Had surgery 5 years ago and SRT three years ago. PSA is undetectable but now have blockage in the urinary track. Doc was unable to get the scope far enough in to determine exact cause, so it's off to...
Hello everyone, Been awhile and I see some old faces and sadly new ones as well. Wanted to give an update on the 1st year SRT Trial Background: Robotic surgery Sept 2008 with positive margins PSA...
JNF I am part of a clinical trial that is verifing the various protocols to use when there is a BCR. Doctors haven't agreed which method of therapy is best. SRT alone to the prostate bed, SRT to the...
David, It's been several months since I have visited this site and I wish you well. When I read this part"..For these guidelines, cancer pain is defined as pain that is attributable to cancer or its...
Just make sure you are treating a disease and not a number. Too many folks chase the PSA and not looking at the disease progression. Make sure of the trend before pulling the trigger on SRT. SRT is...
Skeeter...no offense here....BUT....DFW has some of the top ranked cancer centers in the world. UT Southwestern, Baylor, USMC just to name a few. Houston is good...not knocking them...but there are...
Visit with Dr. Pistenmaa there at UT. He was my radiation oncologist and I was happy with him....
Ted, There is a bit of misnomer about SRT. The role of SRT is not to kill the cancer cells directly, but to alter the cell structure so they can't multiple or to enable cell apoptosis (death -...
Jacob...no one mentioned this, but make sure the blood is drawn before the DRE because that will elevate the test results. Personally, I don't think I would wait the six months. I would retest at 3...
Dropped in to report some good news. My PSA came in at a whopping 0.16 which is way down from the initial .44 back in January. Looks like a success story so far. Figure the next test will let me back...
Sparky, I just finished SRT and won't get my first test until July. I asked my oncologist his take on this same subject. He said that low to intermediate grade cancers tend to still have a small rise...
Hang in there Mel. This is the week that you might start noticing the SE's. I am down to my last 4 days and so far every side effect that was going to happen, has happened. But nothing that I can't...
Good Question Reachout, There are two factors involved. The planning by the Radiation Oncologist and the experience level of the technicians at the machine. If the technicians get behind and don't...
What is your preference confused1? While biopsy is the only way to be certain if there is cancer or not...it can also miss finding cancer. This has happened more than what you might think. Several...
Tony....all the best to you and your efforts to raise awareness of this disease. My only thoughts are this. There is a local radio station here in Dallas, that daily promotes Prostate cancer testing...
Hi Confused1, With your history of prostitis and two negative biopsy, I suspect that this is what is going on. Of course another biopsy is the only way to know for sure. You said that your prostate...
K2....It will be the skill of the surgeon, not the procedure that you will need to investigate the best you can. Either method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Both are trumped by surgeon...
K2 PSA is always elevated after biopsy for several weeks (6 - 8) DaSlink said the psa was after biopsy. Thus it would spike dramatically upward....
Agreed to what Zufus said. Mel if by chance that the SRT fails, then you will normally be treated with the standard treatments recommended by the AMA. Most doctors will follow those guidelines for...
Chris...you have to be a member to preview the article. Can you give us a summary of the article for those that don't want to subscribe. Thanks,...
David here is hoping for a good psa test for you. The T levels I would expect to be normal for your age and health. The colonoscopy while maybe recommended by your GP, keep in mind he doesn't have...
Way to go there James Gotta ask you. Did you do anything different these last couple of months...for example....change in diet that might have had an effect on your psa levels remaining steady? Or...
proscapt.... Just got back from the oncologist who is doing the clinical trial I am in. He said that the psa leak was 3.32 per cc for G6. I have no idea where he got his figures from, but thought I...
If memory serves me, I thought that the threshold was 0.75 rise in 12 months was the trigger point for further investigation. But that may have been an old figure....so much has changed just in the...
K2....PSA is NOT cancer specific. An elevated PSA doesn't always mean cancer. Thus using just a PSA number alone, there is absolutely no way to determine risk stratifaction. The use of PSA is just...
Don't believe "Gold Standards" that are hawked by those individuals or companies that are in it for the money. What works for some won't work for others. Radiation has improved tremedously and maybe...
There are many factors that are reviewed by the urologist before mapping out a treatment plan and ruling out protatitis is just one of them. Not uncommon at all to make sure that no infection is...
K2, There is a tremendous amount of information here and other sites. The biggest problem is getting wrapped up in various treatment plans before the actual diagnosis from the biopsy is made. A firm...
Mel...hang in there buddy....I truly believe once you get that point where you can relax some...like after the SRT and the PSA remains low, that you will relax and go back to eating those foods you...
Goodlife, I agree with David, You are a gleason 9 and that is a very aggressive disease and needs to be treated aggressively. The clinical trial I am in right now is attempting to solve the age old...
Okay...from your other post now I understand what you are getting at. I don't know the answer to your question exactly. In my own case the 1st years numbers gave me a whopping 18 month doubling time....
Goodlife, Little confused by the question. Systemic vs local are not apples to apples. If the cancer is local, then radiation or a combination of radiation and HT will normally do the trick. Systemic...
Guys, Jamarlyn posted this in another post and might have been over looked. See if someone can help answer her questions Welcome here Jamarlyn, I am sure someone can here will be able to help you....
Hi norron, Welcome to HealingWell. Yes there are treatments available for your dad that can be quite successful. The next stage of treatment will most likely will be decided on what the pathology...
Mel, The oncologist that I spoke with said what you are thinking. Anything above the detection limits is detectable, regardless of what test you are using. But he said it is only really useful after...
Thanks waterloo and bsjoplin...will let you know which leg I am assigned. Zufus....thanks for the correction on spelling. I believe the DNA is for research only and not for treatment plans or further...
Hi Casey, The positive margin I had was located next to the rectal wall. Feeling something could mean a lot of things, but if it was the tumor, then finding it ahead of radiation means they can...
Okay, finally back from the oncologist...geez what a long day this has been. Starters...this isn't the trial that uses the Avodart from a discussion about a week ago. Sorry about that. I thought it...
James, I will let you know more end of next week....
RCS, It's a Phase III trial with/without Avodart. The old protocol number is 042010 -062. The new number is 072010-085 if anyone is interested. I am scheduled to begin consultation and prep for the...
Good news Jerry, Sometimes no progress is progress or is that an oxymoron.......
My thoughts and prayers will be with you....
Steve...is that before or after or both...lol...
Mel...no problem buddy. I know you are in a similar situation. Kinda like watching that radar blip move closer and closer to the center of the screen. It just doesn't help with the anxiety. The only...
Thanks Bob, That is exactly what I thought as well. Recurrence after surgery is SRT. Even my own surgeon two years ago when we talked about surgery and the "what ifs" back then stated that SRT would...
Zufus....thanks for the clarification. I had already decided before I even posted this thread, that if I go the HT route, it will be done by someone other than my uro. (From JT's advice that he has...
Zufus....thanks, but am I suppose to read between the lines. Are you saying I should fire my uro? He said that HT is an option, however he said in the same converstation that he was leaning towards...
JNF, Thank you for posting. I am greatly interested in your opinions regarding the Quality of Life while on the Eligard. It sounds like you are on the 6 month program and my uro is suggesting only a...
David, Thanks for the reply. I had hoped with alot of optimism that I would be able to postpone the mopping up treatments until further down the road. But that ole velocity issue trump card was...
Thanks Sonny, I agree it seemed a little odd as the company stated it was for advanced cases. If it wasn't for the clout that my uro has in the medical field, I would have taken a different approach....