Treatment FAQ

what is hifu for prostate cancer treatment

by Jackie Reilly Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, or HIFU, is a minimally invasive procedure that targets cancerous tissue precisely through high frequency sound waves. An ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum and the sound waves heat up and ablate the targeted tissue, killing just the cancer cells.

Is HIFU and Ultherapy the same thing?

Ultherapy and HIFU are non-surgical skin tightening treatments for face lifting and skin rejuvenation. They are 2 of the most popular anti-aging treatments. HIFU and Ultherapy have a lot more similarities than differences. I tell my patients that “Ultherapy vs HIFU” is similar to “iPhone versus Samsung smartphones”.

What is the best way to treat prostate cancer?

Radiation therapy can:

  • Treat both early stage cancers of the prostate gland and more advanced cancers that may have spread beyond the prostate
  • Be used alone or with other treatments such as hormone deprivation
  • Treat recurrent prostate cancer following surgery
  • Treat men with limited spreading prostate cancer to reduce the tumors size and improve survival and quality of life

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What are the best herbs for prostate cancer?

  • Red Clover or Soy Extract
  • Garlic
  • Saw Palmetto
  • Lycopene
  • Green Tea
  • Milk Thistle
  • Stinging Nettle
  • Pygeum Bark
  • Grass Pollen

How many HIFU treatments are necessary?

How many HIFU treatments are needed to achieve results? For you to see visible results, 1 HIFU treatment session every 6 to 8 months would do the trick. On average, most of the patients would require 1 HIFU treatment annually to achieve and sustain their results, and this is because the devuce used is a medical-graded treatment device.

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How successful is HIFU in treating prostate cancer?

HIFU allows 91% of patients to avoid radical prostate cancer treatment for 2 years. The results suggest the minimally-invasive procedure is an acceptable alternative to immediate surgery or radiation.

How long does HIFU prostate treatment last?

The HIFU procedure typically lasts between 1-4 hours, depending on the size of the prostate, and is either done under general or epidural anesthesia. During the procedure a suprapubic or foley catheter will be put into place to help with urination, and will typically stay in place for 1-3 weeks.

What are the side effects of the HIFU treatment for prostate cancer?

These include:Erectile dysfunction, ejaculation problems, sexual impotence.Urinary tract infections, incontinence, frequency, burning sensation, urinary retention.Rectal wall injury, rectal incontinence, burning and bleeding from the probe.Prostate infection.Return of prostate cancer.

What are the disadvantages of HIFU?

The disadvantages of HIFU therapy include:No long-term (20 – 30 years) outcome data available.Quality of life issues include a potential risk of impotence and/or urinary incontinence.

What should my PSA be after a HIFU procedure?

After whole-gland HIFU, the mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) nadir was found to be 0.4 to 1.95 ng/mL and the mean time to PSA nadir was 2.4 to 5.4 months. The rate of positive biopsy after HIFU was 4.5% to 91.1%.

What is the success rate of HIFU?

Results: HIFU overall success rate was 84% (biochemical relapses in only 4 patients out of 25). Success rate was represented as follows: 94.2% in the low risk group, 83.4% in the intermediate risk group and 0% in the high risk group.

Does prostate cancer return after HIFU?

In the present study, HIFU resulted in local control rates of 82.6%, which is consistent with the results reported for the other therapeutic treatment modalities. Reportedly, the risk of progression after radical prostatectomy is about 20% (19) and the “trifecta” outcome can be achieved in 62% (20).

Who should not get HIFU?

HIFU may not be appropriate for everyone. In general, the procedure works best on people older than 30 with mild-to-moderate skin laxity. People with photodamaged skin or a high degree of loose skin may need several treatments before seeing results.

Is HIFU treatment painful?

Doctors usually begin HIFU facial rejuvenation by cleaning the chosen area of the face and applying a gel. Then, they use a handheld device that emits the ultrasound waves in short bursts. Each session typically lasts 30–90 minutes. Some people report mild discomfort during the treatment, and some have pain afterward.

How long does HIFU last?

How long does HIFU face lift last? HIFU stands for high intensity focused ultrasound and is an innovative, painless and non-invasive way to reduce wrinkles that can last up to two years and is skin-friendly.

What is HIFU ultrasound?

