Hi
Yes I saw that article in the Telegraph and wondered about BPH
treatment. Googling doesn't help much - HIFU seems to have been used for
some time as a diagnosis tool and for the treatment of some cancers. I
guess if it could be effective with BPH, we would have heard from the
guys on this group by now! Pity really as it seems to be very
non-invasive compared to the usual methods. Too good to be true?
Pete

here's the latest article on it.  i think this is the part that
reference is made to - The sound waves are focused on sections of the
prostate which heat up to 90C in a second - destroying tissue almost
instantly.  that part sounds good, but when one reads - Ultrasound can
be used only to treat single tumours or large parts of a tumour.  

i think that is going to be the sticking point.  the reason is because
it is the urethra that is being squeezed by the bph growing in the
prostate.  HIfu non discriminates and  is going to destroy the
tumor as well as that section of the prostate.  also in a pca condition,
the prostate is cancerous throughout and not just in one area, again,
another sticking point.  most work on BPH conditions is done somewhere
in the median lobe, whereas the Hifu is designed to focus on the whole
area.  can it can be modified at some later date - i believe so.  look
at how many different radiation treatments there are for pca.  maybe
they can create a 3-D Hifu unit just for BPH.   right now, i don't that
it is top priority on anyone's list.

~ curtis
===================


Lastest prostate cancer Treatment, high intensity focused ultrasound  


    Thursday 11 November 2004

New way to beat prostate cancer
By David Derbyshire
A revolutionary technique using powerful sound waves to melt away
prostate cancer without distressing side effects is about to start
trials in Britain, offering hope to the 30,000 men diagnosed with the
disease each year.
Doctors believe the treatment, which uses high intensity focused
ultrasound (Hifu), is as effective as conventional surgery or
radiotherapy, but with far less risk of impotence and incontinence.  
Surgeon Mark Emberton with the ultrasound probe It is also cheaper, less
invasive and can be finished in less than three hours under a local or
regional anaesthetic. The trial involving 150 men, which is due to start
in January, follows promising results from international studies. A
Japanese survey of 132 men treated with ultrasound for early and medium
stage prostate cancer found that almost 70 per cent were free from
disease after five years. Only 22 per cent complained of problems with
sexual function.
Conventional surgery and radiotherapy have similar survival rates - but
can leave more than two thirds of men impotent. If the trial is a
success it could pave the way for the first national prostate cancer
screening.
Many doctors object to screening because the side effects of any
subsequent treatment are so unpleasant.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among British men. Although
the disease is very treatable if caught early enough, most men discover
they have it only when it is in its later stages. About 10,000 die every
year.
Mark Emberton, a consultant urologist at the Royal Free and University
College London School of Medicine, who is leading the trial, said: "Men
with early prostate cancer are faced with a difficult choice about
treatments. A lot of men with low-risk cancer are just actively
monitored.
"In many people, it's a slow-growing disease. But in men who are young
or who have an aggressive form of the disease, there is an obvious need
to contemplate treatment.
"The benefit of Hifu is that it is non-invasive - there are no cuts and
no radiation. It can also be done as a day-case procedure."
The person administering the treatment will not even have to be a
trained surgeon, who needs 15 years of experience before embarking on
conventional surgery for cancer of the prostate.
Mr Emberton said that, potentially, a skilled nurse could learn the
procedure in months.
Hifu uses high energy ultrasound generated from a probe inserted in the
rectum under a local anaesthetic.
The sound waves are focused on sections of the prostate which heat up to
90C in a second - destroying tissue almost instantly.
Using a computer screen, the surgeon guides the ultrasound beam away
from nerves essential for erections and for bladder and bowel control.
Ultrasound can be used only to treat single tumours or large parts of a
tumour. It cannot treat advanced cancers which have spread to different
parts of the body.
The sound waves cannot pass through bone or air, restricting the types
of cancers that can be treated.
The trial, which will involve hospitals in London and Oxford, will
include men with early and medium stage prostate cancer, where the
disease has not spread. They will be followed up for five years. Nick
Stevens, the managing director of UKHIFU, the company co-sponsoring the
trial, said 6,000 patients around the world had been treated. "It's
pain-free, unlike most surgery. It's convenient, you don't stay in
hospital, and there's no need for a blood transfusion," he said.
"We expect from past studies, including the five-year study in Japan,
that around 80 per cent of men would retain erectile function. We hope
for around 85 to 90 per cent efficacy - possibly even higher.". A
conference in London next week organised by the Prostate Cancer Charity
will discuss the new technique and other approaches such as cryotherapy,
which kills tumours with frozen gas. John Neate, the PCC chief
executive, will call for change in the way the cancer is tackled,
including specialist teams to manage the care of men from diagnosis to
treatment.
Dr Chris Hiley, a spokesman for the charity, welcomed the trial, but
said it was too early to talk of "revolutionary treatments".
The Government is also expected to announce more details of its strategy
for tackling the disease.
Factfile
The prostate is a golfball-sized gland in the pelvis and one function is
to produce prostatic fluid, one of the five main types of fluid in
semen.
Almost all prostate cancers occur in men over 50. Although treatable if
caught early, half of men diagnosed have their cancer discovered at the
late stage.
Symptoms include a frequent need to urinate, especially at night;
problems urinating; genital pain; lower back pain; blood in urine; pain
in the hips or pelvis; and difficulty in achieving or keeping an
erection.
If doctors believe that the cancer is slow-growing and has not spread
outside the prostate, they may actively monitor the disease rather than
treat it. Men can live with the disease, symptom-free, for decades.
If the disease is diagnosed in a younger man or if it is aggressive,
surgery or radiotherapy are used to kill the cancerous cells.
For men under 70, surgery is usually the preferred option. The most
common kind is a radical prostatectomy in which the whole gland is
removed.
Around 70 per cent have no signs of cancer 10 years after surgery but a
similar number suffer from impotence after treatment.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."

Hi folks...
Just stumbled on this thread (actually the group).  Thought I'd share
a little of my experience with HIFU.
About six weeks ago I had a HIFU treatment for prostate cancer.  
I went to Cabo San Lucas to have it done (I live in Missouri, USA).  
I arrived in Cabo on Saturday, had the treatment on Sunday and flew to
San Diego for a week vacation on the beach on Monday.  All is going
very well so far.  I will have my first follow-up PSA test January
10th or so.
Not a BPH treatment but thought someone might like to know.