Vanishing Cancer

Hello again Men:

I am sending this note to describe my situation and ask if anyone has had a similar experience. After my Robotic surgery in February, I was told by my surgeon that the post-surgery pathology report showed "no cancer anywhere". After I asked to have the gland redisected and analyzed, I was told that I may have what has been called "vanishing cancer". This means that since my pre-procedure cancer was so small (5% of one core), they cannot find the cancer afterwards although the doctors insist it was there. Anyone ever have this happened or even heard of this phenomena?? Thanks.

Jim in Florida

I am a surgeon and have seen it twice.  It is a well known entity, although I never saw it called vanishing.

 

John Hopkins did a study on this  looking at dna of prostate slides and final pathology specimen to make sure it wasnt a contaminant.

These were from the same person.

 

Dr S

There is no such thing as vanishing cancer. Usually a gleason 6 less than 5% is not a tumor but indolant cancer clusters that may or may not ever turn into a tumor. Most men walking around if biopsied enough will have these cancer clusters show up on a biopsy.

Many men are treated unnecessarily because urologists think it's a tumor. It is important to get your cancer properly staged before embarking on a treatment. A targeted color doppler biopsy could have confirmed this and saved you a lot of grief. Everyone diagnosed with PC should get a 2nd opinion from a prostate oncologist to avoid situations like this.

Sorry you had to go through this, no one should have unnecessary treatments. Watchful waiting would have been a much better option in your situation.

JohnT

I had not heard of the term "Vanishing Cancer" before, but have seen a lot of discussion about over diagnosis and over treatment, and also  the fact that biopsy readings are subjective and the need for 2nd readings of biopsy slides and 2nd opinions.

Have heard of the terms "watchful waiting" and "active surveillance" and the relevant criteria often published.

I don’t know a bout vanishing cancer but since I’ve been on 160mg of red clover a day 80mg in the morning and 80 mg at night and the Dr Bidwig diet I finely feel that I may be beating my prostrate cancer my last psa test found my psa come down all most three points from 13.8 to 11.2 and my free psa come up from 4 to 8 at the time of this test I had only been on it a few weeks my urine retention almost gone as well. I don’t know what to do I’m get an RP done on the 27 I don’t know if I need it now I don’t know if I should have a biopsy first to see or not   

Jim-

I had the exact same experience, robotic surgery and then no sign of cancer in the post-op biopsy. When my surgeon gave me this news, the day the catheter came out, to say I was shell-shocked would be putting it mildly. All I could think was, I never had to go through any of this. So in addition to living with the ramifications of surgery that could last the rest of my life, I am incensed that my doctor never informed me of the existence of "vanishing cancer," which I now have learned has been widely known in the field for more than a decade. I made a decision based on partial information, and I'm paying the price.

Bob

 

On 4/5/2009 jvcholiday wrote:

Hello again Men:

I am sending this note to describe my situation and ask if anyone has had a similar experience. After my Robotic surgery in February, I was told by my surgeon that the post-surgery pathology report showed "no cancer anywhere". After I asked to have the gland redisected and analyzed, I was told that I may have what has been called "vanishing cancer". This means that since my pre-procedure cancer was so small (5% of one core), they cannot find the cancer afterwards although the doctors insist it was there. Anyone ever have this happened or even heard of this phenomena?? Thanks.

Jim in Florida

 

Jim-

I had the exact same experience, robotic surgery and then no sign of cancer in the post-op biopsy. When my surgeon gave me this news, the day the catheter came out, to say I was shell-shocked would be putting it mildly. All I could think was, I never had to go through any of this. So in addition to living with the ramifications of surgery that could last the rest of my life, I am incensed that my doctor never informed me of the existence of "vanishing cancer," which I now have learned has been widely known in the field for more than a decade. I made a decision based on partial information, and I'm paying the price.

Bob

 

On 4/5/2009 jvcholiday wrote:

Hello again Men:

I am sending this note to describe my situation and ask if anyone has had a similar experience. After my Robotic surgery in February, I was told by my surgeon that the post-surgery pathology report showed "no cancer anywhere". After I asked to have the gland redisected and analyzed, I was told that I may have what has been called "vanishing cancer". This means that since my pre-procedure cancer was so small (5% of one core), they cannot find the cancer afterwards although the doctors insist it was there. Anyone ever have this happened or even heard of this phenomena?? Thanks.

