My husband is going through the process now and we have opted for the Proton beam, found at LLU (Loma LInda Medical center (loma Linda Near Riverside CA) It is covered by medicare but there is a long waiting list. I looked into the Canadian HIFU and was not impressed . Why? The side effects can be bad, you are out of the country and if complicatons occur you have to pay additional medical costs, while needing hospitalization.
They want $25000+. You can have radiation at the local hospital that is now being improved, covered by insurance and although it too has side effects, at least you are near home. There is also hormone therapy. I know many patients personally that did the proton beam and it is very successful and the body can deflect more of the radiation because of the way they do the beam. MD Anderson Has a proton beam treatment and one in Indiana and one in Boston ?New yourk? Not sure.
Once you have the HIFU there is no guarantee it will not come back. One day it may be approved here but as Prostate cancer is so curable, especially early stages, there are many options. Have you check with Cancer treatment Centers of America. They have a good program. All the best MMS
On 2/23/2008
smayuran wrote:
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