Category: CancerConnect

So, at age 58, when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer I was determined to get it taken care of, and hold on to my quality of life in the process.

In those explorations, I ultimately discovered a medical procedure called HIFU, which is shorthand for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound. Essentially, with HIFU, the doctor directs high-frequency sound waves to heat up and burn off diseased tissue in the prostate using an ultrasound probe. As I found in my research, this approach has been shown to result in reduced side effects like impotence and incontinence, according to some studies in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

In the years since the first North American clinical trial to evaluate its safety and effectiveness, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) has emerged as a viable procedure for patients to consider after receiving a diagnosis of localized prostate cancer.

That study, begun in 2007 and known as the Enlight Trial, examined the efficacy of HIFU in participating patients diagnosed with low grade, low volume prostate cancer. In 2015, the FDA cleared transrectal ultrasound guided HIFU as a surgical tool for prostate tissue ablation. Around the world, more than 45,000 patients have undergone the prostate HIFU procedure.