HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

LDB/Visit/Dr.Moran

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/16/2016 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hello All,yesterday the Wife and I visited with Dr.Brian Moran,of the Chicago Prostate Center.He said I would be a good candidate for LDB being that Im favorable intermediate risk.He looked over my paperwork and asked if I had a prolaris test.I said yes its in the pile.He found it and said good we are starting to rely on this DNA testing.He was not pushy at all.He even asked me if I needed a referral for HDB as I brought it up.He is a straight shooter,nice guy whom I know I could trust and have confidence in .He said he has done close to 20,000 yes, 20,000 LDB procedures.

I mentioned Healingwell,and he knows about us and has had many,many men from HW have the procedure done by him.From what I understand he is one of the tops in the world if not the top in the world.Geez,thats the world in LDB.We both shared a copy of the LDB questions that Tall Allen has on his Sticky.He read 1 by one and answered everything.I asked if I needed additional therapy with the LDB and he said no.Im still in the SBRT camp but with his bedside manner and his expertise he is also in my final decision.What a visit.
Posted 1/16/2016 5:06 PM (GMT 0)
Relying on DNA testing. Interesting.
Posted 1/16/2016 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
0311, I have not met Dr. Moran but your visit mirrors everything I have heard about him. He is certainly one of the best and most experienced LDR Brachy guys in the world. One of our members who does not post here anymore, AYooper, used him and has nothing but great things to report (including his SE free results). You can contact Yoop via email that you can get from one of his old posts or email me and I will give it to you.

If I was selecting LDR Brachy today, Dr. Moran would be at the top of my list.

Jim
Posted 1/16/2016 6:23 PM (GMT 0)
0311-Oh I am so glad you had a good visit. Sounds promising. My husband has not had a Prolaris test. I will have to look that up. :-)
Posted 1/16/2016 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
sheepguy,the wording the Dr.used on the prolaris testing at the visit was like we are starting to look at these more closely.I might of used the wrong word of rely.The Dr was more than happy to give me phone numbers for patient referrel.As 3 of my other visits with other Drs that was not allowed.
Posted 1/16/2016 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
InquisitiveOne,Afer my 3tmpMRI /Fusion guided biopsy was done the slides were sent to Quest path,and then to John Hopkins for 2nd opinion.John Hopkins send the slides back to Quest and then the slides are sent to Prolaris for the DNA testing and the slides are again returned to Quest.I actually called Prolaris and asked how much it would cost me because it is supposed to be about either 2k$ or 4K $ I forget.But they told me if my insurance didnt cover anything over 375.00 or didnt cover it at all they would call me.So the most I would pay out of pocket was 375.00 They never called and the test was done,and I have not received a bill yet from prolaris or ins. company.Its possible my ins. paid for it.My Uro took care of everything,slides ins. etc.Thats probably where you have to start.
Posted 1/16/2016 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the info. Hubby's slides are now at Sloan so maybe from there,when we get our appt and go, they can be sent to a lab for that test. Funny, my hubby asked about molecular assay tests(?) when he was at his uro and the uro basically said':we don't do that' and brushed him off. This was many months ago long before I logged onto to this forum. Now my hubby sees the importance of that test from reading about it here and will now try to get that done. Hopefully we can get that passed on from Sloan instead of sending it back to Strong which would just prolong our decision making.
Posted 1/16/2016 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
Does the company that does the Prolaris test use the existing biopsy slides that you have or do they need a tiny chunk of the biopsy itself that is set in paraffin at Strong?
Posted 1/16/2016 9:32 PM (GMT 0)
0311-So I just looked up the Prolaris site and it says:""Cores with less than 10% involvement may not meet the 0.5mm in length requirement. This can be overcome by combining tumor from multiple cores (cores range in length from 5mm to 15mm).""
My hubby's involvement was 5%, 5%, and 10%. I don't think we would have good luck with this test. It just might be out but we will keep it on the back burner for something to discuss at Sloan.
Posted 1/17/2016 7:22 AM (GMT 0)
0311 - the only "problem" as I see it, is you will have several good choices at the end of this process.

IO- the reason genetic tests are often frowned upon is because they are frequently non-informative and cost a lot of money, and only serve to increase anxiety. Like all bell-shaped curves, most guys fall in the middle, thus providing no decision-making info. Its best use is probably for men on AS who are borderline due to GS 3+4 or high cancer volume. I can also see how it can be useful for deciding whether to add EBRT to LDR brachy when the patient is "unfavorable intermediate risk." Just because one can get more info (and, boy, there's always more useless info that can be collected), doesn't mean one should.

- Allen
Posted 1/17/2016 6:31 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the info Tall Allen. We always appreciate your reasoning.
Posted 1/18/2016 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
Like you I have a very high opinion of Dr. Brian Moran having consulted with him twice, once a joint consult with him and another world renowned guy UCSF's Mack Roach.

In the end the relatively short and equally or more effective SBRT in 5 fractions won out over 7 weeks of daily fatigue
Posted 1/18/2016 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
0311: I will echo what others have said about Dr. Moran. Please consider taking Tudpock's offer and email AYooper. Yoop has a ton of research available and is more than willing to share his experience with Dr. Moran.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply