Laser Hyperthermia treatment

[Guest guest]

I had an enquiry off my site for more information on Laser

Hyperthermia treatment by a newly diagnosed man who said he was surprised that

none of the men who contributed their stories to the site had taken advantage

of this ‘new and excellent therapy. He quoted two sources for his information.

The first was this piece Mayo Clinic Finds Early Success with

Laser that Destroys Tumors with Heat at http://tinyurl.com/3785r74

I was somewhat bemused to read there

<snip>In the United States, laser ablation is

primarily used to treat brain, spine and prostate tumors, but is cleared by the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any soft tissue tumor. Only a few

centers have adapted the technique to tumors outside of the brain.<snip>

I have personally never heard of prostate cancer

being treated with laser ablation perhaps that is because, as the pieces says

“…..few centers have adapted the technique to tumors outside of the

brain.” That raises the question in my mind – WHY? If the technique

is so good, why on earth do more centers not use it? Hmmm….maybe it

isn’t that good? I also felt that the reference to FDA approval should

be seen in the context of how such approvals can be granted. In this case, as

the media release says it has been <snip> …. cleared by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any soft tissue tumor <snip> This

does NOT necessarily mean that there have been any specific studies for

efficacy with prostate cancer.

This statement also made me think:

<snip> At the March meeting of the Society of

Interventional Radiology, Dr. Woodrum, presented results from the first known

cases of using MRI-guided laser ablation to treat prostate tumors. He said then

that the safe completion of four clinical cases using the technique to treat

prostate cancer in patients who had failed surgery “demonstrates this

technology’s potential.” <snip>

Apart from the point that this presentation in March

2010 related to what were said to be first known cases of PCa treatment. This

seemed to clash with the statement that laser ablation is primarily used to

treat prostate tumors in the USA.

And, if the men had failed surgery, into just what part of their anatomy were

the laser probes inserted?

The other site to which he referred was that of Valley

Cancer Institute at http://www.vci.org/ I know nothing about this organisation

but was singulalrly unimpressed by their site and in particular the page that

dealt with The SureFire New Cure for prostate cancer with no side effects

(that’s at http://tinyurl.com/2apr7uo )

I’m always a bit surprised when a ‘new’

therapy pops up – has anyone else heard of this one – and does

anyone have any comments?

All the best

Prostate men need enlightening, not frightening

Terry Herbert - diagnosed in 1996 and still going

strong

Read A Strange Place for unbiased information at http://www.yananow.net/StrangePlace/index.html