IMRT Radiation and ADT

Posted by bear14 @bear14, 3 days ago

My husband Jeff was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is 62 yo and mostly in good health- walks, runs, bikes, pickleball, lifts weights. He is still in the research stage of trying to learn as much as he can about PCa and treatment options. He is leaning towards radiation. We've watched many Scholz videos thanks to recommendations from this site and are reading Dr. Walsh's most current book. His Gleason score is 3+4 unfavorable (3 cores of 14 positive: one 3+3 and two 3+4's). PSA is 18.9. Genomic decipher is 0.38 low risk. His RO is recommending 20 treatments of IMRT at 60 Gy and 6 months of Firmagon (as he had 2 stents put in 6 years ago). PSMA pet scan shows the PCa is localized to the prostate. We are wondering if any of you have had the IMRT and/or ADT and what your experience with them has been? We are so grateful for this website and the people willing to share their info and experiences- much appreciated!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

There are other radiation options besides IMRT, including SBRT and Proton Beam.

I'm not qualified (obviously) to say which would be better for your husband, but I do recommend having a serious conversation with his radiation oncology team to make sure they're suggesting IMRT because they believe it's the best treatment option for him, and not just because it's more readily available at their facility than SBRT or Proton Beam.

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As for ADT, it's a bit of a challenge. Some common side effects include hot flushes, loss of body hair (I have smooth legs for the first time since I was 10), mood swings (keep the kleenex handy), sexual dysfunction, and loss of muscle mass and bone density — it essentially pushes a man into the equivalent of menopause (all reversible a few months after he stops).

From a patient's point of view, I do strongly recommend Orgovyx (pills) over Firmagon (injections). I've had both. They work the same way and have the same chronic side effects, but Firmagon also has some acute side effects after each monthly injection: for me, they included a large swelling around the injection site, rashes, and about three days of flu-like symptoms (including muscle pain) every month.

Switching from that to a daily pill has been a game-changer for me.

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I'd suggest consulting a facility that has a Mridian Viewray. His situation looks as though the 5 radiation treatments might be an advantage. The total Gy is 40 instead of 60 which preserve more function. The method of using MRI during radiation treatment would give him a smaller margin, as they always treat a margin beyond the tumor.
There are several of these machines scattered around the country. One at Hoag Memorial and another at City of Hope in California. There are two in New York. Google Mridian Viewray video.

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@bear14: I agree with @gently. I had the MRIdian as well, with 5 treatments. It has real time MRI so what they can see in real time, gets treated. Elekta is another machine with similar capabilities. Generally, the whole prostate gets treated plus a “margin” that can expose your healthy tissue. You want Jeff to protect his healthy tissue and use a machine that has smaller margins, 2 mm for the MRIdian vs 3-5 mm with other machines. Healthy tissue exposure affects side effects.

Multiple opinions outside your current institution at a center of excellence is also important and spaceoar, if he gets radiation.

Everybody is different in their reactions to ADT as you can read on this site. My brother had nasty side effects but was not someone who exercised, as you said Jeff does and anecdotally, that seems to help.

It is great that he has your active support. Keep coming back.

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@bens1

@bear14: I agree with @gently. I had the MRIdian as well, with 5 treatments. It has real time MRI so what they can see in real time, gets treated. Elekta is another machine with similar capabilities. Generally, the whole prostate gets treated plus a “margin” that can expose your healthy tissue. You want Jeff to protect his healthy tissue and use a machine that has smaller margins, 2 mm for the MRIdian vs 3-5 mm with other machines. Healthy tissue exposure affects side effects.

Multiple opinions outside your current institution at a center of excellence is also important and spaceoar, if he gets radiation.

Everybody is different in their reactions to ADT as you can read on this site. My brother had nasty side effects but was not someone who exercised, as you said Jeff does and anecdotally, that seems to help.

It is great that he has your active support. Keep coming back.

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Yes, exercise makes a huge difference. I wasn't able to exercise much during my first year on ADT (I was in a hospital bed, then wheelchair), but once I was able to start moving more, my side-effects became significantly more manageable. The more I move, the milder they seem.

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