A Gleason 8 means that your cancer is aggressive. The T3a means that it is broken through the prostate. The N1 means that lymph nodes were affected, related to T3a.

In this situation, your cancer is more likely to come back after a few years. There are many treatments you can have if it comes back. Those would allow you to live many more years. It is not time to panic, there are so many drugs and treatments available for you in the future, and every year they come out with new life extending drugs.

If your PSA rises three times and gets to .2 they usually want to start on something like Lupron, which can give you two or three years without any issues. After that, there are many more things you can do that extend life.

I have had prostate cancer for almost 15 years, it has reoccurred four times but the drugs I’m on now keep me undetectable. It will come back, but then there are more drugs I can take.

Get PSA test no less than every three months. That way you can keep track of what’s going on.