Confusing Messaging about Prostate Cancer

Posted by Climber @stevemaggart, Sep 11 9:11am

I won't go into great deal again, but I had an RARP and the pathology showed Gleason 9 Intraductal Carcinoma, locally advanced pT3a with cribriform present. My surgeon says that my cancer will come back and we have to be agressive with treatment. Yet, when I talk to people and read the blogs, it sounds to me that the perception is that PC is actually not all that life threatening, even in its advanced stages you can live for 15 years?
I can’t reconcile all of the messaging on treatments that we are going through and all the really nasty side effect and consequences if PC isn't that significant or serious, or at least fast moving, especially for a 70-80 year old person.
I point out to people that for a cancer that is not very serious, nearly 30,000 men die every year from it. But it is amazing how it is viewed by the public as a pretty insignificant and highly treatable disease. I would certainly like to put the cancer on ignore and not worry about it, the doctors don't seem to agree. Does anybody have similar feelings or any feedback?

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

heavyphil | @heavyphil | Oct 27 8:54am

Just today Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories announced that mice treated with a unique form of vitamin D3 had their prostate cancer slowed down considerably or arrested.
They are going to start human trials on people usually placed on active surveillance. If this pans out, we will have yet again another modality to fight this disease.
It may also be possible to treat later stage prostate cancers with this form of vitamin D3 so you just have to hang in there because you never know what treatment is right around the corner.

heavyphil | @heavyphil | Oct 27 8:54am

The prostate cancer cells actually burst leaving normal cells intact

jeffmarc | @jeffmarc | Oct 27 10:39am

Maybe this works, but, I’ve been told to take vitamin D, which is D3, since I started on ADT. I know that everybody else that I’ve heard from with prostate cancer has done the same thing.

Checking bottles of vitamin D two different brands just D3 in them.

I’ve been taking at least 2000mg every day, are they recommending a lot more?

stevecando54 | @stevecando54 | Oct 27 1:55pm

I take 1200 mg calcium daily and 50 mcg (have no idea what that means) of D3,. not sure what the unique form means but I do believe your goal in posting was to give us hope and a good feeling that they are working on new treatments all the time. Thank you for sharing. Best to all.

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | Oct 27 3:25pm

Thanks for sharing, @heavyphil .

Here's the story. It looks like it's a type of vitamin K (menadione) rather than D3. In a study it slowed prostate cancer progression in mice, but has not yet been tested on humans:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-vitamin-supplement-prostate-cancer-mice.html
Fingers crossed that something usable develops out of this — the more treatment options for us, the better. In the meantime, vitamin K is most plentiful in leafy greens, which we should be eating anyway for general health, so there's no harm in having a big kale or spinach salad every day.

jeffmarc | @jeffmarc | Oct 27 3:59pm

In reply to @northoftheborder "Thanks for sharing, @heavyphil . Here's the story. It looks like it's a type of vitamin..." + (show)

They’re talking about vitamin K3 specifically when they mention menadione. K1 and K2 don’t seem to be the 6same thing, but they are in pill form. Where as K3 only seems to appear in food or food products.

I do eat a huge salad every day at lunch with a lot of kale in it. Maybe that’s one reason my PSA has stayed at < .1 for 11 months now.

Good to have a link to the study.

heavyphil | @heavyphil | Oct 28 5:40am

In reply to @northoftheborder "Thanks for sharing, @heavyphil . Here's the story. It looks like it's a type of vitamin..." + (show)

Oooops - my bad!!! I was so excited by the news that I mixed up my K’s and D’s. I take Vitamin D with K3, but they say that this K3 is NOT the one I take but a special form of it.
Well, whatever the letter of the alphabet, I’m all for it!

jc76 | @jc76 | Oct 28 6:02am

In reply to @heavyphil "Oooops - my bad!!! I was so excited by the news that I mixed up my..." + (show)

@heavyphil
Not to worry, we all make mistakes. We are thankful for your post.

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | Oct 28 7:13am

Yes, it makes sense. We're all so used to taking D3 supplements to help protect our bones when we're on ADT that it would be natural to misremember the unfamiliar "K3" as D3.

Meanwhile, it looks like the kale in my garden survived last night's frost, so my family will continue to dine on free "K3" for at least a few more days this year before we have to start paying our tribute to the supermarket billionaires for it again. 🙂

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | Oct 28 7:21am

And apparently, soup preserves most of the nutrients from kale because you're drinking the water as well as eating the leaves, so if you don't like kale raw, search for a receipe for something like white bean & kale soup (a staple in my household).