HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

New Dx

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/26/2016 9:27 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Thanks for this forum.

I have been reading it for a few weeks since my PSA came back elevated. I've since had a biopsy and a diagnosis. I've now signed up to the Forum and thought I should introduce myself.

My stats are: Age 57; PSA 21.23 (Free 3.6%); Biopsy 11 of 12 Gleason 7 (3+4); T2c. Next steps: I'm being sent for a bone scan and a CT.

I am dual-national British and American, but live in France. The healthcare here is excellent, but the stress of new vocabulary (scintographie was not a word I knew in either French or English) coupled with the different system of state and private insurance is both humourous and a tad stressful.

Again, thanks for being here.

Joe
Posted 4/26/2016 12:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Joe, Welcome to the forum. You will find an excellent band of brothers here that can help you navigate this new chapter in your life. From what I understand, your particular stats place you in medium and maybe high risk range but there are many guys here who have been able to successfully manage their disease with more challenging disease than yours. Once you get the bone scan and CT your doctor will discuss the different options you will have in the management of your Pca. Each one of your options will present both risks and benefits and you will need to decide what treatment plan works best with your long term quality of life goals. Best wishes and please keep us informed.
Posted 4/26/2016 12:57 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HW, sorry you need to be here.

Keep working through the system. Do let us know what the scans show. Hopefully nothing and you can move on to the less than fun treatment phase.

Hang in there,
Andrew
Posted 4/26/2016 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Joe. Welcome and sorry in the same breath.

Was that your first ever PSA test that came back at 21.23?

On the good side, as you are probably aware, you have the "favorable" G7.

Wishing you the best!

Newt
Posted 4/26/2016 1:46 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome Joe, we will all be hanging with you through this. Yes, your Gleason is low intermediate risk. At the same time, with 11 out of 12 cores positive sounds like a fair amount of cancer in there. Take your time to educate yourself, explore all treatments, but don't take TOO much time. Hopefully you'll be one of the vast majority who looks back a year from now and calls this a bump in the road of life
Posted 4/26/2016 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
Let me add my welcome, although I'm sorry you have to be here. The G7 (3 + 4) cancer is a relatively good thing (as these things go), but that is a lot of positive cores and a high PSA. One of the main pieces of advice we give new guys here in the US is to get a second opinion on your biopsy slides since reading those slides is a subjective process. There are are a couple of "go to" labs for doing that here, but no idea about that in France. Still, it seems to be it would be worth your while to try and have that done--particularly given your PSA and # of positive cores. You certainly want to have the best possible idea of what you're fighting. (Which is why you're getting the bone scan...)

Overall, you should know that most of us do very well and you have every reason to expect that you will too. Good luck and please feel free to ask whatever questions you have and we'll try to help.
Posted 4/26/2016 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Joe,

Just as in the US, Europe seems to be a mixed bag with some very advanced therapies in some places and few choices in others. What is your ability to travel within the EU for treatment? Assuming your bone scan and CT are negative, there are still many good treatment choices.

Because of the high volume of cancer, I'm sure a surgeon will ask for a re-staging MRI to assure that there is no extracapsular extension.

Other good options are (1) a brachytherapy (either high dose rate or low dose rate) boost to the prostate combined with external beam radiation, (2) high dose rate brachy monotherapy, and (3) SBRT (monotherapy). I don't know which, if any of those, are accessible to you.

One option that is only available in Heidelberg, Germany is called carbon ion therapy. They were treating intermediate risk patients like yourself with a combination of a 6-treatment carbon ion boost coupled with IMRT over 6 weeks. However, they might agree to coordinate the IMRT part of the treatment with a local radiation oncologist in Nice. Here's more info about this treatment:

Carbon ion radiation therapy for prostate cancer

- Allen
Posted 4/27/2016 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

This was my first PSA test: I have been living in the UK for the last 12 years, where the normal protocol is (I now know) not to test PSA unless specifically requested by the patient. The stated reason for that is fear of false positives leading to invasive procedures. That said, my French doctors (my generalist and the urologist) are a bit shocked that I haven't had a previous PSA test.

I appreciate all the advice. I'll speak to the urologist about getting the biospy read a second time and about MRI. And all the advice on treatment options is really appreciated. I'd not heard of carbon ion - it seems they were doing some research in Lyon (which is closed than Heidelberg). When we get to treatment options, I'll raise the question.

Thanks again, Joe
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply