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How'd my cancer come back?

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Posted 10/9/2011 1:13 PM (GMT -8)
"Since my lab report was very, very good after removal of prostate gland, How did cancer come back?" I asked a urologist friend (not my doc) that while having a personal visit with him.  He said through lymps. My question to you all... does that mean I have cancer in lymp nodes?  I guess the anwer is yes.  Right?   
Posted 10/9/2011 1:17 PM (GMT -8)
No. And "lymphs" was a guess at best.

Gene, post your original pathology numbers for all to see...

Tony
Posted 10/9/2011 4:32 PM (GMT -8)
Nobody knows how it comes back.  If they did they would try to prevent it if possible or explain it to you.  All I know is that everyone with G6 OC like you that I have seen have radiation went back to undetecable.  I also have read a study stating the same.  I would guess that your recurrence is local.   Who knows what spills out of you when they cut out your prostate. 

It is also possible that your post op. pathology was wrong.  I read a study that Johns Hopkins did which looked at 37 patients who were G6 organ confined that had recurrence.  26 of them where misclassified when they went back and re-examined their post-op pathologies.  In the end only 11 were actually G6 organ confined. Some even had positive margins that were missed originally.

 I believe you also mentioned that your original biosys was 3+4.   Even though your post op was G6 OC,  I believe that still puts you at somewhat of a higher risk.

 Ask to have your post op slides sent to Johns Hopkins and have them re-examined.

Post Edited (ChrisR) : 10/9/2011 6:41:39 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/9/2011 5:21 PM (GMT -8)
Removal of prostate may not remove all cancer cells.
Posted 10/10/2011 5:27 AM (GMT -8)
Gene,

My post RALP pathology also show 100% organ confinement, but I still will have PSA tests every 3 months for the next two years just in case and every6 months after that until I have at least 5 years of no recurrence. My URO told me that PC is so unpredictable and can come back if just a few cancer cells escape from the prostate or are missed during treatment. It is a real bummer having to sweat out every PSA test from now on.

 

Posted 10/10/2011 5:39 AM (GMT -8)
you can say that again. In some ways I feel like that cycle kind of defines me at this stage. Fine the month after the test, edgy and nervous for two months after that. It's tiring.
Posted 10/11/2011 1:40 PM (GMT -8)
Thanks all. I'm very nervous about the radiation after reading about the treatment & side-effectsw.
Posted 10/12/2011 12:50 AM (GMT -8)
Gene
sorry your PSA is rising, but it happens.
How are you side effects at present? As the main side effect of RT is that it is meant to freeze any existing side effects, ie if your are 80% okay after surfgery and then you have RT it will never get better than 80%.
I had assorted side effects from my SRT, but my SRT finished about 15 months ago and I would say that all my RT realted side effects have just about vanished:
I used to feel exhausted, now I am simply as worn out as I always was.
I was having up to 5 BMs a day, and lots of farts that I could not trust to be firing blanks, now I am back to one decent BM after breakfast and the occasional extra one after lunch.
I was getting up 3 or 4 times a night and that5's down to once or twice, which was how it was before surgery too.
I was peeing about once every 45 minutes during the day time on average (ie peeing about 18 times a day, but with differnet lengths of time between each pee) now I'm probably peeing hourly.
I had no real ED after surgery, and things are about the same at present (hard to tell as having just moved house it is the time for sex that is missing, not the inclination)

But crucially my PSA is down after the SRT.
I also feel better: for instance I no longer feel like a patient when I go to the hospital for them to draw blood. And when i see sick people ion the waiting room, it feels like I am wasting the doctor's time at my check-ups just telling him/her I feel okay.

So if you have SRT I hope it works and that afterwards you are back to "normal" quickly

Alf
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