Just Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer

Just came back from Mass General and my biopsy showed cancer gleason scale of 6.

I am 74 very good health 6 year survivor of lung cancer and a ranked senior tennis player who loves to be very active.I have no physical problems except aching knees.

My doctor a surgeon recommends radiation over surgery and watchful waiting but  no seeds.

Any thoughts or experience to share.TIA

Peter Reiss

Hi Peter,

Just a few comments re. your message.

How many needle biopsy's did you have and how many were positive?

A Gleason of 6 is good. It shows the cancer is not aggressive............at this point.

When I was diagnosed, my Gleason was 6........however after a month when I had the surgery, they upgraded it to 7.

Do as much research as you can including talking to as many friends who have or have had prostate cancer; in order to make an informed decision.

If you elect surgery; my advice would be to find a top prostate cancer Doctor. That was my mistake.....I went to a clinic, and had a very young Doctor. Post surgery when my PSA started to rise; the first thing my Oncologist said to me was "your Urologist underestimated the extent of your cancer".

Best of luck to you.

 Stan.

On 3/17/2008 shep42 wrote:

Hi Peter,

Just a few comments re. your message.

How many needle biopsy's did you have and how many were positive?

A Gleason of 6 is good. It shows the cancer is not aggressive............at this point.

When I was diagnosed, my Gleason was 6........however after a month when I had the surgery, they upgraded it to 7.

Do as much research as you can including talking to as many friends who have or have had prostate cancer; in order to make an informed decision.

If you elect surgery; my advice would be to find a top prostate cancer Doctor. That was my mistake.....I went to a clinic, and had a very young Doctor. Post surgery when my PSA started to rise; the first thing my Oncologist said to me was "your Urologist underestimated the extent of your cancer".

Best of luck to you.

 Stan.

Biopsy readings are subjective, so it's worth obtaining a 2nd reading of the slides if you havn't already done so.

The previous advice to have a top doctor is most important, regardless of the treatment method you choose.

It's difficult to compare the various treatments as there are so many variables, and most treatments have improved greatly.

Several options can probably provide very similar results, so it comes down to consideration of the potential side effects and personal preference.

Have you considered Proton treatment or Loma Linda? the protonbob website has information and stories.

For whats it's worth; I play golf 3-4 times a week. The surgery left me incontinent.......and it's no big deal.

I guess it depends (no pun intended) how incontinent someone is.

Stan.

Thanks,Oceanman,I will have a meeting on Ap.2 with my urologist,a radiologist and a oncologist to go over my options.My urologist/surgeon recomends the Proton treatment at this point,if I was younger he would recomend surgury.

Do you have any question for me to ask?

TIA,

Peter

Hi, I am currently recovering from surgery after a radical prostatectomy three weeks ago.Like you, I had absolutely no symptoms and was stunned when informed that I had cancer..

I'm a little younger than you (62) so it was fairly obvious to me, that it was critical that I get rid of the offending organ. My gleeson score was 7, but the interesting point to me was that the post Op pathology showed a lot more cancer in the prostate than showed up in the pre-op biopsy, so that had I opted for radiotherapy or brachytherapy, it would have been the wrong decision. The good news is that there was no sign of spread to the surrounding tissue, so we are waiting until the follow-up tests to confirm that I am now clear.

Like you, I am very active, still working and with a lovely wife, who for some reason loves me dearly, still very sexually active, so you can understand my reluctance to make the decision for a "radical". I very nearly took no action at all and was prepared to just let the cards fall where they may.

Obviously, we will have some adjustments to make as we go forward, but the view ahead is looking better all the time. I wish you well in whichever decision you make.

Cheers,

Ron (NSW Australia)