Radation Therapy ?

Radiation is not as scary as you might have the misperception of it being, many methods, many types of deliver and options. Used as primary or salvage therapies and targeting bone met pain issues or on lymphnodes can even be targeted (especially if known which one/s). ADT3 drugs prior to radiation has a proven superior track record for survival outcomes (aka-Bolla Abstracts and other newer studies confirm this). ADT3 is: Lupron (or its equals LHRH drugs)+casodex+proscar (or avodart). Find info on radiations:
www.dattoli.com
www.rcog.com
www.protonbob.com
www.yananow.net  (find patient histories-experiences-mentors)
www.hrpca.org  (see 'proven treatments' info area)

www.paactusa.org   (online pdf files for Newsletter, for advanced PCa patients)

The skill and experience of the doctor using radiation is paramount to having the best outcome (i.e. limiting the bad possible side effects), it is possible to have some side effects but many people have little to none, there are some whom have had terrible experiences, too....same can be said for surgery and other treatments.

Getting opinions is always a good idea in something this huge. I was and still am a high risk patient also, but not with a psa near where you were. Goods news is I did ADT3 prior to specialized radiations (2002) 6 months thereafter (neutron & photon machines used), I am into year 9+ now and knock on wood...so far doing better than I thought was possible...didn't think I was making year 3 originally. Nomograms and Partin tables were not friendly with my stats (lol). Read everything you can find, this disease or cancer is not just a single classification type, comes with many variables, variants, DNA types and certain expressions of genes that are the culprit. (i.e.: AR androgen receptor, P53, BCL1, and many others...it is complex). You can switch drug protocols for uncureable scenarios and many times find control of psa and disease levels, atleast for some type of duration and this is a generalization overall. Some types like small cell or signet ring PCa, are a totally different scenario.

Lots of patients herein that can tell you how they are controlling there situation, may or may not work in your specific situation. Best to you, this is the twilight zone thing with PCa.  You can fight this and hopefully for a long time.  The guy whom started up the www.hrpca.org  fought this for 17 yrs. and was quite the warrior.  Some people skip the radiation and do only drug therapies, you have to make the call along with your doctors. Best to your results.

Post Edited (zufus) : 10/2/2011 6:41:05 PM (GMT-6)

A PSA of 1500 usually means your cancer has spread well outside the confines of what can be treated by surgery or radiation..But with PC there are exceptions to every rule and if your radiation oncologist feels radiation treatment might be effective, go for it...Properly administered, the side-effects from radiation treatment are pretty mild..Also, there may be clinical trials going on using the latest drugs and/or techniques that you may be eligible for.. What was your Gleason score when you were diagnosed?

All of the above comments are very valid. I did Adjuvant IGRT,  but as yet it is unclear (and may never be clear) if it was helpful.

My day-to-day "journey" is linked in my sig below.

I have long-term side effects from the RT in the form of bowel issues, increased incontinence (from after-surgery levels), persistent fatigue, and a very slow return of my white blood cell count (I have been considered high-risk for picking up infectious diseases, unable to take some vaccinations, etc., but that is improving).

 

I am at my 37 radiation treatment with 6 more to go. I am having it done in a machine that has a CT scan for location. The scan checks for prostrate location and adjust the postion each time.

I have had minimum problems. The worse being bloating and gas that the Dr says is not from the treatments, but I have had them since the third week of treatment and seems to subside on the weekend. It could be nerves also.

I think the type of machine I am on minimizes technician error. I drive 40 miles to be treated there.

I would reccommend if you have a choice of machines, you should try to get into one like this.

Hi Smokin, - It all depends on what the purpose of the radiation is! With a diagnostic PSA of 1500, it is almost certain that your Prostate Cancer (PCa) is already "systemic", which makes localized prostate bed radiation with the intent to CURE an unrealistic goal, in my layman's opinion. However, in more advanced cases of PCa, which systemic disease is, "spot" radiation is often used for palliative reasons (to treat adverse symptoms - such as pain) and are often quite effective for this purpose.

The treatment goal with systemic disease, which is thought to be incurable, changes from one of attempts to "cure" to one of attempting to "control" what is now considered a chronic disease. Sometimes, surgery and/or radiation is used for "debulking" the primary Tumor, in attempts to reduce the Cancer load, but I doubt this is the case here. So in answer to your question, I repeat, it depends on what the intent is, of such radiation treatment. You need to thoroughly discuss and understand its purpose, with a Medical Oncologist being the most likely leader of the team of professional advisors, who are most capable of providing recommendations and explanations, after reviewing your ENTIRE medical record. - Good luck! - [email protected] (aka) az4peaks

Startech said...
Also, it is my understanding the Rad Onc maps out what he wants radiated, but techs actually administer the radiation. So do you check on the techs also? Best wishes to the Op.

One nice thing about proton therapy at IU Health is that a radiation oncologist does the final check on alignment each day before the treatment is actually administered. No beam is ever shot without the Dr.'s approval. One more difference between typical IMRT and Proton Therapy.

Steve