Jim in Florida

 

I still cant under stand what they do the  Robotic surgery in February if you had no cancer did they make a mistake with the DX  and you went through all this for nothing

Ray

My prostate cancer diognosed on Feb 2, 2009. after my biopsy. It's in stage 2. My doctor told me that robotic surgery is the latest technology to get rid off your prostate. My gleason score is 6. Now I'm worried and confused. What should I do, or don't.I want to stay in 'watchful waiting'. Any good advice ?

Charles Rego

Md.

 

On 4/25/2009 chasmon wrote:

My prostate cancer diognosed on Feb 2, 2009. after my biopsy. It's in stage 2. My doctor told me that robotic surgery is the latest technology to get rid off your prostate. My gleason score is 6. Now I'm worried and confused. What should I do, or don't.I want to stay in 'watchful waiting'. Any good advice ?

Charles Rego

Md.

 

Hi Bob it a hard choice I think I made my mind up to do watch and waiting For me this works because with my treatment proicol my PSA coming down and my urine retention getting better if I wisent getting better and my psa was going up Id be getting the RP I have read reseaurch on the bugwig diet I beleave as lone as ones on the diet secandaary cance Mets  wont happen You See Back in 2007 my doctors told me there was nothing more they could do for me.  they also said I had may be five years. Since then I’ve been trying to find, some way, to fight this, On my own. Back in 2007 A naturopath told me about Zeolite and high dose vitamin C at the time I thought all it had done was  keep my psa from going up A year later I found it had done more then that it had also stoped my bone Mets  but a year later still on the high dose vitamin C I found it had  stop working in 2008 at the time I dident know un till now you see at the same I started to have  reflux and started taking anti-reflux tablets I dident know that this simple reflux treatment stoped the vitamin C from working.  Ive since  read that a short course of acid reflux medication can reduce the leval of vitamin C plasma in some people who are taking vitamin C  as a cancer treatment. Since then I have tried every sort of alternative treatment, I could get my hands on. I found no one alterative treatment works on it own, but they work as a  combination and the one Im on now works well for me. Every day it gets a little bit better at least I can go to the toilet and not have to wait a few minutes to go I can feel things healing the other day I had a very bad burn  burn on my hand it had held up in three days be for it would take weeks

If you want to know what I’m on its 160mg of red clover tablets a day two 40mg tablets in the morning and two 40mg tablets at night  these cost $1.00 a 40mg tablet. The budwig diet for prostrate cancer high dose of Selenium, Zinc, vitamin C vitamin D3 vitamin b17 (15 apricot pits) I have all this in the morning for brackfast

 

I mix the Dr budwig diet up  I mix three table spoons of flack seed oil  with six  table spoons of cottage cheese with a bar mixer.  I then grind up the 15 apricot pits in a coffee grinder then add and grind up three table spoons of raw flack seeds add it all to gather in a bowl you can add things like strawberries and blue berries on the net you will read that  they found the flack seed oil bad for prostrate cancer this because of the way they tested it I read it was exspose to light and air this causes dhl to form in the oil and dhl is what bad for prostrate cancer ther is stuff in the  the ground up flack seeds that are good to fight prostrate cancer. can you als contact Skidan he had had advance prostrate cancer after he has ha treatment his psa was 28 the treatment proicol is deferant then mine as in Austrailia I cant get pomiganit extrack it your chose what you do all I can say is what I was told in 2007 when we have cancer the whole body sick not just one ot two parts of it We have cancer cells from the day we are conceved to the day we die our boudy handales these few cancer cells quite well it only when our bodys produce to meny cancer cells and our bodies get over welmed with cancer cells  that we get  cancer tumors 

 

could you go to this site and have a read on a bit about what cancer is

http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/Budwig.html

 

if you want to try the diet here how to make it

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoddptWL0s  

 

I wish you well and may  God bless you and gide you in you fight with your cancer

Ray