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NIH said stay on AS

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Posted 4/21/2016 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
I had a mri guided biopsy at NIH in January. My biopsy was the same as the one I had in 2/2015 at George Washington they are going to do another mri in January 2017. Is anyone else here on AS? I followed up with my URO and he wants a PSA every 3 months until the next mri the reason I'm doing this at all is because the NIH said I had 12 years before I need to worry about this. Would love to here from some AS men for some input.
Posted 4/21/2016 11:57 AM (GMT 0)
Sounds great to me.
Posted 4/21/2016 1:04 PM (GMT 0)
Joey, I have been on AS for 4 years now. Four years ago it was not recommended for someone who was only 52 years old. My Dr. is at Memorial Sloan Kettering. There AS program consists of a MRI every 18 months, repeat biopsy every 3 years and PSA/DRE every 6 months. It looks like you are a great candidate for AS.
Best of luck to you.
Posted 4/21/2016 1:31 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds good to me.

Andrew
Posted 4/21/2016 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
Joey, There are several members here who are following AS.

I have been under Johns Hopkins' AS protocol for seven years.

What you posted about your biopsies sounds like a good result and proper follow-up.

But, it would be very helpful if you could created a signature that showed your age and highlights of your pathology reports. I had a good exchange with another AS participant recently, and seeing that we were 22 years apart helped us appreciate our somewhat different viewpoints.
Posted 4/22/2016 4:52 AM (GMT 0)
Joey and ASadvocate, I have been on AS for almost 4 1/2 years. I'm due for a 3rd biopsy(3years). I've been away from this forum for quite some time, only looking in on occasion. My question for you two is: how many cores are taken on your AS biopsies? Thanks!
Posted 4/22/2016 4:55 AM (GMT 0)
I see my signature didn't post, maybe it was deleted since I've been away. I'll have to check into that.
Posted 4/22/2016 5:24 AM (GMT 0)
Jym62, 14 core biopsies are standard at Johns Hopkins. I believe that they have taken two extra when they did a targeted fusion biopsy.
Posted 4/22/2016 2:16 PM (GMT 0)
ASAdvocate, thanks for the reply. Have you had any issues at all from the multiple biopsies? I do ok on AS, except when it's what I call decision time; like now trying to decide on another biopsy or just get treated.
Posted 4/24/2016 1:29 PM (GMT 0)

jym62 said...
ASAdvocate, thanks for the reply. Have you had any issues at all from the multiple biopsies? I do ok on AS, except when it's what I call decision time; like now trying to decide on another biopsy or just get treated.

Yes, Two of my five biopsies were problematic. One tripled my psa two months later, and another caused pain and psa doubling for six months. Time and sitz baths finally resolved the problems.

Regrettably, regular biopsies are a mandatory part of a strict AS program, if you are under age 70.

Have to accept that and hope for the best. Good luck.
Posted 4/24/2016 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
The current literature talks about two things which will reduce the frequency and number of biopsies on active surveillance.

First, with the emergence of mpMRI imaging, some institutions are alternating biopsies and mpMRI, which effectively cuts the number of biopsies in half. And the second thing is, while you don't want to look too far down the road, the frequency of invasive monitoring generally decreases after more years on AS as patterns are established.
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