Gleason7(3+4) - treatment options recommendation

I also have a friend who had the Monotherapy SBRT . 5 Sessions Mon - Wed- Fri and Mon - Wed the following week . Another had the HDR Monotherapy Brachytherapy 2 Sessions 2 weeks apart . Both VERY satisfied .

Yeah, we would all love to go all natural but NONE of what you said works, OK? Not trying to be combative but God aside, 21st century medicine is the way to go. I tried SO MANY supplements, dietary changes, boiled ginger tea....a freakin joke!! My prostate gland was FULL of Gleason4+3, had surgery and now having salvage radiation.
Maybe if I didn't screw around and had a biopsy sooner, I would have addressed the cancer sooner and been done with it. You have it in your lymph nodes - it's serious, OK?? I read so many articles on biopsies "leaking" out cells and it was all BS in retrospect. Best of luck.

I'm very happy to hear these great reports re proton treatment in Jax. I live in St Pete and am leaning toward proton treatment in Orlando Health. Orlando is a bit closer to St Pete than Jax and would allow me to get home weekends. Has anyone any experience of proton treatment at Orlando Health? I'd be grateful to hear from you. Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear that, @heavyphil

I think prayer, mindfulness, community activities, hobbies, pets, (safe, medically-approved) supplements, ginger tea, etc are all fine as lifestyle supplements to best-available medical care, but I agree that they should never, ever be replacements for it.

Not disagreeing with you here. There is no replacement of advanced science for treatment.
The issue here is say if we do change of our life style to say ginger tea, it will not work like modern medicines. It will take long process. Unfortunately we are expecting them to do miracles which even modern science can’t do.
Each body is different and effectiveness of dietary alteration is also different
One thing I can say though, changing to natural foods like vegetables, fruits etc will not harm or make the condition worse. Because we are in this medical state we are expecting instant results. One need to practice consistently the dietary side for many many years and hope the condition won’t occur (not as requirement /expectation)

@manojsmishra
The long range affects of removal of prostrate are propertly more than radiation. The new radiation treatments are really targeted and have great cure rates with side affects these days kept to minimu by most.

I had 30 rounds of proton radiation at UFHPTI. I got two opinions on treatments one from Mayo Jacksonville and second from UFHPTI. Radiation treatments have side affects that range from minor to serious. It affects individuals differently and what one will have anohter will not.

Mine were minor and easlity dealt with. I am now over a year from treatments and have no side affects remaining. So long term mine are gone. Could I have issues in future yes and so can surgery. I am not trying to talk you out of sugery if that is what you want but know that surgery is not minor and will have very serious side affects on your body and quite a recovery.

Research both, get second opinions on pros and cons and get additional tests like Decipher, PSMA, bone scans to determine you risk level and if the cancer is only in prostrate or has spread or risk of spreading.
Good luck!

You are correct @jc76 in my case due to age being one of the factor the surgery is probably being considered. However I’ll have bio markers and pet test pending that will help me to make decision. Both the treatments do have long/ short terms issues. And one piece of advise my pcp gave is no matter the amount of study one do as a patient or specialist in this area the choices are hard and patient has to live with them

@manojsmishra
Bottom line has to be a personal decision. What works for one and what one wants versus another is being human. I think if I was younger and had the prostrate cancer I might have considered surgery.

The radiation treatments for the stage of cancer I had and risk level was excellent cure rate. What I have read is the side affects of hormone treatments are far more a problem than the side affects of surgery or radiation.

Your PCP is right and you must have a good one.

By the way @jc76 , I also inquired about proton treatment at Mayo , Phoenix. They have proton machine but unless it is Medicare it won’t be covered, besides the radiologist also stated that now a days there is advancement on EBRT precision at micron level I.e it can target beam to precision of 100,000 th of the meter. And stated that there is no specific advantage bet proton v/s radiation. I’ll be interested learning this from you as to what’s your experience and what the radiologist treated you said

@manojsmishra
There is a difference between photon and proton. You are right the new photon radiation treatments have improved drastically over the years to control the beam more prescisely.

However the difference is that photon radiation continues through body. Proton radiation does not. Proton radiation can be stopped at a precise point and not have the radiation continue. Thus using the margins set by R/O the proton beam stops at that precise location and does not continue through body.

Thus the benefit is not in treatment outcomes (both are equal) but the prospects of reducing damage done by photon radiation continuing through body. This is the benefit identified by proton centers. It is why I mentioned proton is used a lot in children, eye cancers, throat , etc. Mayo Jacksoville does referrals to UFHPTI for specific cancers especially in children where they are really trying to reduce the amount of radiation to other organs and tissues.

Mayo Jacksonville does not have proton radiation. They are building a new cancer facility and it will have proton radiation.

My information on proton and photon comes from WEB MD, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, american cancer society, my PCP at Mayo Jacksonville, my R/O at Mayo Jacksonville and my R/O at UFHPTI.

UFHPTI will send you a booklet regarding proton radiation and all the research it that has been done on photon and proton. The booklet is outstanding in clarifying differences and the specifics of what UFHPTI does as a treatment facility. UFHPTI got a 25 million dollar federal grant to do on going research in radiation treatments with photon and proton. I volunteered to be in their research program.

Mayo R/O and UFHPTI stated same as your R/O the cancer success and outcome of treatments by photon or proton is equal. Thus that is why they say no additional benefit. The benefit is that proton does not pass through body thus affecting the organs, tissues, beyond prostrate. With many advances in photon radiation techniques there is more and more success in photon reduction in damage to surrounding organs and tissues. So the photon radiation is drastically improving.

My R/O as UFHPTI when I first got my second opinion said he wanted to emphasize two things. One, that they are state salaried employees and do not receive any benefit from adding tests. He will only order what he thinks I need to succeed in treatment Second, the only difference in the NEW photon radiation treatments and proton radiation is the benefit that the proton radiation stops at the precise location the R/O has set and does not continue through body like photon. The outcomes of cancer treatment success are the same.

I had what they call pencil beam proton radiation with the markers and Space/Or. My PCP when I told him I was going with proton (He advised me to get two separate opinons) that he believes my decision was good based on my specific case. My PCP stated the patient must decide and choose what they feel is best for them after consultations and research.
Good Luck!!!!