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46 year old, two lesions. Pirad4 Pirad3

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Aug 30 3:06pm | Replies (18)

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@retireddoc

Good morning. Sorry to hear about the equivocal Prostate MRI results but remember that you have not been diagnosed with cancer at this time.

My 2 cents both as a patient who had an RP and as a retired physician.

Surgery (RP) by an experienced, highly skilled Urologist has a low complication rate. The upside is the cancer has been immediately removed and the pathologist can evaluate the tissue and give an exact diagnosis of the extent and type/aggressiveness of the cancer. The surgeon can "look around" and see if there appears to be any local spread during surgery. The downside is dry orgasm (but your ejaculate will diminish with radiation/brachytherapy as well), the short recovery time from surgery, the small but definable potential complications from surgery and possible incontinence. From studies, the vast majority of young men regain total continence. In the event you have local recurrence down the road you still have the potential option of curative radiation to the pelvis.

Radiation involves multiple weeks of daily short treatments. Cure rate is similar to RP. The PSA is a little more difficult to follow because it slowly goes down and doesn't become undetectable like surgery. There are potential short and long term complications with radiation, although with newer machines and protocols they are less than in years past. If you have a future recurrence, surgery is difficult sue to radiation induced scarring.

Brachytherapy is similar to radiation option but obviously doesn't involve weeks of treatments since seeds are implanted at one sitting.

All good options. Take your time. The important point is to go to a highly skilled professional no matter the choice.

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Replies to "Good morning. Sorry to hear about the equivocal Prostate MRI results but remember that you have..."

Thank you, retireddoc. I know I have to wait for the Biopsy results, but the writing’s on the wall. My age, PSA, Free PSA and Pirad4, and pirad 3, results. I’ve already spoken to my family about the possibility just to prepare them. I know I have to come up with a plan for treatment, so after they give me the results locally, I’m going to send them out to Mayo for a second opinion. This issue is really F’n with my head, Im still a father, provider, and to think I may not be around in a few years kills me inside, and I top with all of this, I also have to work. And the possibility of having months of recovery, incontinence at work, and just the stigma of being that GUY with “C” also screws with my head. I know, but we’re all complex beings. . Thank you for your time.