Meet Dr. Scholz, Dr. Moyad, the PCRI Team, and world renowned prostate cancer experts at our 2024 Prostate Cancer Patients & Caregivers Conference: pcri.org/2024-conference
Alex, not only are your questions concise and intelligent, but you make this 74-year-old man feel like he is being advised by someone who's sincerely cares for him and his quality of life. I've heard it said that no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. You clearly care. Thank you.
Good information again. Passed blood three days in a row so so the doc. did blood test, psa is up in 4 months 0.59 to 0.74. Cat scan is next and likely a cystoscopy - I’m a tad worried of urethra damage now. It will be a topic before the procedure. Thank you for the reminders.
I found a study showing that doing yoga attenuates side effects of radiation. Have been doing yoga for a couple years and have continued it during my radiation. I think it is helping. I consider yoga as part of my treatment.
Thank you! both of you provide outstanding information! its very calming to have straight forward informative information 😊🙏 Just wish the VA had the funds to treat me. I have been waiting for a year to see a Urologist because of funding! It always comes down to Money!
I don't know where you live but in Minnesota, I have had no issues with the VA. Just out of curiosity, did you serve any time in Viet Nam? Finally, depending on your age, if you are under Medicare and you have wrap around insurance. Treatments should cost you $20 per visit.
Many thanks for the insights I have had SBRT w/o ADT two months ago. How often should I get my PSA done I understand it takes a long time for PSA to come down w/o ADT but how else can I have some sense of confidence if I have been treated
Thanks for this. I just went through surgery typical open surgery by a very good surgeon who has very good outcomes over Robotic. The issue was I had a previous Hernia surgery with Mesh and the surgeon could not get through the Mesh or around it. It was attached to my Bladder and other structures. He did unattached it from my bladder but the surgery was going to be to dangerous to continue therefore he aborted my surgery. He stated that Robotic Surgery is out of the question and didn’t feel like they could safely accomplish the procedure. Now I’m on my way down the Radiation route with slow radiation therapy and have an appointment for SpaceOR jell and Hormone treatment for 6 months over the next two weeks. I am a 55 yo, I did get Testosterone replacement therapy which most likely hasten the process. I’m a Gleason 3+4 with 11.6 PSA which rose over one year from a 4.8 and was closely watched by my Dr. We could not find it through the typical test in the Rectum and found it with an MRI way out of reach from previous test and used a more Targeted test which could be tested. One positive out five core samples. Been watching your videos and thank you.
You should have a good outcome with your dx. I finished 28 IMRT treatments in May. I have one 3+4=7 and also 55 yr old. I didn’t want t go surgery route because outcomes are nearly identical
I can understand your situation. I also underwent an open retropubic prostatectomy with an experienced high volume surgeon that was aborted as my blood vessels above the prostate made it too dangerous to operate due to increased risk of death or need to amputate the right leg if things went wrong. It was a shock once I awoke from anesthesia thinking well the prostate is out then told it's still in. But I felt very fortunate that I had an experienced surgeon wise enough to make the call. Like you, I am going down the radiation therapy route now. My radiation oncologists have recommended SBRT for me and would come with fiducial placement and SpaceOar in preparation. My provider also ordered an ArteraAI test for me which returned negative and supports what I wanted anyway in terms of not taking ADT. I paid for PROSTOX out of pocket, which returned low risk which is reassuring for the SBRT route. The final piece for me now is checking into MRI Lineac as my treatment vs SBRT. The tighter targeting / higher precision of targeting the prostate with smaller margins makes sense to me and it would still likely be just 5 treatments. Best of luck to you and all of us on our prostate cancer treatment journey.
@@scottdavis5749 ONE 3 + 4 = 7 and you're having treatment? What was the volume of that? That is very important if it was low volume I wouldn't do anything!
Over the last 5 years I started out with 44 radiation treatments since then I have had 2 targeted treatments and chemo and Pluvicto now I am going to have 4 more targeted radiation treatments. I would much rather have the 4 targeted than more chemo. I admit I am tired of treatments but life goes on. Good luck to all going through this journey.
Best wishes, Tom. Sounds like your attitude is serving you well. I hope that PSMA scans are being used to guiding target your radiation, as it seems like these are the most accurate technology available!
What excellent timing. I just received a message from my Urologist Oncologist. I am 72 and have 3 plus 4 one lesion but close to Urethra. I will be having a Psma PET MRI. PSA has been 5.6 +/- .2 for past two years or so. Things seem to be stable according to my urologist but will go ahead with the imaging mentioned as I will also be in a study and well watched but want to be ready just in case so this and all your videos are extremely helpful. I am somewhat interested in IRE but seems to be short term effective. If you are able to suggest where IRE is used more so I may look there as another hospital offers it within an hour of home. mine doesn’t, but doctor at the other hospital doesn’t have much experience doing it but says he does many other focal so this one is just another focal and all are similar…I am also on TRT and last test this week is at 250 because I’m doing low dose or .4 cc cypionate per week. I also have BPH and take cíalis and Flo Max for that. Thanks for another the great video!
