Overall the long term side effects of sonablate hifu for prostate cancer are minimal.
Hifu prostate cancer treatment side effects.
Sound waves kill cancer cells without the use of radiation or incisions.
High intensity focused ultrasound or hifu is an fda approved minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer that offers personalized treatment and dramatically reduced side effects.
There have been no digestive system complications reported when ablatherm hifu was used in the initial treatment of t 1 or t 2 cancer of the prostate.
High intensity focused ultrasound hifu treatment for prostate cancer what is high intensity focused ultrasound hifu.
Some men also have trouble.
There s also a risk for blood in your urine a urinary infection and an.
Hifu is newer than some of the other treatments for prostate cancer so we don t know as much about the risk of side effects or how well it works in the long term after 10 years.
For some men this will improve but for others this will be a longer term side effect of the treatment.
This treatment option is not something that is new for the rest of the world.
This is what makes this therapy attractive to the many patients.
After hifu you may have trouble getting an erection but this usually goes away in time and there are drugs that can help you while you regain your ability to do so.
Patient selection thorough planning and meticulous execution are what create the balance of good cancer control and maintaining a high quality of life.
In the cases where ablatherm hifu was used in patients with previous radiation treatment failures there were some reports of a feeling of mild rectal burning.
Hifu also helps men avoid common side effects like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
Because of this it s only available in specialist centres in the uk or as part of a clinical trial.
If an inexperienced and untrained physician performs hifu the side effects of incontinence and erectile dysfunction that accompany traditional prostate cancer treatments can occur just as often and the benefits of hifu compared to traditional treatments can be lost.
Although the hifu treatment for prostate cancer is new in the united states it is something that is been practiced for more than a decade in europe and asia.
Erectile dysfunction some men have problems getting or keeping an erection after hifu.
Potential side effects of hifu include.
Other side effects include pain between your testicles and your rectum which can often be handled with medication.