do you have to strip in front of the doctor? does the doctor have to manipulate your prostate?|||the doctor can feel if your prostate is enlarged by feeling it thru your bum or he can do blood test|||It is do by doing a simple blood test called a PSA. The doctor will examine the prostate to see if it is enlarged. It%26#039;s not extremely unpleasant.|||Yup the Dr sticks his finger up your butt or

you go to a proctologist that stick sumpthing up your butt till the RN sees a light in your mouth (colonostomy)|||The doctor will put on a glove and stick his finger up your a*s…Just be careful if you feel both hands on your shoulders and something up your butt, it could get ugly…LOL|||All the finger wave is IS a thrill for the DR.

Ask your self when was the last time the DR checked you??

what is the Dr going to compare it to??

stick one finger up your butt and search for a thing about the size of a small plum maybe a walnut. ???

PS;;; I had it done and I checked for myself later that%26#039;s stupid

You can not rely on the PSA test anymore

you don%26#039;t need to strip if your going to get a finger up your butt just your drawers.|||http://menshealth.about.com/b/a/213604.h…|||Yes, the doctor puts his finger up your butt and feels it and also does a blood test called a PSA

cancer is stage T1c, Gleason 3+3 with two positive cores of 12.|||HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) (sometimes HIFUS or FUS) is a highly precise medical procedure using high-intensity focused ultrasound to heat and destroy pathogenic tissue.

This is typically under computerized MRI guidance, when it is sometimes called Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound, often shortened to MRgFUS. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to identify tumors or fibroids in the body, before they are destroyed by the ultrasound. MRgFUS is currently used in the US, Israel, Europe, and Asia to treat uterine fibroids. Current clinical trials are underway, examining the possible use of the technique in the treatment of cancers of the brain, breast, liver, and bone.

It is a minimally invasive or non-invasive method to deposit acoustic energy into tissue. Applications of HIFU include tissue ablation (for tumor treatments, for example), hyperthermia treatments (low-level heating combined with radiation or chemotherapy), or the activation or enhanced delivery of drugs.

The Foundation for Focused Ultrasound Research is promoting research into medical uses of high intensity focused ultrasound.

Aiming

The ultrasound beam can be focused in these ways:-

Geometrically, for example with a lens or with a spherically curved transducer.

Electronically, by adjusting the relative phases of elements in an array of transducers (a %26quot;phased array%26quot;). By dynamically adjusting the electronic signals to the elements of a phased array, the beam can be steered to different locations, and aberrations due to tissue structures can be corrected.

How HIFUS works

As an acoustic wave propagates through the tissue, part of it is absorbed and converted to heat. With focused beams, a very small focus can be achieved deep in tissues. When hot enough, the tissue is thermally coagulated. By focusing at more than one place or by scanning the focus, a volume can be thermally ablated. At high enough acoustic intensities, cavitation (microbubbles forming and interacting with the ultrasound field) can occur. Microbubbles produced in the field oscillate and grow (due to factors including rectified diffusion), and eventually implode (inertial or transient cavitation). During inertial cavitation, very high temperatures inside the bubbles occur, and the collapse is associated with a shock wave and jets that can mechanically damage tissue. Because the onset of cavitation and the resulting tissue damage can be unpredictable, it has generally avoided in clinical applications. However, cavitation is currently being investigated as a means to enhance HIFU ablation and for other applications.

Method of use

In HIFU therapy, ultrasound beams are focused on diseased tissue, and due to the significant energy deposition at the focus, temperature within the tissue rises to 85° to 100°C, destroying the diseased tissue by coagulation necrosis. Each %26quot;shot%26quot; of the beams treats a precisely defined portion of the targeted tissue. The entire therapeutic target is treated by moving the applicator on its robotic arm in order to juxtapose multiple shots, according to a protocol designed by the physician. This technology can achieve precise %26quot;ablation%26quot; of diseased tissue, therefore being called HIFU surgery. Because it destroys the diseased tissue non-invasively, it is also known as %26quot;Non-invasive HIFU surgery%26quot;. Anesthesia is not required. The treatment can be combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Uses

Uterine fibroids

Development of this therapy significantly broadened the range of treatment options for patients suffering from uterine fibroids. HIFU treatment for uterine fibroids was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2005.[1] The cost of the treatment currently limits its more extensive use.