One core at 3 + 4 = 7? Only one! And your PSA isn't really crazy number. Don't you think active surveillance is the way to go? I know I would. Thoughts. Just don't panic you don't need to.
Hah my one core became more after multi parametric fusion mri. Viewray Mridian sbrt 5 treatments 35 gray total all good so far psa dropping steadily from 7.6 to .6 over 18 months. My psa was also fairly steady going from 3.6 to 6.2 over 3 years before diagnosis. No ed and still no dry orgasms and bph is same as gentleman above. Prostate is shrinking so hopefully this resolves on its own though flo max works fine except for nasal congestion which l have a problem with already. No hormone therapy.
@@antoniodelrey164 Thank you and good luck to you as well!! you seem to have all the bases covered at the moment. The only regret I have as mentioned in this video is not taking care of the BPH before radiation. It is a long story that I'll forgo but options are very limited afterward. My urologist said Urolift is one, although my enlargement is also in the transitional area near the urethra and it is a more challenging procedure. New treatments that definitely are available before radiation are iTind and Optilume and may be available after as well but I have not met with my urologist to discuss. These procedures cause no bleeding in the prostate tissue itself although they do use the urethra which is weakened after radiation, so best to take care of the BPH beforehand if it is a big issue. Mine became a big issue as I got very close to the RT so it was too late to do anything about it. I turned down a TURP much earlier, when the BPH was discovered, but it wasn't bothering much and I was focused on finding the right cancer treatment for me.
Hi Alex, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year. My PSA is around 33. I have had a pet, MRI twice, prostate biopsy. I do have a small cancerous tumor. The specialist team wants to do hormone therapy followed with radiation therapy. I am seeking another opinion. Would Brachytherapy or proton be a better choice than hormone therapy?
Diagnosed with Gleason 6 in May. My urologist sent the biopsy slides out for a Genomic Decipher evaluation. Came back with a .59 score. Upper end of Intermediate Risk. My radiologist believes that takes me out of Active Surveillance and into the Brachytherapy arena?????
I have Gleason score of 7 ( 3 + 4) and my Decipher test came back with .79. I know that they say that any score in the Decipher test over .5 means that it is aggressive. But it appears to me that you are on the low end of the aggressive chart.
I am 54 years old & live in the U.K. Had no symptoms, but had a rising PSA to last reading of 4.4. Recently diagnosed through MRI. 1x 13mm lesion left lower near to the wall of the prostate. 17 core targeted Biopsy 6 out of 6 cores of lesion were 50% & Gleason 7 (3/4). 1 random core on the right showed 3/3 (5%). Seen 2 Urologists, both recommend surgery as I am so young. I had a left inguinal hernia laparoscopy 6 months ago, with mesh repair. Will this affect robotic surgery? Does the lesion near the wall of prostate make surgery a better choice or is a form of radio better?
Dr, I am 61 years old, PSA : 10, PSA ratio 13% and in a biopsy I got sample points 8, 9 and 10 with a Gleison 3+4 = 7, with 20%, 50% and 20% incidence... ... What do you recommend as a treatment Surgery or Radiotherapy (in its different forms)? Are there other alternatives? Thank you
Does ADT kill cancer cells in the same or similar way that radiation does? It would seem that taking ADT would just deprive the cancer of fuel and that as soon as ADT is discontinued the cancer would start growing again. Am I misinterpreting this?
ADT deprives the cancer of testosterone, which is required for the cancer to grow. In essence, it puts the cancer to sleep. Sometimes, the cancer can become hormone-resistant and it will start growing again on its own. My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago with stage 4, gleason 9, with mets to the abdominal lymph nodes. He inititally received 26 rounds of radiation and has been on ADT since then. His latest PSMA pet scan shows no sign of cancer and his PSA has remained
@@ga6589 I wish you and your husband the most favorable outcome. This confirms my thought that ADT could temporarily suppress the symptoms of prostate cancer and make it more difficult to tell if the radiation or surgery treatment actually worked. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@@gary4451 From my understanding, the ADT suppresses the cancer and allows for the other treatments to be more effective in killing it off. Also, PSMA pet scans are the standard now for determining whether or not the cancer is in remission. It is more sensitive than traditional scans.
Thanks for the info. Can you do a video for those that got a side effect of low platelets under 50,000 or lower, due to pluvicto. What can these patients do if their platelets go back up after platelet transfusion, but by the next day it continues to drop? Is this the end for these patients, or is there hope? Can you go in depth of why this happens, does platelets ever stabilize with transfusions, what are the best treatments for this, etc?
Thank you for these videos, I've learned so much! I'd be curious to hear Dr. Scholz 's thoughts on the UK study of 1600 men that didn't seem to show much survival benefit to any PC treatment....what does he feel should be the takeaways from a patient perspective?
I am going through prostate radiation. I used to get up at night to urinate about once a night. Now it's about 5 times a night. Flowmax has not helped. Is this a permanent condition, or will it get better with time?
