cannabinoids and cancer

just wondering if anyone has experience with this and PC??hubby was Dx 2 months ago and Dr. wants to remove prostrate with nerves in next 5 months , Gleason is a 7 and had 8 out of 12 biopsies +, says it is diffuse??? hence why no nerve saving, really looking at radiation instead of Sx, definitely looking for different dr as he only wants to cut and won't discuss other options, so frustrated, from Canada so we do have access medical cannabinoids, but just wanting again some thoughts or experinence. Thank you

not a lot of info given, had to ask for the copy of biopsy results, which he had for a month and never gave to us, so disappointed with this dr. turned his back on us when my husband said he needed to do more research on treatment, will get the copy when hubby gets home from work. and close to Edmonton.

Some doctors only know one method of treatment and apply that to everything PC. Not in your best interest. Research all options before submitting, there are no returns once you commit.

As for the noids, I have a vague memory from high school. My understanding it is used to alleviate pain related to symptoms of cancer.

Thanks, Hope. That helps a lot.

The kind of prostate cancer he has is called "favorable intermediate risk." That means that almost any of the treatments will likely cure him. There is no benefit to hormone therapy and no need to combine treatments.

The reason your urologists said what they said is probably because the cancer is concentrated at the apex, and especially if his prostate is small, they may have trouble digging it all out without cutting into the neurovascular bundles. The other reason is because they may be quite ignorant of the advances in radiation in this century. They are surgeons and it's not their job to keep up with other fields. So the onus falls upon you to find and meet with the experts.

Here is a list of treatments other than surgery that I know are available in Canada, but you may have to travel outside of Edmonton to get to them. Hopefully, they will be available locally - you can try googling them, or maybe someone in HW can refer you.
• SBRT (CyberKnife)
• HDR brachytherapy (monotherapy)
• LDR brachytherapy - "seeds" (monotherapy)

If there are no expert doctors in Edmonton who offer those treatments, you should at least be able to find IMRT there. It's a bit of an ordeal - 40-44 treatments - but it's as effective as surgery -- more effective, if the cancer turns out to be outside the capsule.

Compared to surgery, radiation has a much better erectile function-sparing profile, and incontinence is very rare. It does carry irritative urinary and rectal side effects that will pass with time.

As for cannabis and cancer, cannabinoid extracts killed prostate cancer cells in a petri dish in a Spanish experimental study but have not been proven to do so in human subjects.

Cannabis is very good at allowing the patient to tolerate pain. It does not eliminate pain like an opioid though.

Lupron and Eligard have given me a lot of side effects since I have been on ADT for the last 2 & 1/2 years. One of the worst has been nausea attacks - the most recent of those was 3 weeks ago. I use a Pax 2 vaporizer to beat those down as it allows very close titration and I still need to function normally. Cancer is one of the conditions that qualify you for a green card here on the other side of the river too. I believe that moderate cannabis use is and has been beneficial for me, though your mileage may differ of course.

Hello Hope and welcome to HW. Unfortunately, many urologists first inclination is to "cut" rather than to help the patient explore his options. During my "interview" process for treatment I ran into some like that and quickly kicked them to the curb; I suggest you do the same.

As others have said, any of the main treatment options are likely to cure you and your husband surely has options. It would be prudent to talk with experts in not only surgery but SBRT, HDR Bracy and LDR Brachy. Given that any of these should cure your husband, then one way to look at this is via their primary value propositions. The radiation treatments provide cure with a smaller chance of onerous side effects like sexual dysfunction or incontinence. Surgery provides cure with immediate knowledge of final pathology.

Get yourself educated on these options and then pick the best one for your family. You might want to read Dr. Walsh's, "Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer" and Dr. Scholz', "Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers". Together these books will give you a broad view of our cancer and the treatment options. Of course the sticky thread at the top of our forum is also a good starting point.

Good luck and let us know how we can help.

Jim

P.S. Oh...and cannabis is unlikely to be medically helpful in this situation.

HopeMacIntyre said...
hubby's PSA were pre biopsy 6.5ug/L,
right apex- GS- 7(3,4) X2
left base- same as above
left mid gland- 6(3,3)X2
left apex- 7(3,4) X2
range on core involvement 10-40%
not much more info on the report,
has had a steady increase on PSA, hence why he had biopsies
digital exam was not really enlarged and tech told him things looked ok while doing biopsies,
so I am confused why Dr. wants to do radical surgery, said his life was more important than the ability to have sex....????
he is 62, looks 50, activity with golf and running, no other health issues except was low on testosterone and was on the gel for awhile, but has not been on it for 2-3 years.

You have time to figure out what is the best choice. Don't be rushed. Many would certainly choose surgery for this, but many others would not. Just keep in mind what many have said already: there is more than one treatment that is considered curative for this disease. So you guys just need to take your time and figure out which treatment might be best for your hubby, which treatment and results thereof that you feel you can best to live with over the long-term. In addition, there are a growing number of people– as knowledge advances –who having numbers like your husband, would choose none of the more aggressive treatments, but would instead choose something called active surveillance(AS). He maybe pushing the envelope for that kind of treatment with his Gleason 7(3+4), but I think even some of the 3+4s these days are starting to be considered for that approach. That involves very close observance for any advance at all, then proceeding on with treatment when and if any advance is demonstrated. For the majority of guys who do not advance, the advantage is zero side effects from treatment. But even for the guys who do advance, although this might apply only to the G6s as far as any studies go(not sure if any G7s were in those studies), there has not been any significant survival advantage demonstrated so far by starting the aggressive treatment earlier. In either case, long term survival was excellent. Once again, you're hubby may not qualify for that sort of approach sense he is slightly beyond the G6 category, but it is worth talking to somebody about. He is a G7, but he is the more favorable Version of G7 what with the 3+4. Rather than 4+3. It actually makes a difference.

But bottom line, just don't be rushed into any sort of aggressive treatment. There is no going back.