Please share your experience about Hi Fu therapy being used for treating stage 4 bone mets. I understand it is a no cure, but it can put them under control. Hi Fu treatment has lesser side effects than the conventional therapies. If Hi Fu therapy can be used for stage 4 bone mets, what are their side effects?
Thanks.
It's a thermal therapy that may cause local heat damage to the bone. I guess the danger is myelosuppression due to destruction of bone marrow if the tumor is in the middle of the bone, and weakening of tendons and cartilage if the tumor is near the joints. The pain palliation is because of damage to the nerves surrounding and supplying the bone. There may be some danger of incomplete ablation of the tumor because of the heat-sink effect (the bone conducts away the heat before it can fry the tumor) - but that is not a problem if the goal is pain palliation.
Allen, thanks for the reply. I thought Hi Fu was not as bad as radiation. Please advise.
Depends on what you mean by "bad." All treatments have potential side effects. There is less experience with HIFU for mets, so there are a lot of unknowns. That's what clinical trials are for. If you have a doctor willing to treat you outside of a clinical trial, make sure he has adequate experience in treating bone mets with HIFU. I'm just pointing out potential risks that you should discuss with the HIFU doctor.
I can tell you that probably a single high dose of radiation can provide excellent local control and complete pain relief -and that potential side effects, if any, will depend on where the met is. There is a lot of experience with this sort of thing. If you want to try a new kind of therapy, I think that's great (I was an early trier of prostate SBRT on a clinical trial, myself). Just be aware that there's a lot you can't know because there isn't much data to go by. I don't know of any comparative studies.
Thanks for your input. I will decide whether to have Hi-Fu therapy as Taiwan does have this therapy at some big hospitals.
It could be done and it seems it could help to control bone pain. This article has some info and some data:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Tango,
I have been treated with Lupron for three years. I have not experienced any pain for bone mets. If Hi Fu can be used to control the spread of bone mets, I will consider doing it. Thanks for the link which was very helpful.
Thanks a million.
Can you furnish us with more info about yourself and your condition? Age, Location? Psa and Gleason scores? Treatment center(s)? Treatments to date? Doctor's names(s)? All info is voluntary and it helps us help you and helps us too. If you decide to answer you may also want to post this info on your home page under your name. Thank you...
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Monday 10/28/2019 5:53 PM DST
Hi John,
I am from Taiwan and 68 years of age now. Unlike the United States where publicity of PCa (based on PSA reading) is made country-wide, Taiwan does no such publicity at all. I didn't even know what PSA was until I was diagnosed at 65 with PSA of 180 G9 and bone mets to femur, right hip, right rib and one pelvic lymph node. I have been on a 3-month lupron shot, now at PSA 1.4.
John, as I don't have any pain for bone mets, can I still have Hi-Fu therapy to hopefully kill some cancer cells?
My daughter died of sarcoma in july of last year while treating at Stanford Cancer Center. She got her cremation done in San Francisco and her ash was brought back to Taiwan. My wife and I have been devastated by this cancer thing but we stayed strong knowing God is taking care of us no matter what has happened to us. My daughter knew she got sarcoma while having the endometrosis treatment. My daughter knew I got PCa before she was diagnosed with sarcoma. When I got this cancer, she asked me how I was doing on a daily basis. My wife and I didn't know she would leave us at the age of 36.
Please answer my question as to whether I can still have Hi-Fu therapy to hopefully kill some cancer cells even though I am not experiencing any painful bone mets.
Thanks a million!
To markoch26 et. al.
Thank you for your reply. I wish to offer my condolences on the recent passing of your daughter. May her spirit rest in peace and her love for both you and your wife remain forever in your hearts.
As far as your question regarding High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is concerned, I'm afraid that I am not equipped to answer it, however many members here are. So keep on asking until you are confident which approach you should take in fighting your Pca.
For reference information only from Dr. Google:
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A high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) procedure is a new technique approved by the FDA to remove prostate tissue. Though it hasn't been approved for the treatment of prostate cancer in the U.S., it is being used in clinical trials to treat it.
Researchers are still figuring out how well it works and what the side effects are.
You may hear your doctor call it "minimally invasive," which means a surgeon doesn't have to cut you open.
Men with cancer that hasn't spread beyond the prostate may get the surgery. Your doctor may suggest it either before you've tried other treatments or after radiation therapy that didn't help. It can also be done if the cancer comes back to your prostate. It's not used when your cancer has spread to other parts of your body.
How Does HIFU Work?
If you've ever used a magnifying glass to reflect the sun's rays and start a tiny fire or burn a hole into a leaf, you already have an idea of how HIFU works. Instead of light rays, though, HIFU uses sound waves that a doctor points through the wall of your rectum -- the bottom part of your large intestine. He'll direct the waves at your cancer cells.
Keep up the good fight!
j-o-h-n Tuesday 10/29/2019 7:03 PM DST
I had HIFU treatment for stage 2 (DRE palpable tumor) prostate cancer. I haven't heard of it being applied to bone mets. I wonder how it would even be done. As I understand it the conventional HIFU equipment has a limited 'reach' in terms of how far the energy can be focused outward. I've heard plenty about radiation being used for bone mets in addition to chemo.
Thank you so much! Is there any way you could ask your doctor about bone mets being treated with Hi Fu, which is much safer than radiation and chemo. I guess Hi Fu is able to kill some cancer cells. Thanks a million!
No personal experience on HIFU for bone mets but I googled the subject ("can HIFU be used on bone mets") and got this:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....
There were other articles turned up by that search too.
Thank you so much.
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