I had reoccurring prostate cancer I went to 33 radiation treatments I did have that problem at night time it's been over 4 months seems like it's getting better hang in there I might just take a little more time
I had 20 session (40 doses) of proton beam therapy. Had an increase in how often (and how urgent) I had to urinate (day and night) as well as what was a “constricted” flow or stream for several weeks after radiation TX. Took flow max for just over a month until things returned to normal. I am pretty much back to pre cancer and pre radiation tx. Still get up once a night (sometimes twice) to pee. I would hope/expect it to get better for you over time, but maybe not to 100%(?) of what it was for you before radiation. Good luck
What are your thoughts on treatment for recurrence after surgery? Was undetectable for 3 yrs then showed .03 PSA. Went back to every 3 months testing. Next showed .06.
Regarding Prostox testing. Please explain why this test might indicate that SBRT which is higher doses over a shorter period would be less toxic that IGRT/VMAT, which is inherently safer because it is lower doses over a longer period. Biologically speaking what makes non prostate tissue more susceptible to one delivery dosing schedule over another? I could see if a patient elected SBRT and Prostox indicated that to be a bad choice that it might sway treatment to IMRT/VMAT.
I think you are asking something that PROSTOX is not able to answer. I recently ordered and have received my result from the test. There are now two PROSTOX tests available. PROSTOX ultra for SBRT and PROSTOX CFRT for conventionally fractionated radiation therapy. The tests seek to answer the question are you low or are you high risk for developing Late grade, greater than or equal to 2, genitourinary toxicity after radiation treatment by SBRT or CFRT depending on which test / tests you choose to have done. You do a swab that is analyzed to see if you have DNA signatures that place you at genetically higher risk of developing late grade genitourinary toxicity. SBRT/IGRT/VMAT and Gy delivery dosing schedules are a separate question set. What I have learned from listening to Dr Scholz here and my own team of Urology - Med Onc and Rad Onc providers is the need for each of us a patients regardless of External Beam radiation therapy treatment chosen is to ensure that we have the best, high volume comprehensive cancer center and most experienced team availalbe to us providing the treatment. The Rad Onc team providing your treatments determine relative safety and toxicity. IGRT/VMAT is not inhernetly safer because it is lower doses over a longer period of time as you posit above. If the center you go to for treatment isn't on it, you may have worse long term outcomes in terms of treatment side effects. The PROSTOX tests are not designed to make a statement regarding SBRT which as you have it is higher doses over a shorter period would be less toxic than IGRT/VMAT.
My question was confusing because it attempted to posit a theory and weave it into the test theory. My reading of the test and their web site whuch might also be confusing is this: order each test and the results will tell you which dosing method you're tissues are most sensitive to the toxic side effects of radiation. By dosing method I meant fast high doses over a short period of time, or slow low doses over a longer period.
@@aknittel1 From your reply, I can better see what you are asking. It's a good question but PROSTEX is not designed / validated to give you an answer. Before ordering the test, I had a question for them and they replied promply. I recommend just going to the website to get their email and asking the PROSTEX folks your question. For me, I want to minimize toxic genitourinary, rectal and sexual side effects. So as Dr. Scholtz speaks about, I'm travelling a few hundred miles from home to get to a comprehensive cancer center with excellent outcomes and my radiation oncologist is first rate. CT guided SBRT is the treatment modality recommended by them for me. They use fiducials and SpaceOAR and use a 5mm margin around the prostate except for the rectal side where they go down to 3mm. Fortunately my PROSTEX SBRT test came back low risk. Had it come back high risk then that would have changed the type of treatment I would have pursued. I would want to have MRI guided SBRT but would have to travel much farther to one of the two top of the line facilities that I identified. MRI guided SBRT uses near real time monitoring of the prostate. It has greater accuracy and they shoot 2mm margins and if the prostate moves outside of set tolerances, the beam stops until the prostate is back in tolerance. Thus it is expected to decrease adverse effects like genitourinay, rectal and sexual. I say all the above, to say I think I feel where you are going with your question and in a way, my ordering PROSTOX was done to give me some insight into if my genes placed me at higher risk for toxic side effects from radiation therapy. And if that answer was yes, then I needed to get someplace that provided the smallest treatment margins around the prostate to minimize toxic urinary and rectal effects. Then even if I ended up having an issue down the road, at least I knew that I had done my best, based on the technology/therapy available at the time to minimize my risk and would have no regrets rather than thinking wouda, coulda, shoulda. Hope that helps. All the best to you and all of us.
@@aknittel1 I see where you are trying to go with this, it's just that PROSTEX is not designed / validated to answer that question as far as I can tell. I recommend that you contact MiraDX through the email that they post on their website and ask them the question. I asked them a question prior to purchasing the test and they responded promply to me.
For the past five years my psa has read 0.018 and imches up a little.now it is reading 0.057.last three m0nths it had read 0.042.i had done a psma two years ago with good results.what is causing pda to inch up little by little
i had my prostrate removed and after removal my psa rose to a 1 so i had radiation and hormone therapy now its been 2 years and my psa is 1.5 had a scan at .o8 no cancer was found now 1.5 going to have another nuclear scan if they find cancer can i have radiation a second time
Most men over 50 have BPH and their prostate is enlarged affecting their flow. I'm no different. Deciding on whether to take surgery or radiation a few months ago I told the doctors that I saw about my reduced flow of urine and was offered flomax or tamsulosin but never even heard of the term turp, nor was it ever discussed. Now halfway through my radiation treatments the flow of my urine is reduced even further. My radiation oncologist tells me to just continue the tamsulosin. Am I looking at a turp operation after my radiation?. There has got to be others in my nightmare situation.
