CLEVELAND, Ohio (Ivanhoe Newswire) — After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the US. For the men who have beat prostate cancer once, 20 to 30 percent will show signs of recurrence after the five-year mark following their initial treatment. Another round of therapies can be complicated. Reports on a new treatment that is giving these men more options.
Whether it’s hiking, birdwatching, or white-water rafting, Bill Sedivy can’t get enough of the great outdoors.
“My passion is the outdoors,” comments Bill.
But a routine annual physical in 2014 changed everything when his doctor noticed his PSA levels were elevated. It was prostate cancer.
Bill says, “I received radiation therapy and treatments. It slowed me for a good year.”
He went into remission and then in September 2023, the cancer came back. Since he had radiation for his initial treatment, Sedivy’s options were limited.
Zeyad Schwen, MD, Urologic Oncologist at Cleveland Clinic says, “What’s unique with after radiation is any treatment afterwards is very challenging, particularly surgery. Usually that’s the only option for most men who have had radiation, and the cancer came back.”
Sedivy’s doctors proposed full removal of the prostate, which he didn’t want to do. He got a second opinion, which led him to Doctor Zeyad Schwen. Doctor Schwen said Sedivy was a perfect candidate for the salvage HIFU procedure.
“Salvage HIFU is a promising newer option for people who have had a recurrence in their prostate,” explains Doctor Schwen.
During the outpatient procedure, doctors direct focused ultrasound waves to heat up the prostate tissue and kill the cancer cells, while keeping the prostate intact. Compared to other surgeries, Doctor Schwen says, there’s “Less sexual and urinary side effects as well as a much quicker recovery time.”
That was good news for Sedivy. A month after the procedure he was well enough to travel to Costa Rica.
Bob says, “I’m hoping … I’m hoping that, that procedure will give me another decade of normal life to do what I love to do and be with the people I love.”
Unlike traditional HIFU, Salvage HIFU is only for people whose cancer has returned and has not spread outside the prostate. Bill Sedivy credits his annual screening for catching his cancer early both times. Doctors recommend men begin PSA screenings around age 50.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Chuck Bennethum.
Sources:
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-prognosis
* For More Information, Contact: Kathryn Ely, Department Coordinator
Cleveland Clinic
216-906-5597
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