Prostate to large for treatment?

I was to go to Jacksonville for three days next week for Bone scan, body form made and marker implants. I was told last week my prostate was to  large and they might not treat me. I called today and talked with my nurse and my Dr. recomended that I not do anything. Have my psa tested every three months and if it rises more another biospy in one year. They say  my prostate is so large  treatment would do more harm than good no matter what treatment I do.. Anyone ever heard of a case like mine?

I do take HIV meds and was told today by another sorce that my meds are known to make the prostate much larger..

Thanks

Tom

I don't recall what yours was measured, but I do wonder about the statement that treatment would do more harm than good, especially with a high PSA result. My prostate was 110 gms. and I had open surgery after years of benign prostate enlargement and chronic prostatitis that couldn't be controlled with meds. I wasn't eligible for robotics or seeding/ external radiation. The 'average or normal' prostate is around 20gms. so you can get an idea of what mine was and it was successfully removed.

AS to whether to do anything now, or retest every 3 months, that's a decision you'll have to make, but I would strongly urge you get a second opinion from another uro and a radiation guy and see what they say about it..

so you are saying the nurse told you just switch to active surveilance? is or was the doctor going to consult with you to dicuss this change and other options? While this doctor might have good reasoning in stopping treatment, it does seem that you have pc and if it were me I think I would seek a second opion, preferably from a well known center with good resources for prostate cancer. I like the idea of teaching hopspitals associated with a university. If this haapened to me after I was comfortable with a treatment plan, I would be stunned and overwhelmed for a while. Take some deep breaths and then take some time to find out more about your condition, don't get in a big hurry.

Handyman,
If you are considering going the AS route you should pick up a copy of "Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers" by Dr Mark Scholz as it is the best reference for those considering AS.
JT

An advantage to using Avodart for six months or so is that it should reduce the prostste size and lower the PSA. From there any progression of PSA might be more clearly PCa and a offer a better opportunity for more precise measurement of the progression that should guve you a better idea of the risks of active survelance. It appears that due to the enlargement and PCa the PSA has been bouncing around making a doubling-time calculation difficult. If you can remove the enlargement PSA noise, you may have a better look at how quickly the PCa is progressing. A caveat is that you can't rely on the biopsy and G6 to be accurate as such a small sample was taken relative to the prostate size. Thus you have to be very dilligent with PSA tests and attempts to clarify therate of growth of the PCa.

How large is the prostate? I don't think I saw the size in your signature.

Sorry I haven't been on much but would love to meet you at Dixie Crossroads for lunch.. will sen you a e-mail...
thanks
tom

Tom,

I had a very large 69grms prostate and had no problems with robotic surgery last year.  I would meet with Sonny, he is not only agreat guy but has been fighting his beast for some time and he will be a great resource.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress, we really do care!

Terry The Water Guy