VITUS prostate center Germany

[Karmaji]

Can anybody share his/her opinion about Vitus Centre in OFFENBACH am Main

[GP24]

I had treatment there and it worked for me. The team at VITUS published this article recently describing the treatment:

journals.plos.org/plosone/a...

[CrocodileShoes in reply to GP24]

Could you share your details please? (Staging, Gleason, previous treatment, etc) The report suggests it could be an effective, relatively benign way to kick the can down the road for a few more years.

[GP24 in reply to CrocodileShoes]

They will treat any stage, any Gleason and do both focal and complete treatments. Since the treatment is not covered by health insurance in Germany they have to make good publicity for it to get patients to pay for it out of their pocket.

The biggest advantage is the short and painless treatment. You get there the day before the treatment and stay in a hotel. Then you get anesthesia the next day in the morning and they put the needles in (and out again). You stay one night in a hospital for observation and then you can get your wife to drive you home. And you are done. You will have a catheter in place. Your URO can remove the catheter ten days later, provided he is not too much upset that he could not perform a surgery.

Possible side effects are an urethral stricture which requires a TURP to fix. This happened to me. Also I had a recurrence in a seminal vesicle which I zapped with Cyberknife two years later. After having fiducials put in.

They also offer to do this therapy as a salvage therapy after surgery or RT.

[CrocodileShoes in reply to GP24]

Well, that would be my situation. Recurrence and seminal vesicle involvement. I thought salvage might not be possible after I had Brachy and EBRT - so that's good that it can be done. Do you have any links to trials or evaluations?

Many thanks.

[GP24 in reply to CrocodileShoes]

Here is a list of studies but I doubt they include trials for salvage therapy:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?te...

Sperling seems to offer this therapy in the US:

sperlingprostatecenter.com/...

[CrocodileShoes in reply to GP24]

I'm in the UK. It looks like Mark Emberton (who I've met and rate) is leading the development, so it must be showing promise!

[GP24 in reply to CrocodileShoes]

I think Mark Emberton has a Nanoknife device and can offer this treatment. In the link below it says:

Men suitable for Nanoknife treatment are carefully selected following MRI and prostate mapping biopsies under the care of Professor Mark Emberton at LUA. He will discuss the suitability of this type of treatment for the prostate cancer diagnosed.

I would try to avoid the expensive mapping biopsy, it is not necessary if you ablate the entire prostate, which is often done.

lua.co.uk/prostate-cancer-l...

[CrocodileShoes in reply to GP24]

I think that's my intention. I'd need the whole gland to be ablated. And I have the PSMA results from only a few months ago. Don't see the need for template biopsy. My enquiry has been passed to Mark. Is Nanoknife treatment the same as Irreversible Electroporation ?

[GP24 in reply to CrocodileShoes]

Yes, it is the same. The term Irreversible Electroporation or IRE is used in studies.

[timotur in reply to GP24]

Thanks for posting... good to know if my HDR BBT + EBRT fails. Ironically, I lived in Offenbach a.m. (Auf der Rosenhoe) for four years in the 90's, great suburb of Frankfurt. I used to love the Saturday am market and coffee shops.

[GP24 in reply to timotur]

I just got to Offenbach for the treatment, so I did not see much of it. Just a dinner at the boathouse restaurant.

[CrocodileShoes in reply to GP24]

I've now seen my Onco, regarding the willingness of Vitus to still treat seminal vesicles, when Mark Emberton won't. He advised me to be sceptical of a private clinic being willing to take on difficult cases (which I respect) But I wonder if I can ask: were you treated at Vitus? If so, was there a particular specialist who performed the procedure, and how would you rate them?

I'm obviously keen to explore the possibility of being treated at Vitus, but need to ensure that I'm not wasting quite a lot of money!

Many thanks

[GP24 in reply to CrocodileShoes]

Where exactly is your recurrence? Seminal vesicles plus local in the prostate?

Frankly, recurrence treatment after radiation is a pita no matter what you do. I have a friend who had his urethra damaged after IRE for recurrence after radiation. He now has a permanent catheter. So I will not recommend IRE for recurrence after radiation although I have no idea how other patients fared.

Probably ADT will work 10 years for you if you get the testosterone below 0.7 nmol/l. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Karmaji in reply to GP24]

I am 79 ...

After one month of FIRMAGON

I have psa from 30 to 4 and T is 0.45

However I will have IMRT as well....

Any advice.....

Thanks

[GP24 in reply to Karmaji]

You should describe your situation in your profile, I cannot read all your posts in the past to provide advice. Also, is the T value in ng/ml or else?

[Karmaji in reply to GP24]

T is 0.45 ng/ml.... It is 45 ng/dl

Diagonised on may 16 2019

PSA 30....

FIRMAGON on 16 july 2019

PSA on 14 aug .... 4.... T 0.45 ng/ml

As of now I am in T3B Glieson 8....

Bone scan ....nil

Choline Pet gives 2 small dots in pelvis....

Oligo metastasis....

No symptoms whatsoever....sometimes frequent urination....

Once a night

Protocol...Firmagon

IMRT to be decided after anatomy of prostate scan in a month

[Karmaji in reply to Karmaji]

Question will be how long I shall be Jesuit

Try IADT... when ??

[Karmaji in reply to Karmaji]

Thanks for your attention

[GP24 in reply to Karmaji]

Why no prostate surgery? Then you would not need long term ADT with the radiation. Usually you will have 18 months or more of ADT after the radiation.

After the PSMA PET/CT usually the treatment plans change.