The Age Old Question, what do you mean when you say ...cured!?

Thanx, should have clarified my comment on the statistics.

You know my feelings about the lag time in statistics and the fact that they are population based!

Sixteen months before I was diagnosed denovo metastatic high volume (bone only) July 27 2022 (My birthday of all days) with a PSA of 32, I had a full physical. My results were fine. PSA was 2.0 and after a sonogram, my prostate was normal and somewhat undersized. No issues and no symptoms.

My journey is and has been different than most others. The doctors are somewhat baffled with me. Initially, the pain I had in my back was thought to be from my Gall Bladder. After emergency surgery to remove my Gall Bladder I thought the horrific back pain would end. Nope! After coming home and the pain medication wearing off - I could not lay on my back. My general practitioner ordered an MRI which shows metastases up and down my spine. I went back to the hospital and was admitted after discovering metastases in the ribs too. A bone scan and a bone biopsy verified stage 4 denovo metastatic prostate cancer in the bone only. I was devastated because I am the sole provider of my family.

Due to the massive back pain I was immediately started on Casodex and radiation to the spin (10 cycles) and then the ribs (5 cycles). After cmpleting Casodex I was given Eligard, Nubeca, Zometa, and Chemo. I elected to have 10 cycles of Docetaxel (no side effects other than fatigue). But radiation was the worst. I lost 35lbs and I thought I was dying. After all that treatment I had another bone scan which show the metastases had shrunk and was improved. My PSA continued to drop after chemo and I have been undetectable for 2 years now PSA < 0.100.

Yesterday I had my Eligard shot, Xgeva shot and a Bone scan. I was switched to Xgeva because I had an allergic reaction to Zometa. The bone scan results were remarkable. After more than two years of completing radiation and chemo, the metastases have greatly shrunk again. The radiation tech kept saying she didn't see anything. Nothing was the same as my prior scans. She kept repositioning the machine and scanning me in different positions. After the scan where over she said, unofficially your scan is remarkable. It is like the metastases have disappeared.

Is this a cure? Is it a miracle? I am calling it a miracle. Regardless, I am different because I received quadruplet therapy. Radiation, ADT, Nubeqa, Xgeva, and 10 cycles of Chemo. Maybe this - is the cure. We shall see. I am anxious to hear what my doctor says. Keep everyone posted.

Cured, to me, means that something else killed you before your PCa did!

My radiologist jokes that if I die of a heart attack first, they have done their job, I would not have died of PCa...!

She is not wrong!

The stats are rubbish. They are based on the old SEERS data which was only ADT. The stats used for 5 year survival on the internet stills says 28-33%. That is just crap. Some men do not die of this disease. They die of something else along the way. I have a man who recently passed away from this disease after a long 9-10 year battle. He always said he was afraid to take chemo. So, he never did. It makes you wonder if things would have been different.

The facts as I understand them regarding PC and other serious states of CANCER are that you are never actually cured!
You are either in a state of remission or you are not! You certainly need and should consistently monitor your cancer over the years and make whatever treatment adjustments might be necessary. Of course, I hope to be in a state of remission for the rest of my life. I had my “RALP” completed on October 25, 2022. I am turning 72 years of age this August. I wish that all of my fellow PC Patients are able to experience and enjoy a life of “REMISSION!”
Best wishes and kindest regards to you all.
Phil

hmmm, not sure I've seen those statistics.

Most say this:

Prostate cancer survival rates are generally very good, especially when diagnosed and treated early. The five-year relative survival rate for all stages of prostate cancer is 97%, and the ten-year survival rate is 98%. However, survival rates can vary based on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Localized (confined to the prostate): Nearly 100% five-year survival rate.
Regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes): Also nearly 100% five-year survival rate.
Distant (spread to other parts of the body): 37% five-year relative survival rate.
All stages combined: 97% five-year relative survival rate.

It is in part why people say, "you have the good cancer...!" That of course is an oxymoron, there is no good cancer...

Survival Rates by Age:
In general, men aged 65-69 tend to have the highest 5-year survival rates for prostate cancer (99.6%).
Men younger than 50 and older than 80 have slightly lower 10-year relative survival rates, likely due to a combination of factors. Younger men may be diagnosed at later stages due to less frequent screening in that age group, while older men might have other health issues that impact survival.

Factors Influencing Survival:
Stage of Cancer: This is a crucial factor, as early detection significantly improves the chances of survival.
Tumor Grade (Gleason Score): Higher grade tumors (indicating more aggressive cancer cells) are associated with lower survival rates. For example, the 10-year prostate cancer-specific survival rate for men with Gleason score 8-10 was 69.9% compared to 98.4% for those with Gleason score 2-6.
Age and Overall Health: Younger and healthier men may be better able to tolerate treatment and have a better prognosis.
Race/Ethnicity: While overall survival rates have improved, some disparities exist. Historically, survival has been lower in African American men compared to white men, though this gap has narrowed.
PSA Level: Higher PSA levels at diagnosis are generally associated with a poorer prognosis.
Disease Progression and Recurrence: If the cancer returns or spreads after treatment, survival rates decrease.
Smoking: Smoking can negatively impact prostate cancer survival

As to the statistics, well, other have said and you get no disagreement from me, they are historical, they are population based and they generally do not reflect the advances brought about by medical research that change the treatment paradigms.

Hi Johndavis60. You can check my profile for details but in short, I’m now 68. I had my RALP in Sept 2023. As others have said, all of our journeys are different yet I find this forum so helpful to me as I continue to navigate my own.

My two cents…

Certainly none of us chose this diagnosis. What we do get to choose, imo, is how we respond. I’m a recommitted believer in being positive. At the very least it allows us to “live a lot” in our subsequent days. At my lowest point I shared my doubts on this site and was encouraged to have faith in the choices I had made and to go “all in” on my positive attitude (thank you once again, Michael). It’s a chosen attitude - no, it’s a chosen way of life.

I too have lived a lot - and it’s only been less than 2 years since my RALP. I’ve laughed, held new grandkids, travelled with my beautiful wife, visited with friends from 50 years ago, etc. Yet, I still have the regular check-ups (so far, so good) that I suspect will be a regular thing for the rest of my life. My other choice was to be the guy with a black cloud over my head all the time. I don’t want to be with that guy.

You know to choose the best care you can find, do the best job of research and understanding you can do, and make the best decisions for yourself and your loved ones. That done, I recommend leaning into the process and anticipate the next good thing in your life. Hopefully, this is nothing more than a speed bump in your life - a very serious speed bump - that needn’t define you. You are right to be concerned for this is serious stuff. It’s okay to be irritable, angry, and moody - for a while.

Live your best life, brother! The alternative sucks imo.

The 5-year relative survival rate for stage 4 prostate cancer, according to the SEER data, is around 30-32% according to SERO and the American Cancer Society https://treatcancer.com/blog/prostate-cancer-survival-rates/.

I am agreeing that these number are now obsolete. With the advancement of treatments the 5 year survival rate for stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer has raised significantly.

What I was trying to communicate is that the SEER data was primarily not solely based on ADT as the main treatment.

The stats for triplet therapy are still coming into focus and are much better than the SEER data statistics.

The point I am trying to make is this, when I was diagnosed the Oncologist told me, do not look on the internet for how long you can live with stage 4 prostate cancer. Those stats are old and now obsolete due to the advances in the last 6 years. I was told everyone's different and if I responded it was possible to treat this disease as a chronic illness. That was in 2022.

To me that is encouraging and makes me feel I have hope for the future. There is hope.

They call it deep deep remission