High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for cancer treatment in Israel
Ultrasound therapy HIFU – stands for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound and is considered to be the latest and the most effective treatment for some types of cancer that is most frequently used for prostate cancer.
This method is successfully practiced for many years now and our doctors have accomplished highly impressive results, where 85% of cases showed the improvement of patient’s condition and more than 80% of cases – remission from 5 years and more. The main HIFU advantages are its harmlessness, absence of side effects and complications and the possibility of repeated recurrence of treatment if necessary.
The most common types of cancer for successful HIFU treatment
- Prostate cancer;
- Bladder cancer;
- Pancreatic cancer;
- Hepatic (liver) cancer;
- Kidney cancer.
The main advantages of HIFU therapy
The best example to demonstrate the benefits of HIFU treatment is one of today’s most common cancer – prostate cancer. The main methods for cancer treatment are:
- Definitive prostate removal
- External radiotherapy
- Brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) involves placing a radioactive material directly to the tumor.
All three methods are considered to be equally effective. However, all of them are characterized with a great number of side effects (needles to single out all harmful outcomes after complete prostate elimination).
Opposed to the above mentioned procedures HIFU:
- Minimal harm to the organism as it is not an operation or any radiation therapy.
- Minimal side effects.
- Short and mild recovery time
HIFU therapy can be repeated several times without any sufficient loses for patient’s health and Can be successfully combined with other procedures.
Who can have HIFU?
- Patients that are suffering from the above mentioned types of cancer who refuse to undergo operation or radiotherapy.
- When the operation or any radiotherapy is contraindicated.
- The patient has already had the radiotherapy but the current analyses indicate cancer recurrence.
What happens during the treatment?
During the HIFU treatment the patient is put into the MRI that allows the physician to examine the brain structure and define the treatment target. A special fixation frame is assembled on the patient’s head in order to make sure that it will not move during the treatment. While located inside the helmet the upper part of the head is creating the US waves. The physicians send focused ultrasonic waves to the target, gradually increasing energy steps, constantly monitoring the patient and adjusting the treatment correspondingly, in order to stop the tremor. During the whole procedure the patient is observed thoroughly to avoid any possible side effects.
What happens after the treatment?
Overwhelming majority of patients demonstrate significant improvement of the tremor right after the treatment. For the next 24 hours the patient stays for additional observation, during which primary study of functions and additional MRI are performed. The effect remains during several months, and numerous patient’s studies who had undergone the procedure a year after showed that the treatment was still effective. All the patients have (the vast majority of patients are people from Eastern and Western Europe, China and the US) reported significant improvement of the quality of life.
