Cancer Research UK main site

Sonic therapy and nanotechnology to treat bowel cancer

Wispy-misty
Offline

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this post or not but hopefully someone will advise me if I need to move it elsewhere.

I am enquiring whether there are any hospitals that are already treating bowel cancer with a form of sonic therapy?

In brief my 82 year old Dad was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019 and underwent successful surgery at that time with a follow up of adjuvant chemotherapy. In February this year follow up tests showed a return of the cancer. He saw a General Surgery Consultant who discussed surgical options but due to Dad being registered blind (but otherwise very fit) he did not want to end up with a stoma, and instead he was referred back to oncology to have a long course of radiotherapy. Sadly there were many delays and a mix up in communication and his case was then treated as palliative and he was only given a very short course of treatment to relieve possible symptoms.

In the meantime he watched a programme in which a lady with bowel cancer was treated at Leeds using a form of sonic therapy and he is keen to explore this as an option, even if it were more for research purposes than his own benefit. He is having another CT this week and seeing a Consultant in a couple of weeks with the results and to discuss future options.

When I have tried to find details of anywhere that does offer this, I have not been able to track it down so thought I would ask the question here.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

  • Hello Wispy, and thank you for posting.

    I am sorry to hear about what has happened with your dad. I am not entirely sure exactly what the sonic treatment is you mean, but it may be this which is on the bowel research website, or this about (HIFU) which is on our pages. Do talk through this treatment with your dad's specialist. They will know what treatments are suitable and where they are done if thought appropriate. If you and your dad are interested in the idea of trials in general then do let his doctors know so they are aware.

    There is information about taking part in trials and a clinical trials database on our website, which you can look at. This lists the trials that we are aware of and have permission to put on the website. We have bowel cancer trial information on our website if you want to look through it.

    Patients who wish to take part in almost all clinical trials must have a medical referral from their doctor to the doctor running the trial. If you see a trial for your dad on our database that you are interested in, you will need to discuss it with your dad's own doctor or cancer specialist. We suggest you print off a copy of the information and take it along to his next appointment.

    All trials have very strict entry requirements. So he must match these to be able to take part. If it looks like an appropriate trial, the doctor can then send a referral to the doctor running the trial at your nearest participating centre.

    Our trials database has the details of most of the current trials that we are aware of and have also had permission to include. Unfortunately, it isn't comprehensive as there may be trials we don't know about or haven't been allowed to include. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has a database on its website called Be Part of Research.  There are other trial databases, such as the ISRCTN (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number) registry and a US trials database called ClinicalTrials.gov, which lets you search by country,  but both of these feed into Be Part of Research.

    I hope that this reply is helpful. Do contact us again if we can offer you any further information or support. You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our telephone service. The number to ring is freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9 am till 5 pm, Monday to Friday.

    Kind Regards,

    Sarah.

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Sarah

    Thanks for your reply Sarah - I think it's most likely the HIFU.

    I just wanted a chance to read up on it before his consultant appt next month.

    Much appreciated

Speak to a nurse

Quick links

Follow us

Registered with Fundraising Regulator (logo)
Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.