This is exactly me as well. I've just finished my treatment and it went extremely well. Only thing is, my already reduced flow is even worse. My oncologist said this is normal and that my flow should improve over time. He's put me on Duodart ( tamsulosin). There was never any mention about HOLEP or TURP beforehand. I probably should have asked more about it. Now I'm a bit worried what will happen if my flow blocks up completely. Not a permanent catherter I hope. 😢
@@vandenroI am the same way! I am 70 years old and really always have trouble peeing at night. I usually pee at least five times but lately have been peeing seven and even eight! Which worries me because when I do take proton radiation therapy I am terrified of having urine retention!
I’m a bit over a month past my radiation treatments, and at about the 2nd week, my blockage increased severely to the point of completely stopping the flow. Plus it hurt so bad to urinate. Really bad, glass shards in my urethra wouldn’t have hurt much worse. Also, diarrhea really blew up at that time. What a nightmare! Doc put me on 2x Tamsulosin. But those side effects started to very slowly subside. I can pee again! (Since 2 or 3 days ago). Well, not as good as a healthy male, but pretty close to what I had before being treated. I’ve had BPH for 20 years. I’ll have a visit to oncology next week to find out how things are going. But I about quit the radiation, I was in so much pain and misery. Glad I didn’t. I’m about 6 months out on Lupron and probably will get another injection. 4+5; Gleason 9, stage 3C.
What went wrong?.... It was 7 sessions of R/T over two + weeks… However after the second day of treatment, I experienced pain whilst urinating and the flow was extremely small. This continued for months after R/T ....but in addition soon after my "poo" had been almost non existent with mucus mostly and very occassionally a smallish lump of poo. I had been taking water and with very little pee, but with determination and concentrating beyond the pain, I had managed to urinate very small amounts. In effect I could not poo or pee effectively. I had been eating well and drinking well as advised. I was afraid of going to bed at night because of the fear of pain and not being able to empty my bowels nor pee enough....I set my alarm every 30 minutes so that I could get up and at least get some pee (very little) and occasional poo (only mucus and wind and very little poo). It appeared that if I could get a decent poo, I could urinate much better. On the 6th R/T session, I had a panic attack due to pain and called it to stop at the very end of the session and then rushed to the toilet to ease the pain a bit. I asked one of the nurses if it was possible for me to get a catheter in case of emergency because of my extreme fear of not being able to pee. The radiographer decided to do my review that day which was the final review and she told me that this was to be expected and she gave me one large pad and three urine bottles for use if necessary in a plastic bag to take away. It was also mentioned that the effects of R/T are likely to get worse over the next few weeks due to "flare ups". A week after my R/T I had to call out the doctor because of excruciating pain and unable to pee and then emergency nurses appeared and fitted a catheter and a very large of urine removed. Later I had to have a permament catheter fitted for a month because I could not pee. Later still I was prescribed Tamsolusin and eventualy talked to a surgeon who informed me that he could not operate to clear the blockage because I had had R/T to the prostate and I would be either on a permament catheter of self catheterisation....Very depressed. Not long after having been instructed on the use of self catheterisation and supplied with lots of catheters by the NHS, I somehow managed to force myself into peeing with great pain and from then on it improved gradually, (suggested it was Proctotitis), until at least a year later I am still managing to pee with effort and frequency and with the pills (Tamsolusin one per day). My poo cleared up about a month after the R/T and is now normal. 18 months after the R/T my only problem other than tiredness is weak flow and frequency of peeing...But at least it works in a fashion without the use of catheters. Relief! But the question still on my mind is, what went wrong if anything?
Meet Dr. Scholz, Dr. Moyad, the PCRI Team, and world renowned prostate cancer experts at our 2024 Prostate Cancer Patients & Caregivers Conference: pcri.org/2024-conference
Alex, not only are your questions concise and intelligent, but you make this 74-year-old man feel like he is being advised by someone who's sincerely cares for him and his quality of life. I've heard it said that no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. You clearly care. Thank you.
My cancer is no more after three years now, but I still appreciate and enjoy watching your videos. Thank you so much.
Both of you helped me a lot im 64 just completed 28 ex beam radiation.
Thank you
Good information again. Passed blood three days in a row so so the doc. did blood test, psa is up in 4 months 0.59 to 0.74. Cat scan is next and likely a cystoscopy - I’m a tad worried of urethra damage now. It will be a topic before the procedure. Thank you for the reminders.
I’m having petscan in four hours but enjoying your video
Thank you both for answering questions that I needed answers for. Best wishes from Australia.
I found a study showing that doing yoga attenuates side effects of radiation. Have been doing yoga for a couple years and have continued it during my radiation. I think it is helping. I consider yoga as part of my treatment.
Excellent discussion and detailed answers!
Another timely session thanks a million
Thank you! both of you provide outstanding information! its very calming to have straight forward informative information 😊🙏 Just wish the VA had the funds to treat me. I have been waiting for a year to see a Urologist because of funding! It always comes down to Money!