What Are the Side Effects? A high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) procedure is a technique approved by the FDA to remove prostate tissue. Though it hasn't been approved for the treatment of prostate cancer in the U.S., it is being used in clinical trials to treat it. Researchers are still figuring out how well it works and its side effects.

How does HIFU work?

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 (194 F) and can kill cancer cells in just a few seconds.

How to catch urine during a prostate biopsy?

The doctor will thread a small tube called a catheter through the head of your penis and into your bladder to catch urine during the procedure. Your doctor will put an ultrasound probe into your rectum. It's a small instrument like the ones used for prostate biopsies. The probe may have one or two crystals inside.

How does sound waves work in prostate?

Sound waves from a crystal bounce back to a computer to make a picture of the prostate gland. This will show where to send the sound waves. A crystal sends focused sound waves through the rectal wall and into the gland. An MRI might be used to keep track of the treatment.

Can a prostate surgeon cut you open?

You may hear your doctor call it "minimally invasive," which means a surgeon doesn't have to cut you open. Men with cancer that hasn't spread beyond the prostate may get the surgery. Your doctor may suggest it either before you've tried other treatments or after radiation therapy that didn't help.

Provide a little history: How did HIFU progress to a treatment for primary prostate cancer?

The first HIFU prostate cancer clinical trials, completed in the mid-1990s, showed that HIFU could ablate prostate tissue successfully. This finding led to additional studies, and HIFU ultimately entered clinical practice around the world during the following decade.

What type of patient is particularly well suited for HIFU?

The ideal candidate for focal therapy typically has intermediate-risk prostate cancer located in only one area of the prostate. This location is determined by prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and targeted prostate biopsy.

What are the major contraindications to HIFU?

There are a few limitations to HIFU. The first is prostate volume or size. HIFU treatment is delivered through a probe in the rectum, and the treatment can only reach so far away from the rectum. If patients have large prostates and anterior tumors, the energy may not reach anterior enough to provide effective treatment and negative margins.

How do you counsel patients who receive HIFU? What is the typical side effect and complication profile? What is the typical recovery?

Overall the focal HIFU procedure is very well tolerated. HIFU is done as an outpatient procedure with a same-day discharge. A Foley catheter is placed during the procedure and is usually left in place for 5 to 7 days following the procedure to allow post-treatment swelling of the prostate to subside.

Briefly, what are the logistics of the delivery of HIFU?

The HIFU procedure is done while the patient is under general anesthesia. Once the patient is completely anesthetized, a special ultrasound probe is placed in the rectum. There are no incisions or even any needles used. This ultrasound probe is used to both image the prostate and deliver the treatment.

How do you see HIFU playing a role in prostate cancer treatment over the next 10 years?

I see focal therapy in general becoming an option for more men in the next 10 years as more data supporting its use emerge and more providers become trained in the techniques. HIFU will definitely continue to be one of the main technologies used in prostate cancer focal therapy.

What is a HIFU?

A beam of ultrasound energy travels into the prostate from a probe put into the back passage (rectum). There are two types of HIFU: whole-prostate HIFU, which treats the whole prostate.

When does PSA level drop after HIFU?

Your PSA level is likely to reach its lowest level a few months after HIFU. You may also have a prostate biopsy or MRI scan after treatment to check your prostate cancer has been treated successfully. If you have focal HIFU, you might have low-risk cancer in another area of the prostate that is not treated on purpose.

How does a HIFU machine work?

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. The probe also uses ultrasound to create images of the prostate while your surgeon is treating it.

What is a TURP prostate?

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) 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.

What to do if you can't urinate after HIFU?

After HIFU, the treated prostate tissue can block the urethra. If your flow of urine is weak or slow after your catheter is taken out, speak to your doctor or nurse. If you can’t urinate at all, call your doctor or nurse straight away or go to your nearest accident and emergency (A&E) department.

How does a prostate ultrasound work?

Your surgeon will place a probe inside your back passage (rectum). The probe gives out a beam of high-intensity ultrasound energy, which travels through the wall of the back passage into the prostate. The beam treats one small area of the prostate at a time – the size of a grain of rice. Your surgeon will plan your treatment so ...

What is the best way to find out if you have prostate cancer?

You’ll have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 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.

Why is HIFU a good treatment for prostate cancer?

