Looking for men who had Hyperthermia Treatment for Prostate Cancer

At least 5 men here in toronto recently had PCA treatment for Gleasons 6-9 at St. George Medical  clinic Bad Aibling Germany.

This procedure promises full remission in 85% of cases and no side effects and  Dr. Douwes has  been been using this non invasive approach for over 15 years

I am looking for feedback from anyone who has had any form of Hyperthermia for Prostate Cancer anywhere

HIFU has been around a long time..The reason it isn't approved in the U.S. is they can't prove it is effective treatment..But there are clinical trials in progress.. It's major benefit is it's quick and cheap compared to the "Standard Treatments" and in many men with low PSA numbers and G-6 Gleason scores it works pretty good..One of the other boards has a whole section devoted to it..It's for those who can travel and pay cash....

I had corresponded with Dr. Douwes several years ago but wasn't comfortable with how forthcoming he was. He did give me one reference whom I contacted and that seemed to be ok. I was concerned about possible damage to the urethra with the RF probe that is inserted. Also I wasn't crazy about the six months of Casodex afterwards. But perhaps he has modified the protocol since then.

The Hope4cancer clinic in Baja uses hyperthermia as well as sono photo-dynamic therapy and several other modalities. It's around $30k. I don't know what Douwes is charging these days.

There's a clinical trial on laser thermal therapy at Princess Margaret in Toronto. The lead investigator is Dr. Trachtenberg. I recommend checking that out if you want a minimally invasive treatment.

HIFU is definitely not minimally invasive, since it destroys the prostate.

Hi,
I was diagnosed with Pca, Gleason 3-4=7 (5 /28 biopsies) at age 55. PSA max 14.

I had trans-urethral hyperthermia at Klinic St Georg in January 2011 after which I had 2 clear 3D Doppler Ultrasounds here in Australia. My PSA though remained high at 6.9 and jumped back to 14 once off the 6 months of Finasteride and a new small lesion was observed after 12 months.

I know of 4 others who have had the same treatment and they all have low PSAs and clear scans and another whose PSA is down from 11.7 to 2.2 just two weeks after treatment.

Of cause I was disappointed with my bad result on the 3rd scan but did not dismiss the treatment seeing as the prior scans appeared clear of live cancer......so I went searching for a reason.

I found the research papers by Drs Gat and Goran from Israel (http://www.pirion.co.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=23&lang=en) that suggests that reflux of blood due to incompetent spermatic veins causes up to 130 times to much testosterone to arrive in the prostate. Following their theory, which to me makes total sense, I had an ultrasound done of my pelvic area and testicles. As per their recent paper, which found that 72 out of 72 men they checked (who had biopsy proven Pca) all had incompetent spermatic veins, I also did. I have had a bad left side varicocele since puberty (undiagnosed by any doctor even 18 months into Pca treatment).....I thought it was normal as no pain. Ultrasound found bilateral varicoceles and incompetent spermatic veins and serpigatious tortuous varicosities between my bladder and bowel. The ultrasound specialist thought 'this' was the reason for my pelvic pains (pelvic congestion syndrome)....not the new small cancer lesion.

Just over a week ago I had coil ablation of both my incompetent spermatic veins to stop the blood reflux. This was a simple 1 1/2 hour operation performed under local anaesthetic by an Interventionist Radiotherapist. I returned home that same night. The pelvic pains are almost gone already. The bad left side varicocele is already half gone.

2 weeks prior to this operation I started a monthly course of Zoladex to stop all my testosterone production.
I am now going to watch my PSA and after a few months I will get another 3D Power Doppler Ultrasound to see how the small cancer legion is reacting to life without any testosterone. My hope is that it is still totally testosterone dependent and that it will start to die off.

Should the cancer not show signs of dying I am seriously considering returning to Klinic St Georg for a re-treatment. Radiotherapy is now my backup as my surgical urologist does not believe that radical prostatectomy is an option after the hyperthermia. This may be true but I have not read it elsewhere and as a surgeon he is not very open to hyperthermia being a valid treatment option.