I don't know where you live but in Minnesota, I have had no issues with the VA. Just out of curiosity, did you serve any time in Viet Nam? Finally, depending on your age, if you are under Medicare and you have wrap around insurance. Treatments should cost you $20 per visit.
Many thanks for the insights
I have had SBRT w/o ADT two months ago. How often should I get my PSA done
I understand it takes a long time for PSA to come down w/o ADT but how else can I have some sense of confidence if I have been treated
Thank you both. Your talks are so informative and helpful
This was a great recap. Thanks for all you do.
Where are the Centers of Excellence in Colorado?
Want to find BrackyTherapyfor my husband that has 3+4 with a total of 3 lesions…
Thanks for this. I just went through surgery typical open surgery by a very good surgeon who has very good outcomes over Robotic. The issue was I had a previous Hernia surgery with Mesh and the surgeon could not get through the Mesh or around it. It was attached to my Bladder and other structures. He did unattached it from my bladder but the surgery was going to be to dangerous to continue therefore he aborted my surgery. He stated that Robotic Surgery is out of the question and didn’t feel like they could safely accomplish the procedure. Now I’m on my way down the Radiation route with slow radiation therapy and have an appointment for SpaceOR jell and Hormone treatment for 6 months over the next two weeks. I am a 55 yo, I did get Testosterone replacement therapy which most likely hasten the process. I’m a Gleason 3+4 with 11.6 PSA which rose over one year from a 4.8 and was closely watched by my Dr. We could not find it through the typical test in the Rectum and found it with an MRI way out of reach from previous test and used a more Targeted test which could be tested. One positive out five core samples. Been watching your videos and thank you.
You should have a good outcome with your dx. I finished 28 IMRT treatments in May. I have one 3+4=7 and also 55 yr old. I didn’t want t go surgery route because outcomes are nearly identical
Thanks for your positive response. As you can imagine it’s been a little much with the ups and downs
I can understand your situation. I also underwent an open retropubic prostatectomy with an experienced high volume surgeon that was aborted as my blood vessels above the prostate made it too dangerous to operate due to increased risk of death or need to amputate the right leg if things went wrong. It was a shock once I awoke from anesthesia thinking well the prostate is out then told it's still in. But I felt very fortunate that I had an experienced surgeon wise enough to make the call. Like you, I am going down the radiation therapy route now. My radiation oncologists have recommended SBRT for me and would come with fiducial placement and SpaceOar in preparation. My provider also ordered an ArteraAI test for me which returned negative and supports what I wanted anyway in terms of not taking ADT. I paid for PROSTOX out of pocket, which returned low risk which is reassuring for the SBRT route. The final piece for me now is checking into MRI Lineac as my treatment vs SBRT. The tighter targeting / higher precision of targeting the prostate with smaller margins makes sense to me and it would still likely be just 5 treatments. Best of luck to you and all of us on our prostate cancer treatment journey.
@@scottdavis5749 ONE 3 + 4 = 7 and you're having treatment? What was the volume of that? That is very important if it was low volume I wouldn't do anything!
Over the last 5 years I started out with 44 radiation treatments since then I have had 2 targeted treatments and chemo and Pluvicto now I am going to have 4 more targeted radiation treatments. I would much rather have the 4 targeted than more chemo. I admit I am tired of treatments but life goes on. Good luck to all going through this journey.
Best wishes, Tom. Sounds like your attitude is serving you well. I hope that PSMA scans are being used to guiding target your radiation, as it seems like these are the most accurate technology available!
What excellent timing. I just received a message from my Urologist Oncologist. I am 72 and have 3 plus 4 one lesion but close to Urethra. I will be having a Psma PET MRI. PSA has been 5.6 +/- .2 for past two years or so. Things seem to be stable according to my urologist but will go ahead with the imaging mentioned as I will also be in a study and well watched but want to be ready just in case so this and all your videos are extremely helpful. I am somewhat interested in IRE but seems to be short term effective. If you are able to suggest where IRE is used more so I may look there as another hospital offers it within an hour of home. mine doesn’t, but doctor at the other hospital doesn’t have much experience doing it but says he does many other focal so this one is just another focal and all are similar…I am also on TRT and last test this week is at 250 because I’m doing low dose or .4 cc cypionate per week. I also have BPH and take cíalis and Flo Max for that. Thanks for another the great video!
One core at 3 + 4 = 7? Only one! And your PSA isn't really crazy number. Don't you think active surveillance is the way to go? I know I would. Thoughts. Just don't panic you don't need to.
Hah my one core became more after multi parametric fusion mri. Viewray Mridian sbrt 5 treatments 35 gray total all good so far psa dropping steadily from 7.6 to .6 over 18 months. My psa was also fairly steady going from 3.6 to 6.2 over 3 years before diagnosis. No ed and still no dry orgasms and bph is same as gentleman above. Prostate is shrinking so hopefully this resolves on its own though flo max works fine except for nasal congestion which l have a problem with already. No hormone therapy.
@@stillaliveandwell5291 great! Hope it keeps going your way.
