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Can confirm and sing the praises of HiFu. Went to China so my spouse could have a procedure done in 2014. HiFu took 1-2 hours and my wife walked away from the

Can confirm and sing the praises of HiFu. Went to China so my spouse could have a procedure done in 2014. HiFu took 1-2 hours and my wife walked away from the procedure. She was hiking the next day. Tumor was shrinking almost immediately. The alternatives we had were surgery that would have removed part of her abs or weekly treatments of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamoxifen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamoxifen Neither of which was great. Now we had to pay for the HiFu but it was soooo worth it. I think it was about $25,000 USD so very reasonable and affordable for us.

dorfsmay 7y ago
For which cancers does this procedure work (assuming your wife didn't have prostate cancer)? I understand 25 k USD feels reasonable if it saves your life without surgery and it's complications, but it steep for "just ultrasound". Do you know why it was that expensive?
- killjoywashere 7y ago
  MRI is probably the major technical cost. It's fairly high touch and the magnets wear out, so the capital cost of each test is fairly real. That and the professional component. Interventional radiologists are very much in the consultant/handyman/engineer business of "Treatment: $1; knowing where to put it: $9999"
  - comfrey11 7y ago
    In Japan an you can get an MRI for $160 US I hear
    - killjoywashere 7y ago
      Do you get the radiologist's read for $160? Do they put an ablative ultrasound probe in you and hold it for an hour for $160?
      - comfrey11 7y ago
        Honestly I’m not sure with the 160 covers. It’s just another one of those things in our medical system that is priced a bit too high to make sense for a good number of folks. I would like to see healthcare be more accessible.
      - Johnny555 7y ago
        What's the purpose of an ablative ultrasound probe in an MRI? An MRI uses high intensity magnetic fields, not ultrasound.
    - dogma1138 7y ago
      Medical treatment in Japan is mostly paid for by the government with the individual co-pay being 30-0% depending on the procedure. The cost to the patient =! the actual cost of the procedure. I would pay £0 for spending the night in the hospital even tho the cost of the trauma bed alone is £3200 per night according to NHS England.
      - tasogare 7y ago
        It’s not paid by the government, it’s paid by the health insurance system that everyone must enroll in and had to pay for every trimester. Granted, it’s not too expensive.
- k_sze 7y ago
  > (assuming your wife didn’t have prostate cancer) I almost spewed my coffee. At McDonald’s. Thanks for making me get weird looks from other people. XD
  - seandougall 7y ago
    Just a friendly reminder that many trans women and some intersex women do indeed have prostates. So although it’s a safe bet statistically that the commenter was not referring to prostate cancer, it’s not a particularly absurd hypothetical.
    - k_sze 7y ago
      Some trans women have prostates? TIL. I honestly didn't know. But you're right that I completely forgot about the intersex group. In fact, I initially wondered if homosexual couples (of either sex) could refer to their SO as "wife", but then the comments also use "she", so I kinda dismissed the possibility of a biologically male "wife".
      - remotecool 7y ago
        Yes, some trans women have prostates. In 2019, even if you have a penis and balls, you can identify as a woman for the day and be considered 'trans'. I'm glad people are starting to respect pronouns, so I can be called by my proper pronoun: "gigantic cock".
        dang 7y ago
        If you keep posting flamebait to HN we're going to have to ban you, so please stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        remotecool 7y ago
        It's not flaimbait. I'm posting the truth. I'm sorry if the truth hurts and you are offended by my personal pronouns.
hnick 7y ago
I assume the sound waves overlap and increase in amplitude, destroying the tumor cells. But I'm wondering why a shrinking tumor is enough - usually we cut the whole thing out so that it doesn't metastasise or regrow from small leftover parts. If the beam kills most of it, is that enough? Does it trigger a mass die-off or stimulate our immune system to do the rest of the job? Just wondering what the explanation here is.

dorfsmay 7y ago

For which cancers does this procedure work (assuming your wife didn't have prostate cancer)? I understand 25 k USD feels reasonable if it saves your life without surgery and it's complications, but it steep for "just ultrasound". Do you know why it was that expensive?

killjoywashere 7y ago
MRI is probably the major technical cost. It's fairly high touch and the magnets wear out, so the capital cost of each test is fairly real. That and the professional component. Interventional radiologists are very much in the consultant/handyman/engineer business of "Treatment: $1; knowing where to put it: $9999"
- comfrey11 7y ago
  In Japan an you can get an MRI for $160 US I hear
  - killjoywashere 7y ago
    Do you get the radiologist's read for $160? Do they put an ablative ultrasound probe in you and hold it for an hour for $160?
    - comfrey11 7y ago
      Honestly I’m not sure with the 160 covers. It’s just another one of those things in our medical system that is priced a bit too high to make sense for a good number of folks. I would like to see healthcare be more accessible.
    - Johnny555 7y ago
      What's the purpose of an ablative ultrasound probe in an MRI? An MRI uses high intensity magnetic fields, not ultrasound.
  - dogma1138 7y ago
    Medical treatment in Japan is mostly paid for by the government with the individual co-pay being 30-0% depending on the procedure. The cost to the patient =! the actual cost of the procedure. I would pay £0 for spending the night in the hospital even tho the cost of the trauma bed alone is £3200 per night according to NHS England.
    - tasogare 7y ago
      It’s not paid by the government, it’s paid by the health insurance system that everyone must enroll in and had to pay for every trimester. Granted, it’s not too expensive.
k_sze 7y ago
> (assuming your wife didn’t have prostate cancer) I almost spewed my coffee. At McDonald’s. Thanks for making me get weird looks from other people. XD
- seandougall 7y ago
  Just a friendly reminder that many trans women and some intersex women do indeed have prostates. So although it’s a safe bet statistically that the commenter was not referring to prostate cancer, it’s not a particularly absurd hypothetical.
  - k_sze 7y ago
    Some trans women have prostates? TIL. I honestly didn't know. But you're right that I completely forgot about the intersex group. In fact, I initially wondered if homosexual couples (of either sex) could refer to their SO as "wife", but then the comments also use "she", so I kinda dismissed the possibility of a biologically male "wife".
    - remotecool 7y ago
      Yes, some trans women have prostates. In 2019, even if you have a penis and balls, you can identify as a woman for the day and be considered 'trans'. I'm glad people are starting to respect pronouns, so I can be called by my proper pronoun: "gigantic cock".
      - dang 7y ago
        If you keep posting flamebait to HN we're going to have to ban you, so please stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        remotecool 7y ago
        It's not flaimbait. I'm posting the truth. I'm sorry if the truth hurts and you are offended by my personal pronouns.

hnick 7y ago

I assume the sound waves overlap and increase in amplitude, destroying the tumor cells. But I'm wondering why a shrinking tumor is enough - usually we cut the whole thing out so that it doesn't metastasise or regrow from small leftover parts. If the beam kills most of it, is that enough? Does it trigger a mass die-off or stimulate our immune system to do the rest of the job? Just wondering what the explanation here is.