Viking

Sorry forgot to say that my surgery was in 2006

On Jan 01, 2013 3:42 PM phredsilas wrote:

At what stage of advanced prostate cancer does blood appear at the end of urination? This is a new development for us. Initial surgery was 26 December, 2005 and dr. said it  has now metastized since October 2012. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you kindly.

Did your husband ever have salvage or any other form of radiation treatment? I ask because radiation treatment can cause 'radiation cystitis'. This condition severly weakens the blood vessels in the bladder and causes bleeding. It usually manifests itself a number of years after radiation therapy. In my case it started back this October, quite severly and caused considerable worry. However a susequent visual inspection showed it to be 'radiation cystitis'. There are a number of treatments available but it can also eventually clear up itself. Hope this is of some help.

I cannot find reference on CC to this article in the 'New Scientist'. It looks quite promising but then again it is only on phase 1 trials. You will see from the article that the research has been on going for some 15 years so hopefully it may hold out some hope of a PC cure rather than a slowing down. Check out the article in 'New Scientist' and ask your Oncologist/Urologist about it. The more people who show interest the quicker things might move.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21983-death-carrot-cou

Viking

Thanks for your reply. I have read your message at least twenty times over the past number of months. You seem to answer everybody exactly the same.

Please don't bother me again.

The aggressiveness of my prostate cancer is hard to judge and I get little help in determining this from my oncologist. It does not help that I started treatment in Ontario with a RP and then had radiation treatment in the UK where I am living until next year before I return to Nova Scotia next summer. I was diagnosed gleason 3/4 PSA 16 in early 2006. I had ADT for six months then an RP in January 2007. I continued ADT for two more months. All margins clear, no sign of lymph node invasion. However PSA started to rise by the end of 2007 and at the end of 2009 PSA was 0.26 so had thee months ADT then radiation therapy in March/April 2010. Zero PSA at that point but after three months PSA back up to .09. In July 2011 my PSA was up to 0.6 which is twice what it was at the end of 2009.

So how aggressive is this cancer? I am expecting that by my next PSA in Octobe it could be up to 1.0. My British oncologist tells me that there is no point in doing a bone scan until PSA is at least 5.0 as nothing will show. I did have one back in 2006 when first diagnosed but nothing showed. My British oncologist said he would start ADT again until my PSA had reached 4.0 or even 5.0. Is that too late?

It has been five years since I was first diagnosed and I am 67. I am wondewring whether it would not be better to do nothing more and let the PC do its own thing from now on as I do not react very well to ADT. It is so hard to get oncologists to give a frank and honest prognosis.

I had RP in Jan 2007. At that time my PSA was 17. Prior to the RP I had treatment for 6 months which shrunk my prostate size from 72mg to 50mg and reduced my PSA to 0.04.

By September 2009 my PSA had climbed to 0.26. I was given a six month course of hormone deprivation therapy and in April 2010 underwent radiation salvage treatment. In May 2010 my PSA was 0.04 and in November 0.26 again. My current PSA (end of May 2011) has doubled to 0.60.

My question is that progression rate is determined to be agressive when there is a fast doubling time. In my case my PSA has doubled in 6 months. However is doubling when the PSA level is less than 1.0 really considered to be doubling. Or can I take comfort in the fact that it is still only 0.60 four and a half years after my RP.

I guess what I am asking is the fact that my PSA has doubled in the past six months an indicator that things are going downhill rapidly?

Please don't reply if you just want to peddle me some magic drug, I am tired of replies like this.

I was diagnosed with PC in May 2006. After six months of ADT 2, unsuccessfully trying to reduce my prostate to 40cc for HIFU, I had RP in March 2007. Post op biopsy Gleason 7 (3,4), all margins clear, all nodes clear. By Sept 2009 PSA up to 0.27. In January 2010 started RT with ADT (Casodex) at end of RT PSA 0.04 (probably as a result of the ADT). Now in August my PSA is up to 0.14, so clearly rising. I do not see my Oncologist until early October so I am concerned as to what happens next. It would appear that the cancer has moved on somewhere other than the pelvic bed and that the RT was inaffective. I am retired but have a 50 year old wife and 14 year old son who rely to a large extent on my pension income in order to live, so I need to maximise my life expectancy in order for my son to go through university.

I don't know what the next step might be. Can anybody share their experience? BTW I understzand that an MRI is not effective until PSA reaches 5.0 or so. Is this correct, or should I be pushing for one now?

I have posted once but I am still looking for advice. 24 sessions into a 33 session SRT I am experiencing considerable discomfort/pain in my urethra as well as hemarroids and associated pain. I am drinking as much cranberry/pomegranite juice as I can stomach. Any treatment suggestions from other people who have dealt with this would be greatly appreciated.

Also from experience how long after the treatment has ended might there be some relief?

I am five weeks into SRT with 11 more zaps to go. I have considerable rectal discomfort, slight loosening of stool but markedly painful urinary tract. In fact the burning and hurt in my urethra makes walking very painful. I am told to drink lots of fluid and this I am doing but of course my incontinence is very bad as a result of the fluid intake.

Does anybody have suggestions as to how to deal with the urethral problem? I am drinking lots of cranberry juice already.

Can I expect all of this just to get progressively worse or does it stop?

I am actually considering stopping the radiation sessions at the end of this week if things are worse at the end of the weekend. I will be eight sessions short of total.

What experiences can anybody share please?

I had a radical PC in Jan 2006 when I was 63. My PSA has now climbed from 0.04 to .27. I have total ED and 10 pad a day incontinence from the surgery. The post surgery biopsy showed everything clear apart from some perinural invasion. Unfortunayely my surgeon spared the nerves on left side and post op bio indicated cancer on that side also. I can only assume that the cancer has proceeded from that area.

I am due to undergo radiation therapy start of Jan. but have been told that given the post op bio, there is a minimal chance of success. Given the huge loss of life quality the PC has created, I am unsure whether to proceed with the RT and risk making the urinary incontinence worse and risking adding anal incontinence to the problem. I feel that quality of life is more important than length of life. Am I over worrying? How great a risk is permenant complications from RT?

Norman