@@antoniodelrey164 Thank you and good luck to you as well!! you seem to have all the bases covered at the moment. The only regret I have as mentioned in this video is not taking care of the BPH before radiation. It is a long story that I'll forgo but options are very limited afterward. My urologist said Urolift is one, although my enlargement is also in the transitional area near the urethra and it is a more challenging procedure. New treatments that definitely are available before radiation are iTind and Optilume and may be available after as well but I have not met with my urologist to discuss. These procedures cause no bleeding in the prostate tissue itself although they do use the urethra which is weakened after radiation, so best to take care of the BPH beforehand if it is a big issue. Mine became a big issue as I got very close to the RT so it was too late to do anything about it. I turned down a TURP much earlier, when the BPH was discovered, but it wasn't bothering much and I was focused on finding the right cancer treatment for me.
@@stillaliveandwell5291 no hormone treatment?! Wow! Was that your decision or theirs? Thank you.
Hi Alex, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year. My PSA is around 33. I have had a pet, MRI twice, prostate biopsy. I do have a small cancerous tumor. The specialist team wants to do hormone therapy followed with radiation therapy. I am seeking another opinion. Would Brachytherapy or proton be a better choice than hormone therapy?
Gleason 8, went thru 28 rounds of beam radiation that went well. Psa is
I’m doing 26 myself exact same thing you are I got one week left. I’m hoping I can get off my pills as well.
Diagnosed with Gleason 6 in May. My urologist sent the biopsy slides out for a Genomic Decipher evaluation. Came back with a .59 score. Upper end of Intermediate Risk. My radiologist believes that takes me out of Active Surveillance and into the Brachytherapy arena?????
I have Gleason score of 7 ( 3 + 4) and my Decipher test came back with .79. I know that they say that any score in the Decipher test over .5 means that it is aggressive. But it appears to me that you are on the low end of the aggressive chart.
Will you be seeking treatment based on your decipher score
I chose the seeds. I'm 60 days post procedure, but I still have urinary / bladder control issues.
I am 54 years old & live in the U.K. Had no symptoms, but had a rising PSA to last reading of 4.4. Recently diagnosed through MRI. 1x 13mm lesion left lower near to the wall of the prostate. 17 core targeted Biopsy 6 out of 6 cores of lesion were 50% & Gleason 7 (3/4). 1 random core on the right showed 3/3 (5%). Seen 2 Urologists, both recommend surgery as I am so young. I had a left inguinal hernia laparoscopy 6 months ago, with mesh repair. Will this affect robotic surgery? Does the lesion near the wall of prostate make surgery a better choice or is a form of radio better?
54, wow! Do you have any other issues like diabetes or overweight?
I’m overweight with a BMI of around 28. But I go to the gym 3 times a week 20% cardio/80% weights. Work shifts, so diet not the best!
What is your prostate volume
What is your prostate volume
37cc, density 0.12
What is left after the radiation therapy? There can't be a void so what replaces the cancer tissue that is destroyed?
Dr, I am 61 years old, PSA : 10, PSA ratio 13% and in a biopsy I got sample points 8, 9 and 10 with a Gleison 3+4 = 7, with 20%, 50% and 20% incidence... ... What do you recommend as a treatment Surgery or Radiotherapy (in its different forms)? Are there other alternatives? Thank you
Does ADT kill cancer cells in the same or similar way that radiation does? It would seem that taking ADT would just deprive the cancer of fuel and that as soon as ADT is discontinued the cancer would start growing again. Am I misinterpreting this?
ADT deprives the cancer of testosterone, which is required for the cancer to grow. In essence, it puts the cancer to sleep. Sometimes, the cancer can become hormone-resistant and it will start growing again on its own.
My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago with stage 4, gleason 9, with mets to the abdominal lymph nodes. He inititally received 26 rounds of radiation and has been on ADT since then. His latest PSMA pet scan shows no sign of cancer and his PSA has remained
@@ga6589 I wish you and your husband the most favorable outcome. This confirms my thought that ADT could temporarily suppress the symptoms of prostate cancer and make it more difficult to tell if the radiation or surgery treatment actually worked. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@@gary4451 From my understanding, the ADT suppresses the cancer and allows for the other treatments to be more effective in killing it off. Also, PSMA pet scans are the standard now for determining whether or not the cancer is in remission. It is more sensitive than traditional scans.
Thanks for the info. Can you do a video for those that got a side effect of low platelets under 50,000 or lower, due to pluvicto. What can these patients do if their platelets go back up after platelet transfusion, but by the next day it continues to drop? Is this the end for these patients, or is there hope? Can you go in depth of why this happens, does platelets ever stabilize with transfusions, what are the best treatments for this, etc?
Thank you for these videos, I've learned so much! I'd be curious to hear Dr. Scholz 's thoughts on the UK study of 1600 men that didn't seem to show much survival benefit to any PC treatment....what does he feel should be the takeaways from a patient perspective?
Which accelerator is best to ise? Is there a better machinefor imrt?
I am going through prostate radiation. I used to get up at night to urinate about once a night. Now it's about 5 times a night. Flowmax has not helped. Is this a permanent condition, or will it get better with time?
