Good news and some questions

Hey BB,

Okay the second doctor is referring to the same treatment my father is getting now at Sloan, he did  2 months of hormones before starting the radiation. The Rad-Onc also gave the same reasoning as the second doctor told you, that the hormones will make the radiation more effective.  It will break down the cancer cells and make them more vulnerable to the radiation. I think it sounds logical. I also know from reading Dana Jennings' blogs (the editor from the NY Times) he also did combination therapy.

Hope this helps!

Lynne 

Dave, you can imagine. Two months after BCF and I was floating on air. I makes you appreciate the fact that things can always be worse than than they are, and you need to count your blessings.

Thanks Lynne, just the feedback I'm looking for. Second opinion Doc was at Dana Farber. I would love to go there for treatment but don't know if I can handle the daily 90 minute commute. I Thought about Sloan, but it is even longer. How far does your Dad commute? Is he retired? Another issue with the long commute.

BB,
BF is treating at Sloan as well and same treatment as Lynne's dad. HT started immediately after surgery (Jan 2010) and about 2 mos before radiation. He had a positive bone scan last week but told that it is probably degeneration or bone healing rather than new cancer cells. On Monday when we met with Dr. Scher at Sloan, we were told that 90% of PC cells are killed with HT and the other 10% with radiation. Is that true, I dont know?? I would like to think so. I think HT is good order of treatment as well as radiation after. Did they also run blood work? They ran PSA, acid phos and circulating tumor cell tests. PSA and acid phos still low. We are waiting for CTC results.
All the BEST!,
Christine

Hi BB, I have not been down this trail of RT or HT, and so I don't speak from experience , but I continue to seek to learn more in broader areas of PC & PC treatments so as to offer solid advice to others.  So as to be credible in my offerings, I frequently try to offer hyperlinks to the resources I reference so that others may dig deeper if they so desire.  I try to "lead by example" in this area so that others might also follow this value-added approach, because it is troubling to read of "advice" which is sometimes offered which seems to be off-the-cuff and without any scientific or even common sense background.  Off my soap box... In the May 2010 (the most recent) "PCRI Insights" Newsletter, there is an article titled " Nine Decisions Before Choosing Radiation Therapy After Prostatectomy ".  You can find the Newsletter here:  http://www.prostate-cancer.org/pcricms/node/59 In the article, the author (PCRI Program Director) cites a paper by Choo as one of five recent published studies which provide guidelines in this area of post-RP RT, and Choo's paper (in specific) addresses the addition of HT to adjuvant RT for improved outcomes.  The article (about " Nine Decisions ") identifies Decision #6 as:  "Adjuvant Radiation Therapy is Decided -- Should Hormone Therapy be Included?"    The article, under Decision #6 reads (I will copy/paste this short passage): No large, randomized clinical trials have examined adding hormone therapy, also called Androgen Deprivation Therapy, to adjuvant or salvage radiation. Choo(7) reported on several small studies that showed benefit, including his own about 75 men who were treated with two years ADT after salvage radiation. After median follow-up of 6.4 years, freedom from PSA relapse was 91.5% at 5 years and 78.6% at 7 years. That is one of the highest success rates reported. The Choo report link is:  http://cancerresearchandtreatment.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/0036CRT/crt-42-1.pdf So, my observation is that the whole concept of adding HT to adjuvant RT is fairly new, but some notable benefit has been shown.  With that still new-but-promising preliminary result, it seems that the medical community is only now starting to try to figure out whether initiating HT concurrently with RT is best, or whether to start HT before starting RT is best...these are the two choices the two doctors are offering you.  I'm afraid that you won't find conclusive agreement on this question yet...the medical community is still wrestling with getting agreement on the addition of HT to RT. I wish you the best... Post Edited (Casey59) : 5/21/2010 10:06:16 AM (GMT-6)

The testing at Sloan includes PSA, CEA, Acid Phosphatase. Whats nice is that as a patient, you are able to create an account and get your results online. We were told today that the circulating tumor count was zero and that this test was actually part of a clinical study at Sloan and not usually included in testing. There was no radiation of the breast before HT.

BB if I were you I would just "grit my teeth" and do it lol. I wouldn't take any chances when it comes to health and if you are able to go to Sloan (even though it is 90 minutes away) I wouldn't settle for less.

Hope and Prayer is your boyfriend by any chance Greek? I know its a long shot lol

Hey Hope I am the daughter from Chicago unless he met my sister from Cleveland, but I remember meeting him too :) Going this week to NY to keep my dad company for radiation. Yes, my mom sees your bf every morning (or at least used to) I think he switched slots. How are things going with him? I hope all is well.

BB- I feel awful that you and your family had to wait that long for resolution! BF could not even wait a few days for results. I would had to commit him if he waited 2 weeks! I truly hope that Dana Farber gives you the same treatment as Sloan and I think they would since they also specialize in cancer treatment. From the little research I did on them, it sounds like their Link Center operates like Sloan. Having the doctors work together is key.

Alfred- I ready your msg and you make very good sense. How do you know if there are PC cells if HT masks the results? I would like to read more about that. Is it in Dr. Myers book? Just ordered it and waiting for it to come in. Also, would PET scans tell you where the cancer cells are or are they really that effective?

Lynne-- Peter did meet you, your sister, brother and Mom. He commented how wonderful it was that family was always there with your Dad every morning. They moved him to 9am last week to do additional scans and tests due to a positive bone scan last week. Thankfully it looks to be all good news and will be back to 8am. He finishes radiation next Monday!! I hope your Dad is fairing well with his treatment and hope to meet you. Will try and go with him next week. Also, I read the article that you posted about MDV3100. We spoke to Dr. Scher about that. He told us that they are going to Phase 3 with that trial but there is a new one starting in July with a refined (and better) version based on their findings of the first trial. Thankfully, your Dad or Peter are not refractory but is good news for everyone that may need it in the future.

Alf/Christine: I believe that HT with RT is recommended mostly for high risk individuals gleason 8-10. Alf, since you are a (3+4) perhaps that is why your Docs just considered RT.

Alf, I never answered your question in earlier post. Lesion was a hemanggioma. I understand that this is a tangle of blood vessels. You will often see these on babies. They will have a red lump on face or head that will generally go away as they grow. My daughter had one under her eye lid.