radioradio wrote:I am headed for a fusion biopsy (computer fusion of my recent MRIs with real time ultrasound) whereby biopsy samples can be taken from a very precise location of a suspected tumor.
If tumor is small and alone, all this precision location can be used to ablate just the tumor, with taking out the whole prostate. It's called focal ablation.
Anyone have experience with this?
RadioRadio
Kinda late for me, but if it really works and reduces or eliminates the two side effects of PC treatment then it sounds great.
But from what I've learned, it seems that cancer cells can be spread out within the entire gland, and that's why they take a dozen or more samples during a biopsy. I did have a tumor that the doc could feel, and if they could have just removed that I'm not sure I'd be out of the woods today, so to speak.
My neighbor had an RP in 2000, which seemed successful at the time, but two years later his PSA started going up. They radiated the prostate area then, although they were never quite sure where the cancer cells were. His PSA went to zero, and stayed that way for ten years. Then it started increasing again. He has been on hormone therapy since, and his PSA is staying at zero.
So if they have a way of just eliminating a small tumor, it seems it would be pretty dicey as far as "eliminating" cancer. Maybe they keep a much closer eye on PSA numbers following that than they do with more conventional treatments.
But what do I know? Well, I do know this: In the 8 weeks between diagnosis and surgery there was only one thing I worried about -- dying of prostate cancer.