I had reoccurring prostate cancer I went to 33 radiation treatments I did have that problem at night time it's been over 4 months seems like it's getting better hang in there I might just take a little more time
I had 20 session (40 doses) of proton beam therapy. Had an increase in how often (and how urgent) I had to urinate (day and night) as well as what was a “constricted” flow or stream for several weeks after radiation TX. Took flow max for just over a month until things returned to normal. I am pretty much back to pre cancer and pre radiation tx. Still get up once a night (sometimes twice) to pee. I would hope/expect it to get better for you over time, but maybe not to 100%(?) of what it was for you before radiation. Good luck
Did ur side effect get better aftet 4 weeks ?
I have the same side effect aftet radiation 2 weeks from last radiation?
@@leonardola9161 yes, for me the side effects pretty much cleared up within 4 to 6 weeks, after the proton beam Tx.
@@leonardola9161 no. I get up about every 2 1/2 hrs all night long,.
What are your thoughts on treatment for recurrence after surgery? Was undetectable for 3 yrs then showed .03 PSA. Went back to every 3 months testing. Next showed .06.
Gleason from biopsy was 3+4=7. Pathology after surgery was 4+4=8
@stevehotchkiss3403 I was .04 for 8 years. Now .08 did a psma but it did nor detect anything...now what...I hear you.
Regarding Prostox testing. Please explain why this test might indicate that SBRT which is higher doses over a shorter period would be less toxic that IGRT/VMAT, which is inherently safer because it is lower doses over a longer period. Biologically speaking what makes non prostate tissue more susceptible to one delivery dosing schedule over another? I could see if a patient elected SBRT and Prostox indicated that to be a bad choice that it might sway treatment to IMRT/VMAT.
I think you are asking something that PROSTOX is not able to answer.
I recently ordered and have received my result from the test. There are now two PROSTOX tests available. PROSTOX ultra for SBRT and PROSTOX CFRT for conventionally fractionated radiation therapy. The tests seek to answer the question are you low or are you high risk for developing Late grade, greater than or equal to 2, genitourinary toxicity after radiation treatment by SBRT or CFRT depending on which test / tests you choose to have done. You do a swab that is analyzed to see if you have DNA signatures that place you at genetically higher risk of developing late grade genitourinary toxicity.
SBRT/IGRT/VMAT and Gy delivery dosing schedules are a separate question set. What I have learned from listening to Dr Scholz here and my own team of Urology - Med Onc and Rad Onc providers is the need for each of us a patients regardless of External Beam radiation therapy treatment chosen is to ensure that we have the best, high volume comprehensive cancer center and most experienced team availalbe to us providing the treatment. The Rad Onc team providing your treatments determine relative safety and toxicity. IGRT/VMAT is not inhernetly safer because it is lower doses over a longer period of time as you posit above. If the center you go to for treatment isn't on it, you may have worse long term outcomes in terms of treatment side effects. The PROSTOX tests are not designed to make a statement regarding SBRT which as you have it is higher doses over a shorter period would be less toxic than IGRT/VMAT.
My question was confusing because it attempted to posit a theory and weave it into the test theory.
My reading of the test and their web site whuch might also be confusing is this: order each test and the results will tell you which dosing method you're tissues are most sensitive to the toxic side effects of radiation. By dosing method I meant fast high doses over a short period of time, or slow low doses over a longer period.
@@aknittel1 From your reply, I can better see what you are asking. It's a good question but PROSTEX is not designed / validated to give you an answer. Before ordering the test, I had a question for them and they replied promply. I recommend just going to the website to get their email and asking the PROSTEX folks your question.
For me, I want to minimize toxic genitourinary, rectal and sexual side effects. So as Dr. Scholtz speaks about, I'm travelling a few hundred miles from home to get to a comprehensive cancer center with excellent outcomes and my radiation oncologist is first rate. CT guided SBRT is the treatment modality recommended by them for me. They use fiducials and SpaceOAR and use a 5mm margin around the prostate except for the rectal side where they go down to 3mm.
Fortunately my PROSTEX SBRT test came back low risk. Had it come back high risk then that would have changed the type of treatment I would have pursued.
I would want to have MRI guided SBRT but would have to travel much farther to one of the two top of the line facilities that I identified. MRI guided SBRT uses near real time monitoring of the prostate. It has greater accuracy and they shoot 2mm margins and if the prostate moves outside of set tolerances, the beam stops until the prostate is back in tolerance. Thus it is expected to decrease adverse effects like genitourinay, rectal and sexual.
I say all the above, to say I think I feel where you are going with your question and in a way, my ordering PROSTOX was done to give me some insight into if my genes placed me at higher risk for toxic side effects from radiation therapy. And if that answer was yes, then I needed to get someplace that provided the smallest treatment margins around the prostate to minimize toxic urinary and rectal effects. Then even if I ended up having an issue down the road, at least I knew that I had done my best, based on the technology/therapy available at the time to minimize my risk and would have no regrets rather than thinking wouda, coulda, shoulda.
Hope that helps. All the best to you and all of us.
