I've been diagnosed with prostate cancer on 11/10/05. I am 55yrs. young, psa 5,stage T1c, gleason 3+3=6, size 60-70 g,height 71", weight 180lbs, biopsy showed 4 out of 12 positive on left side only. Aside from that I am in good health. I've been taking Prostageum and saw palmetto for the last 3 months. My diet is 85% vegetarian. I am leaning towards the HIFU procedure, where I'll have to travel to France, Germany, Canada or Mexico. I have to reduce the size of my prostate before going thru with it. I was told to take a 4 months shot of Lupron along with Proscar and Casodex.
1. Has anyone taken these drugs and are they any permanent side effects
2. Can anyone tell me about the procedure(HIFU) from cost, physician, country, preparation, anesthesia, catheter (type), pain, discomfort, drugs (after), after care and maintenance, which machine (sonablate 500 or ablatherm), to side effects.
I have not been able to sleep well for the last 2 months. I would appreciate responses from as many people as possible. Thank you all
AL S.
congratulations, your disease is in an early stage. You have 3 options according to practice guidelines. RP, radiation or watch and wait. Here is the good news about RP. Since your disease is localized you have a 93% chance of being disease free 5 years after the RP. Recurrance of prostate cancer after that would be rare. Of course RP has some side effects, but it should be considered in early stage disease like yours. There are side effects for Lupron and Casodex but they are not permanent. Basically they reduce the testosterone level which stops the tumor from growing. HIFU is in clinical trials in the US and its probably too early to tell its effectiveness. I would ask your doctor for medication to help you sleep.
I have been taking Lupron for over 4 years now and have minimal side effects except for impotence which is predictable from the extreme reduction in tesosterone. However there are few permanent side effects that I am aware of, maybe bone loss if you take it over a number of years. The sexual function should be OK when you stop the lupron. That assumes that you have nerve-sparing RP if you go the RP route. Temporarily, you will probably experience hot flashes, maybe fatigue, etc. Since your PC is thought to be confined to the prostrate the RP would probably give you the best prognosis since it would get rid of the cancer along with the prostate.
Pat K
Learn all you can about cesium/dmso therapy. In my experience you can cure your cancer in 30 days on this protocol. I have seen it many times.
Go to www.cancertutor.com and read all you can about it. (This is a public service website they are not selling anything).
If you need more info let me know. Cancer is not deadly. Educate yourself.
Jill
My case is similar but I will probably go with 3D CT-Guided Brachytherapy (seeds) since the risks are lower than RP and long-term outcome is usually as good. This type of brachytherapy can be done even if your prostate is large. Since the HIFU is not done in the States and doesn't have a very long track record, I don't consider it a good option. Both procedures depend greatly on the skill of the medical team so I would put as much weight on that as the procedure selected.
I am also looking at getting HIFU. What I have found out so far is. The treatment is the same no matter where it is done. Europe seams to be the best price. 8000 Euros, Japan $ 10,000.00 US dollars. Australia $12,000.00 US dollars. USA or Canada $ 20,000.00 US dollars.
Questions to ask are they using the Sonablate 500 machine?
Are they using the new Doppler software?
I do not know where I will have it done yet, but will have it done in the next three months.
Another question to ask if they have to reteat you how much money for retreatment?
Australia said $ 1000.00 for retreatment.
Keep in touch and if you find out anything new.
Good Luck
I also had a shot of Lupron. Hate the side affects. Can sleep very well. Leg pain .