Hello,
My dad was diagnosed with early stage Prostate Cancer a couple of weeks ago (Gleason score 3a+3a, PSA 11.1, size of prostate 35cc weight 37g, cancer type Adeno Carcinoma Small Acinar, age 65).
I've just started my research on the subject & have reviewed options such as the Da Vinci robotic surgery, but get the impression that HIFU Ablatherm is probably the best option for treatment. I'd appreciate it if patients or anyone else could give me some better insight about the HIFU treatment. I've listed some questions below, but please do let me know about any other details you consider useful as well:
1) Feedback from anyone who actually did the HIFU, any complications/issues you ran into, any positives or your experience.
2) Place of treatment & costs.
Has anyone done the HIFU treatment in the Philippines? What was your experience & impression of the expertise there?
The URL link below states that the HIFU treatment costs about US $10,000 in Philippines & I also found that it would cost about US $25,000 in Canada.
http://www.philippinecentersf.com/trade/trade_news_medservic
3) How much does experience or number of operations performed matter for HIFU? Is it a more automated procedure where experience is not a critical or important factor as it is for a surgical treatment option?
4) Difference between HIFU Ablatherm & Sonablate 500 treatments.
Thank you,
Mayuran