Cancer

HIFU has been successfully applied in treatment of cancer to destroy solid tumors of the bone, brain, breast, liver, pancreas, rectum, kidney, testes, prostate.[2] [3] A lot of the initial studies have been performed by F. Wu and coworkers at the Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. At this stage cancer treatments are still in the investigatory phases as there is a need to find more about their effectiveness.

The earliest widespread use of HIFU ablation was as a treatment for prostate cancer. Developed and refined by two companies in Europe and the United States, this treatment is administered through a trans-rectal probe and relies on heat developed by focusing ultrasound waves into the prostate to kill the tumor. Promising results approaching those of surgery have been reported in large series of prostate cancer patients. These treatments are performed under ultrasound imaging guidance, which allows for treatment planning and some minimal indication of the energy deposition. In addition, several thousand patients with different types of tumors have been treated in China with HIFU using ultrasound imaging-guided devices built by several different companies. Currently, one of these devices is undergoing clinical trials in Europe.

History

The first investigations of HIFU for non-invasive ablation were reported by Lynn et al in the early 1940%26#039;s. Important early work was performed in the 1950%26#039;s and 1960%26#039;s by William and Francis Fry at the University of Illinois, culminating in clinical treatments of neurological disorders. Until recently, clinical trials of HIFU for ablation were few (although significant work in hyperthermia was performed with ultrasonic heating), perhaps due to the complexity of the treatments and the difficulty of targeting the beam noninvasively. With recent advances in medical imaging and ultrasound technology, interest in HIFU ablation of tumors has increased.

The first commercial HIFU machine, called the Ablatherm, was developed by the French company EDAP-TMS (NASDAQ: EDAP) and launched in Europe in 2001 after receiving CE approval, bringing a first medical validation of the technology for localized prostate cancer. Comprehensive studies by practitioners at more than one site using the device have demonstrated clinical efficacy at more than 8 years with limited occurrence of side effects. HIFU treatment of prostate cancer is currently an approved therapy in Europe, Canada, South Korea, Australia, and elsewhere. Clinical trials in the United States are expected to begin in 2006.

Advantages over other techniques

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is often considered a promising technology within the non-invasive or minimally invasive therapy segments of medical technology. HIFU’s capacity to generate in-depth precise tissue necrosis using an external applicator, with no effect on the surrounding structures, is unique. The history of using therapeutic ultrasound dates back to early in the 20th century. Technology has continually improved and additional clinical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic, have become an integral part of medicine today.

An important difference between HIFU and many other forms of focused energy, such as radiation therapy or radio surgery, is that the passage of ultrasound energy through intervening tissue has no apparent cumulative effect on that tissue.

Discoveries during use

Currently, the only proven imaging method to accurately quantify the heating produced during HIFU in vivo is Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MRI also has superior soft tissue contrast and can image in any orientation, making it the state of the art for guiding HIFU treatments. Clinically, MRI-guided HIFU treatments have been tested for uterine fibroids, breast fibroadenomas, breast cancer, bone metastases, and liver tumors. Clinical trials of MRI-guided transcranial HIFU of brain tumors started in 2004. The largest number of patients treated with MRI-guided HIFU have been with uterine fibroids.

Ultrasound-guided HIFU treatments have been approved in Europe and Asia. MRI-guided treatments of uterine fibroids have been approved in Europe and Asia, and were granted FDA approval in the US in 2004.

Naturally I want to know who is best at the surgery to %26quot;remove%26quot; the cancer, but I would also like to know who can perform the surgery with the best outcome, ie least risk of impotence, incontinence, etc. Hopefully it%26#039;s the same surgeon(s)!|||There are so many great doctors here and so many great cancer centers here. I have no idea where you are from but the United States is a very large place. It would be impossible to answer this question in a manner that would cover the entire United States. If I were you, I would contact the American Cancer Society and ask them if they can recommend someone. I know that there are specialist all over the place and some are much better than others. For instance I live in Florida and have traveled to Atlanta for 16 of my operations but mine were for Colon Rectal cancer and the side effects and all of the other problems that developed.

