Interesting new procedure being tested in London, Ontario. Sounds promising for cases where cancer has not spread.
If Brian Danter had his choice, he’d have hopped on his bike and driven from Windsor to London to see his surgeon Wednesday.
“I feel great, really great,” Danter said, just weeks after receiving a revolutionary new surgical procedure at London Health Sciences Centre to kill the cancer cells in his prostate
Danter said he’s escaped the side effects that often go with surgery or radiation treatment for prostate cancer.
“Everything has returned to normal and in some cases is better than what it has been for five years,” said Danter, a 62-year-old youth pastor from Windsor.
The surgery at London Health Sciences Centre by a team from the Lawson Health Research Institute is a world-first — operating through the urethra to kill cancer cells inside the prostate with ultrasound energy.
Instead of cutting near sensitive tissue that affects urine control, erections and bowel control in order to remove cancer cells, the procedure used on Danter attacked the cancer from inside his prostate and left the prostate intact.
Danter had been told by his doctors his prostate cancer wouldn’t kill him, but having the cancer still weighed on him. The experimental surgery was a welcome chance to be cancer-free, he said.
Performed at the Robarts Research Institute three weeks ago, surgeons were guided in the delicate procedure by magnetic resonance imaging — Danter was inside the powerful MRI machine at Robarts while the operation was done.
Dr. Joseph Chin, chief of surgical oncology at LHSC, said the hope is the new procedure will result in fewer complications.
Candidates for the surgery are patients who have a cancer that hasn’t spread.
Danter was the second patient to have the new minimally-invasive treatment at LHSC, which is now being tested for its safety.
The initial phase of the Lawson Health Research Institute is to include 30 patients with the surgery performed at three centres — in London, Germany and the United States. Pateints will be followed for one year to check on the treatment and any side-effects.
“It is preliminary, no question,” said Chin. “Hopefully, it will have a role.”
[email protected]PROSTATE CANCER
- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for Canadian men
- One in seven men are diagnosed with the disease
- Age is the most important risk factor for prostate cancer with the risk rising rapidly after age 50
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