← Return to Cribriform cells: Does their presence change treatment approach?

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@hanscasteels

Thank you very much. (Un)fortunately I am located in Canada, hence left to the whims of local administratia. They seem to take their sweet ol’ time. PSA score was 26 the first time around in July, 21 in September and 25 in November. 3+4 Gleason score. 5 cores out of 12 positive. CT scan and Bone scan showed no apparent metastasis. Been told by the urologist that brachytherapy combined with EBRT and short-term anti testosterone therapy is the way to go. Now just endlessly waiting for a PSMA PET scan… it’s taking forever and while we won’t go bankrupt due to medical bills here in Canada, we might well expire before treatment. It’s agonizing.

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Replies to "Thank you very much. (Un)fortunately I am located in Canada, hence left to the whims of..."

It is good to see your PSA did not rise. It actually fell a little And has not risen Much at all. As they said in the meeting, I went to a Gleason, seven is not the same if you have Cribriform, But you are holding well. That is almost definitely why they are not being real aggressive about treatment.

You might attend an Ancan.org meeting to get an opinion from some real experts about treatment. Because you would be new, they would talk to you first and give you advice. They’re quite familiar with Canada and its limitations, You could always ask for different treatment. The next meeting is Monday December 2nd at 8 PM Eastern time, It lasts two hours. Just yesterday, one of the attendees, I referred from Mayo, said that he was really thankful that he had attended meetings there, that he had learned so much and even thanked me for getting him there.

I'm sorry to hear that. What province are you in? I started treatment quickly (within days of diagnosis) at a Cancer Centre in a large Ontario city, but I know that quality of care can vary from province to province, and even urban/rural within a province.

Definitely try to get into an interdisciplinary Cancer Centre affiliated with a university medical school if you can. Princess Margaret in Toronto is one of the top ranked cancer centres worldwide, but Calgary, Ottawa, etc also have excellent Cancer Centres with world-class treatment.

The urologist at your local hospital might be up on the latest treatment trends in prostate cancer or might be years behind (that applies in both Canada and the U.S.), which is why it's so important to get to a Cancer Centre in Canada or Centre of Excellence in the U.S. if able.

Best of luck.