Contact the American Cancer Society and ask and if they can%26#039;t help, then contact the Mayo Clinic. There are just so many places you can go.

Good Luck and God Bless You.|||James Brooks of Stanford University Hospital is a great surgeon call his office and if he is too far away from where you live get a referral from him

Or Should She Only Do It For Breast Cancer?|||I%26#039;d pay to see that! Those fat little legs couldn%26#039;t run if a bear was chasing her! LOL|||May be she can walk instead of run like the people in Miami who walked for prostate cancer awareness programs

PSA 6.25 and cancer rated 7|||Your Age, How fast the PSA got to 6.25 and other factors are involved. My PSA went from 1.5 to 4.5 in 6 months. Biops showed a Gleason of 4+4=8. I opted for surgery only because if they get it all quick it can%26#039;t come back. Any other treatment is just that, treatment not removal. My PSA at 6 weeks PostOp was 0. Doctor said it has to stay 0 for 4 years to be considered cancer free. Side effects are different for each man. My surgery was in July 07 and last week I bowled a 283 game with a 707 set. Working full time, and only side effect is wondering what next? You can read a lot here:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Pro…|||My dad had surgery back 8 years ago and so far no recurrence. I think someone he knew had the radiation and his came back. My dad also had some kind of hormone treatment, a little capsule placed under the skin a couple of month before surgery to shrink the prostate so it was easier for the surgeon to remove it all. His was caught early so that made a difference too. I hope you do well with what ever you decide.|||i would go with sugery,

when my grandma had radiation

all it did was stop the growth and make her tired and miserable

good luck!|||The decision to treat Prostate Cancer with Surgery or with Radiation Treaments is an individual choice. The decision should be made after a consultation with your Dr. and perhaps a second and even third opinion from another Urologist and a Radiologist. Each treatment option for Prostate Cancer carries risks of complications from the treatment and potential side-effects, the most common being incontinence and impotence. The degree of risk varies by treatment and the skill of the surgeon or radiologist.

Your Dr. should take the time to explain all the risks, side-effects, and benefits of each treatment option.

You mentioned that your psa is 6.25 and your cancer is rated

7. Do you mean you have a gleason score of 7? if so, it is important to know if it is 3+4=7 or 4+3=7. There is a difference. the lower number in front means the cancer is less aggressive and therefore easier to treat.

I was diagnosed in July. My PSA was 7.0 and my gleason score was 3+4=7. After researching all options I decided on robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, which is a relatively new surgical procedure. I chose this treatment over the conventional surgery because there is less trauma to the body, there is less bleeding, and less risk of infection. Recovery time and discomfort (pain) is significantly less than the traditional prostatectomy. Also in the hands of a highly skilled surgeon (someone who has done hundreds of these)

there is a better chance of reducing side-effects.

Whatever you decide to do, make an informed choice. There are many treatment options available for Prostate Cancer, go with what feels good to you, don%26#039;t let doctors or

other people pressure you into doing what they think is best.

Here are a few resources that may be of help to you in your research, I found them very helpful.|||I am sorry you are going through such a scary experience. I think SURGERY definitely. Surgery can REMOVE it where radiation most likely only shrinks it or attempts to stop the growth. If it is operable, you should consider it strongly. Best of Luck to you, you will be in my prayers tonight.

How sick will this make you and how much pain will there be? What are the chances of the cancer comming back after radation treatment? I have a friend getting ready to under go 9 weeks of treatment.|||I am undergoing radiation for breast cancer at this time. Pretty easy. No pain. Doctor says it may make me tired as we progress through the treatments. The people I talk to that have gone or are going through this say the same. As for chance of reoccurence, your friend needs to discuss that with his doctor. Every person%26#039;s cancer is different. Too many factors are involved to make a comment on what the chances are that it will come back or not.|||I don%26#039;t know my husband is on zoladex for it, post here someone will beable to help you

http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/forums…|||The worst pain I experienced from radiation therapy was from having to lie in the same position for an hour during treatments. They made me as comfortable as possible, so it was hardly a problem.

