What About Cryotherapy?

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He had a biopsy that showed cancer in 1 of the 12 cores.  Gleason score 3 + 3=6.  He also has a bone scan scheduled for Friday since he has had pain in his hip for the past month but the doctor strongly suspects arthritus.  My husband wants to do cryotherapy and the doctor said that was "a wonderful choice".  I just dont see much comment on any prostate cancer regarding this choice and just wondered what you thought of it.  Thank you.

Wife:

You have raised a good question. Another question I raise is about whether your husband needs treatment at this point by any means. If his one core was less than 50% and if his diagnosis is T1, that is, no palpable induration, and psa is low and stable, then lifestyle changes, and regular active surveillance may be sufficient.

A Denver television newsreader was diagnosed with PCa a year ago or so and made a two or three part series about his search for a treatment. He decided on cryo. He was somewhere on the internet and may still be there. He did have the convenient access to U of Colorado color doppler untrasound and other new staging aids. 

Your husband may also benefit from his local PCa support group. A valuable resource. 

Regarding testing, there are a lot of gray areas: biopsy readings are subjective and what looks like cancer to one person might look normal to another. Your slides should be sent to an expert pathologist for a 2nd reading if this hasn't already been done.

Bone scans will not usually show anything until PSA readings are above 20, and are not routinely done.

Most important thing is choice of a top doctor, regardless of what treatment you select.

To my mind cryo is a very specialized treatment: personally I'd only consider it if one of the few experts in that field is available.

Most men are now being diagnosed with early stage small cancers which raises the discussions on over diagnosis and over treatment. There's plenty of information on criteria for active surveillance mentioned previously, for example Johns Hopkins published information on "insignificant" cancer in their winter 2003 newsletter, www.urology.jhu.edu/newsletter

Active surveillance could well be worthy of consideration, at least in the short term while you consider your options.

The book on PC by Lee Nelson MD is very comprehensive, and has information on diagnosis, stages, selecting your doctor, lifestyle changes, and various treatment options including cryo and information on the master of cryotherapy Dr Fred Lee who is a prostate cancer survivor, as is Lee Nelson.

It would be worthwhile reading Lee Nelson's book and obtaining more information on cryosurgery work at Crittenton Hospital  by Dr Lee and Dr Bahn.

 

 

On 4/2/2008 Wifeofcancervictim wrote:

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He had a biopsy that showed cancer in 1 of the 12 cores.  Gleason score 3 + 3=6.  He also has a bone scan scheduled for Friday since he has had pain in his hip for the past month but the doctor strongly suspects arthritus.  My husband wants to do cryotherapy and the doctor said that was "a wonderful choice".  I just dont see much comment on any prostate cancer regarding this choice and just wondered what you thought of it.  Thank you.

I know that in the Netherlands they have very good results with this, especially in early stages.  One of my friends had this treatment 8 years ago and never had any problems since.  All the very best for both of you, I'll be thinking of you.

Mietie

 

On 4/2/2008 Wifeofcancervictim wrote:

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He had a biopsy that showed cancer in 1 of the 12 cores.  Gleason score 3 + 3=6.  He also has a bone scan scheduled for Friday since he has had pain in his hip for the past month but the doctor strongly suspects arthritus.  My husband wants to do cryotherapy and the doctor said that was "a wonderful choice".  I just dont see much comment on any prostate cancer regarding this choice and just wondered what you thought of it.  Thank you.

Before anyone, anywhere can recommend any treatment they need to know the age of the patient. For example if he is fifty one type of treatment might be the better than others, if he is eighty probably no treatment at all, just watchful waiting.

In any event, Cryotherapy if done in Rochester, MI  by the widely recognized expert in the field Dr Lee is a good choice.

Don 

Hi if you go to the link below  it will take you to the YANANOW.NET  (You Are Not Alone) website cryosurgery "mentor"section. The YANANOW contains information on prostate cancer and various therapies.  The mentor section is the personal experience of guys that have gone through this. - you can search the mentor section by therapy, age, psa level etc.

  I wish you all the best with this  - ronb

http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html#cryo

 

On 4/2/2008 Wifeofcancervictim wrote:

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He had a biopsy that showed cancer in 1 of the 12 cores.  Gleason score 3 + 3=6.  He also has a bone scan scheduled for Friday since he has had pain in his hip for the past month but the doctor strongly suspects arthritus.  My husband wants to do cryotherapy and the doctor said that was "a wonderful choice".  I just dont see much comment on any prostate cancer regarding this choice and just wondered what you thought of it.  Thank you.

 I learned , that with cryotherapy, there is a 95% chance, that the recipiant will be inpatent. Most doctors, have told me, that with a Gleason of 3+3, watchful waiting would be appropriate if your under 65 and in good health. The best treatment overall, I feel is HIFU, not available in the U.S., but in clinical trials.It has been shown to be very successful with little risk of impotency. Surgery has a good track record, but has a lot of side effects, including a greater possibility of  impotency, even with nurve saving techniques. I personally had HDR Bracotherapy, because I  was not a candidate for surgery, and my insurance wouldn't cover me for HIFU. This is the type of Brachotherapy, without seeds. I had a Gleason of 7 (3+4). I  have no side effects, other than a slight erection problem, which Viagra is helping. I had a psa of 4.9 and after three months of my treatment its down to 0.6.

 

Please get a second opinion on your biopsy slides.. I'd recommend Dr. Jonathan Epstein at John's Hopkins.It will cost you about $200 but he is recognized as the best prostate cancer pathologist in the country.. In January of 2007 I was diagnosed with a 3+3=6 cancer .I had a 12 core biopsy with one core having a less than 10% cancer infiltration. My local doctor wanted me in for surgery within 1 month.. I heard about Dr. Epstein and sent my slides to him.. He disputed the original pathologists findings,so I took them to the Cleveland Clinic who also disputed the original diagnosis... I had another biopsy at the Cleveland Clinic with 18 cores coming back negative.. My PSA is 0.60.. Had I not gotten this second opinion,I would have went through surgery and not even had cancer..Put Dr. Jonathan Epstein into your search engine and his name and contact info will come up.. It was the best $200 I ever spent!!!!!!!!

If it is found your husband does have cancer.. Consider Proton therapy. Go to www.protonbob.com  for more information on this.. Their success with early stage prostate cancer is very impressive..Good luck!!!

 

On 4/2/2008 Wifeofcancervictim wrote:

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He had a biopsy that showed cancer in 1 of the 12 cores.  Gleason score 3 + 3=6.  He also has a bone scan scheduled for Friday since he has had pain in his hip for the past month but the doctor strongly suspects arthritus.  My husband wants to do cryotherapy and the doctor said that was "a wonderful choice".  I just dont see much comment on any prostate cancer regarding this choice and just wondered what you thought of it.  Thank you.

please email me at chacofresh@aol.com