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3 Year Zero & In the News

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Posted 5/20/2011 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi guys:

I got my 3 year zero last week. And - Dr. Jason Engel finally got his study published which included me. He tracked 73 high risk patients who used only robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies (RALP) and nothing else. I qualified as a high risk guy and the age range started at 52 (I was 52 so I don't know if that was me, but there was nobody younger). High risk was PSA >than 10, and/or Gleason >8 on the final pathologic evaluation, and/or stage >pT3. All of these measurements are "greater than or equal to."

Some of the bottom lines are: With follow up to 85 months (average 31 months) there is a recurrence-free survival rate of 77%. The average recurrence was at 7 months - so if it recurs, it is usually pretty quickly. Once again, this is RALP only.

The study is in the Journal of Endourology, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2010. Title: Oncologic Outcome of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy in the High-Risk Setting.

Engel is associated with the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC.

So, I applaud the guy for sticking his stats out there. He is seriously into getting real data out, and he did a bang-up job for me. I saw him for possibly the last time last week. He told me to have my PSA checked annually, and call him if there is a problem. No more trips to DC for me!

Surgery is not the answer for everybody, and I am not suggesting it is.

I wish everybody out there the very best,
kcragman
Posted 5/20/2011 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
Great News !

Thanks for the additional info.

Congrats

Hero

Posted 5/20/2011 2:21 AM (GMT 0)
KCRAGMAN:
congrats on the zero - here's to a lifetime of them
smithmeek.com/tatt2man
- glad to see your doc's work published - publish or perish - good for him - good for you - and good for us - there is hope -
hugs,
BRONSON
Posted 5/20/2011 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
good stuff...
Posted 5/20/2011 4:06 AM (GMT 0)
congratulation on both counts, keep those zeros a coming.
Posted 5/20/2011 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
Posting again with the hopes that my stats will show.
Thanks for good words, guys.

kcragman
Posted 5/20/2011 11:27 AM (GMT 0)
Posting yet again. No used to having my stats truncated.

kcragman
Posted 5/20/2011 11:28 AM (GMT 0)
Well, screw it. Post op I was a Gleason 9, stage pT3a.

kcragman
Posted 5/20/2011 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
Congratulations! I almost chose Dr Engel but decided to stay on my side of the river and save some driving time. In that study do you know what was his definition of recurrence?
Posted 5/20/2011 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
Great news. I was going to send you an email to see how you were doing. I am doing the same. It is amazing it has been 3 years since the prostate removal. Hope all is well with you on all fronts.
Posted 5/20/2011 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
kcragman,
That is great news for you and the rest of us who fall into the same group.
Posted 5/22/2011 1:10 AM (GMT 0)
Back again.

reachout: Yeah, I live in Fairfax. My wife is a has a PhD in anatomy, and is a pretty sharp researcher, and when we first met with Engel, his almost exact words were: You won't come across the river, so go ahead and ask me anything. I'll tell you anything you want to know. So several discussions later, we decided to cross the river. In his study, recurrence is "postoperative PSA level > or equal to 0.2."

rob2: Early on I told my wife that all of this would be a bad memory, and so fortunately it has turned out to be. I am well (coaching my 35th girls soccer team in 31 seasons over 19 years), and I hope you are the same.

Ed C. Continued success to you - and everybody else.

kcragman
Posted 5/22/2011 9:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hi kcragman, - Congratulations! Was the post-op Gleason 9, a (4+5) or (5+4)? I assume your "undetectable" post-op PSA 's have consistantly been LESS THAN 0.1 (<0.1 ng/ml)? What was the clinical (pre-surgical) STAGE assigned to your disease? Thanks and I wish you continued success. - [email protected] (aka) az4peaks
Posted 5/23/2011 2:15 AM (GMT 0)
az4peaks:

Ouch, you are rattling the old brain cells there. I had to go back and dig thru my medical pile, I mean file. Post op I was a Gleason 9 4 + 5, with 15% of the prostate involved.

Undetectable: I believe the standard measurement methods don't go below 0.1, so if you have a 0.1 they assume you are a zero. All my doctor says is that I am undetectable so I assume it is a 0.1.

My pre-surgical stage was a T2 - and both my wife and I forget the following alpha. She does not believe I was an "a," but I cannot find in my papers exactly what I was. I actually had the biopsy done in Fairfax, VA by a urologist that I liked a lot, but he only did open surgery, and I wanted to go robotic - so I went to DC to find the best guy I could.

I hope this answers your questions. If you have any others, please let me know. (PS: I have to be considered fully functional - especially with viagra - on the ED side. I developed a case of pyronie's like A MONTH before I started this PCa drill, so the combo has left me a little, um, short of expectations, but like I said, I have to be considered fully functional. I still wear one light pad a day because I have a few drips every day and I just cannot stop it, but I consider that a very small price to pay to remain above ground.)

I wish you the best,
kcragman
Posted 5/23/2011 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
Congratulations and all the best to you for a lifetime free of prostate cancer recurrence....Tim
Posted 5/23/2011 9:58 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the post and congrats!!!

I'm a few weeks shy of one year.

Does the anxiety ever lessen?

:-)  

steve

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