At the end of treatment, there was some %26quot;sun burn%26quot; of the skin, and it was unpleasant, but not a big deal either. Radiation didn%26#039;t make me sick at all. Just a little tired, as others have said.

Lazla

.|||Well since your friend is undergoing about 8 to 9 weeks of treatment I am making a few assumptions. I would assume that they are treating him using IMRT. IMRT is a specialized form of radiation that allows the physicians to %26quot;paint%26quot; the radiation in various intensities within the body. The physician is able to distribute a large amount, or a high dose to the tumor itself, and is then able to limit, or reduce the amount of radiation to normal organs and tissues with in the body.

The treatments themselves should only take about 15 minutes. This is more for the set up and position. The radiation is only one for about 30 seconds at a time. The most uncomfortable thing is going to be trying to hold still on a hard table during that amount of time. Other then that, the treatments themselves do not hurt. Your friend will not see or feel anything, just hear the buzzing of the machine.

After about 4 weeks, your friend may begin to experience some fatigue or tiredness. A nap will usually help alleviate that symptom. He may also experience a slight redness on his skin. If he begins to use lotion in those areas from day one, this will also limit that redness and keep the skin moist.

The only other thing that your friend may experience is some potential irritation when he needs to urinate. This is not experienced by all patients, but some do experience the symptom, but it usually subsides after 2 weeks from the end of treatment.

One last thing, if your friend is treated prone, or lying on his stomach, some places use a rectal balloon. This may get to be a bit irritating after 4 weeks into the treatments. Its more of a nuisance then anything. It is used by some physicians to get the rectum out of the treatment field. This way they can increase the dose to the tumor and limit the amount that the rectum receives.

If you have any further questions, you can email cancergeek@gmail.com.|||I had seed implants 1/26/05 and had virtually no pain from it. I had a catheter in overnite that was uncomfortable but not as bad as I had expected. Started 6 weeks of external radiation 3 weeks later on 2/16/05 and had absolutely no pain from the radiation. The total external radiation experience at RCOG was truly a %26quot;radiation vacation%26quot; due to the support groups, educational seminars, fellowship, and social activities provided by RCOG.

I would like to hear the outcome of any guys who have actually experienced robotic prostatectomy? Prostrate Cancer removal. No hype from hospital WebPages, I WANT THE TRUTH! How Old? Gleason Score? Recovery? Incontinence? **Erectile Dysfunction-how long and did you recover? Did you use anything for E.D. and did it work? Would you do this type surgery again? Thank you fellows, all info appreciated.|||YUP! Been there and done that. Bladder too. 74

Physical recovery, 2-3 months, better at 5-6

Mental, 3 years depression.

No incontinence. Stoma and pouch.

No worry about ED. Divorced before recovery. Alone now.

Gleason score? No knowledge of that.

Meds won%26#039;t work. Implant or pump, (works), are choices.

It doesn%26#039;t quit, desire. Check with your doc. Good Luck and God Bless.

Again? Hmmm, knowing what I knew after surgery?. Nope!

Don%26#039;t take me seriously. It%26#039;s every ones choice to make.

You%26#039;re welcome to contact me. eejayi@ yahoo.|||holy moly, do they stick a robot up ur doodle? I have a family history of prostate cancer, can%26#039;t wait…

