Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Cancer occurs when cells of the prostate mutate and begin to multipl...
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Overtreatment and preventive drug
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The Sunday New York Times had an article about a medical debate about using finasteride as a prophylactic to cut incidence of prostate cancer. Question is whether people should take medication with a seeming healthy prostate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/... However, the third paragraph reflects the issue of people panicking and rushing to treatments which can have devistating effects on quality of life. "Prostate cancer is unlike any other because it is relatively slow-growing and while it can kill, it often is not lethal. In fact, most leading specialists say, a major problem is that men are getting screened, discovering they have cancers that may or may not be dangerous, and opting for treatments that can leave them impotent or incontinent." Posted on 06/16/08, 09:06 am |
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My husband and I found the doctor(s) much too willing to induce treatment that had major life affecting consequences. We rejected all the standard treatments presented by his urologist, and when we asked about HIFU, he was amazed we knew about it. Fortunately, the urologist knew about the treatment outside of the U.S. and we proceeded on this course of treatment with NO side effects.
My husband has talked with many men who have had the standard treatments and not ONE of them would do their treatment again because of the side effects & how it has affected their lives. I only wish there would be more in-depth news coverage on PC and treatments (in the US and outside)............somehow, awareness has to be raised and all the cards shown for a man to make a truly informed decision. 
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Last night on "Nightline", HIFU was reviewed. Right now, it's not available in the US, only in Canada and Mexico and other countries. The procedure is being used in Canada and Mexico by a Doctor Suarez. He claims great success with HIFU, which has fewer side effects according to him than radiation or surgery. They also interviewed a number of US doctors who criticized the procedure and claimed that Dr Suarez, a Miami surgeon, hasn't produced any statistics reflecting the efficacy of HIFU.
Remains to be seen whether the AMA will allow HIFU procedures in the US anytiime in the future. My own experience with IMRT radiation produced only one temporary side effect.
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There are 2 types of HIFU systems used.....one is a newer system developed at Indiana University using real-time imaging during the surgery, Sonablat 500.
Our urologist in Houston flew to Toronto and did the surgery himself as he is licensed in Canada AND the U.S. He is working with the FDA to get the surgery in the U.S. as he told us both "if it were me facing localized PC, I would definitely have HIFU. I never thought that until researching, learning, and performing the surgery, and seeing the first-hand results of it." There are more doctors than Dr. Suarez performing HIFU, and the surgery is/has been performed in Canada, Europe (Germany, England, et al), Japan, Mexico, The Bahamas, etc., since 2000 using the Ablatherm system. I personally talked with 5 other patients prior to my husband's HIFU in Toronto, and all would do the surgery again. HIFU will become one of the standard treatments in the near future as this is what HIFU Can-Am is working towards, along with all the excellent urologists involved in the program.
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MY dad died of prostate cancer last year,he suffered alote,he did alote of things but they could not help him.
Hello my name is peter and am a long time suferer of prostatitis, but am now after 18 years finally getting successfull …
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine March 2007 looked at Men with Prostate cancer receiving …
