Welcome New Member Javabean -

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Welcome to the forum. We're sorry you have to be here but glad you stopped by.

There is lots of discussion here about SRT timing but seldom much agreement. Different oncologists have different set-points and they are all somewhat arbitrary. At 0.3 I think most of them would have already pulled the trigger but your rise has been soooo sloooow. So I dunno.

What I do know is that you shouldn't worry too much about the radiation. I'm sure you remember that your RP was kinda like getting run over by a bus, recovery-wise. Well, with modern IMRT/IGRT/whateverRT methods SRT is more like riding the bus to work every day for two months -- unhandy and tedious but not, really, that bad in the great scheme of things. There are men who have problems -- we have some of them here, they'll be along to say howdy in a few minutes -- but statistically they are unusual.

Good luck. Welcome to the forum.");

You are well in range to have SRT, but whether you really need it with your very slow rise, or whether it would prove anything is another matter. That would be a hard one to call. Radiation is a lot to go through, and there are risks. I am one of the problem child's referred to above, my salvage radiation experience was a total disaster, and it left me disabled for life peeing out of a stoma in my side (but that is very unusual and not the norm).

I would want the opinion of a good oncologist, aside from a radiation oncologist, who could give you a good opinion without being biased to any particular treatment method.

If you need radiation, its best to hit it before the psa ever hits .50, based on what most professionals say. Earlier is better, if needed.

david in sc

Javabean,

Did you say how old you are? If you did I missed it. It factors into the calculations in various ways.

While there is no reason not to talk to your urologist about the Avodart that's really a question for a medical oncologist. Avodart for managing post-RP recurrence risk is a relatively new area and your urologist is probably more familiar with its use with BPH. You might ask your urologist for a referral so that that sort of approach can be evaluated properly.

So you're 60. You've still got quite a while to ride the escalator if you don't get off. I like the idea of doing something to salvage the "curative intent" of your surgery.

you said...
Med Oncologist in Boston ... said I should do SRT within a year or a few years from now I'd probably be put on hormones.

If I were you and I believed her that would be something of a clincher for me. I've had surgery, radiation and hormones and, of the three, it's the hormones I am the least fond of.

Actually, part of the reason I let my doctors talk me into doing HT now was to reduce the odds that I will have to do it later. My current Androgen Blockade is temporary -- 24 months to help the radiation kill the cancer cells. I know when my last shot will be... I count the days. If they put me on HT later because of a recurrence then there will be no last shot to look forward to. That would be hard to wrap my head around. Two years is hard enough.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary.