DRE after primary radiation

Just wondering if those of you who had radiation therapy as your primary treatment still have a DRE. Some articles suggest that it's generally not done anymore.

My radiation was salvage and I did have a DRE, I think about 6 months after treatment completed

I had one DRE after a prostatectomy. I don't know why. Nothing after my RT.

I had them for about 8 years after finishing treatment, although I always wondered if they were necessary. The only reason I'm no longer getting them is that I only see my primary care doc nowadays.

The original question was for men with their radiated prostate. Some specialists do post treatment DREs for both surgical and non-surgical patients just to make sure things feel the way they thinks they should. Some say they are feeling for any local recurrence tumors.

Others, like my doc, don’t do post treatment DREs so long as PSA is stable and at a proper level. If it goes up, then he uses the various scans that he says will provide much better information than a DRE. He has explained to me that a DRE on a radiated prostate is going to feel abnormal and lumpy due to the scar tissue induced by the radiation damage to the PCa tumors and is of no use.

I am 4 1/2 years post SBRT as my primary treatment choice. I am to be monitored by both my URO and RO for six years total. I alternate every six months between the two physicians and have a PSA test prior to each visit. At each visit I am asked if my previous visit included a DRE. I've had at least one DRE annually. I always ask about the exam and this past October I was told it was firm, flat, and decreased in overall size. Assuming that everything continues favorably, at the end of the sixth year I can go to annual visits. I'm still inclined to get a PSA every six months.