@@aknittel1 I see where you are trying to go with this, it's just that PROSTEX is not designed / validated to answer that question as far as I can tell. I recommend that you contact MiraDX through the email that they post on their website and ask them the question. I asked them a question prior to purchasing the test and they responded promply to me.
Is proton therapy better?
I had both ADT and raditst
For the past five years my psa has read 0.018 and imches up a little.now it is reading 0.057.last three m0nths it had read 0.042.i had done a psma two years ago with good results.what is causing pda to inch up little by little
Why even worry? I don't get it.
Life, nobody lives forever~
i had my prostrate removed and after removal my psa rose to a 1 so i had radiation and hormone therapy now its been 2 years and my psa is 1.5 had a scan at .o8 no cancer was found now 1.5 going to have another nuclear scan if they find cancer can i have radiation a second time
How should the risk of developing a second tumor be assessed
How do you find a competent doctor and verify their skill level? I am not sure how much you can trust google reviews.
Most men over 50 have BPH and their prostate is enlarged affecting their flow. I'm no different. Deciding on whether to take surgery or radiation a few months ago I told the doctors that I saw about my reduced flow of urine and was offered flomax or tamsulosin but never even heard of the term turp, nor was it ever discussed. Now halfway through my radiation treatments the flow of my urine is reduced even further. My radiation oncologist tells me to just continue the tamsulosin. Am I looking at a turp operation after my radiation?. There has got to be others in my nightmare situation.
This is exactly me as well. I've just finished my treatment and it went extremely well. Only thing is, my already reduced flow is even worse. My oncologist said this is normal and that my flow should improve over time. He's put me on Duodart ( tamsulosin). There was never any mention about HOLEP or TURP beforehand. I probably should have asked more about it. Now I'm a bit worried what will happen if my flow blocks up completely. Not a permanent catherter I hope. 😢
@@vandenroI am the same way! I am 70 years old and really always have trouble peeing at night. I usually pee at least five times but lately have been peeing seven and even eight! Which worries me because when I do take proton radiation therapy I am terrified of having urine retention!
I’m a bit over a month past my radiation treatments, and at about the 2nd week, my blockage increased severely to the point of completely stopping the flow. Plus it hurt so bad to urinate. Really bad, glass shards in my urethra wouldn’t have hurt much worse.
Also, diarrhea really blew up at that time. What a nightmare! Doc put me on 2x Tamsulosin.
But those side effects started to very slowly subside. I can pee again! (Since 2 or 3 days ago). Well, not as good as a healthy male, but pretty close to what I had before being treated. I’ve had BPH for 20 years. I’ll have a visit to oncology next week to find out how things are going. But I about quit the radiation, I was in so much pain and misery. Glad I didn’t.
I’m about 6 months out on Lupron and probably will get another injection.
4+5; Gleason 9, stage 3C.
@ricknowak4582 Yes, before my radiation I would peeing 3 to 4 times a night. Just post my SBRT I'm now up 8 or more times. Not much comes out.
@@beegood what was your psa levels and prostate volume 😮
What went wrong?....
It was 7 sessions of R/T over two + weeks…
However after the second day of treatment, I experienced pain whilst urinating and the flow was extremely small.
This continued for months after R/T ....but in addition soon after my "poo" had been almost non existent with mucus mostly and very occassionally a smallish lump of poo.
I had been taking water and with very little pee, but with determination and concentrating beyond the pain, I had managed to urinate very small amounts.
In effect I could not poo or pee effectively.
I had been eating well and drinking well as advised.
I was afraid of going to bed at night because of the fear of pain and not being able to empty my bowels nor pee enough....I set my alarm every 30 minutes so that I could get up and at least get some pee (very little) and occasional poo (only mucus and wind and very little poo).
It appeared that if I could get a decent poo, I could urinate much better.
On the 6th R/T session, I had a panic attack due to pain and called it to stop at the very end of the session and then rushed to the toilet to ease the pain a bit. I asked one of the nurses if it was possible for me to get a catheter in case of emergency because of my extreme fear of not being able to pee.
The radiographer decided to do my review that day which was the final review and she told me that this was to be expected and she gave me one large pad and three urine bottles for use if necessary in a plastic bag to take away.
It was also mentioned that the effects of R/T are likely to get worse over the next few weeks due to "flare ups".
A week after my R/T I had to call out the doctor because of excruciating pain and unable to pee and then emergency nurses appeared and fitted a catheter and a very large of urine removed.
Later I had to have a permament catheter fitted for a month because I could not pee.
Later still I was prescribed Tamsolusin and eventualy talked to a surgeon who informed me that he could not operate to clear the blockage because I had had R/T to the prostate and I would be either on a permament catheter of self catheterisation....Very depressed.
Not long after having been instructed on the use of self catheterisation and supplied with lots of catheters by the NHS, I somehow managed to force myself into peeing with great pain and from then on it improved gradually, (suggested it was Proctotitis), until at least a year later I am still managing to pee with effort and frequency and with the pills (Tamsolusin one per day).
My poo cleared up about a month after the R/T and is now normal.
18 months after the R/T my only problem other than tiredness is weak flow and frequency of peeing...But at least it works in a fashion without the use of catheters.
Relief!
But the question still on my mind is, what went wrong if anything?