Hi
I use to follow the message board on Prostate Cancer on AOL, but the active had gotten almost nonexistent. Then I learned about this board. I had Prostate Surgery Jan. 2003 and my PSA has been undetected to date. I've had no problem with incontinence, but still having some problem with erections. Tried all the pills with no success. Things were looking somewhat better with shots (cavject) but then had a heart attack and my uro says I couldn't use them anymore because I was on Plavix. I'm now trying the pump. I have been thinking about a penile implant but then I heard of a new drug that was still being tested back in Feb 2007. It was called hMaxi-k. It is some kind of gene therapy. Has anyone else heard of this drug and do you know if they have done any more testing?

Hi...this gene therapy research is very interesting, and yes, there are some clinical trials that has been completed for this. By what I understand, gene therapy for impotence is somewhat past it's infancy stages and the last completed clinical trials was ultimately testing it's safety. The results, I heard, regarding it's safety was very positive, thus the next trials for this therapy will concentrate on it's effect on the penis. Unfortunately, this type of treatment will probably not be available to the general public for quite a few years.

Hello Tboner2940,

There's a forum on HealthBoards called...

"Sexual Dysfunction Treatment"

There's a thread on this forum entitled...

"PENILE IMPLANT - THANKS TO doj, I'M ON MY WAY!!"

This thread was started by a guy named "Specialdee". He credits a guy named "doj" for helping him go in the direction of getting a penile implant.

Personally, I think the posts that these two guys are sharing is just about the best dialog I've seen on HealthBoards regarding penile implants.

My opinion, get in touch with "Specialdee" and "doj" and ask them for their opinion and their experience with penile implants.

I think these guys have got a ton of experience with this topic and are more than willing to share their answers!

Best wishes!

;)

able5 & will01
Thanks for the info. Will check it out.

Hi:
You might want to give the pump a fair chance before resorting to an implant. Implants still require surgery which always poses some risk of infection or other complications and if you're not happy with the implant it requires more surgery to remove or replace it.
At least the pump can be discarded if you're not happy with it and there's always the opportunity for the surgical implant. I and many survivors with whom I've been in contact have found the pump to be entirely satisfactory and noninvasive.
The one most often recommended by urologists and which seems to be the top of the line is the Osbon ErecAid System which requires a prescription. Medicare and most plans will cover the bulk of the cost with a small co-pay and shipping charge. The company also offers excellant customer service, an instructional video and trained tech-reps who are available by phone 24/7.
Bob

Hi...this gene therapy research is very interesting, and yes, there are some clinical trials that has been completed for this. By what I understand, gene therapy for impotence is somewhat past it's infancy stages and the last completed clinical trials was ultimately testing it's safety. The results, I heard, regarding it's safety was very positive, thus the next trials for this therapy will concentrate on it's effect on the penis. Unfortunately, this type of treatment will probably not be available to the general public for quite a few years.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Many of us have great hope for gene therapy for a multitude of important uses. I've served as a survivor reviewer for proposals funded under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program's "Prostate Cancer Research Program" and have seen a number of gene therapy proposals. As your post indicates, such therapies are moving into and through trials.

However, gene therapy can be really tricky, and tinkering with genes can be dangerous. Writer Michael Crichton, best known for Jurassic Park, published a novel titled "Next" in 2006 that is all about manipulating genes in medicine and other areas. I just finished it and highly recommend it for those of us with an interest in this area. He has what looks like an excellent list of references, with his comments, at the end of the book. His disclaimer just before the opening pages is interesting: "This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren't."

I'm in favor of genetic therapy research, but I'm also in favor of being careful with it.

Jim