There are two things I would recommend to anyone considering having Trans-Urethral Prostate Hyperthermia.
Firstly...at Klinic St Georg they use a #16 catheter that has the RF transmitter on it. If you have urinary restriction, due to BPH or cancer, I strongly suggest that you have a urologist test fit a #16 urinary catheter prior to going to KSG. If it will not fit then they have to then use and external beam system which is probably not quite as localised. I saw a Canadian guy who had travelled all the way to Germany only to find that the catheter would not fit.
Secondly...I would strongly suggest having an Interventionist Radiologist check you for incompetent spermatic veins. If they are incompetent I would have then coil abladed prior to going for treatment. I asked Friedrich Douwes and was told that the treatment is possible after fitting of the coils and they will probably be easier for the Radiologist to fit prior rather than after hyperthermia due to some possible scaring of local veins/tissues.

Would appreciate any advice on where I can get 3D Colour Doppler scans in Australia. Thank you

Hello everyone,

I see this is a rather older post but I was hoping for some insight and have not found many people who have gone to the Klinik in St Georg.

I am recently diagnosed and have PC Gleason 6(3+3) I was wondering how anyone who has gone to Germany for the transurethral hyperthermia is doing now?????

I am trying to decide on surgery or the German method

Any experiences that anyone could share would be greatly appreciated

Thank You

Thanks for the reply! I just sent an email, hopefully it's not in the spam box, I look forward to hearing your experience. Thx!

Hello..my husband is in Mexico getting treated for prostate cancer at San Diego clinic with Dr. Munoz...we have been here for six weeks and results are dissapointing..he feels good and thinks he's somewhat improved but his PSA is still 150...down from 170 when we arrived. We are looking at other clinics and one that does focused hyperthermia is of interest..at 21 day program for 27 thousand dollars...BioCare....these numbers are not type o's....he had a color doppler ultrasound two weeks ago that showed the cancer is still in the prostate..he has to use a catheter to empty his bladder although he can get a bit out on his own..my question is if anyone has experience with clinics in Mexico..good or bad? He was in Munich Germany for six weeks last year and the treatment and vaccinations seemed to work at first but symptoms soon came back. Dr. Munoz now has him using a hormone blocker orally...he has had Lupron shots in the past..he has been getting Curcumin IV's that will be continued when we go home..also from Dr. Munoz..of course if we change clinics we won't be doing the Curcumin IV...Any comments, suggestions, etc..are appreciated..
s

I moved this post to her "new" thread and will lock this one for the time being until it fades to the back pages. Jim

Post Edited By Moderator (Tudpock18) : 7/12/2015 1:15:26 PM (GMT-6)

I had hyperthermic HDR brachy in 2009 in Denver. It consisted of a grid of 10-20 tiny tubes, inserted into the perineum under general anesthesia. Then they insert microwave generator in some of the tubes and thermometer in the others. They cook for 40 minutes. Very painful, but I was able to deal with it by telling funny travel stories to the staff. It was amazing how refocusing the mind can thwart pain. My prostate got to 108 degrees, they quickly brought in the HDR wires. I had light IMRT before this and six months of Lupron. I have yet to meet anyone else who has had this type of treatment.

I did get to the zero club for almost three years, but alas it failed.

==================================================================

Age 63 in 2015
12/02 PSA 2.9 age 51
9/03 BX/DX, Gleason 6, 4 of 12 cores
9/03 Brachytherapy
5/08 PSA nadir 1.1
12/08 PSA 1.8
2/09 BX/DX, Gleason 8, 1 of 12 cores
6/09 Hyperthermic Radiation, Hormone (short term), IMRT (10 fractions) spring 2009
10/09 PSA nadir < 0.1 10/09 through 01/12
4/12 PSA 0.2
3/14 PSA 2.9
5/14 C11 Acetate PT/CT, found 2.0 cm lymph node
5/14 Lupron/Casodex (9 months)
8/14 nadir <0.01
2/15 SBRT to node, at UCSD
3/15 PSA 0.02,T=0
6/15 PSA<0.015,T=105 (yippee!)

Very interested in your journey to Klinic Marinus..as we are planning on going first week of October. going to your link now. Best of luck and looking forward to all your feedback.
Sincerely!!!!
Joe & Lisa
NJ

Any drop in PSA after treatment at Marinus?

jzmcbride, it's now 2/16/2016 have you had any further results from your treatment? Please share.

My partner went to St Georges Hospital in Bad Aibling Germany. He had Gleason 7 and PSA 6.1 with three visible tumours at time of treatment in November 2016. Its now July 2017 and so far all has gone well, we consider it as successful. PSA is undetectable and tumours have gone. Will continue to monitor PSA now every 6 months. We were very happy with the clinic and treatment - although a little uncomfortable procedure to have, well worth it to be cancer free and no long term effects. We travelled around Italy he following week after treatment!