post rt

Monitoring his PSA is the best. Six months isn't too long. Radiation takes awhile to show effectiveness, it could be up to two years before he gets to his lowest point, or nadir. Also, as long has he's on HT, PSA is largely meaningless as the HT will suppress all signs of PC.

It is possible that all the PC was in the prostate bed so RT may have worked.

Give it time, PC and RT are painfully slow, don't rush into more treatments without evidence that this has failed.

Andrew

Hi guys,
Thanks very much for the feedback. Kind of relieved that your opinion is consistent with the docs. I think the idea of possibly doing chemo early was the assumption that he has Mets although so far undetectable at this point. That was a suggestion from dr.Lam at prostate specialist in marina del ray. Is there any literature out there regarding stating chemo prior to detection of Mets that you know of? Also I read a lot about zytiga, sounds like a new and successful drug in the community. Which scenario/stage is this drug generally used?

Thanks very much!

Allen,
Thank you kindly for taking the time to respond. His rad onc mentioned that his understanding was 8 percent better control, which seems consistent with what I have read on the link you posted. He did not make any suggestions, said it was up to us. Obviously the toxic side effects of chemo are harsh. But we are seriously trying to weigh the options... he is still suffering from severe and unrelenting bladder spasms that we have no answer for. Hopefully we can get them to some how stop so he can regain enough strength to continue to battle his PC.
Your time is much appreciated.
All the best

Needinfo

Just wanted to chime in and let you know that my husband's situation is very similar.

As you will see from the signature below, he is a G9 with 12 out of 12 nodes positive. Intial PSA 11.7. He was diagnosed with seminal vesicle invasion and spread to local nodes but clear bone scans. He did chemo 1st, then Lupron, the radiation within first 6 months. He will remain on Lupron for about another year. Then we will see. Unlike what others are saying above, we are seeing a downward movement of PSA even while on Lupron. First month after 81 GY of rt his PSA was .9 and three months later (most recent) PSA was .6. Oncologist wants him to get to .5 and below.

He tolerated chemo pretty well. We wanted to be as aggressive as possible with this level of diagnosis.

We have no regrets about this course of treatment. I am curious to know if your dad had his nodes radiated as well??

Thanks for sharing peanut,
He did not have any nodes radiated. With the scans they did they said that they were not showing any involvement. I am unsure how accurate scans are at being able to tell, I suspect not very accurate. A few of his biopsy pins showed full 100 percent involvement, so it seems to me it has spread we just can't detect where yet. . Your chosen course of treatment sounds very aggressive and although I'm far far from a doctor it seems to make sense to attack a diagnosis like this as hard as possible. That is part of the reason we are exploring chemo options (the option of doing it pre rad was never mentioned to us). With everything I have read regarding his biopsy results it is hard to accept now to just sit and wait for months... Thanks for all the feedback!

Biopsy pins mean a lot less that most folks think.. It is just that..small slender pins…which does not necessarily mean…even at 100% filled… that the cancer in the whole prostate is loaded with cancer… It means they got lucky with the pins and/or thru ultra sound guidance just nailed it{tumor} its not insignificant either as 100% does mean it was a hefty tumor.. I think placement of the tumor is more significant…I would rather have a big tumor a " good " distance fro the edge/capsule than a small one close to same. Unfortunately for the average unlearned patient they will think it means more than it does and more uro's than you think will let them think that in their quest to snatch that puppy out…all in the interest of the patient's cough..cough interest of course… Over treatment pre and secondary treatment is…imo…the rule…not the exception… Now I do not think tighten up on PSA tests is the answer…there's an example of the straw man right there… Its easier to " run thru the channels "{i.e. cutting back psa tests}{saving us from our selves} be cause, frankly, most folks…yep…das aright most folks…are lazy thinkers and would rather have other lazy thinkers make the call for them as they{the notorious others} guild a dying lily of their own making.. Again this is my opinion not a thesis…to be argued…tho I could argue it very well….You will just have to trust me on that one…tee hee… the post is rhetorical in nature…any resemblance to the living or the dead is purely coincidental...