Then after his Prosate cancer got worse, He had a Bad Ache, %26amp; he thought it was a Bad Back Acting up, %26amp; OK, heres My question, When he went to nusing home, He was Eating/ %26amp; all of a Sudden Refused to eat, He Was alert enough to Sign Papers Not to Put Tubes/ wires/ On him, Ok, heres My real question, My older sister, Told the Nursing Home to increase his Morphine, to take him faster, %26amp; it did, What if They didnt? We kissed him on His cheek, He said Thank you, Very Faint, He Screamed in pain, %26amp; i keep thinking of The gross things i seen, When will it pass? the best advice, support, Story, will be best answer,|||Chicky, I%26#039;m so sorry, that must have been horrible for you. Your sister was right in asking them to increase his morphine. I%26#039;m confident that it helped to control the pain he had, and from your description it was a great amount. Your thoughts about his last minutes will eventually become less active. I went through something similar with my mom, who passed away from cancer. Try to focus on the happy times you had with your dad. I do that with my mom. Depending on how you handle things, it may take a while, which will be difficult, but again, try to focus on the happy moments you had. It will make it easier.|||I am so sorry about your dad. It is very hard to lose your father. I lost my dad and my father-in-law to prostate cancer. If he was 95 and had cancer he was probably in a lot of pain. The morphine was to help with that. It is not uncommon for people to %26quot;give up%26quot; with old age, cancer and going in to a nursing home. They have no more quality to their life. That is what happened with my folks. They both died at home but they still gave up at the end and wanted to die. If he didn%26#039;t want any heroic measures taken then he had accepted what was going to happen. Both my folks had morphine to kill the pain but it didn%26#039;t kill them. The cancer did. If he had not had the morphine he would have died in agony. It sounds to me like he was given as much care as possible. There comes a time when all you can do is make the person as comfortable as possible. It will take time for things to get better for you. You%26#039;ve been through a lot and you%26#039;ve lost a lot. Give yourself time to grieve and know that you did the very best you could, right up to the end, for you dad. Hugs and prayers for you.|||Respect your fathers final request as you respected him in the past.|||I could not say it any better than the three persons above me. They are right on target. You will get through it. May God bless and keep you.

Men, how do you feel about women who suffer or died from gynecological cancers (breast, ovary cancer, etc…)?

I%26#039;m not posting this in the %26quot;Health%26quot; section, because I know that medical staff or people into medicine see it the same way as any other diseases.

How about you?

Oh, and be sincere.

Don%26#039;t limit yourself to pay lip service about this.

Furthermore, we all know that because of social prejudices, some diseases are more a motive of shame than others.

It%26#039;s sad, but it%26#039;s true.|||Men and women face cancer together. See what happened to Roberto when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.|||it must be embarrassing to them but it%26#039;s totally not their fault so i don%26#039;t make a big thing of it, that would be too shallow.|||I feel sympathy for the individual and their families. Beyond making yourself aware of family medical history, monthly self-exams and routine physicals, there is nothing really these people can do to prevent these specific diseases.

What exactly are you getting at?|||What? How could there be shame to having any form of cancer? I don%26#039;t understand exactly what you%26#039;re asking here.|||I feel the same way toward them as I would with anyone suffering from any form of cancer. If you feel that having prostate cancer is %26#039;shameful%26#039; then its time for you grow up.|||My father in law had prostate cancer and this makes me worry about my husband developing it. I read about ways to prevent this disease.Low carb is one way to prevent this. Oh and sex is a good preventative, so I make sure that I sex him a lot. I also encourage him to eat a low carb diet.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg…

http://story.israelherald.com/index.php/…

I am looking ahead in the next six months or so to be given radiation treatments to destroy the cancer. The procedure is quite delicate and I would like to check my doctors track record for this procedure and not from him but from public records but I do not know how to go about this process. I would be anxious to hear from anyone that does know. Thanks.|||Everyone gets auditted from someone these days so the information will be somewhere out there. Remember that this information has to be carefully interpreted eg some physicians select better cases to treat and may have better outcomes because of this. Ask your doc how many he%26#039;s done and then just ahve faith. Numbers are just numbers at the end of the day and most people would actually be happier not knowing.

And radiotherapy instead of surgery suggests (atleast in the UK) non-curative treatment.

PS If you%26#039;re friendly with a doctor I%26#039;d ask him for personal recommendations, he may even recommend someone if you%26#039;re not on friendly terms. Remember doctors (should) get a broad level of experience and will have worked with at least a few local urologists/ radiologists. This route is much better than looking for statistics in my opinion