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RADIATION /1 MET ON SPINE????

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Posted 3/6/2012 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
My husband has 1 met in his T11 spine.

I have read that certain area's of the spine can have radiation done if there are less than 5 mets.

Stanford Dr. said not to do it as it isn't giving us any problems and we may need to do it in the future.

Why not just do it now and not worry if it will give us problems in the future, as it will be gone!

Has anyone had radiation to an area with positive results.

My husband is on HT, Casodex (generic) and Lupron, and

It has lowered his PSA.

Thanks,

BOOGEE

Posted 3/7/2012 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
Boogee,

My local oncologist suggested not to radiate the one spot I had. My urologist and radiation oncologist said I should radiate it. I went with getting it zapped, started HT, and a monthly injection of Xgeva. A few months after this I met with Dr. Myers. He said getting it radiated was a very a good decision. As with many things PC, there are conflicting answers.

The spot looks good on scan these days and there are no new spots. I'd call that success...as much of success you can get in this game.

For me, I'm throwing everything at it. Is it the right choice for everyone? Certainly not. Every case is different.

What's your husband's PSA now?

Jerry
Posted 3/7/2012 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jerry,

After taking casodex for 3 weeks it was .03 Dr. says it should go down after the injection he took last week. Won't do another PSA for a couple of monthes.

We have an appt. at UCSF tomorrow to see if they have any differing opinions.
There is so much opposition re: methods, but we are following our gut pretty much at this point.

By the way, perhaps where your spot is was easier to determine doing radiation. Is Dr.Meyers your surgeon or what is his role in your PC journey?????

Oncologist told us that we can only radiate an area once, that was to the prostate bed and T11 spine. where we were to have radiation.
Perhaps other area's can be done more than once?????

Hopefully UCSF has an answer that makes sense.

Take Care as it looks like you are doing well now!

BOOGEE
Posted 3/7/2012 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
Have you talked to a Radiation Oncologist? Mets on/in the spine can cripple you if the vertebra is weakened and collapses..I would stop it now if you have that option..
Posted 3/7/2012 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
BOOGEE Hi I just started RD on my T12/L1 because they were replaced with cancer, the doc said i can only treat the spot one time and if it came back we would have to do some thing different. It all depends on how bad the spot is because they have to radiate one above and one below to make sure they get it all so if you have cancer in the spots above or below show up later they will not be able to radiate .it. good luck ALF
Posted 3/8/2012 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Alf,

We talked to an Oncologist at UCSF yesterday.
She was going to have a round table discussion with the radiation Oncologist and her team of Dr.'s next week and let us know if radiation would be a viable option for my Husband.
She said that would include radiating the pelvic area as well.

If not she stated his met. is so small and perhaps the HT could help with killing off some cells!
Just wonder if when he gets off the intermitten HT they would stay gone.
For now his PSA is .03 and hoping it goes down to undectable after the injection of Lupron he took a week ago.

By the way is RD on your spine, radiation?
Is the new drug tak700, chemo?

Stay strong!

BOOGEE
Posted 3/8/2012 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
Fairwind,

As you can see from the previous post we are still deceiding weather to do radiation, and will have a better answer after UCSF has their discussion.

BOOGEE
Posted 3/8/2012 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
Get multiple opinions. There is great variability among rad oncs as to how often a spot can be radiated. Basically it comes down the the dose and the time between doses.

For example, my rad onc has been clear that even though I have had two HDR procedures and IMRT, I can still have additional HDR in the future. Men who have been seeded can also at a later time use HDR. The HDR pioneer, Dr Jeffrey Demanes shows this on his website.

My wife had extensive radiation for breast cancer in 1996. She had a different cancer in the same breast in 2010 and again was radiated. Though what you usually read is that there can not be repeat radiation, it all depends on the details of the plan and the time between fractions. For my wife the greatest concern was the potential effect on her skin, but now after a year there have been no problems.

Keep doing your research. My question is always, if I have the opportunity to kill it when it is small, why do I wait until it is large and harder to kill before I pull the trigger? If I am waiting because I don't get a second chance, then the same exists in the future when I do pull the trigger, but how has waiting improved my odds of an improvement?
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