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Received Decipher results.....what does it all mean???

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Posted 6/20/2018 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
Decipher score 0.62
10% chance of Metastasis in 5 years.
8% chance of PCa death in 10 years.

And I thought I was doing well with a 8 week post PSA of <0.02.
Posted 6/20/2018 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
CD, you ARE doing well. Your undetectable, you can’t be doing better than that. So you are doing well, until you aren’t.

I had 2 genomic tests. One was Decipher, the other was PrecisionMD, which is proprietary to my Surgeons hospital, but less extensive than Decipher, it uses 5 datapoints vs Deciphers 22. They both show me at low risk. The Decipher score was .37. The PrecisionMD showed 4vir the 5 datapoints as low risk for recurrence.

But here I am, with BCR.
So don’t assume you are screwed based on a high Decipher score. It’s just statistics.
Posted 6/20/2018 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
You're doing very well! Enjoy the great 8 week report.
The decipher test is just an indication or confirmation that you're borderline avg to high risk for BCR. But your pathology with a G8 already indicated that. Just heal and continue to monitor your psa. Wish you the best.
Posted 6/20/2018 11:28 PM (GMT 0)
Like Pratoman wrote: It's just statistics
and statistics do lie from time to time.
My personal opinion is that these 'genetic' tests are a work in progress.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 6/20/2018 5:31:27 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/21/2018 12:31 AM (GMT 0)
Exactly what Prato said. In fact, I was going to lead my reply with, "You are doing well."

I'm G8, EPE+ but no SV or LNs. My Decipher was a rosy 39. I had SRT less than a year after surgery. Fat lot of good the Decipher score did me.

Rejoice that your PCa was contained in the prostate. Stay positive.
Posted 6/21/2018 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
Saipan Paradise,

How are you doing now after SRT?

CD
Posted 6/21/2018 5:10 AM (GMT 0)
Pratoman,

What are you going to do now? SRT? Hormones?

CD
Posted 6/21/2018 7:01 AM (GMT 0)

California Dreamer said...
Saipan Paradise,
How are you doing now after SRT?


So far, so good. First post-SRT PSA was <0.13 (the floor sensitivity at the lab I have to use). No side effects of the radiation. ADT is not as bad as I was expecting, but I'm pretty sick of the hot flashes. It's like I'm a reptile, without any temperature regulation mechanism of my own. Always too hot or too cold. Otherwise quite tolerable.
Posted 6/21/2018 7:18 AM (GMT 0)
Saipan Paradise,

You had the SRT in Saipan? How much do you pay for your hormone shots over there?

CD
Posted 6/21/2018 9:51 AM (GMT 0)
CD: here's the bottom line: you have a non-detectable PSA, which means that for today you are cancer free. All the rest is speculation and 'what might or could be' in the future. Which, truly, none of us knows.

IMO, it's cool to have all these tools--but much of the time they create more anxiety than they resolve. Right up there with ever decreasing detection limits on PSA--the day will come when they can measure a single molecule of PSA in whatever quantity of blood they test. So what?
Posted 6/21/2018 10:01 AM (GMT 0)
It's good news, not bad. You have a 92% chance of NOT dying of PCa in 10 years.
Posted 6/21/2018 10:24 AM (GMT 0)
I have to agree with fiddlecanoe. I don’t see your age but when I ran the online prediction model on Memorial Sloan Kettering website it showed with my diagnosis for a 52 yr old that in 10 yrs 7% ofpeople with my stats and lifestyle (and I’m a non overweight nonsmoker with normal blood pressure) would die of other causes. When put in perspective your numbers shouldn’t upset you. Basically,it seems to me, you have about the same chance of dying form prostate cancer in the next 10 yrs as you do of dying from something else. Those aren’t bad odds.
Posted 6/21/2018 10:53 AM (GMT 0)

California Dreamer said...
You had the SRT in Saipan? How much do you pay for your hormone shots over there?


I had SRT in Guam. Guam Regional Medical City has the Varían TrueBeam and I like the RO, Dr. Arthur Ko, and his team. I interviewed ROs in Florida (I have family there) and saw they didn’t have anything better to offer than Guam does—though I did get some imaging done there that isn’t available in Micronesia.

My Eligard is supplied by CVS/Caremark (BC/BS) for a $165 copay. They won’t ship to Saipan, though, because Eligard is somewhat temperature sensitive and they can’t guarantee delivery within 72 hours of shipment. Last month I was at a conference in San Antonio, had it shipped to my hotel and I carried it back in cold packs in my luggage. If I were to bypass Caremark and purchase it here through the hospital’s outpatient pharmacy, I would pay $1427 out of pocket for a 3-month dose and be reimbursed 70 percent of the cost.
Posted 6/21/2018 10:56 AM (GMT 0)

California Dreamer said...
Pratoman,

What are you going to do now? SRT? Hormones?

CD

CD, I’m going to do another test in August, then discuss with the RO, I probably won’t wait much past that test. Whether I do hormones is still up for grabs though, depends on a number of things.

Back to you, don’t relate it to my situation, I already have a steadily rising PSA. And I’ve seen many guys with worse pathology than me who go years with no treatment and no detectable PSA

Good luck, may your PSA never be detectable
Posted 6/21/2018 3:27 PM (GMT 0)

California Dreamer said...


And I thought I was doing well with a 8 week post PSA of <0.02.

You are doing well! I don't even bother with those tests. I already know my life expectancy is less than it was 13 months ago when I was blissfully ignorant. What is the % chance of any auto accident now with everyone texting & driving? I'm not going there. I'll just drive defensively like I was taught back in the last century. And regarding my condition? I'll enjoy life now a lot more than ever. I don't need no stinkin predictions.
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