HI, I was diagnosed this week with a Gleasons of 4+3 stage 2.
I'm looking at Brachytherapy and radiation at this time.
I 'm probably a soon to be Kidney transplant patient, so my options are not as good as some with this diagnosis.
If you are on the list for a transplant you have to be cancer free.
My cancer is in only one of 16 samples from my bx.4+3=7 stage2 involving less than 5%of the bx It was in the right apex.
Looking for any suggestions, and side effects that were experienced by anyone. Dr. advised imrt with Brachytherapy.
Last edited by chief1947; 01-10-2011 at 06:25 PM.
Reason: to add PSA 4.29 63 years old
Hello there, Chief. I'm sorry to hear about your condition. I hope you have the luck to be cured, which is quite plausible given the early stage of your cancer.
I only wanted to mention that with the cancer being in the right apex of the prostate, surgery would likely result in positive margins (cancer cells at the perimeter of the removed prostate), meaning a 50% chance that some was left behind. This is perhaps another good reason to go for Brachytherapy and radiation.
Hello there, Chief. I'm sorry to hear about your condition. I hope you have the luck to be cured, which is quite plausible given the early stage of your cancer.
I only wanted to mention that with the cancer being in the right apex of the prostate, surgery would likely result in positive margins (cancer cells at the perimeter of the removed prostate), meaning a 50% chance that some was left behind. This is perhaps another good reason to go for Brachytherapy and radiation.
hello tom, thank you for your reply. your information sounds professional with food for thought. with all the information that we ( my wife & i ) gathered, i am leaning towards brachytherapy.
Last edited by chief1947; 01-11-2011 at 08:10 AM.
Reason: to add thank you
Hi Chief,
Tom was correct in pointing out that Apex tumors have a very high rate of positive margins. I had a large G4+3 also in the Apex; surgeon said no problem, but three other prostate specialists after looking at the color doppler scans said the probability of positive margins was very high.
I had Brachy and IMRT 20 months ago. The procedures were painless, less painful than a biopsy and I was fully functional the next day for anything I wanted to do, which included playing a round of golf. The 1st 4 weeks I had the normal urinary frequency and urgency, but nothing really bothersome. I have had no ED and no other issues and my last 2 psa readings were 0.1, down from 40. Compared to two friends of mine that had surgery at about the same time I feel very lucky to have made the choice I did.
JohnT
Thanks John, I like the sounds of your report.
I go back to let my Doc. no my choice of treatments the 2nd of Feb. He also suggested the imrt with the brachytherapy.
Thanks again Chief.
I'm getting in on your thread late and you have already had some good responses.
I too think IMRT and brachy is a good program.
There's an excellent book by one of the experts who use that combination. You might want to get a copy. It's called "Surviving Prostate Cancer -- The New Gold Standard Treatment that Can Save Your Life and Lifestyle," by Dattoli, Cash and Kaltenbach.
