About one in every eight men between the ages of 60 to 79 years of age will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and if there’s a family history of the disease, that risk escalates.
Who are those at risk? Men over the age of 55, those with relatives who have had prostate cancer, Afro-American men, and those who indulge in a high-fat diet.
Some men may benefit from daily supplements of proscar/ avodart if they have difficulty with urination, or have an enlarged prostate, or have an elevated PSA (Prostatic Specific Antigens) blood test. Daily administration can result in a reduced prostate size.
Most men with early prostate cancer have no symptoms. Some might notice small changes in their urinary flow, or their ability “to go” when the urge hits. As it progresses, urinary retention and obstruction of the ureters may occur, along with renal (kidney) failure.
First detection may be a physicians digital examination, which is performed rectally during your annual physical [you are getting an annual physical aren’t you?]. A blood test, PSA, may also indicate the disease. (There are also other laboratory findings which your doctor may determine indicate the disease, as well as the severity of it.)
A needle biopsy of the prostate will confirm diagnosis. This is performed through a transrectal ultrasound guided needle.
Treatment of prostate cancer is based on a scale used by your doctor, as well as the stage of the disease, and life expectancy.
One treatment available today is HIFU, or High IntensityFocused Ultrasound. This treatment uses ultrasound wave energy, which is focused on the prostate. Multiple focal areas are decided upon, and these are destroyed using coagulation by the ultrasound wave energy causing rapid the focal points temperature to rise rapidly. One Japanese study showed men with a PSA level of 10 or lower had a localized disease free rate of 94% three years after the HIFU was utilized.
Candidates for HIFU are those men that have localized disease, or who have had a recurrence of the disease after radiation or cryo ablation (a technique for killing tumors by using ultra freezing cold temperatures) of their prostate cancer.
The HIFU procedure is done under spinal, or general, anesthesia. Your doctor will determine which is best for you. A urinary catheter will be placed after the procedure, and may need to be left in place for one to two weeks, to allow time for the treatment to settle and swelling to reside.
Most other forms of treatment (surgery, radiation, or cryo ablation) result in some severe complications, such as incontinence, impotence, urethral stricture, or rectal fissures. With the HIFU these are considered uncommon. While all treatment may well result in incomplete eradication of the disease, unlike the others, HIFU can easily be repeated.
HIFU gives a man a good chance to beat prostate cancer, with a minimal amount of invasive treatment, and downtime is minimized for recuperation.
You can download a free patient’s guide to HIFU from the International HIFU website, here.