The reason why HIFU is a successful treatment option for prostate cancer us because it relies on first-hand visualization and real-time data. Guys must go through the entire diagnosis process before this procedure will receive a go-ahead from their treatment physician.

What is HIFU treatment?

The HIFU treatment procedure for prostate cancer allows doctors to adapt to what they find after their work begins . This setup makes it possible for the energy to stay focused on the exact location where it can provide the most help.

How does HIFU work?

Some guys even celebrate it by going out to dinner that same night. 7. The HIFU procedure uses clean energy to create results. Doctors can use this treatment for prostate cancer repetitively without causing additional damage to the surrounding tissues or organs as they would encounter with the traditional options.

What is HIFU ultrasound?

The high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment for prostate cancer offers a non-invasive therapeutic technique which features non-ionizing ultrasonic waves that will heat tissues in the body. This process is useful when increasing the flow of blood or lymph fluid is necessary to create a positive impact on the cancer.

How long does it take for HIFU to work?

2. It doesn’t take long to produce the results that you want. The HIFU treatment option takes four hours or less to successfully deal with the prostate cancer.

How does radiation treatment work for prostate cancer?

5. It removes the risks of radiation from the treatment process. This treatment option for prostate cancer kills the cancer cells without needing to use radiation. That means you can kill all of the genetic material that causes the cells to multiply abnormally without irradiating them.

Is HIFU approved for prostate cancer?

1. HIFU is approved by the FDA for treatment of prostate cancer. Although the high-intensity focused ultrasound procedure was hanging in limbo for several years waiting for regulatory approval, it is now available to men in the United States when they receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer. There are two systems currently available ...

What is a HIFU?

What is HIFU? The HIFU therapy allows the clinician to get a live image of the prostate and cancerous tumor, then target and kill the tumor with a beam of clean ultrasound energy, which effectively destroys the cancerous tissue without affecting the surrounding healthy tissue.

Why is HIFU better than radiation?

Another reason why HIFU preserves erectile function at a better rate than radiation therapy is the steep temperature gradient created using the ultrasound energy of HIFU. When HIFU targets a lesion, only that lesion is affected while tissue 1 cm away remains unheated.

How does HIFU work?

HIFU energy works like a magnifying glass and sunlight. Using a magnifying glass, you can focus energy of the sun and concentrate it over a focus point while allowing safe and harmless energy transfer over the entire course of that beam until it reaches the point of concentration.

What temperature does prostate cancer rise to?

For prostate cancer, the temperature is allowed to rise to 100 degrees Centigrade (boiling!), which leads to death of the cancer.

How long is a HIFU procedure?

In most cases, HIFU is a 1-3 hour, one-time procedure performed on an out-patient basis under anesthesia. Unlike radiation, HIFU is non-ionizing; this means that HIFU may also be used as a salvage technique if other prostate cancer treatments fail.

Can HIFU be used for radiation?

In addition, HIFU can be used in focal therapy, like in radiation or surgery. Focal therapy allows the HIFU physician to treat just the small area in the prostate containing cancer while leaving the rest of the prostate unharmed, in men with low volume disease.

Is HIFU the least invasive prostate surgery?

Focal therapy further reduces the side effect risks of the procedure and makes HIFU the least invasive procedure offered for prostate cancer. When HIFU is being performed, the treatment can be monitored using real time imaging captured by the treatment delivery device.

How long does a HIFU procedure take?

The procedure takes around two hours and the patients are often discharged home the same day. The study, published in The Journal of Urology, followed 100 men in the United States who underwent a HIFU procedure for prostate cancer between 2015-2019.

When was HIFU ablation approved?

Urologists worldwide have used HIFU ablation to treat prostate cancer patients for many years; however, the technology was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prostate tissue ablation in 2015.

Is HIFU ablation a primary treatment for prostate cancer?

This is the first and largest study examining the outcomes of focal HIFU ablation as a primary treatment for prostate cancer in the United States. During follow-up, 91% of HIFU patients successfully avoided radical treatment. Also, 73% of patients did not experience treatment failure, which the researchers defined as clinically significant cancer ...

Does focal HIFU cause complication?

The results demonstrated that focal HIFU carries a low risk of complication and can help preserve quality of life. In fact, all patients remained continent and there was no significant decrease in sexual function. There also were no serious adverse events or major complications.

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