal HIFU

Whole prostate HIFU

How Effective Is Hifu In Treating Prostate Cancer

About 20% to 30% of patients over a 6 to 7 year period will require a second HIFU session to be applied to the same area that was treated at the beginning. The exact risk depends on the risk of the cancer at the time of the first treatment. We regard the second session in these patients as part of the focal therapy strategy. Most patients regard this as an advantage and we ask patients who choose focal therapy using HIFU to consider that there is a chance that the HIFU treatment may need to be repeated. So far about 3% to 5% of patients over the same follow-up period on average develop new tumours in the untreated tissue which can either be treated with further HIFU treatment or other forms of focal therapy or at that point these patients can decide to have surgery or radiotherapy. About 5% to 10% of patients overall despite two treatments of HIFU will require surgery or radiotherapy due to a recurrence. The chance of cancer spreading is rare and so far the chance of cancer-related death is also very rare and similar to following surgery and radiotherapy.

How Does Hifu Treat Prostate Cancer

The innovative HIFU treatment utilizes high frequency ultrasound waves to heat and destroy/kill cancer cells within the prostate gland. The HIFU probe is inserted into the rectum which provides the easiest access to the prostate gland and, using computer imaging, placed at the precise position near the prostate gland.

The probe focuses the ultrasound waves on an exceedingly small area, no larger than a grain of rice, within the gland and heats up to almost 100 degrees Celsius in as little as three seconds. By adjusting the number of ultrasound waves and their intensity, an area of interest can be heated to a point where the cells can no longer survive. However, since the ultrasound waves only create that degree of heat effect at the focal point of interest, the tissues outside of the treatment zone are preserved and unharmed. This is the concept behind HIFU in Los Angeles.

HIFU can be used with great precision to destroy cancers while preserving the normal, uninvolved tissue. HIFU is extremely effective and has successfully been used to treat many types of cancer worldwide. The use of HIFU has recently been FDA-approved in the United States, and more and more men are having their prostate cancer treated with HIFU.

Hifu For Prostate Cancer Treatment: Pros And Cons

Today, we’re discussing an exciting and extremely effective new treatment option for prostate cancer: high-intensity focused ultrasound .

As with all content on Greater Boston Urology’s blog, the following information is educational in nature, not medical advice. Always talk to your physician about your specific health care questions and conditions.

Now, let’s get to HIFU for prostate cancer treatment: pros and cons.

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What Are The Side Effects

The side effects of HIFU treatment are minimal and typically include soreness in the treated area and, for some, difficulty urinating. Most men report that their symptoms resolve within a few days after treatment. During treatment, patients are given anesthesia to minimize movement and help make them as comfortable as possible patients should never experience pain during a HIFU procedure but could experience some levels of discomfort afterward.

Can Prostate Cancer Be Managed

Typically, there are 3 ways to manage prostate cancer. Because prostate cancer is slow-growing, it may not have a significant impact the wellbeing of most men for the remainder of their lifetime. For these conditions, active surveillance may be recommended, giving the patient and the doctor more time to assess the progression of the disease and consider options for treatment.

When more significant treatment is recommended, it may include surgery or radiotherapy, or both. These treatments tend to be a final procedure, where the treatment plan is designed to eliminate the progression and spread of cancer cells without the need for additional treatment. Recent innovations, such as with robotic surgery for prostate, reduces recovery time while retaining function, but can still produce some side-effects. Other advancements exist in radiotherapy devices, which has vastly improved treatment delivery methods and clinical outcomes.

HIFU treatment provides an additional treatment option that is designed to bridge the gap between active surveillance and the more significant treatments, such as radical prostatectomy . HIFU Focal One® treatment consists an ultrasonic probe that scans the entire prostate structure then focuses sound waves at only the cancerous portion of the prostate from within the rectum.

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Contact A Hifu Specialist In Beverly Hills

If you would like to learn more about high intensity focused ultrasound, please contact Comprehensive Urology in Los Angeles today. Our team offers tailored, personalized HIFU treatments to help each patient maintain an active and healthy quality of life. Make a confidential appointment online to schedule a HIFU consultation with one of our expert urologists.

What Are The Side Effects From Hifu For Prostate Cancer Treatment

HIFU and Prostate Cancer: What You Need to Know

As with any treatment there are always some early side effects and some late side effects. Professor Ahmed will discuss these with you and will also provide an information sheet that will detail these.

There are other complications which can occur from any kind of operation within the pelvis such as chest infections or blood clots within the leg which can very rarely occur and then cause blood clots in the lung called pulmonary embolus. For that reason you will be given compression stockings to wear as well as have active compression during the operation and at the end of the operation, provided there are no contraindications, you will also be given a blood thinning injection whilst under anaesthetic.

Finally, narrowing in the water passage can sometimes occur either due to retained necrotic or dead tissue which then needs to be removed using a cystoscopic operation under general anaesthetic or the healing process leads to a scarring and a stricture in about 1-2%.

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About Edap Tms Focal One Treatment System

The Focal One® HIFU device is the first medical apparatus designed specifically for focal treatment of Prostate Cancer. It has been developed with the last evolutions of HIFU technology and imaging fusion software to answer all the specificities of prostate cancer focal treatment.

Benefits of Focal One® treatment

Precise treatment delivery to the tumor site
Preservation of the patients quality of life
Possibility to perform any other treatment if needed after Focal One® treatment

How Does Hifu Work

If you’ve ever used a magnifying glass to reflect the sun’s rays and start a tiny fire or burn a hole into a leaf, you already have an idea of how HIFU works. Instead of light rays, though, HIFU uses sound waves that a doctor points through the wall of your rectum — the bottom part of your large intestine. They’ll direct the waves at your cancer cells.

The sound waves heat up to temperatures as high as 90 C and can kill cancer cells in just a few seconds. Doctors use magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound imaging to find out exactly where the tumor is and where to point the sound waves.

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Can Hifu Cause Nerve Damage

This setback is compounded by the fact that nerve damage is more difficult to prevent during treatment, similar to that of skin, fat, or blood vessels. When the facial nerve is damaged, the patient may experience facial paralysis, which severely impairs their speech and aesthetic appearance.

Hifu For Facelift: A Safe And Effective Treatment

There are several important factors to consider when considering hfu for facelift surgery. Because only one area of the prostate is affected by intermediate-risk prostate cancer, the most common type of HIFU candidate is this type of prostate cancer. A prostate MRI is used to determine the location of this prostate, as is a targeted prostate biopsy. Because HIFU treatment is a non-invasive treatment that is safe and effective for lifting, firming, and tightening sagging facial skin, it is widely regarded as one of the most effective anti-aging treatments available. It is not recommended to use HIFU in prostate cancer that is more advanced or systemic. In order to consider HIFU for a facelift, you should first speak with a board-certified plastic surgeon who has used this technology. It is impossible to substitute for a personal consultation to determine whether or not hircu is the right treatment option for you.

Who Can Have Hifu

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends using HIFU for prostate cancer only in specific centres or as part of clinical trials. NICE is an independent organisation that provides guidance to the NHS to improve healthcare.

Your doctor might recommend HIFU if your cancer:

is contained inside the prostate gland. This is localised prostate cancer
is just breaking through the covering of the prostate. This is locally advanced prostate cancer
has come back after earlier treatment. This is salvage treatment

You cant have HIFU if your cancer has spread to other parts of your body. This is metastatic or advanced prostate cancer.

You might have HIFU treatment to either:

the whole prostate gland. This is whole prostate HIFU
specific areas of the prostate gland. This is focal HIFU

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